Imagine a scenario where Companies A and B have identified similar audiences to target while selling their product or service.
Both the companies leverage the firmographic (company size, product/service, industry, revenue, location, etc.) and demographic (titles of the contact, contact information, social media handles, etc.) data to attract their audiences. However, Company ABC also has access to the audience’s technographic data.
Through the technographic data sources, Company A knows about the tools the prospects use, the purpose served by these tools, the duration of usage, and a lot more. Now, it becomes obvious that Company A has the upper hand and is in a better position to convert these prospects.
Considering that both companies started on neutral, common grounds, Company A emerges a clear winner!
But what is this technographic data? Is it just another fad buzzword going around in the B2B community? Or is it the next big thing that will help your business stand out?
Let’s take a look.
An Overview of Technographics Data
In the present era, technology is the fuel for businesses. As an acknowledgment of this data-driven trend, technographics attempt at segmenting technology, at a granular level, on various parameters.
In simple words, Technology + Demographics = Technographics!
Much like how demographics define people and their habits, technographics define the technology used by the target audience and any related activities. With technographic data, companies can gain an understanding of the company’s technology stack and their intention to purchase any technological solutions in the future.
Technographics not only keeps track of the various technologies employed by businesses, but it also maintains a record of the total number of products or services that they own, what percentage is used on a daily basis, and how recent is the adoption of the said technology.
Thus, B2B companies can exploit technographic data to qualify prospects.
Who can use Technographic Data?
Typically, any IT or tech-based company that offers products, services, or solutions can gain from technographic data.
Various B2B and B2C companies make use of demographics and firmographics to gain insight into their clients. However, these two are vastly different from each other and may not even have common points, which could lead to several gaps in understanding the target audience. Technographics is that arm that completes the triangle and intersects demographics with firmographics.
Thus, technographics is highly relevant for the following units of your organization:
1. Sales and Marketing Teams
Technographic data sources the information pertaining to who uses the product or services offered by your competitors. The marketing team can then target these clients across various channels. At the same time, the sales team can set up alerts for when a company adds or drops your competitor’s products. They can also set up notifications for incidents when the company switches technologies or exhibits intention to make purchases through triggers like mergers, initiating funding rounds, moving to a new office, etc.
We Sky-Rocketed our Email Campaign Reply Rates Using Technographics. Watch the video below to learn more.
Sales can use this data to personalize their pitches and tailor it in accordance with the technology used by the target company. The sales and marketing teams can make technographic data an integral part of data exchange through CRM so that the handoff is smooth and efficient.
2. Business Intelligence Team
From a business intelligence perspective, technographic data is a goldmine. Business intelligence teams can make use of technographics for risk mitigation activities while also enhancing decision-making skills.
Technographics data can highlight the ebbs and flow of various clients, their profiles, and their purchasing patterns. The research and development departments of the BI team can leverage this information to identify new products and solutions that will be highly in demand.
The BI team can also exploit technographics to add value to the existing data sets like demographics, firmographics, B2B contact lists, and more to create a holistic picture of the client, competitors, and even opportunities to tap into the market potential.
3. Customer Success Team
Customer Success Teams can utilize technographic data to identify minor risks ahead of time. They can achieve this goal by monitoring the activities of the target client and issuing alerts when it appears that the client is testing out the competitor’s technology.
Additionally, they can keep a hawk’s eye on the various purchasing signs and triggers to identify the clients to whom you can upsell. Integrating technographic data with predictive analysis and intention data can be a perfect recipe for locating the clients that offer lifetime value.
Advantages of Technographics
One may wonder, “What kind of insights can a company’s tech stack offer?”
As it turns out, it speaks volumes about the target company. Technographic data can shed light on what technology the company is willing to spend on, the level of expertise that it requires, and other information directly or indirectly related to technology.
If you still want to be convinced, here’s what it means to your business:
1. Hyper-Targeted Prospecting
When you know your client, you know what makes them tick.
One of the biggest advantages of technographic data is that it allows your business to create a highly specific ideal client profile. As a result, you can glean absolute knowledge on the best buyers and hyper-target them.
Technographics add value to your buyer’s persona, thereby making it more granular for targeting and searching for prospects that suit the ideal client profile. If your company practices Account-Based Marketing, technographics is bound to benefit you significantly.
2. High-Quality Sales Conversations
Sales is all about extracting the best results despite the many limitations. Hence, it is vital for the sales teams to deliver maximum value per interaction. This expectation becomes even more realizable with technographic data.
Sales representatives can make modifications to deliver hard-hitting pitches that will be more effective than the generic scripts. Furthermore, technographic data also offers deep insights on how to have informed and high-quality conversations with the clients.
3. Improved Sales Productivity
Technographics cut down on the time and resources spent on profiling and researching ideal clients. The data offers a granular look at the total addressable market (TAM). As a result, sales reps can now expend their energies working on highly qualified prospects that check all the boxes. As a result, they will register better closing rates and more sales.
