Scaling Smarter with Data: How OMI Helps B2B Brands Grow

When I founded OMI, I had one goal: empower businesses to grow by reaching the right audience with the right data. Nearly 25 years later, that’s still our mission—but the tools, technologies, and channels we use to achieve it have evolved dramatically.

As I recently shared on the Scale Smarter Podcast with host Brae Rutherford, OMI’s growth story mirrors the evolution of marketing itself—from direct mail to digital, from media buying to precision audience building. Today, we operate at the intersection of data, media, and technology, ensuring brands and agencies harness accurate, compliant, and scalable B2B data to fuel customer acquisition and growth.

Here are seven things to know about the way we work and why top brands continue to turn to us for our data, services, expertise--and most of all, our dedication to their success:

1. Building Better Audiences
   At OMI, everything starts with data. Our U.S. business database includes 18 million companies and more than 150 million professional contacts—manager-level and above—so our clients reach real decision-makers, not generic names or inactive inboxes. Whether we’re supporting a telecom provider, a financial brand, or an e-commerce platform, our job is to make sure every campaign begins with clean, validated, and relevant audience data.

Some clients simply license our data to build their internal CRM and drive their own marketing. Others partner with us end-to-end, using our acquisition email marketing services to expand reach and generate new leads. In either case, our focus is on assisting marketers to connect with the right people—efficiently and at scale. Go here to see our case studies.

2. A 95% Email Validity Guarantee—Because Accuracy Matters
   One question I’ve heard for more than 15 years is, “How do I know your data is any good?” It’s a fair question in an industry crowded with vendors promising “millions of leads.” The answer: we stand behind our data with a 95% email validity guarantee for the first 30 days. If an email isn’t accurate, we replace it—period.

That guarantee has become one of OMI’s hallmarks. And in all the years we’ve offered it, we’ve never had to honor it. That’s how confident we are in the quality of our data—and why our clients stay with us year after year.

3. Partnerships that Drive Scale
   We help clients grow, but we’ve also scaled OMI through smart partnerships and a belief in practicing what we preach. We use our own data and channels to run outreach campaigns—email, social, and programmatic—because we know firsthand what works. We also maintain an affiliate network and strategic partnerships that bring new clients to us organically.

Interestingly, even in a competitive space, collaboration still plays a role. We’ve partnered with other data providers, including competitors, when they needed access to segments not covered in their own files. In a niche industry like B2B data, relationships matter—and cooperation can open new opportunities for everyone involved.

4. Retention Starts with Relationships
   Long-term client relationships are at the core of our business. Some of our customers have been with OMI for 15 years or more. That doesn’t happen by accident—it’s the result of consistently delivering results and never taking loyalty for granted.

Internally, I tell my team: “No matter how long a client has been with us, treat them like we onboarded them yesterday.” That mindset keeps us responsive and proactive. Our size allows us to be flexible—offering customized solutions, adjusting contract terms when needed, and solving challenges that larger, more bureaucratic providers often can’t. It’s that personal touch that makes OMI stand out.

5. Adapting to a Changing Buyer
   Of course, client engagement today looks different than it did even five years ago. Around 72% of today’s B2B buyers are millennials—and many prefer to conduct their research independently before speaking to anyone. That means marketers must provide more education upfront, across cohesive touchpoints, so prospects can self-inform before they ever reach out.

We’ve adapted by focusing on clarity and brevity in messaging. When you’re reaching out to a busy executive, long emails get deleted. Short, bullet-pointed messages with relevant value stand out. We coach our clients on this too—it’s part of our consultative approach to helping brands optimize every stage of their customer journey.

6. Staying Ahead with AI and Data Innovation
   The pace of change in marketing has never been faster, especially with AI transforming how data is managed, analyzed, and applied. At OMI, AI is an integral part of how we maintain and enhance our database. We use it to improve data accuracy, streamline record compilation, and identify patterns that support better audience targeting.

On the business side, AI helps us move faster—drafting proposals, performing competitor research, and synthesizing insights from multiple models. We’ve taken a cue from Nvidia’s CEO, who reportedly runs the same question through several AI engines and then merges the best outputs. We do something similar, testing and refining to ensure quality and human oversight remain central to the process.

Still, AI isn’t a substitute for human judgment. While it can automate tasks and speed up workflows, the human element—the nuance, empathy, and creative thinking—remains essential. Our clients rely on us to bring both: the precision of AI and the perspective of experience.

7.  Looking Ahead: Data, Media, and Agency Collaboration
   As we move into 2026, one of our biggest goals is deepening our partnerships with agencies. The major holding companies—Omnicom, IPG, WPP—own hundreds of agencies that need reliable audience data to power their campaigns. Our expertise in building custom, compliant, and high-performing audiences positions us perfectly to support those needs.

At the same time, we’re investing in technology to make our data delivery even faster and more automated. Efficiency and scalability are key to helping both brands and agencies compete in a data-driven world.

A Passion for Performance
After all these years, what still excites me most is seeing our clients succeed. When a campaign delivers a 10x or 20x ROI, that’s my version of a big win (go here to read how we achieved this recently for a leading telecom provider). I never get tired of it and I don’t plan to. Because at OMI, helping businesses grow isn’t just our business model—it’s our passion.

This blog is a sneak peek of my interview on the Scale Smarter Podcast. It was a pleasure to talk with Brae, who is dedicated to exploring and understanding how businesses grow. You can subscribe to his podcast here.

Please connect with our team at request@outwardmedia.com to start a conversation about using our formula for success to drive growth for your business.