Terms

Intent Data

Intent data is information that reveals a prospect's interest in a product or service based on their online behavior. It encompasses the digital footprint left by users, including the web pages they visit, the content they engage with, and their search queries. By analyzing these signals, companies can gauge a potential customer's readiness to buy, enabling more targeted and timely outreach.

Applications of Intent Data

Intent data offers a strategic advantage across the entire go-to-market team, from marketing to sales and customer success. It provides a window into a prospect's interests and buying stage, allowing teams to move from broad outreach to highly targeted engagement.

  • Personalization: tailoring marketing messages and sales outreach to a prospect's specific research behavior.
  • Prioritization: focusing resources on accounts that are actively in-market and showing strong buying signals.
  • Retention: identifying existing customers who are researching competitors, allowing for proactive intervention.
  • Expansion: discovering upsell or cross-sell opportunities within the current customer base.

Benefits of Using Intent Data

Integrating intent data into your outbound strategy gives your team a significant competitive edge. It allows you to move beyond guesswork, focusing your efforts on prospects who are already demonstrating purchase intent. This data-driven approach leads to several key advantages.

  • Efficiency: Focus resources on prospects actively in the buying cycle, avoiding wasted effort on those not ready to buy.
  • Personalization: Tailor messaging based on a prospect's specific research topics and interests for higher engagement.
  • Timing: Engage potential buyers earlier in their decision-making process, often before they even contact you.
  • Conversion: Increase meeting success and revenue by targeting high-intent accounts that are more likely to convert.
  • Insight: Enrich customer profiles with behavioral data for a more complete understanding of their needs and journey.

Intent Data vs. Interest Data

While both data types inform marketing strategies, they represent different stages of the buyer's journey.

  • Intent Data: This signals active research and a readiness to buy. It's highly valuable for prioritizing sales outreach and personalizing late-stage marketing, helping both enterprises and mid-market companies focus resources on high-value prospects. However, it can be noisy and requires careful integration to be effective.
  • Interest Data: This reflects a broader, more passive curiosity about a topic. It's best for top-of-funnel activities like building brand awareness and long-term nurturing campaigns. While less effective for predicting immediate purchases, it helps build an audience for future engagement, which is useful for companies of all sizes.

Challenges in Implementing Intent Data

Implementing intent data presents several key challenges. The primary hurdle is data quality, as information is often noisy, inaccurate, or irrelevant. Integrating this data into existing tech stacks also creates technical difficulties like data silos and platform incompatibility.

Beyond technical issues, ensuring privacy and compliance with regulations is critical. It is also difficult to align vague intent signals with specific sales strategies, complicating the process of turning raw data into actionable insights.

Future Trends in Intent Data

The future of intent data will be shaped by advanced AI and predictive analytics. These technologies will enable more accurate forecasting of buyer needs and automate hyper-personalized outreach. As privacy regulations evolve, expect a greater focus on ethically sourced, first-party data to power these sophisticated, real-time engagement strategies.

Frequently Asked Questions about Intent Data

How is intent data collected?

Intent data is gathered by tracking online user behavior, such as content downloads, website visits, and search queries across a network of B2B sites. This digital footprint is then aggregated and analyzed to identify buying signals from specific companies.

Is intent data GDPR/CCPA compliant?

Reputable providers adhere to privacy regulations by collecting data with user consent, often through cookie policies on publisher websites. Always verify your provider's compliance standards to ensure ethical data sourcing and usage for your campaigns.

How can I verify the accuracy of intent data?

Accuracy depends on the provider. High-quality data is verified through multiple sources and contextual analysis to filter out noise. Look for providers that offer transparency into their data collection methods and how they validate signals.

Other terms

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Quarterly Business Review

A Quarterly Business Review (QBR) is a recurring meeting to assess performance against goals and align on strategy for the next quarter.

Quarterly Business Review

Digital Advertising

Digital advertising is the practice of delivering promotional content to users through various online and digital channels like social media or search engines.

Digital Advertising

Forecasting

Forecasting uses historical data to make informed predictions about future trends, helping businesses anticipate outcomes and plan accordingly.

Forecasting

Email Engagement

Email engagement measures how your audience interacts with your emails. It includes key actions like opens, clicks, replies, and forwards.

Email Engagement

Buyer's Journey

The buyer's journey maps the path a potential customer takes, from first becoming aware of a problem to making a final purchase decision.

Buyer's Journey

DevOps

DevOps is a culture and set of practices that merges software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) to shorten development cycles.

