ZoomInfo: Definition, Uses, Integration, Features, Benefits, and Alternatives

What is ZoomInfo?

ZoomInfo is a business intelligence software and a Go-to-Market intelligence platform that offers detailed and up-to-date information about companies and professionals, which helps sales and marketing teams find and target potential customers quickly and efficiently.

The main purpose of ZoomInfo is to gather and organize valuable business data, like verified contact information, company profiles, and industry details. Zoominfo makes it easy to search for this information with their helpful search filters like name, company, and location, and it also offers buying signals like intent data, which indicate when a company or client is looking for certain products or services.

How does ZoomInfo work?

ZoomInfo works by providing businesses with helpful tools to find customers, generate qualified leads, and grow using its powerful intelligence platform. It helps sales and marketing teams quickly find target clients, understand their needs, and connect with them using accurate and up-to-date information.

The platform gathers data from various verified sources like public websites, professional networking platforms, and government records. It also uses AI, machine learning, and a team of human researchers to verify and update this data daily. ZoomInfo also complies with all data privacy regulations, like GDPR and CCPA, to prevent businesses from facing legal issues.

What are the uses of ZoomInfo?

The uses of ZoomInfo are finding and contacting target prospects, researching companies and buying committees, prioritizing outreach with real-time signals, updating CRM data, and segmenting and personalizing campaigns.

The uses of ZoomInfo are described below.

• Finding and contacting target prospects: Finding and contacting target prospects means that ZoomInfo allows you to search its large database and find clients with search filters like job title, department, industry, or company size.
• Researching companies and buying committees: Researching companies and buying committees means that ZoomInfo offers detailed company profiles, like revenue, headcount, location, and technologies used.
• Prioritizing outreach with real-time signals: Prioritizing outreach with real-time insights means that ZoomInfo provides you with intent data and activity alerts that inform you when a company is researching products like yours and is interested in purchasing them.
• Updating CRM data: Updating CRM data means that ZoomInfo automatically adds missing fields, updates old contact details, and fixes incorrect company information, which allows your sales team to always work with the most accurate data available.
• Segmenting and personalizing campaigns: Segmenting and personalizing campaigns means that ZoomInfo lets you organize prospects by categories like industry, role, company size, and buying intent.

Who uses ZoomInfo?

The people who use ZoomInfo are sales teams (SDRs, AEs, sales leaders), marketing teams (demand gen, ABM, operations), recruiters and talent acquisition teams, business development teams, and customer success and account management teams.

The people who use Zoominfo are described below.

• Sales teams (SDRs, AEs, sales leaders): Sales teams like SDRs, AEs, and Sales Leaders use Zoominfo to find high-quality leads, access verified contact info, and track buying signals to increase the efficiency of the outreach process.
• Marketing teams (demand gen, ABM, operations): Marketing teams like demand gen, ABM, and operations take advantage of Zoominfo’s company insights, segmentation tools, and intent data so they can develop better account-based marketing strategies and improve the quality of the leads.
• Recruiters and talent acquisition teams: Recruiters and talent acquisition teams use Zoominfo to find potential candidates for jobs within their company, which helps them search candidates by the required skillset and access their contact information instantly.
• Business development teams: Business development teams can use Zoominfo to find new opportunities in the market and build potential partnerships with other companies. This helps the business grow faster and have long-term relations in the market.
• Customer success and account management teams: Customer success and account management teams use ZoomInfo to track changes at the client companies, find more upsell opportunities, and keep their customer relationships strong.

What integrations does ZoomInfo support?

The integrations supported by ZoomInfo include Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle NetSuite, SAP, and Google Workspace.

The integrations supported by ZoomInfo are described below.

• Salesforce: Salesforce can directly sync all data from Zoominfo to help improve the quality of leads and contacts, and increase data accuracy and the efficiency of sales.
• HubSpot: HubSpot is a CRM that allows marketing teams using ZoomInfo to add updated contact details, segment leads, and run targeted campaigns within its platform.
• Microsoft Dynamics: Microsoft Dynamics can import all customer and client data from ZoomInfo into it to help sales teams have cleaner records and better opportunities to find leads.
• Oracle NetSuite: Oracle NetSuite helps improve customer records in ZoomInfo with real-time company and contact insights to support outreach and account management.
• SAP: SAP (Systems Applications and Products) connects ZoomInfo’s intelligence tools with its business systems to keep customer data consistent and improve enterprise-level outreach.
• Google Workspace: Google Workspace provides plugins that help users access ZoomInfo data directly from email platforms, which allows faster prospecting and outreach.

What are the features of ZoomInfo?

