Intent data tells you something most marketers don’t know: who’s actively buying right now.
Traditional demand generation assumes people will find you through content, ads, or referrals. Intent data inverts this. It starts with people searching for solutions and works backward to identify them.
The person who searches for “sales engagement platform alternatives” is more likely to buy a sales engagement platform than someone who finds your blog post on leading sales. That’s intent.
This guide walks you through sourcing, scoring, and activating intent data to drive outbound results.
Intent data is evidence that someone is researching a solution to a problem you solve.
There are two types:
Evidence of buying behavior captured by external data providers.
Examples: - Bombora: Consumer behavior data showing which accounts are searching for specific topics - ZoomInfo: Engagement data showing website visits, email opens, and call behavior - 6sense: AI-powered intent based on browsing, search, and first-party data - LinkedIn: Job posts, hiring activity, and engagement on solution-related content
What it includes: - Account name and contact information - Topic or solution being researched - Intent score (1-100, usually) - Time period (when the intent occurred) - Source (search, web behavior, content, etc.)
Cost: $10K-100K+ per year depending on data provider
Evidence you capture from your own website and marketing.
Examples: - Website visitors from your analytics - Content downloads and engagement - Email opens and clicks - Demo requests and trial signups - Social media engagement
What it includes: - Account name (from IP lookup or form data) - Content consumed (pages visited, documents downloaded) - Engagement level (time on site, email clicks) - Contact information (if captured via form)
Cost: Free (if you own the data) to $5-20K (if you use IP lookup tools like Clearbit)
Intent data is only valuable if you do something with it. Here’s the workflow:
Pick one data provider. Don’t use three. You’ll get confused about which signal drives results.
Bombora (Best for consumer behavior) - Shows which companies are researching specific topics - Examples: “sales engagement platform” topic shows 200 companies this month - Cost: Starting at $20K/year - Best for: Identifying accounts actively searching for your solution
ZoomInfo (Best for contact data + engagement) - Shows account-level engagement data - Examples: High engagement on your website, recent emails opened - Cost: Starting at $50K/year (includes contact database) - Best for: Account scoring, identifying warm accounts in your database
6sense (Best for AI-powered prediction) - Uses machine learning to predict buying stage - Examples: Account moving from awareness to consideration stage - Cost: Starting at $50K/year - Best for: Predicting accounts most likely to buy in the next 6 months
LinkedIn (Best for hiring and org data) - Job postings, hiring announcements, organizational changes - Examples: Company just hired a VP Sales (suggests sales tool buying) - Cost: Free (manual research) to $20K+/year (LinkedIn Sales Navigator) - Best for: Identifying companies undergoing organizational change
Clearbit (Best for company data + web behavior) - Shows website visitors matched to company - Examples: 50 visitors from Acme Corp this month, mostly from Sales department - Cost: Starting at $500/month - Best for: First-party intent enrichment, visitor identification
Recommendation for startups: Start with free first-party data. Move to Bombora or 6sense if you have budget.
Recommendation for mid-market: Use Bombora or ZoomInfo + LinkedIn for complementary signals.
If you can’t afford third-party data, build intent detection from your own systems.
Step 1: Set up website visitor tracking - Install Clearbit snippet (paid: $500/month) or use Google Analytics + manual IP lookup - Identify company of website visitors - Track pages visited (pricing page, comparison, use-case page = high intent)
Step 2: Create “intent signals” from your data - Visited pricing page 2+ times = +30 points - Downloaded 3+ pieces of content = +20 points - Attended webinar or demo = +40 points - Opened email 3+ times in a week = +15 points - Created trial account = +50 points
Step 3: Prioritize accounts that hit your intent threshold - Total score >75 = “high intent” (prioritize outreach) - Total score 50-74 = “medium intent” (nurture) - Total score <50 = “low intent” (monitor)
Tool stack: Google Analytics 4 + HubSpot + spreadsheet (total cost: free to $300/month)
Raw intent data tells you “Company X is searching for sales tools.” You need to know: Is Company X in my ICP? How big are they? Can they afford me?
For each account with intent signal, add:
Recommendation: Use Apollo for basic enrichment + manual LinkedIn research for high-priority accounts.
Not all intent is equal. Someone visiting your pricing page is more ready to buy than someone downloading a whitepaper.
Step 1: Define your intent signal categories
Product evaluation activity
High intent (40-69 points)
Email engagement with ABM campaigns
Medium intent (20-39 points)
Newsletter signup
Low intent (1-19 points)
Step 2: Create a scoring card
Account Name | Intent Signal | Points | ICP Fit | Days Old | Total Score | Action
Acme Corp | Pricing page | 80 | 100 | 3 days | 85 | Contact today
XYZ Inc | Trial request | 90 | 75 | 1 day | 88 | Contact today
Beta LLC | Whitepaper | 30 | 60 | 30 days | 45 | Nurture
Scoring formula (simplified): - Intent signal points + (ICP fit score × 0.2) = Total score - Decay over time (subtract 1 point per week of inactivity)
Threshold for action: - Score 80+: Contact immediately (intent is hot) - Score 60-79: Contact within 5 days (intent is warm) - Score 40-59: Nurture sequence (intent is cooling) - Score <40: Monitor only
Step 3: Implement decay
Intent gets stale. Someone who visited your pricing page 60 days ago is less likely to buy than someone who visited today.
