B2B visitor identification

Most B2B buyers research for weeks before filling in a form, and most never fill one in. Visitor identification tools match the IP address of a visit against databases of company networks to name the organisation behind it. The output is a list of companies, the pages they read, and how often they came back.

What it can and cannot do

• It identifies companies, not people. Some tools then suggest contacts at that company from a separate database.
• Match rates are best for visitors on office networks and weaker for remote workers on home broadband and mobile.
• It is a prioritisation tool for sales, not a lead list to cold-email blindly. A company that read your pricing page three times this week is worth a call; one that read a single blog post probably is not.

Privacy rules matter here. Company-level data is generally treated differently from personal data, but contact enrichment and outreach in the EU and UK bring GDPR and PECR into play. Check what your tool does with personal data before you switch on contact suggestions. This is general information, not legal advice.

Start with how to identify companies visiting your website, then Leadfeeder vs Apollo if you are choosing between the two, or see all the options in best website visitor identification tools.