DevOps

Buying Process

The buying process is the journey a customer takes from first realizing a need to making a final purchase decision and evaluating it afterward.

Buying Process

Funnel Analysis

Funnel analysis is a method for understanding the steps users take to complete a goal, revealing where they drop off in the conversion process.

Funnel Analysis

B2B Marketing Attribution

Learn about B2B marketing attribution, including challenges in B2B marketing attribution, & key metrics for effective attribution.

B2B Marketing Attribution

Data Enrichment

Data enrichment is the process of enhancing raw data by adding missing information from other sources, making it more complete and actionable.

Data Enrichment

Data Mining

Data mining is the process of discovering patterns, trends, and useful information from large datasets to make better business decisions.

Data Mining

Outbound Leads

Outbound leads are potential customers a business proactively contacts through outreach like cold calls, emails, or social media.

Outbound Leads

Digital Strategy

A digital strategy outlines how your business will use online channels, data, and technology to achieve its goals and connect with customers.

Digital Strategy

Sales Workflows

Sales workflows are a set of automated actions that streamline the sales process, helping teams engage leads consistently and close deals faster.

Sales Workflows

Lookalike Audiences

Lookalike audiences are groups of potential customers who share similar characteristics and behaviors with your existing, high-value customers.

Lookalike Audiences

Virtual Private Cloud

A Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is a secure, isolated section of a public cloud. It lets you provision your own logically isolated resources.

Virtual Private Cloud

Value Chain

A value chain is the series of business activities required to create and deliver a product or service, from conception to the final customer.

Value Chain

Data Visualization

Data visualization is the practice of translating information into a visual context, like a map or graph, to make data easier to understand.

Data Visualization

Brand Equity

Learn about brand equity, including understanding its importance, building strong brand equity, measuring brand equity, & real-world applications.

Brand Equity

Loyalty Programs

Loyalty programs are marketing strategies designed to reward repeat customers. They offer incentives like discounts or exclusive access to encourage retention.

Loyalty Programs

Self-Service SaaS Model

The self-service SaaS model allows customers to independently sign up, use, and manage a product without any direct help from the company.

Self-Service SaaS Model

Sender Policy Framework

Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is an email authentication method that lets you specify which mail servers can send emails on behalf of your domain.

Sender Policy Framework

Account View Through Rate

Account View-Through Rate (AVTR) is the percentage of target accounts that see an ad and later visit your website without clicking on it.

Account View Through Rate

Ad-hoc Reporting

Ad-hoc reporting is the creation of one-off reports to answer specific business questions as they arise, providing instant, targeted insights.

Ad-hoc Reporting

Lead Response Time

Lead response time is the duration between a potential customer showing interest and your team's first point of contact with them.

Lead Response Time

Competitive Intelligence (CI)

Competitive intelligence (CI) is the ethical gathering and analysis of market data to inform strategic business decisions and gain an advantage.

Competitive Intelligence (CI)

Business Intelligence

Learn about business intelligence, including key components of business intelligence, the role of BI in decision making, business intelligence tools and techniques.

Business Intelligence

Marketing Attribution Model

A marketing attribution model is a framework for assigning credit to the marketing touchpoints that lead a customer to convert.

Marketing Attribution Model

ETL

ETL, short for Extract, Transform, Load, is a data integration process for moving raw data from various sources to a central data warehouse.

ETL

Mid-Market

Mid-market companies are businesses larger than small businesses but smaller than large enterprises, often defined by revenue or employee size.

Mid-Market

Sales Partnerships

Sales partnerships are strategic alliances where two companies co-sell products to expand their reach, generate new leads, and increase revenue.

Sales Partnerships

Custom API integration

A custom API integration is a bespoke connection between software, enabling them to communicate and share data to meet unique business requirements.

Custom API integration

Dialer

A dialer is software that automatically dials phone numbers for agents, boosting call efficiency and connecting them to live prospects faster.

Dialer

Performance Monitoring

Performance monitoring involves collecting and analyzing data to track a system's operational health and efficiency, ensuring it meets set standards.

Performance Monitoring

Text message marketing

Text message marketing is a strategy where businesses send promotional messages, offers, and updates to customers via SMS or MMS.

Text message marketing

Sales Intelligence

Sales intelligence is technology that gathers and analyzes data to help salespeople find and understand prospects and existing clients.

Sales Intelligence

Marketing Operations

Marketing Operations (MOps) is the engine of a marketing team, managing the technology, processes, and people to run campaigns effectively.

Marketing Operations

Sales Demo

A sales demo is a presentation where a sales rep shows a prospect how a product or service works and solves their specific problems.

