What do we mean by Intent Data?

by Robert Howells

I don’t think that any term in B2B marketing is used more loosely than “intent data”. Agencies, data providers, and marketing teams all tend to think of it as a kind of magic overlay that will immediately qualify a lead at any stage.

But it isn’t as easy as that. As always, the devil is in the details.

“Intent data” can mean anything – or result in almost absolutely nothing. It is not like install data (information on the technology a company has at different locations), company size, or industry classification. While all these data points delivered by a vendor may be somewhat inaccurate or outdated, there is a correct answer! A business really does have 100 laptops and 250 employees or whatever it might be.

Intent data is much more nuanced. Firstly, remember that you have to consider intent data in three dimensions:

• Time – have the signals changed in intensity and frequency over a period of time? Have you monitored this? Do you see intent waxing or waning – are you too early or too late?
• Content and Type – what do you consider to be an intent signal? Engagement behavior? Focus on clearly defined segments and keywords? Matching models that use AI to effectively integrate different types of intent?
• Traction across the buying group – signals coming from multiple decisionmakers across an organization, particularly, for enterprise contacts, those at different locations?

These are the questions to consider, whether the data is acquired from third parties, or from in-house or agency-based data analysts.

• Do the intent signals come from companies that match your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)? If not, have you got the ICP wrong or the intent set up misaligned?
• Do you have the ability to monitor intent over time – and adjust your nurture program accordingly?
• Can you see which segments and keywords are working best? And is your process agile enough to adjust?
• Have you the ability to look at how intent signals worked or didn’t work in previous won/loss analyses?
• How are your models weighted? Recency, frequency, strength, particular keywords, and segments?
• Are you able to identify signals at contact as opposed to or in addition to account level? And if you can, are you able to match them together?

As always, Demand Studio can help guide, consult, and deliver through the labyrinth of intent!

And we would love to present our own solution, based on thousands of recent interactions with decisionmakers across the globe that captures content engagement, interest, and affinity metrics.