Buyer intent data is transforming B2B sales and marketing. By uncovering detailed insights into prospect behavior and interests, intent data platforms enable businesses to identify and engage high-value accounts at precisely the right moments.
But with many options now available, how do savvy revenue teams choose the right intent data provider? And what are the best practices for activating intent data across go-to-market strategies?
This comprehensive guide answers those questions and more. You’ll learn:
- What buyer intent data is and why it matters
- How to evaluate intent data sources for accuracy and quality
- Key capabilities to look for in intent data platforms
- Profiles of 10 top intent data providers
- Best practices for getting started and optimizing campaigns
Let’s dive in!
What is Buyer Intent Data & Why Does it Matter?
Buyer intent reflects a prospect’s position within the purchase process and their likelihood of buying a product or service. As that willingness solidifies, the buyer’s intent signals change too.
These signals include both behavioral triggers like site visits and downloaded content, along with declared intent such as keyword searches.
Sophisticated algorithms process these signals from millions of sources to identify high-propensity accounts and buying stages. The output—buyer intent data—delivers actionable insights to guide sales and marketing.
For example, intent data may reveal:
- Accounts comparing solutions or increasing research activity
- Existing customers investigating add-ons or new applications
- Prospects downloading competitor collateral or attending relevant events
With this visibility, revenue teams can:
- Save time prospecting by focusing on hot accounts vs. cold calls
- Increase pipeline velocity by engaging prospects at the optimal moments
- Boost win rates with personalized, relevant messaging tailored to each account’s interests
- Retain more customers by addressing needs proactively vs. reactively
Now let’s explore how to source quality intent data.
Finding Accurate, Compliant Intent Data
Intent data lives or dies by its accuracy. Yet with buying signals coming from an endless array of sources, quality varies dramatically.
Understanding a few key differences helps identify trustworthy intent data:
First-Party vs. Third-Party Intent Data
First-party data comes from your own websites, ads, and other owned channels. This delivers detailed behavioral trails but lacks visibility beyond your known base.
Third-party data fills these blind spots by aggregating signals from numerous external sources. However quality depends greatly on collection methods and providers.
Evaluating Third-Party Data Quality
With third-party data, accuracy hinges on:
- The type and variety of source sites. More niche sites indicate higher, more qualified interest.
- The harvesting methods. Tracking individuals via consent improves accuracy over modeling.
- How signals are validated across sources before generating alerts.
Equally important is confirming providers comply with regulations like GDPR when collecting and managing data.
With these parameters met, third-party intent data both widens and sharpens your account visibility to uncover more opportunities.
Now let’s explore must-have capabilities in intent data platforms.
Key Features to Look For in Intent Data Systems
Sourcing high-quality intent data is only half the equation. To capitalize on those insights requires a robust intent data platform with capabilities to:
Ingest Data from Multiple Sources
Look for platforms ingesting signals from owned channels, third-party networks, and first- and second-party data exchanges. This blend spotlights accounts from new angles.
Deliver Alerts in Real Time
Prospect interest can change instantly, particularly in long enterprise sales cycles. Prioritize systems updating data hourly or daily vs. weekly or monthly.
Integrate Seamlessly with Existing Tech Stacks
APIs and connectors should push insights directly into the systems teams use daily—no manual exports or altering workflows.
Allow Advanced Segmentation and Customization
Slice the data to focus on key buying stages, firmographics, topics, geographies, and more for precise targeting.
Provide Global and Niche Topic Coverage
Look for niche depth across topics and geos to unearth interest from corners that generalized tools miss.
Weighing these elements will steer you towards more capable, higher-ROI intent platforms. Next we’ll highlight 10 leading solutions in detail.
Top 10 Buyer Intent Data Platforms
Let’s explore 10 of the top-rated intent data systems and capabilities:
ZoomInfo
Overview: An in-depth B2B database and insights tool combining first- and third-party signals for broad, accurate coverage.
Notable Features:
- Signals from 90% of web traffic, including niche publications
- Real-time alerts and predictive recommendations
- Filters for keywords, topics, seniority, geo, and more
Data Sources: 300M+ domains, including declared, behavioral, and firmographic
Ideal Customer: Mid-market and enterprise companies seeking robust, scalable data
Pricing: Custom quotes
Demandbase
Overview: An AI-powered platform unifying rich B2B data into account profiles and recommended actions.
Notable Features:
- Attribution tying media spend to pipeline impact
- Integration with Salesforce, Marketo, and Microsoft Dynamics
- Audience building for advertising and personalization
Data Sources: 125+ third-party sources, plus client first-party data
Ideal Customer: Enterprise B2B with complex sales cycles and stacks
Pricing: Custom quotes
Bombora
Overview: Industry-leading intent data company serving top providers and agencies.
Notable Features:
- Consent-based data from premium publishers
- Cookieless tracking and IP mapping for accuracy
- Categorization by topic, seniority level, and geo
Data Sources: 4B daily content interactions across thousands of sites
Ideal Customer: Mid-market and enterprise companies, plus data providers
Pricing: Custom quotes
6sense
Overview: Leading account engagement platform powered by AI and intent insights.
Notable Features:
- Predictive recommendations to inform sales plays
- Integration across the entire tech stack
- Identification of key buyer committee members
Data Sources: 7B+ monthly interactions across channels
Ideal Customer: Enterprise B2B organizations with complex sales cycles
Pricing: Custom quotes
Demand Metric
Overview: Specialized provider optimizing B2B go-to-market strategies with buyer insights.