The features of ZoomInfo are a contact database, a company database, conversation intelligence, CRM integrations, digital advertising, intent data, and data management.

Contact database

The contact database refers to the large collection of verified contact information provided by ZoomInfo, like phone numbers, work emails, and job titles of potential clients across various industries, like technology, healthcare, and finance. ZoomInfo gathers this data from public records and other specific sources and then uses AI-powered verification to provide accurate data.

The large contact database of Zoominfo helps sales and marketing teams connect with the right people quickly without wasting time on outdated information. For example, a sales representative who wants to pitch a new SaaS tool can use the contact database to directly reach the head of IT at a target company.

Company database

The company database refers to the collection of detailed company profiles, which includes size, revenue, industry, technology stack, and headquarters, that ZoomInfo offers. The company database includes firmographic, technographic, and financial data to give businesses a full view of their targets.

This large collection of data helps to create a personalized outreach strategy and conduct account-based marketing. For example, a marketing team can filter companies with over a specific amount of revenue in the healthcare sector and target them with a customized ABM campaign.

Conversation Intelligence

Conversation intelligence refers to a tool offered by ZoomInfo that records, transcribes, and analyzes calls and meetings between sales representatives and leads. It uses AI to highlight keywords, buyer intent, objections, and action items to make the outreach process easy with extra information and insights.

This tool helps improve the sales performance and customer understanding while your business runs the outreach campaign. For example, a sales manager can check the transcript after a call with a lead to see how many times they asked about pricing.

CRM Integrations

CRM integrations mean that Zoominfo can connect with CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tools like Salesforce and HubSpot without any problems. This can help reduce manual data entry by syncing contacts and company information directly into the CRM.

This feature allows sales and marketing representatives to always work with accurate, clean, and organized data. For example, when a new lead is found in ZoomInfo, it directly shows up inside HubSpot with no extra steps.

Digital advertising

Digital advertising refers to a tool in ZoomInfo that allows companies to run targeted ad campaigns using its audience data. This tool works by finding the right leads and syncing with platforms like LinkedIn and Google to make sure that the ads only reach the most relevant buyers.

This helps sales teams save their time and make sure their outreach efforts do not reach the wrong people. For example, a marketing team shows ads only to finance directors in healthcare companies.

Intent data

Intent data refers to insights that show when a company is actively searching for products or services that your company or business offers. ZoomInfo provides this data by tracking the target’s online activity and signals when a company is ready to buy.

This helps teams within a company to know which leads are the most likely to convert into paying clients, so they prioritize them first. For example, if a company is reading about CRM software online, the sales team of a CRM company will know that they need to reach out quickly.

Data management

Data management refers to a ZoomInfo feature for keeping business contacts and company records accurate, compliant, and up to date. It works by automatically adding missing information, removing duplicate information, and verifying email addresses and phone numbers.

The data management system of ZoomInfo also complies with standards like GDPR and CCPA, which keep businesses away from legal trouble and improve outreach efficiency. For example, a company uploads its old contact list to ZoomInfo, and it fixes all the wrong phone numbers and removes bounced emails. 

What are the pricing plans of ZoomInfo?

The pricing plans of ZoomInfo are the Lite plan, the Professional plan, the Advanced plan, and the Elite plan.

These ZoomInfo pricing plans are described below.

• Lite plan (free): The Lite plan is a free plan that allows users to view the full database and download up to 10 contacts per month. The free plan users can also share their email contact book to help ZoomInfo keep the database updated.
• Professional plan: The Professional plan starts at $14,995 per year and provides 5,000 annual bulk credits and access to the database for up to 3 users. It also allows you to add users at an additional cost and is most suitable for small to medium-sized businesses.
• Advanced plan: The Advanced plan starts at $24,995 per year and offers 10,000 annual bulk credits and 1,000 monthly user credits. It also includes advanced information like geographic data and is ideal for businesses that want more detailed lead information.
• Elite plan: The Elite plan starts at $39,995 per year and offers everything in the Advanced plan plus real-time intent signals and advanced sales tools. It is best suited for large enterprises with broad sales and marketing campaigns that want the most accurate data.

What are the benefits of ZoomInfo?

The benefits of Zoominfo are accelerated prospecting, lead generation, improved sales, marketing targeting, data accuracy, and workflow automation.

The benefits of ZoomInfo are described below.

