Can Clearbit identify anonymous website visitors?

Identifying anonymous website visitors

Clearbit Reveal (now part of Breeze Intelligence) attempts to identify previously anonymous website visitors by using IP intelligence data. The technology tries to match a visitor's IP address with company profile information. For example, if someone browses your site from a corporate network, the platform might identify that the visit originated from a specific company.

This identification happens without requiring visitors to fill out forms or provide any personal information, potentially giving you insights about organizations showing interest before they formally identify themselves.

How website visitor identification works

The process relies primarily on corporate IP address recognition. When someone visits your website, the platform:

It's important to note that this technology only identifies the company, not the specific individual. You might know that someone from Microsoft visited your pricing page, but not which employee it was.

From Clearbit to Breeze Intelligence

Clearbit has transitioned to become Breeze Intelligence for HubSpot. This change represents the integration of Clearbit's data capabilities with HubSpot's customer platform.

The core functionality remains similar, but users have noted significant differences. Community feedback suggests that the Breeze implementation currently identifies fewer visitor companies than the previous Clearbit tools, though HubSpot claims that coverage will improve over time.

Benefits of de-anonymizing website visitors

Identifying anonymous visitors provides several significant advantages:

1. Addressing survivorship bias

Most websites suffer from survivorship bias — they're optimized for the small percentage of visitors who convert (typically around 3% for SaaS companies). By identifying anonymous visitors, you gain insight into the 97% who don't convert, allowing you to address gaps in your marketing and user experience.

2. Industry-specific optimization

With visitor identification, you can analyze which industries have high traffic but low conversion rates. For example, you might discover that advertising companies frequently visit your site but rarely convert. This insight allows you to tailor your messaging, case studies, and overall experience to better serve these potential customers.

3. Account-based marketing opportunities

When strategic or "named" accounts visit your website, you can receive alerts that enable timely follow-up. For instance, if a decision-maker from a target account views your pricing page, your sales team can reach out with relevant information while your company is still top-of-mind.

4. Personalized website experiences

Using the API, you can dynamically customize your website based on the visitor's company. This might include showing industry-specific testimonials, tailoring messaging to address their particular pain points, or highlighting relevant case studies.

Real-world implementation examples

Here's how companies have successfully leveraged this technology:

A hypothetical example might be an email marketing platform that notices high traffic but low conversion rates from e-commerce companies. They could create industry-specific landing pages highlighting e-commerce-specific features and testimonials from similar businesses, resulting in improved conversion rates for this segment.

Implementation options

To implement visitor identification in your marketing stack, you have several options:

Limitations and considerations

This technology has MAJOR limitations you need to consider:

For better results, consider combining IP-based identification with other approaches like form enrichment, cookie tracking, or reverse IP lookup services to create a more complete picture of your anonymous visitors.

FAQs

How to identify anonymous users?

Anonymous users can be identified at the company level through IP address recognition. The system detects the visitor's IP address, cross-references it against a database of known company IP addresses, and provides company-level information about the visitor. Note that this identifies the company, not the specific individual within that company.

How does Clearbit Reveal work?

Clearbit Reveal works by detecting a visitor's IP address and cross-referencing it against a database of known company IP addresses. When someone visits your website from a corporate network, the platform can identify that the visit originated from a specific company. This happens without requiring visitors to provide any personal information, giving you valuable insights about who's showing interest in your products or services.

Can websites identify visitors?

Yes, websites can identify visitors at the company level using technologies like Clearbit Reveal/Breeze Intelligence. This works primarily through corporate IP address recognition. However, there are limitations: it identifies companies, not individual users; it works best for visitors on corporate networks (less effective for remote workers on home networks); and accuracy varies depending on the size and recognizability of the visiting company.

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