Intent Signal
Third-party data indicating a company is actively researching purchase decisions.
Definition
Intent signals are third-party data indicators suggesting a company is actively researching solutions or considering purchases in specific categories. Providers aggregate signals from content consumption, search behavior, and review site activity across the web.
Intent data enables proactive outreach to companies showing buying signals before they engage directly with your brand. This shifts marketing from waiting for inbound interest to identifying and engaging active buyers.
Why It Matters
Reaching buyers when they're actively researching dramatically improves conversion rates compared to cold outreach. Intent signals help marketing and sales prioritize accounts showing genuine buying interest.
For B2B teams, intent data can transform pipeline generation by focusing effort on companies already in-market.
Examples in Practice
Intent data reveals a target account is researching CRM solutions, triggering a coordinated sales and marketing outreach.
Weekly intent scoring identifies 50 accounts showing surging interest in cybersecurity topics for immediate nurturing.
Marketing uses intent signals to time account-based advertising, showing ads when accounts are actively researching.