Sales Demo

Lead Magnet

A lead magnet is a free incentive offered to potential customers in exchange for their contact details, like an email, to generate sales leads.

Lead Magnet

Cold Call

Cold calling is a sales technique where reps contact potential customers who have had no prior interaction with their company or product.

Cold Call

Proof of Concept

A Proof of Concept (PoC) is a small exercise to test whether a business idea or project is technically feasible and has real-world potential.

Proof of Concept

Mobile App Analytics

Mobile app analytics involves collecting and analyzing data from mobile apps to understand user behavior and optimize the app's performance.

Mobile App Analytics

Headless CMS

A headless CMS is a back-end content repository that delivers content via API to any front-end, decoupling the content from its presentation layer.

Headless CMS

Phishing Attacks

Phishing attacks are fraudulent attempts to trick you into revealing sensitive data like passwords or financial info by posing as a trusted source.

Phishing Attacks

Personalization in Sales

Personalization in sales means tailoring outreach to a prospect's specific needs, interests, and context to make communication more relevant.

Personalization in Sales

Solution Selling

Solution selling is a sales approach focused on understanding a customer's pain points to offer a comprehensive solution, not just a product.

Solution Selling

Workflow Automation

Workflow automation uses rule-based logic to run a sequence of tasks that would otherwise require manual human effort to complete.

Workflow Automation

Revenue Operations (RevOps)

Revenue Operations (RevOps) is a business function that aligns a company's sales, marketing, and customer service teams to drive predictable revenue.

Revenue Operations (RevOps)

AI Data Enrichment

AI data enrichment uses artificial intelligence to automatically enhance and update raw data, making it more complete, accurate, and valuable.

AI Data Enrichment

Inside Sales Metrics

Inside sales metrics are quantifiable measures used to track the performance, activities, and effectiveness of an internal sales team.

Inside Sales Metrics

Buying Committee

A buying committee is a group of stakeholders within an organization who are jointly responsible for making major purchasing decisions.

Buying Committee

Lightning Components

Lightning Components is a UI framework for building dynamic web apps for mobile and desktop devices on the Salesforce Lightning Platform.

Lightning Components

FAB Technique

The FAB technique is a sales framework connecting product features to advantages and then to the specific benefits for the customer.

FAB Technique

Voice Broadcasting

Voice broadcasting is an automated system that delivers a pre-recorded voice message to a large list of phone numbers simultaneously.

Voice Broadcasting

Buying Intent

Buying intent is the collection of online cues and behaviors that signal a prospect is actively researching and moving toward a purchase decision.

Buying Intent

B2B Marketing Analytics

Learn about B2B marketing analytics, including key components of B2B marketing analytics, & getting started with B2B marketing analytics.

B2B Marketing Analytics

Marketing Analytics

Marketing analytics involves measuring and analyzing marketing data to understand campaign performance and improve return on investment (ROI).

Marketing Analytics

Demand

Demand is the economic principle describing a consumer's desire and willingness to purchase a specific good or service at a particular price.

Demand

Qualified Lead

A qualified lead is a prospect vetted as a good fit for your product. They match your ideal customer profile and show genuine interest.

Qualified Lead

Event Marketing

Event marketing is a strategy where brands engage directly with target audiences through live events like trade shows, conferences, or webinars.

Event Marketing

Video Messaging

Video messaging involves sending short, personalized video clips to prospects or customers, replacing traditional text-based communication.

Video Messaging

Touches

Touches are the individual interactions you have with a prospect throughout the sales process, from emails and calls to social media messages.

Touches

Lead Routing

Lead routing is the automated process of distributing incoming leads to the right sales reps based on predefined criteria.

Lead Routing

B2B Data Erosion

Learn about B2B data erosion, including causes of B2B data decay, strategies to combat data erosion, & measuring the impact of data erosion.

B2B Data Erosion

Feature Flags

Feature flags let you remotely control features in your app without new code. This enables safe testing, gradual rollouts, and quick rollbacks.

Feature Flags

Customer Data Analysis

Customer data analysis is the process of examining customer information to uncover insights that drive business decisions and improve experiences.

Customer Data Analysis

Performance Plan

A performance plan is a formal document outlining an employee's goals, expectations, and metrics for success over a specific period.

Performance Plan

Warm Email

A warm email is a message sent to a prospect with whom you have a pre-existing connection, like a mutual contact or a prior interaction.

Warm Email

Intent leads

Intent leads are prospects who show buying signals through their online actions, indicating they're actively looking to make a purchase.

