The Big Willow

The Big Willow, founded in 2013 by Charlie Tarzian, carved a niche in the B2B marketing technology sector by focusing on buyer intent data. The company's core business revolves around identifying prospective customers early in their buying journey. It accomplishes this by monitoring billions of daily web interactions across a vast network of devices and webpages to analyze content consumption and gauge interest levels in specific product categories. This methodology is designed to provide sellers with a first-mover advantage, enabling them to engage potential clients before they make contact with competitors.

The platform's technology tracks online research activities to separate genuine purchase intent signals from general web browsing. It captures and analyzes data points such as keywords, IP addresses, and content engagement from billions of device IDs and webpages. This data is then used to predict which companies are actively in the market for particular products or services, allowing clients to improve the effectiveness of their account-based marketing, targeted advertising, and demand generation programs. For instance, the system parses web content for keywords related to its clients' offerings and associates the devices consuming that content with specific companies, often using reverse IP lookups. The company offers this data to its clients through several delivery methods, including cost-per-lead programs, direct data lake delivery, or integration into their CRM systems.

In December 2018, The Big Willow was acquired by Aberdeen, a technology marketing services vendor, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition was a strategic move by Aberdeen to integrate The Big Willow's intent data capabilities into its own offerings, aiming to provide clients with intent-qualified sales opportunities that include specific company locations and contact information for key personnel. Following the acquisition, The Big Willow's CEO, Charlie Tarzian, assumed the role of President and Chief Innovation Officer at Aberdeen, while Keith Blackwell became Aberdeen's Chief Operating Officer, indicating a significant integration of leadership and strategy.

Keywords: buyer intent data, B2B marketing, lead generation, intent data science, targeted digital advertising, sales intelligence, account-based marketing, demand generation, marketing technology, lead scoring, sales enablement, predictive analytics, customer acquisition, B2B sales, first-mover advantage, marketing intelligence, intent qualified leads, adtech, martech, prospecting tools