Key Takeaways 👇
Data is king
Calculate a price per identification
Always get all of your trial data
It's not just leads
How do you go about comparing visitor identification providers?
Are features the most important? Or is data and integrations?
While answers may vary according to use cases, tech stack and team structure. The most important determinant in a provider's performance is the data the platform provides.
Why is this? When it comes to features and integrations, most providers have similar offerings with slightly different flavours.
However, if the underlying data is not up to standard, then all the bells and whistles in the world won't fix it. To put it differently, the core of a visitor identification platform is the data it provides, the rest is just the icing on the cake.
Why data comparison is key
Provider 1 identifies 2000 companies per month.
Provider 2 identifies 2500 companies per month.
Over a year the difference = 6000 identifications
If 10% of the identifications match your ideal profile = 600 leads a year.
Assuming you convert 5% of these leads into opportunities and 25% of the opportunities into customers.
= 7,5 deals per year.
💡 This calculation was made using a 25% difference in identification rates. This can at times differ by as much as 250% across providers.
Compare apples with apples
To run an accurate comparison between providers it's critical to ensure the following:
👉 Tracking scripts from each provider are inserted to the website at the same time / date.
👉 The same pages or website is tracked.
👉 Trials last the same duration / time.
Essentially just make sure that trials are run on the same website traffic over the same time period.
🚨 Providers should give you full access to all of your trial data both during and after your trial. If they do not it's a major red flag. In other words, if they aren't willing to put their money where their mouth is, there's a reason.
What should be compared
First off, it helps to understand what the data is made up of and why these elements are important 👇
Total Identifications rates
The percentage of websites visitors a provider identifies.
ICP Identification rates
This is the percentage of ICP (ideal or target profile visitors) a provider identifies.
Cross reference percentage
What percentage of the other providers identifications does a provider make?
Accuracy
To calculate accuracy you will need to check how many of the website conversions (form fills) a provider made correctly through the trial.
Price per identification
Comparing price alone will not give a true reflection of the cost.
If 2 providers cost the same but one identifies double the number of leads then it's half the price.
Analysing providers data
Once you are up to speed with the information you want to compare, a simple spreadsheet like the one below will do the trick.
Since all providers have filters or lead scoring, you can count the companies matching your ICP in the tool. Please make sure to use the same filters with each provider to get accurate results.
If you would like to use this version, please make a copy.
Or if you have your own and need a little help with the cross-referencing formulas 👇
To cross reference 2 providers (columns)
=COUNTIF(ARRAYFORMULA(ISNUMBER(MATCH(A:A, B:B, 0))), TRUE)
To cross reference 3 providers (columns)
=ARRAYFORMULA(SUM(IF((COUNTIF(A:A,UNIQUE(FLATTEN(A:C)))>0)*(COUNTIF(B:B,UNIQUE(FLATTEN(A:C)))>0)*(COUNTIF(C:C,UNIQUE(FLATTEN(A:C)))>0),1,0)))
To keep in mind
1️⃣ Always get the full data set from the trial
2️⃣ Quantity and quality of identifications is the main determinant of success
3️⃣ Calculate a price per identification for a true reflection of cost
4️⃣ Are there additional costs involved such as seats, integrations, credit packs, enrichment, exporting etc.
5️⃣ Always run the analysis yourself
Worth considering
Getting to know the team you will be working with is an important component in being successful. The applications of visitor identification are far and wide, so pick a team with the knowledge and skill set to help you get the most from the data and platform.
Examples of the applications 👇
New leads for sales
Intent signals for open opportunities
Lost deal reactivation signals
Google Ads optimisation and retargeting
Linked retargeting
Marketing analytics
As always, feel free to drop us a message with ideas, questions or just to say hello. Team Snitcher signing out 👋