Buying Leads - Resource List: Prices, Selects & Specialties

from Marketing Sherpa

Summary: Marketers have a dizzying number of service providers promising the leads they need at the time they need them. But what exactly do they offer, and how much do they cost?

In Part 2 of our Tutorial on buying leads, we've done the legwork for you, tracking down pricing, special information and more on 17 service providers in four areas: business contact list providers, online business contact databases, vendor matching services and telemarketing.

If you search online, you'll instantly find dozens of companies promising leads by the thousands (or millions) for your latest campaign. However, these are not leads in the sense that the prospects have indicted a need or an interest in hearing from you.

No, consider this content to be raw material that must be contacted and cultivated to determine if they're actual leads. Our recent Tutorial, .Buying Leads -- How to Select a Vendor, Available Services and Strategies to Get the Best Leads, broke down the difference between those options, with advice about where each one fits into your lead generation process (see link to article below).

Now, we've compiled a list of resources to help identify some of the different vendors for lead generation resources, such as business contact lists and telemarketing. Nowhere near a comprehensive account, this listing is meant to serve as a starting point to navigate the available options, with links to key vendors and details on their product or service offerings.

BUSINESS CONTACT LIST PROVIDERS

List providers allow you to generate lists of contacts based on a number of criteria, including industry sector, size, geographic region and contact names. Large providers include:

infoUSA
www.infousa.com
Database size: 14 million business contacts.
Specialty lists: New businesses, targeted medical lists, executives, executives by ethnicity, professionals, Canadian businesses, big businesses, entrepreneurs, fleet owners and operators, fax numbers, Fortune 1000 companies, growing businesses, home businesses, small business owners, manufacturers, websites.

Purchasing options: Customized online list downloads, CD-ROM, printed lists or a subscription-based online database through SalesGenie.com.
Pricing: Business contacts start at 90 cents per record for lists of less than 100, and prices decline to 3-4 cents per record for lists of more than 1 million. Using qualifiers, such as executive names and titles or business size, adds less than 1 cent to 5-6 cents per record, depending on the size of the list.

USA Data
www.usadata.com
Database size: 22 million business records.
Speciality lists: Accountants, Canadian businesses, churches, clubs and organizations, colleges and universities, educators, financial analysts, Fortune 1000 companies, insurance agents, lawyers, new businesses, nonprofit organizations.

Pricing: Lists with contact names and phone numbers start at 20.3 cents for a list of 250-1,000 names; prices decline as the size of the list increases, with lists of 15,000 or more costing 7.5 cents per name. Using qualifiers, such as employee size range and sales volume, adds 1 cent to 2.3 cents per name, depending on size of the list.

Dun & Bradstreet
www.dnb.com
Database size: 14 million business records.
Purchasing options: Customized lists downloadable from zapdata.com, subscription-based online database Selectory.com, lists on DVD from MarketPlace and Private Data Portals
Speciality lists: Not available.
Pricing: Not available.

Hoover's
www.hoovers.com
Database size: 16.5 million companies.
Purchasing options: Customized lists available from subscription-based online database.
Speciality lists: Not available.
Pricing: Not available.

ONLINE BUSINESS CONTACT DATABASES

These subscription websites are dynamic business contact networks that rely on users to add and update entries. Major players include:

LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com
Size of network: 10 million contacts.
Search options: Member profile, which includes name, title, industry, location.
Pricing: Free basic membership; three premium models that cost $19.95-$200 per month or $199.50-$2,000 annually.
Special features: Social networking aspect allows users to contact each other through shared connections.

ZoomInfo
www.zoominfo.com
Size of network: 35 million contacts.
Search options: Contact name, company, title, education, diversity, industry, company size.
Pricing: Free basic membership; premium models starting at $99 a month.
Special features: Detailed profiles, including education, job history and biography, available for VP-level contacts.

VENDOR MATCHING SERVICES

Online business-to-business marketplaces can match buyers looking for a product or service with appropriate vendors. Here are two examples:

BuyerZone
www.buyerzone.com
Size of vendor network: 8,000+.
Vendor categories: Automotive, benefits, business insurance, computers, construction, facilities, finance, furniture, HR/personnel, Internet, industrial, mailing and shipping, marketing, office equipment, professional services, security, software, telecom equipment, telecom services, transportation.
Amount of buyer activity: 1.5 million active users.
Membership fee: $40 annually.
Pricing: $6 to $45 per lead, depending on industry.
Number of vendors that receive each buyer's request: 3-6.

B-TO-B TELEMARKETING
Telemarketing firms can help marketers with a range of lead generation tasks, from qualifying leads they have collected from other efforts, such as trade shows and webinars, to generating appointments for salespeople. Here are some examples of telemarketing firms and details about pricing methodology (by the lead/appointment or by the hour) and industry specialties:

InTouch
www.startwithalead.com
Primary services: Lead generation and lead nurturing -- establishing opt-in relationships with prospects and managing ongoing marketing efforts and follow-up through email and telephone.
Pricing: Monthly retainer starting at $8,000.
Industry specialties: Industries with long-term, complex sales cycles, such as business and professional services, information technology, telecommunications and networking, medical device/pharmaceutical and manufacturing/industrial/chemicals.

JV/M Inc.
www.jvminc.com
Primary services: Lead generation, lead qualification and appointment setting.
Pricing: $40 per hour.
Industry specialties: None.

TeleNet Marketing Solutions
www.telenetmarketing.com
Primary services: Lead generation, lead nurturing, market targeting.
Pricing: Hourly, ranging from $45 to $65 depending on type, level of decision maker and complexity of message.
Industry specialties: High tech, including enterprise software, hardware and IT services, Telecommunication and Financial Services.

Useful links related to this article

Tutorial: Buying Leads - How to Select a Vendor, Available Services & Strategies to Get the Best Leads
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=29958

Tutorial: Renting Email Lists - Costs, Deliverability & Targeting
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=29930

Email List Rental Toolkit: How to Read a Data Card + Sample Contracts
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=29939

MarketingSherpa is a leading research firm specializing in tracking what works in all aspects of marketing.