Apply weekly decay: Score decreases by 5 points per week of no activity.
This pushes stale intent accounts back into nurture and forces fresh outreach.
Now you have high-intent accounts. Time to reach out.
Cadence: - Day 1: Personalized email from AE or SDR (mention the specific action: “saw you checked out our pricing page”) - Day 3: Phone call or LinkedIn message if no response - Day 5: Second email with social proof (case study, customer win) - Day 7: Final check-in with trial link or calendar link
Message framework: “Hi [Name], I noticed you visited [specific page] on [date]. I thought it made sense to connect. We work with [similar company] to [outcome]. Do you have 15 minutes this week to chat about [specific problem they’re likely solving]?”
Why it works: You’re acknowledging their research. You’re not cold. You’re warm.
Cadence: - Day 1: Email mentioning relevant content they’ve engaged with - Day 5: Phone call or LinkedIn - Day 10: Case study or resource - Day 15: Check-in
Message framework: “Hi [Name], I saw you were interested in [topic]. I wanted to share this resource from [similar company] on [specific use case]. Let me know if you’d find it helpful.”
Put them in a nurture email sequence. Don’t call.
Sequence structure (every 5-7 days): - Email 1: Value-add content on their research topic - Email 2: Case study or comparison guide - Email 3: Expert webinar or event invitation - Email 4: Free trial or assessment offer - Then loop back to lower cadence until score rises
Re-score monthly. If they move above 60, break them out and contact directly.
Recommendation: HubSpot sequences + manual LinkedIn outreach (free, effective).
After three months of activating intent data, measure what’s working.
Webinar attendees: What % attend follow-up call?
Conversion rate by intent score
Score 40-59: What % convert to opportunity?
Average deal size by intent source
Do they have shorter sales cycles?
Cost per acquisition by intent source
Example dashboard:
Signal Type | Accounts | Contacted | Replies | Opps | Win Rate | CAC
Pricing page | 50 | 45 | 18 | 5 | 28% | $8K
Webinar | 30 | 25 | 8 | 2 | 25% | $12K
Case study DL | 20 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 25% | $15K
Trial signup | 15 | 15 | 12 | 4 | 33% | $5K
In this example, trial signups convert best. Prioritize reaching trial accounts first.
After 3-6 months, you have data. Use it to improve.
Example adjustment: - Trial signups convert best (33% win rate). Allocate more sales time there. - Pricing page visits convert poorly (10% win rate). Nurture instead of direct outreach. - VP titles convert 2x better than managers. Target VPs more aggressively.
Mistake 1: Treating all intent equally Not all pricing page visits are intent. Someone visiting to compare you to a competitor isn’t intent. Intent data is context-dependent. Use it with other signals.
Mistake 2: Waiting too long to reach out Intent is a perishable asset. If someone visited your pricing page, reach out within 48 hours. After a week, the intent is cooling. After a month, it’s cold.
Mistake 3: Not enriching intent with firmographics You have intent data for 1,000 accounts. Your ICP is 50K+ employee SaaS companies. 800 of your intent accounts are <50 employees. You’ll waste time on poor fit. Always enrich.
Mistake 4: Spray and pray with intent You buy intent data and mass email everyone. That’s not ABM. That’s email spam. Intent is for precision outreach. Use it to personalize at scale, not to remove personalization.
Mistake 5: Not tracking ROI by intent source You buy intent data, activate it, but don’t measure which intent signals drive revenue. You can’t optimize. Always measure back to deals and revenue.
Q: How much does third-party intent data cost? A: $20K-100K/year depending on provider and coverage. For startups, wait or use first-party data. For growing companies, budget $50K/year for one provider.
Q: Can we use multiple intent data providers? A: You can, but start with one. Different providers have different methodology. Mix too many sources and you won’t understand which signal actually works. Once you master one, add a second.
Q: How do we source free intent data? A: Website visitor identification (IP lookup), content downloads, email engagement, webinar attendance, trial signups. Free first-party data is weaker than third-party but works if you use it consistently.
Q: What if we don’t have a sales team to activate intent? A: Start with automated nurture sequences. Once you have outbound team capacity, layer on direct outreach. You don’t need intent data without activation.
Q: How do we handle intent data compliance (privacy)? A: Use intent data to identify accounts, not individuals. Don’t email individual people based on their browsing behavior (privacy risk). Email them at their company email (professional). For GDPR/CCPA, require explicit opt-in for tracking.
Q: Should we use intent data for outbound only or for ads too? A: Both. Use intent to identify target accounts (outbound). Use intent accounts as lookalike audiences (paid ads). Combine for maximum impact.
Intent data turns cold outbound into warm outbound. Start using it today.