• Accelerated prospecting: Accelerated prospecting means that ZoomInfo makes the process of finding leads much faster by giving instant access to a large database of verified contacts and companies. This helps reduce the time spent searching and helps teams focus on the outreach.
• Lead generation: Lead generation is easier with ZoomInfo as it allows users to filter data by job role, company size, or industry. This makes sure that the leads gathered are more relevant to the search and are easier to convert.
• Improved sales: Improved sales mean that ZoomInfo provides buying signals, conversation insights, and detailed company information that help sales teams reach leads better and improve their closing rates.
• Marketing targeting: Marketing targeting means that ZoomInfo’s filters, like industry, geography, and firm size, allow marketers to find targeted leads efficiently. This increases the campaign accuracy and provides a better ROI (Return on Investment).
• Data accuracy: Data accuracy means that ZoomInfo updates its database regularly, which makes sure that the information remains correct and trustworthy. This prevents sales and marketing teams from wasting their efforts on outdated contacts and allows businesses to use only fresh and precise data.
• Workflow automation: Workflow automation means that ZoomInfo integrates with tools like CRM systems to automate tasks like updating contact information and entering leads. This saves time, reduces errors, and improves team productivity.

What are the drawbacks of ZoomInfo?

The drawbacks of ZoomInfo are a lack of pricing transparency, expensive plans, a steep learning curve, complex integration workflows, and filtering issues.

The drawbacks of ZoomInfo are described below.

• Lack of pricing transparency: Lack of pricing transparency means that ZoomInfo does not publish clear prices, and the costs are only shared after a sales call. The pricing plans vary a lot depending on users, credits, and add-ons, which makes budgeting difficult for businesses.
• Expensive plans: Expensive plans mean that the pricing plans of ZoomInfo start at thousands of dollars per year, which is not suitable for small businesses or startups that have a low budget.
• Steep learning curve: A steep learning curve means that ZoomInfo has many advanced features like search filtering, workflow automations, and intent data analysis, which can be complex to understand for most new users.
• Complex integration workflows: Complex integration workflows mean that integrations involve extra setup costs, credit requirements, and limited flexibility, so many users complain about the process of integrating with CRMs being too confusing.
• Filtering issues: Filtering issues means that the large amount of data can be overwhelming for new users, as they might find it difficult to locate and understand all the filters.

BookYourData is the best ZoomInfo alternative

BookYourData is the best alternative to ZoomInfo if you want a faster, more flexible, and more accurate contact data solution. In the BookYourData vs. ZoomInfo comparison, ZoomInfo requires long-term contracts with different pricing tiers and hidden costs, while BookYourData has a simple pay-as-you-go model where you only pay for the data you need.

The platform also provides real-time email verification and a 97% data accuracy rate, which helps users avoid wasting money on outdated or invalid contacts. It even allows businesses to instantly filter and download targeted leads by job title, industry, location, or company size without any subscriptions or commitments.

Features

• Allows users to buy email lists with custom filters.
• Provides real-time email verification and deliverability guarantee.
• Allows direct CRM and marketing tool integrations.
• Allows search filters like industry, job title, location, company size, and more.
• It is fully web-based, so no need for browser extensions.
• Offers clean and GDPR-compliant datasets.

Pricing

• Free plan: The free plan is best for trying out the tool as it offers 10 free credits, with no subscription or credit card required, and includes access to all features.
• Pay-as-you-go model: Starts from $99 and offers $0.40 per contact. It requires no subscription with no minimum commitment. Credits never expire, and you only pay for verified, deliverable contacts. The cost can drop to as low as 1 cent per contact for larger volumes.

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More alternatives to ZoomInfo

The more alternatives to ZoomInfo are Uplead, Apollo.io, and Lusha. These ZoomInfo competitors differ in terms of their features and pricing plans.

Apollo.io

Apollo.io is an advanced sales intelligence platform that offers a vast B2B contact database. It also offers tools for finding contacts to increase outreach and engagement for businesses.

Features

• Has an extensive database with over 265 million contacts.
• Offers integrated tools for email-finding and analytics.
• Provides advanced search filters for precise targeting.
• Has features for verified email and phone number finding.
• Allows CRM integration with platforms like Salesforce and HubSpot.

Pricing

• Free Plan: Includes 100 credits per user per month with basic search filters and a Gmail extension.
• Basic plan: Starts at $49 per month and includes 250 credits per user per month.
• Professional plan: Starts a $79 per month and includes 4,000 credits per user per month.
• Organization plan: Starts at $119 per month and includes 6,000 credits per user per month.

UpLead

UpLead is a B2B contact-finding platform that gives users access to a massive database of over 160 million contacts with verified emails. It is known for its high accuracy and supports advanced filtering by name, industry, and job title. The Uplead vs. ZoomInfo comparison also shows us that Uplead has more affordable pricing and offers B2B contact data with higher accuracy.

