The Top B2B Lead Generation Companies in 2023
Last updated: September 14, 2023
Our team analyzed 80+ B2B lead generation companies, ranking them on 6 weighted factors:
- Notable Clients (35%): A history of successful work performed for high profile clients is a strong indicator of lead generation expertise, and is the highest weighted factor in our algorithm.
- Years in Business (25%): Lead generation companies that have weathered one or more economic downturns have demonstrated their ability to procure leads for their clients in less-than-ideal market conditions.
- Company Size (20%): Company size is strongly correlated with lead generation ability, as few lead generation companies are able to grow without strong client relationships built on well-run campaigns.
- Headquarters (10%): Companies in major cities have greater access to talent and professional connections, making headquarters location a minor factor in our ranking.
- Specialty (10%): Lead generation can take many forms. We favor companies that specialize in reliable lead generation channels that result in high ROI for their clients.
The below table shares the results of our analysis.
The Top B2B Lead Generation Companies in 2023
# | Company | Notable Clients | Years In Business | Size | Headquarters | Specialty | Average Review |
1 | First Page Sage | Salesforce, Verisign, Equinix | 14 | 51-200 | San Francisco, CA | Long-Term Organic Lead Generation | 4.9 |
2 | CIENCE | Okta, Shutterstock | 8 | 500+ | Denver, CO | Outsourced SDR Teams | 4.8 |
3 | Belkins | ValueLabs, Shelby Williams | 6 | 201-500 | Dover, DE | International Lead Generation | 4.8 |
4 | Uplead | SimScale GmbH, Crealytics | 6 | 51-200 | Covina, CA | B2B Leads Database & Prospecting Tool | 4.6 |
5 | N3 (recently acquired by Accenture) | Microsoft, Cisco, IBM | 19 | 500+ | Atlanta, GA | Inside Sales Transformation | 4.5 |
6 | Launch Leads | Mercato, Mindshare | 14 | 51-200 | Salt Lake City, UT | Email Lead Generation | 4.4 |
7 | Callbox | Acer, Toshiba, LexisNexis | 19 | 500+ | Los Angeles, CA | Outsourced Call Center | 4.2 |
8 | Ziff Davis Performance Marketing | N/A | 17 | 500+ | Austin, TX | Tech-Focused ABM | 4.1 |
First Page Sage – for Long-Term Organic Lead Generation
First Page Sage builds long-term, organic lead generation systems for their B2B clients using a combination of thought leadership content and SEO. Their campaigns prioritize ROI through investing in low cost per lead channels. First Page Sage has extensive experience in a variety of B2B industries, ranging from Manufacturing to Agtech to Finance.
- Location: San Francisco, CA
- Founded: 2009
- Price Range: $$$
- Services offered: Inbound Lead Generation, Thought Leadership SEO, Web Development, Demand Generation
Summary of Online Reviews First Page Sage is “head and shoulders above other SEO firms for its content,” constantly striving for excellence in its “blend of thought leadership and SEO” with a “heavy focus on ROI”; however, clients who want a quick marketing solution “will have to wait” as their attention to detail takes time.
CIENCE – for Outsourced SDR Services
CIENCE is a Denver-based lead generation company that specializes in providing SDR teams for their clients. These teams focus their attention on prospect qualification, ensuring that the leads they provide are actually relevant to their clients’ products. Because of this, CIENCE partners well with companies that have limited sales staffing, but can afford the cost of hiring an outside SDR team.
- Location: Denver, CO
- Founded: 2015
- Price Range: $$$
- Services offered: People-as-a-Service, Lead Qualification, Appointment Setting
Summary of Online Reviews CIENCE keeps “open lines of communication” and “are highly efficient”, with “consistently impressive cold emailing open rates”. Their “high turnover rate” can lead to “spotty” customer service, however.
Belkins — for International Lead Generation
International lead generation requires intimate knowledge of the business culture of multiple countries. Belkins is an expert in this difficult but valuable field, and has conducted successful lead generation campaigns for global brands across North and South America, Europe, and Australia.
- Location: Dover, DE
- Founded: 2017
- Price Range: $$$
- Services offered: Appointment Setting, Lead Research, Email Deliverability Optimization, International Lead Generation
Summary of Online Reviews Belkin consistently “delivers above expectations” with an approach that leads to their clients being “trusted by highly relevant customers”. They offer a “high level of engagement” but their “pricing is quite expensive.”
Uplead — for a B2B Leads Database & Prospecting Tool
For companies that have strong sales departments, Uplead offers a deep collection of potential leads as well as a SaaS platform to help salespeople narrowly target desired demographics. Their software allows their customers to find leads using a comprehensive array of search criteria, filtering them by industry, job title, location, company size, and a host of other factors. Uplead’s services are a good fit for companies with sales teams that are comfortable finding their own leads in an extensive database.
