Cognism Features

One of the most time-consuming aspects of running a business is lead generation and conversion. In the past couple of decades the way we do business – and this applies to just about every area of commerce and industry – has changed in ways we could never have imagined. Whatever line of business you are in, online marketing is a must. It starts with your website, which is akin to the online equivalent of your reception desk.

In the early days of the internet – when online business was just beginning – a website was probably where it ended, too. Now, your customers expect much more, and that’s especially true when you deal Business to Business. B2B is a massive part of commerce in the 21st century, yet getting those leads still takes up a lot of time that could be better used elsewhere.

Cognism could be the tool you need to help you cut down on the time spent searching for leads. What is Cognism, and should you be using it? Let’s look at how it works.

How Cognism Works

Cognism uses a massive database of business and individual details across all areas of commerce and industry that users can access to find the correct potential clients. This means that the businesses targeted will be more likely to convert than simply contacting random addresses.

The tool also offers methods of reducing time spent on chasing leads by way of various automation processes. Automated and personalized outbound emails and calls can be implemented, and the package can be integrated with your existing CRM. Cognism claims to reduce the time spent on lead generation by as much as 70% – this will of course differ between each user – by creating defined ‘personas’ of intended clients using a variety of filters.

Let’s take a look in more detail at the main functional areas of Cognism.

B2B Database

The central element of Cognism is the database. They claim to be fully compliant with GDPR regulations. The database includes more than 400 million B2B entries, and is updated all the time in real time. The accuracy provided is therefore very good. Each entry has up to 16 data points – that is the information by which you can search them – and these are regularly updated too. In fact, the claim is that 800,000-plus data points are updated on a daily basis.

Where the database comes into its own is in the user’s ability to create ‘personas’ for businesses. These use the data points, and allow specifying among a variety of different factors. You may want to target businesses in a certain area of industry or a specific market, or perhaps companies of a certain size and above. You could choose the number of employees as a search point, or perhaps turnover or location.

By narrowing the search in so many ways the returns you get will be specific and relevant, which is where time is spent in getting fresh leads. As Cognism is integrated with your CRM, any gaps in there will be filled automatically. You can also specify the system to follow up leads with automated yet personalized emails or calls, and this carefully created system has helped many businesses grow sales as they are happy to testify to on the website.

The automatic updating of your CRM may be more useful than you think; currently you are perhaps updating records manually, and this will allow you to have up to date details without the need for manual entry.

What are our views on Cognism overall?

Conclusion

Cognism may be a database, but it is a database that is impressive in many ways. The sheer numbers of B2B contacts that can be found using Cognism is unrivalled. The fact that each has up to 16 searchable data points is also very useful. Being able to narrow down your search by many different factors means you are genuinely reducing the time you spend chasing leads. Does that claim of 70% reduction add up? That would depend upon the type and scope of business you are involved with, but we can certainly see the automation systems involved will make a great difference.

Cognism is sensibly priced in the market and has many users, and the team that are involved are highly experienced and have plenty of credibility. Whether you have a smaller business that is looking for a lead generation package, or you are an established larger business that needs to streamline and automate your CRM, Cognism is certainly worth a closer look as it may be of interest.