Glossary: targeting
What is intent data in B2B sales?
Intent data is information that suggests a company is researching a problem or a product right now. It comes from behavior, such as pages read, searches made and jobs posted, and it is used to decide which accounts to contact first.
Two kinds of intent data
First-party intent
- Comes from your own site and emails
- Shows visits, clicks and replies
- Covers people who already know you
Third-party intent
- Comes from outside your site
- Shows research, hiring and funding
- Covers companies that have never heard of you
Intent data comes in two kinds, and both describe timing.
A profile tells you who could buy. Intent tells you who might be buying now. First-party intent and third-party intent differ in where the signal is seen.
First-party intent comes from your own channels.
It comes from your own site and emails and shows visits, clicks and replies. It covers people who already know you, so the signal is strong and the audience is small.
Third-party intent comes from elsewhere.
It comes from outside your site and shows research, hiring and funding. It covers companies that have never heard of you, so it reaches far more accounts with less certainty.
A signal fades.
Intent describes a moment. A company that was researching in March may have bought by June, so the date matters as much as the signal.
Here is intent data used to order a list for an invented company.
Imagine Sorrelgate, an invented company that sells HR software. Its list holds 1,000 accounts that fit its profile. In the last 30 days, 120 of them posted a job for an HR manager, and 45 of those also visited Sorrelgate's pricing page.
Sorrelgate emails the 45 with a job posting and a pricing page visit first, with a message about onboarding new HR hires. The 75 with a job posting only go second. The other 880 showed no signal in the last 30 days and stay in the normal sequence. Nobody was added or removed. Intent data only changed the order.
Sorrelgate's 1,000 accounts, ordered by intent
Use intent data to decide who to contact first.
Intent works best as a way to order a list you already trust, not as a way to build one.
The four steps in order
- 1Start with fit
- 2Pick signals
- 3Act quickly
- 4Check the lift
- 1
Start with accounts that fit.
Apply the ideal customer profile first. A signal from a company that could never buy is noise.
- 2
Pick two or three signals that mean something.
Choose events that create the need you solve, such as a new hire, a new site or a funding round.
- 3
Act quickly, while the signal is fresh.
Set a window, such as 30 days. Reach out inside it and mention the event in plain words.
- 4
Check the lift a signal gives.
Track reply rate for accounts with a signal against the rest. Keep the signals that earn their cost.
Prymatica sources a custom prospect list for your exact ICP, verifies every contact before sending and optimizes your campaign on real data every week. See how Prymatica's cold email process works.
Teams make these mistakes with intent data.
Intent replaces fit.
A burst of research from a company outside the profile is still a company outside the profile. Fit comes first, and intent orders the list.
Old signals are treated as new.
A signal with no date is a guess. Drop any signal older than the window you set.
The email reveals too much.
Saying "we saw you visited our pricing page" unsettles people. Refer to the public event, such as the job posting, and leave the tracking out.
These glossary terms sit next to intent data.
Questions
People ask these questions about intent data.
What is an example of intent data?
A company posting a job for a role your product supports, several people from one company reading about a topic you cover, a visit to your pricing page or a funding announcement. Each suggests a need that may be active now.
What is the difference between first-party and third-party intent data?
First-party intent is behavior on channels you own, such as your site and your emails. Third-party intent is behavior seen elsewhere, such as research on other sites, job postings and news. First-party is more certain. Third-party covers more accounts.
How is intent data used in outbound?
It is used to order a list, so accounts showing a signal are contacted first, and to choose the angle, so the email speaks to the event behind the signal. It does not replace an ideal customer profile.
Does intent data mean a company is ready to buy?
It means something has happened that often comes before a purchase. Treat it as a reason to start a conversation sooner, and let the reply tell you whether there is a real need.
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