4. Exploring New Markets
As discussed above, through an assessment of the current technological landscape, the R&D teams can identify various avenues of growth and expansion for the business. Upon identifying the new market opportunities, businesses can work towards developing new and innovative products or services to cater to these requirements.
5. Industrial Competitive Advantage
The illustration shared at the beginning of the post is rather self-explanatory in highlighting how technographic data can offer you a competitive edge in the industry. Technographics allow companies to target their competitor’s customers and to identify any major changes that can motivate any purchase.
6. Better Customer Retention
Merely gaining customers is not the only goal. It is equally important to retain these customers and offer them an unparalleled experience.
Technographic data can help customer success and sales teams identify the at-risk accounts and work with them to propose solutions that guarantee enhanced customer satisfaction. As a result, clients will continue business with your organization.
Furthermore, it can highlight the features offered by your competitors that are attracting clients, and you can introduce the same tools and services to retain these customers or increase your market share.
How to Find Technographics Data?
Upon reading the benefits offered by technographics, you may be all set to drive your organizational growth. However, the big issue stands - where can you find this technographic data?
Naturally, companies’ technology stack details will not be available on any public records or database. Thus, companies will have to create and curate technographic data.
There are mainly three modes of collecting technographic data, which are as follows:
1. Customer Surveys
Data collection through cold calling and email surveys are one of the oldest tricks for gathering client information. Unfortunately, it is also extremely outdated and inefficient in terms of scalability. Further, the customers may not be reluctant to share the information that is relevant.
Considering that some clients find surveys annoying, such a strategy may, in fact, backfire and spoil your brand image. Alternatively, these attempts at collecting customer information may also go unanswered or blatantly ignored.
2. Data Scraping
Data scraping involves the extraction of codes from a website to identify key information. These source codes can help determine the kind of technology used by the company. However, only specific kinds of software leave behind a trail that can be traced to extract useful information. Furthermore, websites may undergo modifications and updates, which the source code may not reflect.
Thus, data scraping can offer only limited tech stack insights, which could also be unreliable.
3. Through Technographic Data Providers
Purchasing your data from technographic data providers is the easiest way to have updated and useful technographic data. Historically, the practice of purchasing database was often looked down upon due to its questionable reliability. However, third-party technographic data providers are now making use of cutting-edge technology to quantify and validate technographics at the required rate. The technological advancement has thereby enhanced the accuracy of this high-volume data.
Buying your technographic data from third-party providers frees up your in-house resources to capitalize on the data while someone else puts in the elbow grease.
A word to the wise: It is highly advisable to purchase from reliable technographic data providers like Clodura to achieve Hyper-Targeted Sales Prospecting, High-Quality Sales Conversations & Higher Sales Productivity.
Below is an example of Finding Hyper-Focused Technographics Information by running a customized query.
If you provide services for Salesforce, Marketo or Oracle Eloqua - Here is how to Find Software Product Companies in California which use either of these platforms.
How to Make the Best Use of Technographics in B2B Environment?
Technographic data sources can be utilized in the following ways:
- Account-based marketing: Identification of opportunities; Personalizing communication; and Prioritizing accounts
- Upselling: Offering additional services
- Market Analysis: Filling market gaps; Developing new products; and Acquiring new customers
- Customer Segmentation
- Customer Journey Customization
Let us understand how to implement technographics in the aforementioned facets through elaborate use cases.
1. Account-Based Marketing
Gaining insights into the client’s technology stack allows your company to identify opportunities, personalize communication, and prioritize accounts while managing accounts.
Identification of Opportunities
With the help of technographic data, you can identify the clients to whom you can sell your product or service as the perfect solution. Passing on this lead to your marketing team can help them nurture the lead until they are ready to make the purchase. Sales teams can leverage technographic data to push for a close.
Several triggers can indicate that your prospect is ready to buy. Some of the commonest triggers include:
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Product launches or features
- Fresh funding rounds
- Change in leadership or top executives
- Online company reviews
In response to these indicators, your company can publish press releases and announcements with content that is closely related to the prospect. Utilize technographics to develop an angle on how the intervention of your product or service can bring about a positive change, engage with the target account, and drive your point home through constant outreach.
Personalizing Communication
Effective communication forms the foundation of every successful business-client relationship. Customizing outreach to present the solution in line with the client’s pain points is the best way to pitch your product. However, in order to do so, the sales team must have a record of the technologies that they are currently using. Technographics offers the requisite insights to make your business communication more personalized and more effective.
Prioritizing Accounts
When selling a product or service, it is all about timing. A successful sale is possible after the marketing team has nurtured the lead, and the sales team has capitalized on the purchase triggers.
Once the prospect is ready to make the purchase, the sales rep must prioritize them above every other account. In this situation, technographic data sheds light on the accounts that are ready to buy versus the accounts that still need to be convinced to make the purchase.
Incorporating technographics with data enrichment establishes an automated process that prioritizes accounts to reach out to the right ones at the right time.
