In simple terms, it’s data that indicates that B2B buyers are researching a particular solution, potentially indicating an intent to buy.

Right now, a subset of your potential customers are researching solutions in your space. They’re researching your competitors and if you’re doing enough to ensure you’re visible, they’re researching you. The problem is that unless they land on your website (i.e. your own intent data), you don’t know who they are.

3rd party intent data solves that problem

Intent data uses many data points across social & the web. It identifies companies and decision-makers that might be in the research phase of buying. Great information to have! However, consumption of content in a particular area is only an indication that people might be considering buying.

Combining it with other data, technologies and the means to reach out to people and it gets really interesting:

• LinkedIn gives you contact names
• Firmographic data allows you to target companies in the industries and of the size you want
• Technographic data, using tools like Wappalyzer or Builtwith, will let you focus on companies using particular technologies
• Re-targeting allows you to get content in front of people wherever they are,
• Email addresses & LinkedIn means that you can reach people directly

All of this gives you a means to directly reach out to prospects who are much more likely to be ‘warm’ leads. Get your brand and proposition in front of prospects as they search. This ensures that you’re present as they start considering real solutions.

How to implement

One way to implement this is to combine multiple solutions for each of the different areas above. This allows you to choose the best in class in each area. It can get expensive and can create a bit of a headache in that process automation & integration is more difficult. However, there are some outstanding software solutions combining all of these capabilities on the market. Most have predictive analytics capabilities that vastly improve their effectiveness at spotting prospects that are actually planning to buy.

B2B intent data is one of the fastest-growing data categories. Account-Based Marketing programmes driven by intent data are set to become one of the leading means of B2B lead generation.

To learn more about intent data and the latest techniques in B2B marketing and business development, get in touch!