Features

• Provides access to over 160 million contacts.
• Offers real-time email verification.
• Has advanced search filters for precise targeting.
• Provides phone numbers from LinkedIn profiles.
• Offers direct CRM integration with HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive.

Pricing

• Free plan: The free plan of UpLead provides 5 credits per user and includes a Chrome extension.
• Essentials: The Essentials plan of UpLead starts at $99 per month and offers 170 credits for finding phone numbers and emails with CRM integration.
• Plus: The Plus plan starts at $199 per month and offers 400 credits for finding phone numbers and emails with advanced filters and technographics features.
• Professional: This Professional plan of UpLead has custom pricing and credit numbers that can be set according to the company’s demands and needs.

Lusha

Lusha is a B2B data provider that offers accurate contact details and provides seamless integration with CRMs. It also provides fast contact-finding and accurate prospecting capabilities that make it common among sales and recruitment teams.

Features

• Offers a user-friendly interface with a quick setup.
• Provides a Chrome extension for easy data extraction.
• Offers access to over 150 million verified contacts.
• Has real-time data verification.
• Allows GDPR-compliant data handling.

Pricing

• Free plan: Starts at $0 per month and offers 40 credits with limited features.
• Pro: Starts at $29.85 per month and provides a minimum of 250 credits per month with data enrichment features and API integrations.
• Premium: Starts at $69.90 per month and offers a minimum of 600 credits per month with advanced usage analytics and a higher number of bulk lookups.
• Scale: Offers custom pricing based on team size, number of credits required, and type of features needed.

How is ZoomInfo used in B2B sales and marketing strategies?

ZoomInfo is used in B2B sales and marketing strategies to find the right leads, improve the quality of customer data, and create targeted campaigns to increase engagement rates and conversions. ZoomInfo gives B2B sales teams access to a large contact and company database, which makes it easier for them to find leads and potential clients and reach them directly.

ZoomInfo also provides intent data, which the B2B sales teams can use to find leads that are currently looking for relevant products and services in the market. Many sales representatives also use ZoomInfo’s integrations with CRM systems like Salesforce and HubSpot to make their workflows more efficient and maintain accurate data records.

What industries benefit most from ZoomInfo technologies?

The industries that benefit the most from ZoomInfo technologies are healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and professional services, because these industries depend a lot on accurate B2B data, lead contact information, and targeted lead generation to scale faster.

How does ZoomInfo support B2B lead generation?

ZoomInfo supports B2B lead generation by providing verified contacts, company insights, and intent signals. Many businesses use these tools to find high-quality leads, customize the outreach process, and build strong relationships for long-term conversions.

How does ZoomInfo’s Chrome extension enhance LinkedIn sales prospecting?

ZoomInfo’s Chrome extension enhances LinkedIn sales prospecting by providing instant access to verified contact details, direct email addresses, and company information. This Chrome extension saves time by allowing sales representatives to improve lead information without leaving LinkedIn.

Is ZoomInfo effective for B2B marketing, or is it only for sales teams?

Yes, ZoomInfo is effective for B2B marketing as well, and many marketing teams use it for account-based marketing (ABM), segmentation, and audience targeting. The platform helps them make sure that the campaigns reach the right people with great precision.

What are the main differences between ZoomInfo and Apollo?

The main differences between ZoomInfo and Apollo are in their purpose and cost. The ZoomInfo vs. Apollo comparison shows us that ZoomInfo provides a large database, advanced intent data, and integrations, but is a bit costly, while Apollo is more budget-friendly and offers useful engagement tools like email sequencing, but with fewer data depth features.

Is BookYourData better than ZoomInfo?

Yes, BookYourData is better than ZoomInfo because of its flexibility and cost-effectiveness. Comparing  BookYourData vs. ZoomInfo shows us that BookYourData allows businesses to buy only the exact contacts they need and offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model, while ZoomInfo only has a subscription model that can be expensive for small and mid-sized businesses.

Can small businesses afford ZoomInfo?

No, most small businesses cannot afford ZoomInfo as the ZoomInfo pricing plans are expensive for them, and they are more targeted towards mid-market and enterprise clients. Companies that have a large budget for sales and marketing can use ZoomInfo because it is known for providing a high amount of return on investment (ROI).

What is the difference between ZoomInfo and Cognism?

The difference between ZoomInfo and Cognism depends on the market focus and compliance requirements. The Cognism vs. ZoomInfo comparison shows us that ZoomInfo has a stronger coverage in the USA and offers intent signals and smooth integrations with CRM tools, while Cognism focuses on complying with various data privacy laws like the GDPR and mainly focuses on the European markets.

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