Intent Data – What Matters and What Not

B2B intent data is a set of information relative to the behavior of a buyer or a particular group of buyers. Intent data tells you about the buyer’s intent, what a buyer is interested in and when they are more likely to buy. B2B marketing and sales teams have been using intent data for years. It is a collection of information about the readiness of a buyer to buy a product or service.

Usage of Intent Data in Marketing

• Better segmentation

Segment the buyer in a better way so that you provide the right information to the right buyer at the right time.

• Account-Based Marketing

Intent solutions help both marketing and sales teams to build a clear picture of genuine buyers and buying groups within targeted audiences. The sales team has a clear picture of what buyers want and what their interests are.

Intent Data helps to identify which accounts a company should sell to, who within that account they should talk to, and when. Amongst different intent forms, buying intent/ purchase intent is of the most interest for marketing and sales teams. The main goal of any marketing or sales team is to reach out to their potential customers, understand their buying intent and send them the right information at the right time.

In reality, it is very difficult to predict the buyer’s intent. It doesn’t happen in reality that the buyers are going to call you or send you an email or a text to ask for solutions. So, it is quite difficult for marketing and salespeople to figure out which companies are going through a buying cycle. Here intent data plays its role – you can better understand the buyer’s motives, emotions, preferences, and needs. And based on this collective information you can also personalize your digital advertising and email campaigns.

Different types of intent data

There are two types of intent data- internal and external. They both use browser cookies and IP addresses to track online visitors.

• First-party data or internal intent data

This information is collected via tracking on your website. This insight is also called engagement data. It gives you insight when a buyer looks at your page and engages with your content. By identifying topics of that page, time spent on that page, etc. it’s quite possible to identify buyer’s interest, intent, and more.

• External intent data or third party data

This is the information collected by third-party providers via cookies and at the IP level.

When both intent types, internal and external intent data are combined they provide a clear picture of what an account or buyer is researching, their business goals, challenges, and their readiness and willingness to buy your product or solutions.

Why Intent Data Matters?

• Predictive power

It gives you a better insight into the customer’s purchase intent and allows you to predict or identify when a user is considering or looking to purchase your product or services. You can design your marketing strategies using these predictive capabilities.

• Efficient prospecting

Using intent data, salespeople can easily identify who all are genuine and active customers among the millions of searchers. This saves a lot of time and energy because now salespeople know who their targeted audiences are. This reduces the number of wasted calls.

• Improve search engine optimization

By having clarity regarding genuine audiences and their needs and preferences you can provide on-point information to attract the right audiences. Using relevant content, prepare articles, blogs, eBooks, and videos that handle the queries of targeted audiences. This improves your search engine optimization and attracts genuine buyers that need the solutions you provide.

Intent Works Best With

1. Firmographics data and technographic data
2. With or without marketing automation
3. Best practice of outreaching

Squaristic provides deeper insights on prospects and customers which are necessary for successful lead generation and conversions.