NAICS Data

What is NAICS industry data?

Industries ranging from agriculture to finance are classified into various categories and then assigned codes. This categorization of industries organized by NAICS (the North American Industry Classification System) codes is industry NAICS data.

This data provides key information on a region’s diverse industry sectors, business establishments, retail trade, county business patterns, wholesale trade patterns, and economic strengths.  

Where does the data come from?

The NAICS codes are defined by North American federal government organizations. The primary source of data is the websites of these government and international organizations. Historical NAICS Data can be downloaded and used, while the real-time NAICS sector data is available through feeds and APIs.

Independent business registries can also provide NAICS data, and web scraping tools can collect the information available online. Using additional tools to lookup more details or new companies is a good idea. 

What types of attributes should I expect?

The main attributes of NAICS data are the digit NAIC codes, including the levels for specific subcategories. For example, the NAICS category of Mining has the two-digit code 21. The Metal Ore Mining subcategory has the code 2122. Gold Ore and Silver Ore Mining subcategory code is 21222, within which Gold Ore Mining code is 212221.

The additional attributes include industry-specific information, such as the industry group, the number of companies registered in the category, the estimated number of employees, and the annual revenue.

How should I test the quality of the data?

Typically, the data available from the government and international classification data websites is accurate, but it may not be complete. Comprehensive information about small businesses may not be available, and the taxonomy may not be updated. For use in analytics, you need to test the data for completeness and timeliness.

For data collected from other sources, you can test the accuracy, timeliness, and how it matches your requirements. 

To test the quality of the data:

• Verify that the data is accurate, updated, and complete.
• Validate that the data meets your requirement by testing with a sample.

Who uses NAICS data?

Most of the small, medium, and large enterprises use this data to review specific industry categories. The most recent data can help assess the health of the industry or economy in general.

NAICS data is also used to enrich other types of company data for a number of B2B use cases.  

What are the common challenges when buying this type of data?

Considering that the primary source of NAICS data is the government and international organizations, you need to verify if the vendors use any other data sources and their credibility. For additional sources and the use of web scraping tools, testing for data accuracy is critical.

• Source credibility: NAICS data offered by vendors may come from additional sources, and ascertaining the source credibility is a challenge. Discussing with vendor reps can help assess the trustworthiness of the sources.
• Data completeness and accuracy: The data offered by government agencies is usually accurate but may not be complete. Vendors may enrich this data with information from more sources. You must verify the accuracy of the additional sources to ensure that the NAICS data you want to use can deliver trusted results.
• Data timeliness: At times, NAICS data from government sources may not be up to date. Data coming from the U.S. Census Bureau, for example, is only updated every several years. Vendors often use APIs or feeds to update their datasets, and you need to ensure that the data is recent and suitable for your proposed use.

What are similar data types?

NAICS data is similar to Company Registry Data,  Business Website Data, and Company Funding Data. You can use these categories of data for B2B Marketing and B2B data enrichment.

You can find a variety of examples of B2B and company data in the Explorium Data Gallery.

Sign-up for Explorium’s 14-day free trial to access the data available on the platform.         

What are the most common use cases of industry NAICS classifier data?

The principal use of the industry NAICS classifier data is in determining the general economic health of the country. This data can also be leveraged to gauge the strengths of the specific industry segments. The data is used to a great extent in B2B marketing and enriching other types of B2B data.

• B2B Data Enrichment: Building a comprehensive profile of B2B customers involves data enrichment. Aggregating information from various data categories leads to rich customer profiles that can be leveraged for more effective sales campaigning and targeted messaging. 
• Economic Forecasting: Predicting the future of the economy empowers companies or governments to recognize and leverage economic opportunities. It also helps avoid potentially risky ventures and plan for hard times. NAICS data contributes to the model for economic forecasting. 
• B2B Credit Risk: Assessing risks of conducting business with customers or partners is essential for deciding about extending credit to them. You can use NAICS data to enrich company profiles and assess credit risk.
• Investment opportunities: Risk managers and investors also use NAICS data to get the correct picture of the financial health of a particular industry segment.

Which industries commonly use this type of data?

Industries that commonly use NAICS data include consumer goods or CPG, retail, eCommerce, banks, insurance, financial services, hi-tech, technical services, public administration, food services, health care, real estate, waste management, forestry, manufacturing, transportation and warehousing. 

How can you judge the quality of your vendors?

The quality of the vendors depends on the credibility of their sources and how they deliver the data quality.

• Interacting with vendor reps: Talking with vendors can give you an overview of how they collect and curate data. You can also get insights into their quality assurance processes. Discussing your requirements with the vendor reps will help you determine if the data can be suitable for you.
• Demo: A well-explained demo immediately gives a proper assessment of the data attributes, suitability to your use cases, quality, as well as level of engagement the vendor offers.
• Customer testimonials: Reviews from customers tell you the commitment of the vendors to quality. Vendor websites often offer customer success stories, reviews, case studies, and testimonials.

Additional Resources:

• Data marketplaces vs. external data platforms
• Rethinking Data Acquisition with Explorium
• Explorium 2021 State of External Data Acquisition (Report) 
• 10 Questions to Ask Before Buying External Data