How would you feel if we told you there was a way to bypass the guessing game and target your potential clients when looking for a solution like yours? With buyer intent data, there is.

In today’s digital world, buyers spend more time online researching products/services and gathering information to support their work. As more and more working practices move to technology, more data and information becomes available to marketers about their habits, behaviors, and interests. As buyer behavior continues to evolve and the competition continues to increase, B2B buyer intent data is becoming increasingly valuable. It supports decision-making, sales and marketing investment, personalization of communication, and helps you stand out from the competition.

This article introduces buyer intent data, what it is, and the differences between first-party, second-party, and third-party intent data. You'll also learn about what buyer intent data is available and the impacts using it will have on your sales and marketing.

 

What is buyer intent data?

Buyer intent data refers to information that can identify potential customers interested in purchasing your product/service. This data can be collected through online forms and digital behavior, surveys, customer interviews, and by data aggregators and providers. It can help businesses better understand customer needs and develop marketing strategies against them. Additionally, buyer intent data can help identify opportunities for upselling and cross-selling.

 

First-party, second-party, and third-party intent data

Buyer intent data comes in three forms: first-party, second-party, and third-party.

First-party intent data is the data you collect about your customers and users. This includes visitor analytics, your CRM, and any other technology used on your website and marketing that collects identifiable user information.

Second-party intent data is collected directly from first-party sources, usually sourced through partners, affiliates, and data providers or researchers that gather the data themselves.

Third-party intent data is external or offsite data collected from interactions on third-party websites.

Third-party data is often the first type that comes to mind when thinking about intent data, but first-party and second-party data are often more valuable. Both first and second-party data can provide more useful information to your marketing and sales functions as the data can be more recent, relevant, and accurate.

For example, first-party intent data will show the companies on your website and the content they view and use, providing sales intelligence to drive high conversion sales outreach.

 

What are the signs of buyer intent?

Buyer intent signs vary from company to company, but here are some examples of intent data signals relevant for most B2B marketing and sales teams:

First-party intent data

• Web page visits, resource downloads (e.g. success stories and eBooks), and visitor spikes in behavior or content consumption
• Email and outreach engagement

Second-party intent data

• Event data and event research
• Search and online ad behavior

Third-party intent data

• Comparison of website searches and behavior
• Visitor spikes in content consumption

 

The impact of using buyer intent data

• Higher conversion rates - By understanding buyer intent, sales conversion rates improve because salespeople can better align their pitch with buyer needs. Additionally, using buyer intent data allows salespeople to focus their efforts on those leads that are most likely to close.
• Better ROI on sales and marketing - By understanding the keywords and search terms used by prospective customers, you can tailor your marketing efforts to be more effective and generate more leads. Additionally, analyzing buyer intent can identify potential areas of improvement in your sales process, such as where prospects are dropping off or getting stuck.
• Shorter decision-making cycle - Buyer intent data can help you understand what your buyers are looking for and how they want to consume your content, which can shorten the buyer journey. Additionally, this data can help you adjust your marketing strategies to better align with your buyer needs.
• Competitive advantage - If your competitors are not using buyer intent data, you have a competitive advantage. If you use the data effectively, you will close more deals and grow your business faster than your competitors.

 

Sales are getting smart

Investing in buyer intent is a smart and efficient way to get ahead of your competition.

Here’s how to get started:

1. To capture first-party intent data you will need to embed a reverse IP lookup solution on your website. For second-and third-party data, you can work with a provider that supplies intent data collected through sources such as events and online behavior.
2. Organize a regular report of the companies visiting your website, and a report from your data provider with companies displaying buyer intent.
3. Filter companies displaying buyer intent with your target account profile.
4. Collect target account data from your CRM or through your data provider.
5. Perform account-based marketing, providing information to support target accounts with their information gathering or product/service search. This could include:

• Email marketing
• Sales outreach
• Advertising on search and social
• Retargeting

 

How we can help

If you are considering investing in buyer intent data, get in touch. Our Precision platform includes buyer intent insights that help you find, reach, and convert your ideal customers.