- Location: Covina, CA
- Founded: 2017
- Price Range: $$
- Services offered: B2B Prospecting, Email Verification
Summary of Online Reviews Uplead provides “very good results” for their clients, with data that is “both accurate and up-to-date.” Their platform is “intuitive”, with “great pricing” that makes their product “very affordable.”
N3 — for Inside Sales Transformation
N3 (who were recently acquired by Accenture) offers consulting services and sales support in addition to lead generation, making them a good fit for larger companies that are trying to revamp their sales processes. They help their customers optimize their sales pipelines, and have extensive experience with enterprises such as Microsoft, Cisco, and IBM.
- Location: Atlanta GA
- Founded: 2004
- Price Range: $$
- Services offered: Full-cycle Sales Management, Pipeline Management, Sales Consulting
Summary of Online Reviews N3 helps clients “accelerate sales” using a “scalable sales framework”. They use a more traditional approach, however, using “outdated technology” that can sometimes hinder campaign success.
Launch Leads — for Email Lead Generation
Launch Leads specializes in creating segmented contact lists to help their clients’ email marketing efforts. They also offer advertising, cold-calling, and social media services, as well as content generation for overburdened marketing and sales teams. Their clients are most often SaaS businesses, but they have a wide range of industry experience.
- Location: Salt Lake City, UT
- Founded: 2009
- Price Range: $$
- Services offered: Email List Creation, Email Nurturing, Lead Revival
Summary of Online Reviews Launch Leads is a “passionate” lead generation partner with “amazing follow through”. They engage deeply with their clients’ products to the point where they could “be considered experts”, but can be “a little slow” to work out scheduling for their clients.
Callbox — Outsourced Call Center
Callbox focuses almost entirely on phone-based lead generation services, making them a good fit for more traditionally-oriented industries. They also offer limited phone-based ABM and lead nurturing to help convert leads into MQLs and SQLs for your sales team, but these services are often more expensive than a content-based nurturing campaign.
- Location: Los Angeles, CA
- Founded: 2004
- Price Range: $$
- Additional services offered: B2B Lead Generation, ABM, International Lead Generation
Summary of Online Reviews Callbox is “an amazing resource” with “top-notch” customer service and “efficient” processes. They offer “plentiful and useful feedback”, acting as “truly an extension of” their clients’ sales teams.
Ziff Davis Performance Marketing — for Tech-Focused ABM
Ziff Davis Performance Marketing focuses entirely on technology companies, leveraging ABM to target high value leads for their clients. They maintain a proprietary database that their teams use to strategically profile potential customers in order to prioritize the highest ROI prospects. Because of their ABM focus and cost, they are best suited for larger businesses that focus on providing services for enterprise clients.
- Location: Austin TX
- Founded: 2006
- Price Range: $$$$
- Services offered: ABM, Appointment Setting, Business Intelligence
Summary of Online Reviews Ziff Davis is “good for prospecting”, and offers SDR teams that “amplify sales efforts” for their clients. Their “extensive onboarding” allows their teams to generate “quality” leads, but this same onboarding process leads to a “long ramp up period”. The Top B2B Lead Generation Companies in the US, by Industry
Our team has researched the top B2B lead generation companies for each of the following industries:
- SaaS
- Manufacturing
- Real Estate
- Fintech & Financial Services
The full reports may be found in the links above, and the top 5 agencies for each industry, as well as their industry reputation score, are listed below:
SaaS |
||
Rank | Agency | Industry Reputation Score |
1 | First Page Sage | 4.9 |
2 | N3 | 4.8 |
3 | Ziff Davis | 4.7 |
4 | Belkins | 4.7 |
5 | Uplead | 4.6 |
Manufacturing |
||
Rank | Agency | Industry Reputation Score |
1 | First Page Sage | 5.0 |
2 | Belkins | 5.0 |
3 | Launch Leads | 4.8 |
4 | Callbox | 4.6 |
5 | Ziff Davis | 4.6 |
Real Estate |
||
Rank | Agency | Industry Reputation Score |
1 | Belkins | 4.8 |
2 | First Page Sage | 4.8 |
3 | Uplead | 4.5 |
4 | N3 | 4.3 |
5 | CIENCE | 4.2 |
Fintech & Financial Services |
||
Rank | Agency | Industry Reputation Score |
1 | Ziff Davis | 4.8 |
2 | First Page Sage | 4.8 |
3 | CIENCE | 4.5 |
4 | Belkins | 4.4 |
5 | Launch Leads | 4.3 |