2. Upselling
Technographic data is not only useful for identifying new clients but also helps upsell to existing clients.
Given that you have an understanding of the client’s requirements, their budget, and their goals, you can upsell additional services or products to these customers. The fact that the client is already availing the services offered by you indicates their trust in your products or services. However, it is essential to make relevant recommendations as the client is more likely to make the purchase if the suggested products are in accordance with their requirements. In this regard, technographic data can play a vital role in understanding the client’s current tech stack and the appropriate add-on service or product that may complement it.
3. Market Analysis
Given the highly dynamic nature of technology, it is crucial to stay up to date on the market trends surrounding your offerings. Technographics can help you fill market gaps, develop new products, and acquire new products.
Let’s take a look at how you can achieve the same:
Filling market gaps
Technographic database contains information pertaining to the entire range of companies operating in your sector. Thus, you can have a bird’s eye view of all the companies working in the said industry and their respective pain points. Using this knowledge, you are in a position to identify market gaps and take steps towards filling them.
Developing new products
After the identification of market gaps, it is time to plug them. To do so, you can conduct R&D to innovate and bridge this gap. Developing new products will not only diversify your business but also give you an edge above your competitors. Moreover, your skill in employing innovation to overcome market gaps will also fortify your standing as a brand in the industry.
Acquiring new customers
Using technographics, you can monitor your competitor’s strategy and take notes on what they do right. You can also compare what features or specifications of their offerings trump over yours, making clients opt for their product or service instead. After exploring every positive aspect of your competitor’s business, you can re-engineer and create your own new and improved version for your business.
After incorporating the modifications, you can initiate outreach campaigns to attract these clients and convince them about how your product outperforms their current solution. In due time, these clients will choose your solution, thereby increasing your market share.
4. Customer Segmentation
When you use technographics to identify the technology used by a potential client, you unlock a wealth of information regarding their business processes as well. For instance, you gain an understanding of the problems that they face, their brand preference, budget, their commitment towards overcoming the issue, and other demographic or firmographic.
As a result, it becomes easier for your organization to profile these prospects and segment them on these aspects. Furthermore, it offers you a peek into how tech-savvy these companies are so that you could offer proportionate scalability. While most of these deductions are based on assumptions, they do a fairly good job of segmenting and profiling the customer.
5. Customer Journey Customization
With the help of technographics, you can manipulate and optimize the entire customer journey. Depending on your understanding of the customer, you can make changes to the inbound marketing funnel and nurture leads in a manner that is more suited for them. As a result, you will register greater success in converting these clients into patrons.
Unlike your competitors, who may run aggressive marketing campaigns, technographic data allows you to market your product in a more subtle yet informative manner. When you exchange meaningful and relevant information with the client, they are more likely to choose your services.
Based on the technographic data, your customer journey could be any of the following:
- Complementary: Offer this customer journey if your solution enriches, optimizes, and integrates seamlessly with other technologies that the company is currently using.
- Educational: This customer journey is more suited for prospects that currently do not use any solution. Thus, you may want to start by educating them regarding the advantages of your product and then lead them through the sales funnel.
- Competitive: Competitive customer journey is fitting for clients that make use of your competitors’ products or services. For this journey, you will have to present your product as a better alternative and convince them to switch over.
Clodura: The One-Stop Technographic Data Provider
Are you ready to get started?
Clodura is here to turbocharge your lead generation and sales conversion efforts!
With Clodura, you can access all the firmographic, demographic, and technographic data in a single location.
Clodura takes this valuable data one step forward by integrating it with artificial intelligence. Backed by the powerful AI, all the processes like record matching and cleaning are carried out automatically to present to you a single source of truth.
Here are a few cutting-edge features offered by Clodura that you should look out for:
- Technographic segmentation of over 15,000 technologies.
- Default technology categories like CRM, ERP, CMS, Marketing Automation Platform, etc. readily available.
- Get directly in touch with the decision-makers.
- Vital technographic data allows you to customize sales pitches and run hyper-targeted campaigns.
- Stay a step ahead of your competitors by understanding their products, services, and strategies.
Having all the critical data at your fingertips allows users to build a list based on their technology stacks. You can further refine and filter the database using a plethora of customizable data points.
With Clodura, you will find it easier to segment your prospects and target them at the most opportune moment!
Ka-ching!
Final Thoughts
Technographic data equips your company’s sales and marketing teams with highly qualified leads and also prepares them for possible objections that they may have to handle during the sales process. It puts your business in a position where you can clearly identify the best selling opportunities and figure out whether your company’s offerings are compatible or competitive for the target client. Further, it gives a boost to your ABM strategies, increases conversion rates, and shortens the sales cycle.
Most importantly, technographic data prepares your business for the future where data will be the cornerstone of all processes and applications. Thus, it becomes critical to adapt to these digital transformations by leveraging technographics rather than falling behind and perishing.
In a nutshell, technographics is the Pole Star that will guide your company’s growth and expansion not only in the present but also in the future!