Intent leads

Single Sign-On (SSO)

Single Sign-On (SSO) is an authentication method allowing users to access multiple applications with one set of login credentials.

Single Sign-On (SSO)

Sales Metrics

Sales metrics are quantifiable data points that track and measure a sales team's performance against specific goals and objectives.

Sales Metrics

B2B Marketing Channels

Learn about B2B marketing channels, including maximizing B2B channel effectiveness, & exploring digital vs. traditional channels.

B2B Marketing Channels

Subject Matter Expert

A Subject Matter Expert (SME) is an individual with profound knowledge and authority in a particular area, topic, or industry.

Subject Matter Expert

End of Day

End of Day (EOD) refers to the close of business hours. It's a common deadline for tasks and reports to be completed before the workday ends.

End of Day

Microservices

Microservices is an architecture where apps are built as a collection of small, independent services that communicate with each other over APIs.

Microservices

Letter of Intent

A Letter of Intent (LOI) is a document declaring the preliminary commitment of one party to do business with another, outlining the chief terms.

Letter of Intent

Compounded Annual Growth Rate

Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) measures the mean annual growth of an investment over a specified period of time longer than one year.

Compounded Annual Growth Rate

Sales Pipeline Reporting

Sales pipeline reporting is the process of analyzing sales data to track progress, identify bottlenecks, and forecast future revenue.

Sales Pipeline Reporting

NoSQL

NoSQL ("Not only SQL") databases offer a flexible alternative to relational models, excelling at managing large and unstructured data sets.

NoSQL

Serviceable Available Market

Serviceable Available Market (SAM) is the segment of the total market that your business can realistically serve within its geographical reach.

Serviceable Available Market

Return on Marketing Investment

Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) measures the revenue generated by a marketing campaign relative to the cost of that campaign.

Return on Marketing Investment

MOFU

MOFU, or Middle of the Funnel, is the crucial evaluation stage in the buyer's journey where leads compare solutions to their known problem.

MOFU

Audience Targeting

Audience targeting is the process of segmenting consumers into specific groups to deliver more personalized and relevant marketing messages.

Audience Targeting

Triggers

Triggers are predefined conditions that, when met, automatically launch a workflow or action, ensuring timely and relevant outreach.

Triggers

Product Recommendations

Product recommendations are a marketing strategy that uses customer data to suggest relevant products, boosting sales and customer engagement.

Product Recommendations

Electronic Signatures

An electronic signature is a digital method for getting consent on electronic documents. It's a legally binding way to sign agreements online.

Electronic Signatures

Business Intelligence In Marketing

Learn about business intelligence in marketing, including the role of data in marketing BI, key components of marketing BI, & marketing BI vs. market research.

Business Intelligence In Marketing

Cost Per Click (CPC)

Cost Per Click (CPC) is a digital advertising model where an advertiser pays a fee each time one of their ads gets clicked by a user.

Cost Per Click (CPC)

Needs Assessment

A needs assessment is the process of identifying the gap between a company's current state and its desired future state.

Needs Assessment

Payment Processors

Payment processors are companies that handle card transactions, connecting merchants with the banks needed to complete a sale.

Payment Processors

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a premium tool helping sales teams find and engage with the right leads and accounts on the LinkedIn network.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Account-Based Sales Development

Account-Based Sales Development (ABSD) is a focused strategy where SDRs target key stakeholders within specific, high-value accounts.

Account-Based Sales Development

Buyer Intent Data

Learn about buyer intent data, including sourcing and interpreting buyer intent data, & key metrics in buyer intent analysis.

Buyer Intent Data

Serviceable Obtainable Market

Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) is the portion of the market you can realistically capture with your current resources, sales, and marketing.

Serviceable Obtainable Market

Sales Stack

A sales stack is the suite of tech tools—from CRMs to prospecting software—that sales reps use to close deals faster and more efficiently.

Sales Stack

ClickFunnels

ClickFunnels is a popular online tool that lets entrepreneurs easily build sales funnels to guide potential customers through the buying process.

ClickFunnels

Renewal Rate

Renewal rate is the percentage of customers who renew their subscriptions or contracts at the end of their service period.

Renewal Rate

Request for Proposal

A Request for Proposal (RFP) is a formal document that outlines a project's needs and invites qualified vendors to submit bids to complete it.

Request for Proposal

Lead Scoring Models

Lead scoring models rank prospects by assigning points for their behaviors and demographics, helping sales teams prioritize their outreach.

Lead Scoring Models

Demand Capture

Demand capture is the strategy of engaging potential customers who are already actively looking for a solution that your company provides.

Demand Capture