As a B2B marketer, I’m sure you’re looking to move the needle on pipeline and revenue. You want to craft compelling campaigns, but are wondering how you might reach target accounts at the right time with the right messaging. Luckily, we’ve got your answer. In a recent DGR webinar featuring our CEO and Founder, Andre Yee, he specifically answers this question. Read on to get a recap of the webinar. You can also listen here.
Before we get started, we thought we’d first discuss what intent data is.
Intent data is used to alert the sales and marketing teams when target accounts are in buying mode. When intent data is used correctly, it can dramatically boost conversions and sales. Examples of intent data include downloads of case studies, website visits, product reviews, or the amount of time spent on web pages specifically related to the industry.
Why intent?
So why intent data? In traditional lead gen, prospects will fill out a form fill and then marketers will deliver the qualified leads from that list to sales for follow-up. From a marketing perspective, there’s no activity until the form fill is complete. This is known as “hand-raises” and permits marketers and sales to reach out.
According to Andre, “Over time, buyers have been delaying the form fill registration. Therefore, when you view the initial point of interest and final point of purchase, contact of form registration actually happens when 60-80% of the buyer’s journey is complete.”
However, with the combination of intent data and the use of Account-Based Marketing (ABM), you’re able to proactively target accounts you care about through orchestrated campaigns. Identifying buying intent earlier in the purchase journey is imperative, this triggers sales follow-up at the right time.
What are the two types of intent data?
Intent data is broken down into two different types:
- first-party intent
- third-party intent
First-party intent data includes buying signals based on activities on your website or responses to your campaigns. Some signals indicate purchase interest such as registering for a webinar or downloading a case study. Others are more explicit signs of purchase intent such as visiting the solutions page or exploring pricing. However, if you rely solely on first-party intent signals, you’re only seeing a small portion of buyers who are in the buying cycle. To understand purchase intent beyond your own website, you’ll need to look into third-party intent.
Third-party intent data includes signals based on account activity on other sites. For example, when a prospect reads an article on a third-party site, that activity registers as a signal associated with the topic of the video or article. As an example, Yee explains, “you’re a security company, and you’re selling new firewall technology, and a Fortune 1,000 account is reading an article that might indicate buying interest.” We say “might” because, with third-party intent, it doesn’t necessarily point to purchase intent. The reader may be an active buyer or just generally interested in the topic. Therefore, with third-party intent, there’s much more noise in the data.
In the end, both first and third-party intent data have their pros and cons. With first-party intent, you’ll get strong, reliable signals of purchase intent, but it’s limited in scope. Whereas with third party intent, the scope is more extensive, but there’s much more noise and, oftentimes, signals general interest in your category rather than purchase intent. The key to leveraging purchase intent data is to combine both types of intent data. You’ll get a better read on the purchase intent of your target accounts, and that’ll equip you to integrate intent-based insights into your ABM programs.
Next week, in continuation of this week’s blog post, we will be addressing how you can combine intent data with ABM. We’ll introduce some of the successful plays we’ve seen our clients execute, and show how intent data can address common challenges marketers face in their day-to-day.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joanne Mason
Senior Marketing Specialist at Triblio
Joanne is responsible for the strategic planning and execution of sponsored conferences and custom events for Triblio along with managing Triblio’s social media activity, as well as assist with the development and distribution of marketing communication.