How to Use Intent Data to Power Your ABM Strategy

In the world of B2B, intent data is a hot topic. After all, it can be the difference between scaling – and failing – to get new business. Intent data is useful for businesses in every sector, whether you’re a start-up looking to break into your industry or a professional services firm ready to scale past referrals. But how does intent data work?

We’ll discuss this and how companies can use it to take their ABM campaigns to the next level.

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What is intent data good for?

Every day, buyers conduct important research to identify solutions to problems they’re having. Underneath the surface, these keywords and search topics are distilled, revealing a hidden “intent” of a potential purchase to companies who offer those solutions. These are known as intent signals. We can then contextualize them by grouping them together as a dataset. Voilà — now you have intent data. 

If you’re an accounting firm, you may seek out software to help streamline administrative tasks. If you’re a low-code platform, you may be searching for tools to ease your marketing strategy. When you punch these different keywords and topics into search engines or watch videos, they filter into databases that highlight your intent to solve your problem. Companies using intent data will then use these signals to offer you products and services to meet your needs. 

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First-Party and Third-Party Intent Data

Intent data is split into first-party and third-party signals. First-party signals are signals buyers voluntarily provide, such as an email address on a form fill on your website, while third-party signals are sourced through a data provider. Third-party signals may not directly display true buyer intent, but rather an account’s broader interests.

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How do intent signals help ABM?

B2B professionals can use intent signals to help their ABM campaigns really take off. This is because intent signals can help to identify your in-market accounts and build connections with the right people at those accounts. With intent data, you gain access to a bunch of different signals that you can use to personalize messaging around the solution your buyer is looking for. 

Intent signals also help refine your ABM strategy. Connected data facilitates team alignment. A key feature of ABM is sales and marketing alignment, in which your marketing and sales teams are aligned around shared goals as well as a shared list of accounts and contacts. 

Thanks to intent signals, sales and marketing teams can align around in-market accounts and eliminate confusion about which accounts and contacts to target, giving teams their time back. With more time and better insights guided by intent data, teams using ABM adopt a laser-focused approach that results in reduced sales cycles, directed marketing spend, a bump in engagement and higher win rates.

Importance of capturing intent signals

Capturing intent signals help you better understand your buyer’s current pains as well as what they hope to gain from your solution. 

Intent signals act as a key, unlocking new chances for optimization. They grant you an advantage over your competitors because you get notified when customers are in the market for your solution sooner. That way you can craft messaging to reach them with the right message at the right time. 

‍Intent data is captured in real-time, so when intent signals are spiking, you know your buyer is researching a solution to their problem. The trick is distilling those intent signals in a way that connects and reaches the right contacts at the perfect moment. Not too early or too late.  

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Why we only use GDPR-compliant intent data

Intent data is valuable, and that’s why we believe it needs to be ethically sourced. This is why we don’t use the bidstream. Although the bidstream boasts a high volume, it often offers low-quality data with ethical concerns to match. Instead, Propensity opts for signals sourced using a cooperative approach. 

All of the data we provide is sourced from consent-based frameworks that are privacy-first to ensure all users are protected. When you use Propensity, all of your intent data is ethically acquired while still granting you an accurate and comprehensive picture of buyer intent.

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In Conclusion…

Now that you have a better understanding of intent data and its purpose, you're better prepared to reach your customers with the right message before your competitors. Get started building a better ABM strategy with your top 100 in-market accounts list, crafted exclusively for you based on intent signals unique to your business.