By now, every major sales intelligence platform (and a lot of the minor ones, too) has intent data. At this point, it’s pretty much a must.
But a lot of people are still unclear on what exactly intent data is or how to take advantage of its insights. The goal of this guide is to make sure that won’t be a problem anymore once you’re done reading.
We’ll tell you what intent data is, how it works, and the most important part: all the different ways you can use it.
What is intent data?
Intent data tells you when a specific location of a company shows signals that they’re interested in a particular topic. It’s a collection of inputs from several sources that, combined, reveal what someone (or multiple someones) at the company is actively researching.
It’s like a crystal ball or ESP. Or, at least, the next best thing we can offer with the current technology. Intent data is a huge clue into what your potential customers are thinking about: their pain points, the solutions they might be looking at, and – most importantly – if they’re looking at it right now.
That means you get a chance to peek into their buying process earlier than you normally would.
For many platforms – Lusha included – intent signals are ranked based on topics. The score a company shows for a particular topic is a hint at their level of interest in it. Which, one can assume, is related to how likely they are to purchase something relevant to that topic.
Think of it as the answer to the exhausting method of spray and pray. Research shows that only about 15% of your customers are in the market at any given time, so a lot of that effort ends up wasted (or at least takes forever to show results). Instead of throwing out your message to a whole bunch of contacts without knowing if they’re in the market, you can find the right prospects at the right time using intent.
But that’s just the beginning of how Intent can be useful to you.
Where does intent data come from?
One of the main questions people ask about intent data is: where does it come from?
When you research something on the internet, you basically leave breadcrumbs that show you’re interested in something. Intent data tracks those breadcrumbs, and if a company leaves an increasing number of them, you can infer there’s intent to buy.
But you probably want something more specific than the breadcrumb metaphor, so let’s break it down further. Intent data is made up of an analysis of behavioral data that shows deep, active interest in a topic.
Intent signals from Bombora, Lusha’s Intent partner, are more than just tracked keyword searches. In addition to bidstream data, they use consumption of content like research/analyst sites and white papers as well as vendor site activity and link all of these sources together to find common topics. Things like engagement metrics are also monitored to show both the baseline level of interest in a topic and to indicate when that interest has increased.
What you can do with intent data
So now that we’re clear on what intent data is, the next question is what exactly you can do with it.
The answer is a lot more than you’d expect.
In this guide, we’ll go over some of the main use cases for intent in addition to some interesting, potentially unexpected ones you may not have thought of. We can’t claim to offer you all the possible use cases, but we’ve got a dozen good ones which should be a pretty solid start.
1. Confirm your ideal customer profile (ICP)
Knowing your ICP is foundational to your go-to-market strategy. You may think you’ve got your ideal customer all figured out, but what does the data say?
If your product is new to market or you’re trying to be a disruptor in your industry, you might not have enough closed/won data for predictive modeling.
This is where intent data can come in handy. Check what companies show high intent for the kind of product or solution you offer. What do they have in common? Where are they located?
With the addition of intent data, you can validate your ICP and figure out where – and to whom – your offering is most relevant.
2. Map your customer journey
Having a solid understanding of your customers’ journey will help you tailor your sales tactics and marketing depending on where a customer is in the buying process. The specifics will look different depending on what a buying cycle for your product is like, but in general, you’ll see three spikes in intent throughout.
The first wave comes when someone at a target company begins researching a solution – possibly your future end user or champion.
The second wave happens when more decision-makers are being brought into the discussion. They’ve heard about the initial search, and now they’re researching more and seeing how your type of solution will align with an overall company goal.
The third and last surge comes with all the extra departments that will need to agree to the terms and conditions – legal, finance, procurement.
Why take a look back at intent across a buyer’s journey? For one, it confirms (or prompts you to reassess) your understanding of how prospect companies move through the buying process for your solution. Also, it allows you to fine-tune your messaging to prospects depending on where they are on the buyer’s journey.
3. Find prospects based on their interest in your partners
Most of the time, you’ll use intent to track interest in a solution that you offer. But you can approach it from another angle to find entirely new prospects. Follow intent signals not only for topics related to your solution, but also for products that you integrate or partner with.
Then you can reach out to prospects with the proposal of an easy addition to their tech stack. These prospects might not be actively looking for your solution, but they’re looking for something complementary. They might not even know they need your offering just yet.
4. Score and prioritize leads
While your ICP is foundational, it’s not enough to go off of when you’re prospecting. After all, there are tons of companies out there that might be a good fit, but only so many people on your outbound sales team.
The key to making the best use of their time and effort is to prioritize your outreach with Intent. One of intent data’s major strengths is it helps narrow down your list to companies that are most likely ready to buy right now. When you can see what companies (and which locations for that company) have active intent for a topic relevant to you, it’s another layer to add to your lead scoring and help prioritize your outreach.