Notable Features:
- Viscount audience builder creates hypertargeted prospect lists
- Shopper Signals tracks and benchmarks account journeys
- Integrations with Salesforce, Oracle, Terminus, and more
Data Sources: 125+ intent indicators from vetted supply partners
Ideal Customer: B2B manufacturers, technology, and business services firms
Pricing: Custom quotes
G2 Track
Overview: Leverages crowdsourced software review data to reveal customer intent signals.
Notable Features:
- Detection when brands are mentioned in reviews
- Alerts for changing sentiment or satisfaction
- Competitor tracking and benchmarking
Data Sources: G2 software review platform
Ideal Customer: B2B SaaS/technology companies who sell on G2
Pricing: Custom quotes
Everstring
Overview: Combined database, analytics, and orchestration solution powered by AI.
Notable Features:
- Scans 100M sources daily for technographics and buying signals
- Identifies ideal next steps for engagement
- Analytics covering pipeline health, activity trends, and more
Data Sources: 100M+ professional sources, 300M company profiles
Ideal Customer: High-growth enterprise B2B organizations
Pricing: Custom quotes
Demandbase
Overview: End-to-end AI-powered marketing and sales platform.
Notable Features:
- Attributes website traffic for precise targeting
- Audience building integrations with LinkedIn, Facebook, and more
- Custom segment building and scoring
Data Sources: 125+ third-party sources plus first-party signals
Ideal Customer: Enterprise level with customized stacks
Pricing: Custom quotes
Cognism
Overview: Specialized provider of consent-based, GDPR-compliant intent data.
Notable Features:
- Cookieless data collection maintaining privacy
- Comparison of real-time vs. historical interests
- Ideal for intent-fueled advertising and personalization
Data Sources: Top publishers, fully consented and anonymized
Ideal Customer: Mid-market and enterprise B2B companies in Europe
Pricing: Custom quotes
Demand Science
Overview: Cost-effective "firehose" of B2B intent data signals and contacts.
Notable Features:
- 70M contact and account records
- Segregation by keyword topics and seniority
- Automated list-building and analysis
Data Sources: Broad range of public, licensed, and provided third-party data
Ideal Customer: Growing mid-market B2B firms
Pricing: Lower cost subscription plans
This cross-section shows the diversity of offerings now available to meet varying needs and budgets. No matter your maturity, there’s an intent data platform fit for your brand.
Now let’s switch gears to cover best practices for activation.
Getting Started With Buyer Intent Data
Once you’ve sourced accurate intent data, what’s next? Here are best practices shared by top B2B marketers:
Start With Leadership Buy-In
Educate executives on intent data benefits before tackling platforms. Top-down support is vital for gaining resources and cross-team buy in later.
Clarify Activation Goals and Metrics
Be specific on which outcomes, activities, and benchmarks will define success for your campaigns and teams. These guide data requirements and platform evaluation.
Design Initial Campaigns for Quick Wins
Prove value early with narrowly focused campaigns. Example: Use key term alerts to drive personalized advertising to high-fitness accounts. Iterate from there for greater sophistication.
Work Cross-Functionally
Bring sales, marketing, and customer success together to align on process changes and responsibilities. This achieves greater adoption and impact long term.
Now let’s shift from planning to execution.
Optimizing Campaigns With Buyer Intent
Intent data directly fuels key programs when infused properly across functions. Common applications include:
Personalizing Multi-Touch Outreach
Tailor messaging across channels to what accounts are researching now vs. last quarter. Update nurture tracks to mirror interests.
Supercharging ABM and Event Strategy
Identify best accounts to invite based on product interest and conference relevancy. Follow up addressing session topics researched.
Informing New Product Positioning
See precisely what capabilities drive investigation to guide development. Use for market testing concepts as well.
Retaining At-Risk Customers
Detect accounts exploring new solutions and direct them to appropriate expansion products or services.
Enriching Predictive Modeling
Incorporate intent patterns into propensity models to better score accounts for sales tiering.
While this just scratches the surface, it demonstrates the versatility of intent data for revenue growth.
Let‘s wrap up with key conclusions.
The Bottom Line on Buyer Intent Data
Interpreting complex patterns of prospect behavior is now table stakes for B2B go-to-market. Buyer intent data and supporting platforms bring this capability within reach for organizations of any size.
With accurate, real-time insights into who is researching what, sales and marketing teams can hyper-personalize interactions and optimize resource allocation for better pipeline ROI. Equally powerful, intent fuels predictive analytics and custom modeling applications.
While navigating platforms and new data sources has a learning curve, the long term gains far outweigh temporary growing pains. Top providers have offerings tailored to needs ranging from broad-based enterprise analytics to specialized compliance-driven use cases.
Regardless of your current intent data maturity, a few guiding principles apply across the board:
- Start small with targeted campaigns before attempting enterprise-level integration
- Structure workflows, metrics, and cross-functional conventions upfront
- Analyze results frequently and iterate
- Automate where possible through platform APIs and CRM connectors
Sticking to these basics helps streamline value delivery from intent programs—no matter the provider solution mix.
The opportunities for account intelligence remain wide open for innovation. Will you lead markets by applying intent data, or lose out as competitors capitalize first? The choice is yours. Own the advantage with platforms primed to scale revenue growth today.
