Intent data
In short
Intent data is information about the actions a company or person takes that suggest an active interest in a product category. Examples include reading comparison articles, visiting a pricing page, or posting jobs for a role your product supports.
GTM teams use it to decide who to contact first and what to say. Instead of working a static list, reps prioritize accounts that are already in a buying cycle.
Types of intent data
- First-party: Signals from your own site, product, and emails: pricing page visits, demo requests, repeat logins.
- Third-party: Research activity across other sites, collected by data vendors and mapped to accounts.
- Signal-based: Public events such as job postings, funding rounds, leadership changes, and tech stack changes.
Key benefits
- Timing: Reach accounts while they are evaluating, not after they have signed with a competitor.
- Relevance: Open with the signal ("I saw you are hiring three SDRs") instead of a generic pitch.
- Efficiency: Concentrate rep time on accounts most likely to convert.
Best practices
- Layer intent on top of fit: A high-intent account outside your ICP is still a poor deal. Filter by fit first, then rank by intent.
- Combine signals: One signal is noise. Two or three together, such as a new VP of Sales plus a hiring push, are a pattern.
- Act within days: Signals decay quickly. Route them straight to the owner with the context attached.
Common challenges
Third-party intent is often account-level only, so you still need to find the right people. It can also be noisy, since one analyst researching a topic can flag a whole company. Validate any vendor by checking whether flagged accounts convert at a higher rate than your baseline.
Intent data FAQs
What is intent data?
Intent data is behavioral information that indicates a company or person is researching or preparing to buy a product category. Sales and marketing teams use it to prioritize outreach.
What is the difference between first-party and third-party intent data?
First-party intent comes from your own properties, like your website and product. Third-party intent comes from external sources that track research behavior across the web.
How accurate is intent data?
Accuracy varies by vendor and signal type. First-party signals and concrete events like job postings are usually more reliable than inferred topic interest. Test any source against your own conversion rates.
