ZoomInfo

What is ZoomInfo?

ZoomInfo is a business intelligence and sales intelligence platform developed by ZoomInfo Technologies Inc., a company formed through the 2019 merger of DiscoverOrg and the original ZoomInfo. The combined company, headquartered in Vancouver, Washington, went public on NASDAQ in 2020 and has established itself as the market leader in B2B contact and company data. With one of the largest databases of business contacts and companies in the world, ZoomInfo powers the go-to-market strategies of thousands of organizations globally.

What distinguishes ZoomInfo from competitors is the depth, breadth, and accuracy of its data combined with sophisticated sales and marketing tools. The platform maintains information on over 100 million business contacts and millions of companies, continuously verified and updated through proprietary data collection methods. Beyond just providing contact information, ZoomInfo offers intent data showing which companies are actively researching solutions, organizational charts revealing decision-making structures, and automation tools that help sales and marketing teams engage prospects effectively.

ZoomInfo serves sales, marketing, recruiting, and operations teams at companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500 enterprises. The platform has become essential infrastructure for modern B2B sales and marketing operations, enabling teams to identify ideal customers, find accurate contact information, understand buying committees, and time outreach based on buyer intent signals. With integrations into major CRMs, marketing automation platforms, and sales engagement tools, ZoomInfo fits into existing technology stacks while dramatically improving prospecting efficiency.

Key Features

• Contact Database: Access to over 100 million business professional profiles with direct dials, verified emails, job titles, and organizational relationships.
• Company Information: Detailed company profiles including firmographics, technographics, org charts, funding history, and news updates.
• Intent Data: Signals showing which companies are actively researching topics related to your products, enabling timely outreach to in-market buyers.
• Buyer Intent: Identify prospects showing buying behavior based on content consumption patterns across the web, prioritizing hot leads.
• FormComplete: Automatically enrich form submissions with complete company and contact data, improving lead quality and reducing form friction.
• WebSights: Identify anonymous website visitors by company, revealing which organizations are researching your solutions.
• Engage: Built-in sales engagement platform for multi-channel outreach with email sequences, calling, and tracking.
• Workflows: Automated prospecting workflows that identify and enrich leads matching your ideal customer profile automatically.
• Scoops: Trigger alerts for buying signals like new hires, funding rounds, technology changes, and other events indicating purchase readiness.
• CRM Integration: Deep integration with Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, and other CRMs for seamless data synchronization.

Latest Updates

ZoomInfo continuously enhances its platform with improved data, new features, and expanded capabilities for go-to-market teams.

• Enhanced Intent Data: Expanded intent topic coverage and improved signal accuracy for better identification of in-market buyers.
• Chorus.ai Integration: Following acquisition, conversation intelligence now integrated for analyzing sales calls and extracting insights.
• Improved Data Quality: Continuous investment in data verification and accuracy improvements through AI and human review processes.
• RevOS Platform: Unified revenue operations platform combining data, intelligence, and engagement in integrated workflows.
• Enhanced Integrations: Deeper CRM and marketing automation integrations with improved bidirectional synchronization.
• International Expansion: Significantly expanded data coverage for EMEA, APAC, and other international markets.
• Advanced Analytics: New reporting and analytics capabilities for measuring go-to-market performance and data ROI.
• Mobile App Updates: Improved mobile experience for accessing contacts and company information on the go.

System Requirements

Web Browser

• Google Chrome (latest version, recommended)
• Mozilla Firefox (latest version)
• Microsoft Edge (latest version)
• Safari (latest version for Mac)
• Stable internet connection required

Chrome Extension

• Google Chrome browser
• ZoomInfo subscription
• Works on LinkedIn, company websites, and web pages

Mobile

• iOS: Version 13.0 or later
• Android: Version 8.0 or later
• Storage: 100 MB

How to Access ZoomInfo

Web Platform

1. Contact ZoomInfo sales or request a demo at zoominfo.com
2. Work with sales team to determine appropriate plan
3. Receive account credentials after contract signing
4. Complete onboarding and training
5. Start searching and exporting contacts

# ZoomInfo is accessed via web platform
# Main application: https://app.zoominfo.com

# API access for enterprise integrations
# Base URL: https://api.zoominfo.com

# Example: Search for contacts (requires API key)
curl -X POST https://api.zoominfo.com/search/contact \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer API_KEY" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"companyName":"Acme Corp","jobTitle":"VP Sales"}'

Chrome Extension

1. Install ZoomInfo Extension from Chrome Web Store
2. Sign in with your ZoomInfo credentials
3. Navigate to LinkedIn profiles or company websites
4. Click the extension icon to reveal contact data
5. Export contacts directly to your CRM

CRM Integration

1. Navigate to Integrations in ZoomInfo settings
2. Select your CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.)
3. Authorize the connection
4. Configure field mapping and sync settings
5. Contacts can now be exported directly to CRM

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Data Quality: Generally regarded as having the most accurate and comprehensive B2B contact database in the market.
• Intent Data: Buyer intent signals help prioritize outreach to prospects actively researching solutions, improving conversion rates.
• Comprehensive Platform: Combines data, intelligence, and engagement tools in one platform, reducing need for multiple vendors.
• CRM Integration: Deep, bidirectional integration with major CRMs keeps data synchronized and enriched automatically.
• Technographics: Visibility into what technologies companies use helps target based on technology stack and identify replacement opportunities.
• Chrome Extension: ReachOut extension provides contact data on LinkedIn and websites without leaving your workflow.
• Regular Updates: Continuous data refresh and verification ensures information remains current and accurate.

