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What is intent data?

Intent data is information about what a company or person has been doing that suggests they may be looking for a solution, such as reading about a topic, visiting a pricing page or hiring for a related role. It helps you decide who to contact first, not who fits.

The parts

  1. First-party signalsActions on your own channels: pages visited, emails answered, tools tried. You own this data and can explain it.
  2. Third-party signalsActivity seen elsewhere, such as articles read or topics researched, usually bought from a data provider. Check how the provider collects it.
  3. Event signalsPublic facts that change a company's needs: a new job post, a funding round, a new location or a leadership change.
  4. Weighing the signalsNot all signals are equal. A pricing page visit means more than an old newsletter open, so give each a weight and sum them.

Worked example: Veritask scores signals for one account

Veritask is a made-up security-questionnaire tool. It gives each signal a number of points and contacts an account first when the total reaches a threshold.

By hand

  1. Read three pages about vendor security reviews: 15 points.
  2. Company posted a compliance analyst job: 25 points.
  3. Visited the pricing page twice this week: 30 points.
  4. Opened an old newsletter: 5 points.
  5. Total: 15 + 25 + 30 + 5 = 75 points.
  6. The threshold for a first-priority account is 60 points, so this account moves to the front of the queue.
Read three pages about vendor security reviews15 points
Company posted a compliance analyst job25 points
Visited the pricing page twice this week30 points
Opened an old newsletter5 points

Points per signal for one account (higher means stronger)

How to apply it

  1. List the three to five signals that, in your own deals, showed up before a buyer replied.
  2. Give each signal a weight and decide on a score that moves an account to the front of the queue.
  3. Combine the score with your ideal customer profile so you only chase signals from companies that fit.
  4. Write a message that refers to the real reason for contact, not to the fact that you tracked them.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Contacting every account that shows any signal, including those that do not fit your profile.
  • Quoting a person's browsing history back to them in the first email, which feels intrusive.
  • Buying a feed without asking how the signals are collected and how fresh they are.

Firmographics

Firmographics are the facts that describe a company, such as its industry, number of employees, revenue band, location and age.

Read more

Lead scoring

Lead scoring assigns points to each lead for how well the company and person fit your target buyer and for what they have done, so a team can contact the strongest leads first.

Read more

Account-based marketing

Account-based marketing (ABM) is an approach where you pick a short list of target companies and run tailored outreach to several people at each one, instead of sending the same message to a wide list.

Read more

Questions

Is intent data the same as a lead score?
No. Intent data is raw signals. A lead score combines signals with fit into one number you can act on.
Do I need to buy intent data?
Not to start. Your own site visits, replies and public events such as job posts are free signals you can use first.
How fresh does intent data need to be?
Fresh enough that the reason still holds. A signal from months ago says little about what a company needs today.
Can intent data be wrong?
Yes. A visit can come from a student or a competitor. Treat a signal as a reason to look closer, not as proof.

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