5. Personalize outreach
If you want a way to warm up cold calls, Intent comes in handy. With timing and relevance on your side, you can use intent data to make your cold call pitch more personalized.
Here’s how you do it: take a look at the relevant intent topics a prospect company trends for. Based on that, you can offer up something that’s immediately relevant – hopefully hooking them so they’ll stay on the line long enough for a good discussion.
Using intent data to personalize your cold outreach allows you to form an instant connection with prospects so you can open the door without taking a shot in the dark.
6. Connect with leads before an event
If you’re planning to attend a conference or seminar, intent data can give you a leg up on getting in touch with interested prospects. Before the event, take a look at the list of companies that will be in attendance.
Which ones show the highest intent for topics related to what you sell? Pair those intent insights with intel from a sales intelligence platform to find some relevant contacts. Then, reach out ahead of time to schedule meetings with those in-market prospects at the event. That way, you can focus your time and energy on the attendees who are most likely to buy.
This also works for virtual events like webinars. Using intent, find companies that show the highest interest in topics related to your solution and send them personalized emails ahead of the event. Pairing a webinar with the power of Intent can boost both registrations and attendance.
7. Strengthen your event follow-up
Just because someone stopped by your booth at an expo or attended a webinar, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ready to buy just yet. Only a small fraction of your ideal buyers are actually in the market for your offering at any given time. And while engaging with you at an event shows more intent than average, you still might have a ton of leads to follow up on and need to prioritize.
Using intent data, you can figure out which attendees on the list need to be contacted immediately, and which can just be added to a nurture campaign so you can keep in touch until the time is right. Take a look at the companies you scanned at your trade show booth or who signed up for a webinar and find which ones have the highest (or currently spiking) intent. Prioritize giving personalized attention to those.
8. Find opportunities to upsell and cross-sell.
Knowing the right time to upsell or cross-sell can be tricky. You don’t want to come on too strong and turn them away. But you don’t have to wait till renewal conversations (or take a wild guess).
Take a look at your customers’ intent data. If they’re showing signals for terms related to other services you offer, then you’ve got an opportunity to open up a conversation about other ways you can help them. The plus: they already know and love you, so they’ll be more willing to hear you out. And you’ve just shown you have freakishly good timing and near-psychic knowledge of their needs and wants.
9. Monitor for churn
How can you make sure you’re not blindsided by a customer breakup conversation – or, even better, prevent it entirely? You guessed it: Intent can help with that, too.
Here’s how: make sure to monitor intent for existing customers. Does the data show that they’re starting to look at your competitors or for a solution like yours? If so, there might be a problem.
But because you got a chance to see that they might be ready to shop around, you have a prime opportunity to step in before it’s too late. Connect them with customer service and start the conversation about what they need to make their experience better.
10. Revive lost opportunities
Not all lost opportunities are lost forever. Keep “the one that got away” on your radar in case they end up regretting their decision down the line.
Give it a few months, but less than a year before you check in again. You’re aiming for the sweet spot of soon enough they won’t have renewed (or auto-renewed) the competing contract, but long enough that the “new solution” sheen has worn off and they might be reconsidering their choice.
Take a look at the intent data for a topic related to the problem you solve. Is it high (or even better, shows a recent rise)? If so, that’s a good hint that the solution they chose isn’t checking all the right boxes, and they’re back to trying to solve a problem. Thanks to Intent, you can open up a discussion with your lost opportunities at a relevant time and see if they’re interested in exploring your solution again.
11. Make even more targeted ads
Intent isn’t just for sales – the whole go-to-market team can get in on the fun. One use case you may not have thought of: using Intent for super-targeted, relevant ad messaging.
As you plan ads for specific platforms and target markets, use intent to hone in on specific areas of interest for segments of your audience. Is your ICP in a specific geographic area showing interest in a particular aspect of the solution you offer? Use that to create highly relevant messaging advertised to the right audience at the right time.
12. Choose a topic for webinars or other events
If you’re planning an event like a webinar or seminar, use Intent to make sure don’t end up talking to a bored, disinterested audience or have low signup numbers.
Talk about what your audience actually wants to hear by looking at intent signals for the companies in your ideal audience. What topics are they currently showing interest in that are relevant to your expertise or adjacent to your company’s offering? Those are the things they want to learn about right now, which means you have a golden opportunity to step in with the answer to all their questions.
Using intent data with Lusha
Now that we’ve covered potential ways you can use intent data, one last question remains (and it’s kind of a big one): how do you use it?
Thankfully, it’s pretty simple.
You can get a walk-through of how to use Lusha’s Intent with our demo.
On the Lusha platform, all you need to do is go to the Intent tab. While you’re there, add filters like location, company size, and industry to narrow down by your ICP (or the target audience you’re interested in).
Browse to see which topics are on the rise for the companies on the results page, or select a specific topic you want to track.
That’s it. The rest is up to you and what you choose to do with the insights that Intent can give you.
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