What Is Intent Data? A Beginner's Guide to Buying Intent Signals
Here’s a question that keeps B2B marketers up at night: How do you know if a prospect is actually interested in buying, or just browsing?
Here’s a question that keeps B2B marketers up at night: How do you know if a prospect is actually interested in buying, or just browsing?
Here’s a question that keeps B2B marketers up at night: How do you know if a prospect is actually interested in buying, or just browsing?
Canadian SaaS teams face a unique selling challenge: your best prospects are likely evaluating solutions from larger, better-funded US vendors. You can’t outspend them on brand awareness or advertising. But you can outrun them on precision and insight.
Traditional outbound sales prioritizes list quality and cadence: “Find 1000 accounts that match our ICP, sequence them through 8 emails and 5 calls, close 2%.” Intent-driven outbound does the opposite: “Find 100 accounts showing active buying signals, sequence them through 5 personalized interactions, close 15-20%.”
Traditional outbound sales prioritizes list quality and cadence: “Find 1000 accounts that match our ICP, sequence them through 8 emails and 5 calls, close 2%.” Intent-driven outbound does the opposite: “Find 100 accounts showing active buying signals, sequence them through 5 personalized interactions, close 15-20%.”
Healthcare technology vendors face a unique market dynamic. Health systems operate on long sales cycles (6 to 18 months), have complex buying committees (clinicians, IT, compliance, finance), and are evaluating digital transformation solutions continuously. But finding which health systems are actively in-market is difficult.
G2 and Bombora both deliver intent data but measure it differently: G2 tracks review activity (60k companies), Bombora aggregates web signals (100k+ companies). SaaS-only buyers favor G2 for precision ($10k-40k/year). Multi-vertical and real-time signal needs favor Bombora ($36K-50k/year). Combined, they reduce signal gaps and improve buying signal confidence from 60% to 85%.
First-party intent (website behavior) and third-party intent (Bombora, G2) both matter, but they serve different purposes. First-party identifies active research on your site; third-party finds companies researching you before they arrive. Combined, they deliver 80% confidence in buying intent. Using only one gives you 40-60% confidence and misses significant pipeline opportunities.
G2 and Bombora both deliver intent data but measure it differently: G2 tracks review activity (60k companies), Bombora aggregates web signals (100k+ companies). SaaS-only buyers favor G2 for precision ($10k-40k/year). Multi-vertical and real-time signal needs favor Bombora ($36K-50k/year). Combined, they reduce signal gaps and improve buying signal confidence from 60% to 85%.
First-party intent (website behavior) and third-party intent (Bombora, G2) both matter, but they serve different purposes. First-party identifies active research on your site; third-party finds companies researching you before they arrive. Combined, they deliver 80% confidence in buying intent. Using only one gives you 40-60% confidence and misses significant pipeline opportunities.
Buyer intent signals (explicit: website visits, form fills; implicit: competitor research, review activity) are the foundation of effective ABM. Teams that layer first-party, third-party, CRM, and engagement signals with confidence scoring see 3-5x better response rates compared to blast outreach. Without intent, 90% of outreach is wasted on non-buying accounts.
Here’s a question that keeps B2B marketers up at night: How do you know if a prospect is actually interested in buying, or just browsing?