Knowing your customers and prospects is a key factor for success in the B2B market. But it’s not enough to know who they are. You also need to know what they are thinking, feeling, and doing at every stage of their buying journey. You need to know their intent.
But what does B2B intent data mean and why is it so essential for your business growth? In this blog, we will explain the meaning, types, sources, use cases, and benefits of B2B intent data, and how you can use it to create more effective and personalized marketing and sales strategies.
What is B2B intent data?
B2B intent data is a way to analyze and predict customer behavior in the digital landscape. It is a tool that helps brands and retailers understand what their customers want so they can deliver relevant content at the right time on the right channel.
Intent data is information collected about a web user’s observed behavior, such as web content consumption, that shows their interests and potential intent to take a specific action. For businesses, that means understanding who might be moving closer to a buying decision or the nuances of the most common path toward a sale or conversion.
What are the types and sources of B2B intent data?
There are different types and sources of B2B intent data, each with its strengths and weaknesses. The main types are:
- First-party intent data: This is the data that you collect from your website or content libraries, such as page views, downloads, form fills, email clicks, etc. This data gives you insight into the behavior and preferences of your known leads and prospects, but it does not tell you much about their activities outside your domain or their level of purchase readiness.
- Second-party intent data: This is the data that you get from another party, such as a partner, publisher, or vendor, who has direct access to their first-party data. This data can help you extend your reach and visibility into new audiences and markets, but it may not be very accurate or consistent depending on the quality and reliability of the source.
- Third-party intent data: This is the data that you buy from a third-party provider who monitors and aggregates the online behavior of millions of anonymous users across thousands of websites and platforms. This data can help you identify who is in an active buying process, what topics they are researching, and how to prioritize and progress your opportunities. However, this data may also be noisy, incomplete, or outdated depending on the methodology and frequency of the provider.
How can you use B2B intent data?
B2B intent data can be used for various purposes and stages of the buyer’s journey, such as:
- Demand generation: You can use intent data to create targeted campaigns and content that attract and engage your ideal customers based on their interests and needs. You can also use intent data to optimize your SEO and PPC strategies by focusing on the keywords and topics that your prospects are searching for.
- Lead generation: You can use intent data to generate more qualified leads by offering relevant offers and incentives that match their intent signals. You can also use intent data to enrich your lead profiles with additional information such as company size, industry, location, etc.
- Lead nurturing: You can use intent data to nurture your leads with personalized and timely messages that move them along the sales funnel. You can also use intent data to segment your leads based on their behavior and preferences and deliver customized content and experiences for each segment.
- Account-based marketing (ABM): You can use intent data to identify and target your high-value accounts based on their purchase propensity and fit. You can also use intent data to align your marketing and sales teams around a common goal and strategy for each account.
- Customer retention: You can use intent data to retain your existing customers by providing them with value-added content and services that address their pain points and challenges. You can also use intent data to monitor their satisfaction and loyalty levels and prevent churn by detecting any signs of dissatisfaction or defection.
Why is B2B intent data essential for your business?
B2B intent data is essential for your business because it helps you:
- Increase your conversion rates: By using intent data, you can deliver more relevant and personalized content and offers to your prospects at the right time on the right channel, increasing their likelihood of taking action.
- Improve your efficiency and productivity: By using intent data, you can prioritize your efforts and resources on the most promising leads and accounts, reducing your cost per lead and increasing your return on investment.
- Enhance your customer experience: By using intent data, you can provide your customers with more value-added content and services that address their pain points and challenges, increasing their satisfaction and loyalty levels.
- Gain a competitive edge: By using intent data, you can gain deeper insights into your customers and prospects, and anticipate their needs and expectations, giving you an advantage over your competitors.
How can you get started with B2B intent data?
If you want to get started with B2B intent data, here are some steps you can take:
- Define your goals and use cases: Before you invest in any intent data solution, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how you want to use the data. For example, do you want to generate more leads, nurture existing leads, target specific accounts, retain customers, etc.?
- Choose your data sources and providers: Depending on your goals and use cases, you need to decide what type and source of intent data you need, and who can provide it. For example, do you need first-party, second-party, or third-party data? Do you need topic-based or account-based data? Do you need real-time or historical data? Do you need a data co-op or a bidstream provider?
- Integrate your data with your systems and processes: Once you have your data sources and providers, you need to integrate them with your existing systems and processes, such as your CRM, marketing automation, analytics, etc. You also need to establish clear workflows and roles for using the data across your marketing and sales teams.
- Measure your results and optimize your strategies: Finally, you need to track and analyze the results of using intent data, such as conversion rates, revenue, customer satisfaction, etc. You also need to test and optimize your strategies based on the feedback and insights you get from the data.
Conclusion
B2B intent data is a powerful tool that can help you understand and influence your customers and prospects in the digital landscape. It can help you create more effective and personalized marketing and sales strategies that drive more conversions and revenue for your business.
However, not all intent data is created equal. You need to be careful about the type, source, quality, and reliability of the data you use. You also need to have a clear goal and use case for the data, and integrate it with your systems and processes.
