B2B marketers intent-ions are clear: Some 65% of B2B companies plan to invest more in buyer intent data in 2023, even though 61% of them face shrinking or static budgets. But despite their eager embrace of intent signals, many B2B marketers lack a systematic approach to using the data. More than half of marketers using intent data admit they have a partially developed strategy or none at all, while a mere 18% are currently executing a measurable intent data strategy.
“Intent data needs to be part of a holistic strategy from awareness all the way through the funnel, including into the nurture component and your sales outbound, sales expansion and churn opportunities,” said Jason Gladu, President of Avani Media, a B2B demand generation agency.
To develop an actionable intent data strategy, there are six questions marketers need to ask themselves:
-
What are my objectives and how will I optimize against that goal with intent as part of the formula?
-
What questions am I trying to answer?
-
Who will receive the intent data?
-
How will it flow into my systems?
-
What workflows will it trigger?
-
How does it tie to my key processes around lead management, such as lifecycle, scoring, attribution, marketing and sales?
“Technology is only as powerful as the people or strategies behind it,” said Ellie Cary, Global Head of RevOps at global B2B marketing agency Unreal Digital Group. “If you don’t prioritize the key objectives you’re using intent data for, you may become overwhelmed and unable to effectively execute.”
Sarah Sehgal, Director of Demand Generation at digital experience intelligence platform FullStory, added that marketing should not be the only function making these decisions. Instead, organizations need to create accountability across sales, customer success, product development and other teams using intent data will help marketers maximize ROI from their investment.
Additionally, Sehgal advised marketers to consider what intent data exists in-house and where gaps must be filled with second- or third-party data. She continued that marketers need to work with other functions within the organization to identify and unlock existing internal data that qualifies as intent, such as the number of users associated to an account, the most active users and the number engaging with marketing activities.
Each solution has its strengths and weaknesses. To select the right platform, Gladu advised marketers to consider whether the solution’s audience matches their market sector, where the data comes from, how granular it is and the thresholds for someone to be labeled in-market and to drop off.
With data ingestion typically seen as an afterthought, marketers need to play how they ingest and keep that data updating within their customer relationship management systems, marketing automation platforms and customer data platforms.
For deeper insights into intent data strategies, check out “The 2023 State Of Intent/Signal Data” report now.
