Predictive lead scoring can provide more value than traditional lead scoring approaches. Read the profiles of seven vendors covered in the SiriusDecisions SiriusView, Predictive Lead Scoring 2014

Predictive MastThe predictive lead scoring market is in full growth mode. Nearly 14 times more B2B organizations are using predictive lead scoring than in 2011. As new entrants continue to emerge, potential customers are seeking to understand this highly competitive market, where vendor offerings vary considerably.

Why is there so much hype surrounding this technology? Data science and machine learning algorithms allow vendors to apply statistical techniques that identify and prioritize the sales prospects most likely to convert. With increased ROI on campaigns and faster sales cycles, predictive lead scoring can provide more value than traditional lead scoring approaches.

The following excerpts are from our newly published SiriusDecisions SiriusView, Predictive Lead Scoring 2014, which covers seven vendors – 6Sense, Fliptop, Infer, Lattice, Leadspace, Mintigo and Salesfusion:

 6Sense 6Sense is a strong fit for high-tech, manufacturing and other B2B enterprises focused on identifying new leads in early buying cycle stages. For small and medium-size businesses (SMBs), other vendors may prove to be equally or more valuable.

 
 Fliptop Fliptop targets SMBs and larger organizations that use Salesforce.com with a predictive solution that analyzes contacts, accounts and opportunities based on their propensity to become opportunities or customers. However, Fliptop does not source new contacts or accounts outside an existing database, nor does its scoring model do text analysis of external unstructured data (e.g. what’s said in a social media post).
  For rapidly growing SMBs that require an easily implemented lead scoring platform to apply to a database of existing prospects, Infer should be considered. Enterprise organizations that require augmentation of their database with new contacts may want to consider other predictive lead scoring solutions.
  Organizations with strict security requirements, and that require multiple scoring models across different business units, or that have a strong focus on account-based or customer marketing (e.g. retention, cross-sell, upsell), should consider Lattice Organizations focused on identifying new contacts to add to their database may want to consider other predictive lead scoring solutions.
  For organizations of all sizes with multiple buyer personas, multiple products and the necessity to acquire new leads outside an existing database, Leadspace should be on the list of vendors to evaluate. However, for organizations that do not require social or Web insights, or have no need for new contact discovery, other predictive vendors might be a stronger fit.
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Enterprises with large addressable markets or a large database of existing prospects, as well as marketers interested in using insights from predictive lead scoring to drive content delivery, should put Mintigo on their list of vendors. Organizations implementing complex predictive scoring models (e.g. multiple scoring schematics and leveraging large amounts of activity and marketing response data) may find a more suitable fit with another vendor.
Sales Fusion  Since Salesfusion is a marketing automation platform (MAP) that offers predictive lead scoring as a feature, it is an affordable option for SMBs that do not currently have a MAP and are looking for standard marketing automation functionality and predictive lead scoring based on their own data. While Salesfusion incorporates MAP activity data into the predictive model, it does not utilize data from outside sources, which is a limiting factor for larger enterprises looking for a more comprehensive set of predictive indicators.

These descriptions provide a quick snapshot of the companies we covered; additional analysis is contained in the complete SiriusView. When considering these vendors, as with any private company, we recommend securing customer references as part of due diligence before trial or purchase.