Cons

• Premium Pricing: ZoomInfo is among the most expensive sales intelligence tools, with annual contracts typically starting at five figures.
• Annual Contracts: Requires annual commitment with limited flexibility for changing needs or economic conditions.
• Credit System: Export credits can limit data access, and credit structures vary by plan requiring careful monitoring.
• Data Coverage Gaps: Despite comprehensive database, some industries, geographies, and smaller companies have limited coverage.
• Complexity: Full platform has steep learning curve, and organizations may not utilize all features they’re paying for.

ZoomInfo vs Alternatives

Who Should Use ZoomInfo?

ZoomInfo is ideal for:

• Enterprise Sales Teams: Organizations with dedicated sales development teams benefit most from ZoomInfo’s comprehensive data and advanced features.
• Account-Based Marketing: Companies executing ABM strategies need the company insights, org charts, and intent data ZoomInfo provides.
• High-Value B2B Sales: Businesses selling complex solutions with long sales cycles justify ZoomInfo’s cost through improved targeting.
• Recruiting Teams: Talent acquisition teams use ZoomInfo’s data for sourcing candidates and researching companies.
• Revenue Operations: RevOps teams leveraging data across sales, marketing, and success benefit from ZoomInfo’s unified platform.
• Data-Driven Organizations: Companies committed to data quality and willing to invest in premium data infrastructure.

ZoomInfo may not be ideal for:

• Small Businesses: Organizations with limited sales budgets cannot justify ZoomInfo’s premium pricing.
• Transactional Sales: Businesses with high-volume, low-touch sales models may not need ZoomInfo’s depth.
• B2C Companies: ZoomInfo’s database focuses on business contacts, not consumer data.
• Budget-Constrained Teams: Those with tight budgets should consider more affordable alternatives like Apollo.io.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does ZoomInfo cost?

ZoomInfo uses custom pricing based on your needs, team size, and selected features. Most plans start at approximately $15,000 per year for small teams and can exceed $100,000 annually for enterprise deployments with full feature access. Pricing includes a set number of export credits, user seats, and selected modules (Sales, Marketing, Talent, or Operations). Annual contracts are standard, and pricing increases significantly if you need intent data or advanced features.

How accurate is ZoomInfo data?

ZoomInfo is generally considered to have the most accurate B2B contact data in the industry, though no database is perfect. The company claims over 95% email accuracy and continuously verifies data through multiple methods including AI, partnerships, and human verification. Direct dial accuracy tends to be around 70-80% as phone numbers change more frequently. Data quality varies by region and industry segment, with North American technology and enterprise companies having the best coverage.

What is ZoomInfo Intent data?

ZoomInfo Intent data identifies companies actively researching topics related to your products or services. This is tracked through content consumption patterns across a network of B2B websites, technology review sites, and content publishers. When companies show increased research activity on relevant topics, ZoomInfo flags them as showing buying intent. This helps sales teams prioritize outreach to prospects more likely to be in an active buying cycle rather than cold prospecting.

Can I integrate ZoomInfo with my CRM?

Yes, ZoomInfo offers deep native integrations with major CRMs including Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, and others. The integration enables automatic data enrichment of CRM records, export of contacts directly into the CRM, bidirectional sync to maintain data freshness, and workflow triggers based on ZoomInfo data. The Salesforce integration is particularly robust with capabilities for automated enrichment and deduplication.

How does ZoomInfo compare to LinkedIn Sales Navigator?

ZoomInfo and LinkedIn Sales Navigator serve different but complementary purposes. LinkedIn excels for relationship-based selling, InMail outreach, and leveraging your network, but doesn’t provide direct contact information like emails and phone numbers. ZoomInfo provides direct contact data, intent signals, and company intelligence but lacks LinkedIn’s social selling features. Many organizations use both – LinkedIn for relationship insights and ZoomInfo for contact data and intent intelligence.

Final Verdict

ZoomInfo has established itself as the gold standard in B2B sales and marketing intelligence, offering the most comprehensive contact database combined with sophisticated tools for identifying and engaging buyers. The platform’s depth of data, buyer intent signals, and integrated engagement capabilities provide enterprise sales and marketing teams with substantial competitive advantages. For organizations selling complex B2B solutions, ZoomInfo can dramatically improve prospecting efficiency and conversion rates.

The platform’s strengths include unmatched data breadth and accuracy, powerful intent signals that identify in-market buyers, and deep CRM integrations that keep systems synchronized. The Chrome extension makes accessing contact data seamless during prospecting workflows, and the unified platform reduces the need for multiple point solutions. For companies executing account-based strategies, ZoomInfo’s organizational insights are invaluable.

However, ZoomInfo’s premium pricing places it firmly in the enterprise category. Small businesses and budget-constrained teams should explore alternatives like Apollo.io that offer similar functionality at more accessible price points. For organizations with the budget and sales complexity to justify the investment, ZoomInfo delivers return through improved sales efficiency and better-targeted outreach that the less expensive alternatives simply cannot match.