How to Leverage Intent Data to Discover Your Next Customer Before They Discover You
- ClickInsights
- Aug 7
- 5 min read
Introduction: The Shift of Power in New Sales
Think about a world where your next customer is already searching for your solution, but you still don't know it. Now, consider your competitor discovering them first. That's the threat all sales teams are exposed to in today's buying-first digital world.
Buyers now conduct much of their research behind the scenes. By the time they fill out a form or reach out for a demo, they've likely narrowed down their options. Overlooking the digital signals your buyers leave behind means falling behind in the sales race.
This is where intent data makes a difference. It provides your sales teams with early visibility into who's actively searching for your solution or industry, enabling you to connect with prospective buyers before they ever reach out to you.
Throughout this blog, we'll take apart what intent data is, how it functions, and how sales leaders can leverage it to find new opportunities and close more deals.
What is Intent Data?
Intent data is referred to as behavior signals that signal when a prospective buyer is actively engaging in researching subjects, solutions, or products that relate to what you are offering.
Two primary types of intent data exist:
First-Party Intent Data
This is sourced directly from your digital assets. These comprise:
Web page views and website visits
Resource or blog downloads
Email clicks and opens.
Webinar registrations
Third-Party Intent Data
These are coming from outside websites and platforms that your prospects are looking at while doing their research. Third-party vendors monitor research behavior across content networks and make purchasing decisions based on this information. Typical sources include:
Review sites such as G2 and TrustRadius.
Publisher networks that track consumption of topics
Platforms like Bombora and 6sense aggregate and analyze buyer intent signals to reveal which companies are actively in-market.
Together, these learnings can provide a better understanding of what prospects care about, when they're in the research process, and how far along they might be from making a purchase decision.
Why Intent Data is a Game-Changer for Sales Teams
Traditional lead generation focuses on gathering contact info and hoping the prospect is ready to buy. With intent data, you're turning that model on its head. Instead of waiting around, you actively qualify prospects who are warming up in the background.
The strategic edge intent data gives today’s top-performing sales teams:
1. Proactive Outreach
Sales reps no longer need to wait for form completions. With intent data, they can rank accounts for outreach based on real-time interest.
2. Improved Conversion Rates
When you contact someone when they're in an active research mode, your message will resonate more. Intent data ensures your outreach aligns with the moment of highest buyer interest.
3. Reduced Sales Cycle Length
By targeting accounts currently in-market, reps can bypass the up-front nurturing and immediately engage in substantive conversation.
4. Personalized Engagement
With knowledge of what a buyer is investigating, you're able to customize your outreach with precision. It isn't merely about connecting. It's about connecting with the right party.
How to Effectively Use Intent Data in Your Sales Process
Intent data is only effective when it's actionable. Here’s how to implement it with purpose throughout the entire sales journey.
A. Discover High-Intent Accounts
Apply topic and keyword monitoring to identify accounts that are viewing content related to your product category. Search for spikes in interest or consistent interaction, which typically indicate an active buying cycle.
Some platforms measure intent with intensity and recency scores. Focus on accounts with high frequency and recent activity.
B. Get Sales and Marketing Aligned
Intent data is most effective when sales and marketing are aligned. Share dashboards or reports pointing out which accounts are growing in intent. Align your outreach so prospects hear consistent messaging from every channel.
For instance, while marketing heats the account with ads and retargeting, sales can follow up with a targeted email mentioning the very same topic they have been researching.
Generic cold emails don't work anymore. When a prospect is looking at "sales automation tools" or "B2B CRM comparisons," your email needs to address them directly.
Reference their digital behavior directly in your email subject and opening line. You could say, "Hi Alex, I see that your company is looking to automate B2B outreach. Here's a quick guide that may help."
D. Perfect Your Timing
Intent data enables you to engage prospects at the peak of their interest. Rather than make educated guesses about when to follow up, allow real-time cues to set your pace.
Pair intent with firmographics such as industry, company size, or geography to reach the appropriate accounts at the right moment.
Tools and Platforms That Help You Tap into Intent Data
Several platforms facilitate capturing and acting on intent data. Below are some of the most well-known tools used by sales and marketing teams:
Bombora delivers company-level intent insights by analyzing content engagement across a vast network of B2B websites.
6sense: Uses AI to identify where prospects are in the buying journey and streamline outreach. Marathon Health used 6sense to build $66M in net-new pipeline. (Source: 6sense)
G2 Buyer Intent: Tracks which companies are viewing your G2 profile or evaluating you alongside competitors.
ZoomInfo: Offers both contact information and intent data to fuel account-based outreach.
Demandbase brings together critical data sources to identify and engage high-value accounts.
Leadfeeder: Tries to identify companies visiting your site and displays what they're looking at.
Most of them natively integrate with CRMs such as Salesforce or HubSpot, so your reps can get notified when key accounts heat up.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Though intent data is potent, it's not infallible. Be aware of the following few avoidable errors:
Over-Relying on Data
Intent data is a compass, not a GPS. It directs you in the right direction, but human judgment is still needed to qualify and convert leads.
Misreading Signals
Not all research sessions translate into buying intent. A person reading a blog could be an analyst, competitor, or student. Correlate signals with additional indicators, such as job titles or previous engagement, to confirm interest.
Delayed Action
Intent data is temporary. Don't wait too long, as the interest declines and the opportunity gets lost. Develop mechanisms to move quickly when signals are seen.
Example of Intent Data in Action
Let’s see how a company really practiced these strategies.
BetterCloud, a SaaS platform, had a usual problem to solve: recognizing and engaging with an ideal customer profile (ICP) account before they reached out—or worse, before a competitor reached out.
BetterCloud solved this problem by integrating G2 Buyer Intent data and RollWorks with their sales processes. These platforms notified their sales team whenever potential customers were researching BetterCloud or they were being compared to other SaaS applications. These signals were CRM system integrated, which allowed timely ad and outreach activation by sales representatives.
The results?
3.7× more likely to create an opportunity with intent-signaled accounts
36% shorter sales cycles
81% larger influenced deal sizes.
This example shows how effective real-time intent signals and swift, tailored responses can be. BetterCloud acted on signals buyers left instead of waiting to be found and achieved clear, quantifiable results.
Sources:
Conclusion: Get Ahead by Getting Intentional
Top sales teams don't wait to be discovered. Instead, they proactively seek out buyers when they are interested. Intent data provides you with a front-row seat to your prospect's online activity, enabling you to time your approach, tailor your message, and close deals quicker.
If you're not currently leveraging intent data, now is the time to look into it. Begin by looking for a platform that fits into your tech stack, educating your sales force to listen to the signals, and developing a strategy for proactive outreach.
Because in today's age, the first-to-respond company usually wins the deal.
Ready to end speculating and begin interacting with real purpose? Your next customer is already looking. Ensure it's you they find.
Comments