But they\u2019re not asking your sales team for help. The average B2B buyer is mostly finished with the buyer journey<\/a><\/span> before they ever engage with a salesperson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What if you could get ahead of this process? <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s the goal of buyer intent data<\/a>, a cutting-edge sales intelligence<\/a><\/span> tool that cues you into prospects\u2019 subtle buying signals, positioning you to be first in the door to make your pitch. To use a sports analogy: If firmographic data shows where all the players are on the field, intent data shows what they\u2019re each about to do next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intent data shows which leads or accounts are actively researching on third-party sites. <\/strong>When research on a particular topic is higher than usual, the account spikes on those topics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When buyers face a problem, they do online research to find a solution. They often narrow down their options before you\u2019ve even had a chance to connect with them. Now imagine if you knew your prospects were researching a solution like yours shortly after they started the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sales and marketing teams armed with these behavioral signals can then prioritize accounts that are spiking on relevant topics over equally qualified accounts that don\u2019t show intent. When used correctly, B2B intent data boosts conversions and sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With ZoomInfo Intent<\/a>, sales and marketing teams find accounts that research topics relevant to their business through the online consumption of: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations that can collect and use online intent data can reach buyers much earlier in the process, guiding their decision-making before a competitor even knows about the prospect\u2019s interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And most of the time, the first salesperson through the door wins the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Buying intent indicators represent a huge opportunity for forward-thinking companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn theory, the digital footprint that B2B buyers create may actually be bigger, or at least have more depth and breadth. <\/p> So, why is it easier for a small floral delivery service to target a B2C buyer online than, say, a 1,000-person data security company that provides its services exclusively to financial services companies based in the United States?\u201d<\/p>Henry Shuck, ZoomInfo CEO, in Forbes<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Content consumption is a strong signal of buyer intent. The easiest way to access this data is to buy it from a third-party vendor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These platforms collect and aggregate online research activity<\/a> from a data-sharing co-op that includes thousands of B2B websites, media publishers, and other sources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By aggregating activities each week, they create baselines for each company\u2019s average content consumption over time \u2014 and look for spikes above normal levels of topic searches. They also analyze billions of online browsing events as prospects research products and solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, it\u2019s hard to act on raw data. To generate a \u201cspike,\u201d data vendors\u2019 algorithms typically factor in several indicators including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Company spike data allows providers to send relevant information unobtrusively at the right time in their research journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It also helps down-funnel salespeople focus their time when those opportunities are coming to fruition and want to hear from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When prospective buyers visit your website, you can track the activity and bump up lead scores. Or at the very least, when someone fills out and submits a form on your website, you can nurture them with ads and email and potentially convert them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Great. But what about all of those prospects who are researching challenges that your solution can address?<\/p>\n\n\n\n What if they\u2019re doing research \u2014 just not on your website? When your prospects visit other websites, you have no visibility into their activity or implied intent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sales and marketing teams can rely on intent data to ensure effective go-to-market strategies<\/a>, accurate segmentation, and personalized outreach to the right people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies that don\u2019t use predictive intelligence data are limiting their response to data from their own website, while their potential buyer has likely been trying to solve a pain point for weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are five main use cases for sales and marketing teams using intent data<\/a> in 2021:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Analyze and retain customers.<\/strong> Get real-time visibility into which customers are researching topics and solutions. These insights about existing customers make it possible to up-sell proactively and identify pain points \u2014 before you\u2019re blindsided by customers who failed to renew or bought an offering they didn\u2019t know you had from a competitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to TOPO\u2019s latest Intent Data Market Guide<\/a>, B2B intent data has emerged as the fastest-growing data category over the last three years, changing how teams prioritize their time and gather insights about accounts. (Translation: If your competitors haven\u2019t already started to use it, they\u2019re thinking about it.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most B2B customers prefer to research independently online. Predictive purchase data allows sales and marketing teams to initiate contact with buyers earlier in the buying cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We don\u2019t expect this trend of self-guided buyer research to change anytime soon, and companies that wait for prospective buyers to stumble across a landing page are going to be late to the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other benefits of using predictive data include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intent data is rarely used alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Knowing that a lead is interested in a particular topic isn\u2019t very useful unless that lead is also qualified to buy. That\u2019s why intent data is often paired with firmographic, technographic<\/a>, and other data which narrow the list of accounts to just those that are high-fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can think about buyer data in three categories: Fit, Intent, and Opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fit data includes all the different ways of segmenting and scoring prospects (technographic data<\/a>) and accounts (firmographic data). This includes demographics like job level, job function, age, and location. It also includes company firmographics such as tech stack, size, revenue, industry, and budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fit data is pretty static. It can tell you whether an organization or an individual contact is generally a good fit \u2014 but says nothing about context or timing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We refer to opportunity data as \u201cScoops,” which indicate favorable conditions for a sale within an organization. Scoops are company events like new rounds of funding, moves and shake-ups in the C-suite<\/a>, mergers and acquisitions, new store openings. And all of these buyer signals<\/a> show favorable conditions for a sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This tells you that the time is right to engage with people who are actively showing intent to purchase a solution. When you combine intent data with other signals and a strong fit, the likelihood of success is much higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s helpful to know when there\u2019s activity at a company, but if you don\u2019t know who to engage with and don\u2019t have a phone number or email address for them, it may be insightful, but it isn\u2019t actionable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The data trifecta of Fit, Opportunity and Intent puts all of the pieces together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When evaluating intent data providers, here are a few crucial questions to ask:<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat is Intent Data?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How is Buyer Intent Data Collected?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How Does Intent Data Differ from Other Web Tracking Data?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How Do You Use B2B Intent Data?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Why is Predictive Data Important for B2B Sales?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Get in Front of Buyers Earlier in the Buying Process<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Using Intent with Other Types of B2B Data<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Graphic-fit-intent-opportunity\"](\"https:\/\/pipelineblog.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/Graphic-fit-intent-opportunity.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nFit Data<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Opportunity Data<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Intent Data<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Evaluating Intent Platforms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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