Maximize Sales with the Best Intent Data Software of 2024

In today's competitive business landscape, understanding customer behavior and intentions has become crucial for companies to stay ahead. Intent data software has emerged as a powerful tool to gain insights into potential customers' online activities and purchasing intentions. By leveraging these tools, businesses can tailor their marketing strategies, personalize their outreach, and ultimately boost their sales performance.

As we move into 2024, the market for intent data platforms continues to evolve, offering more sophisticated features and capabilities. This article explores the top intent data providers and their offerings, helping businesses choose the right intent software to meet their specific needs.

We'll delve into the key features to look for in intent data tools, compare the leading solutions available, and provide guidance on how to maximize the value of intent data in your sales and marketing efforts.

Understanding Intent Data and Its Importance

Intent data has become a crucial tool for businesses to gain insights into potential customers' online activities and purchasing intentions. It provides valuable information about who the potential customers are, what they are interested in, and their likelihood of making a purchase.

What is Intent Data?

Intent data refers to information collected during a buyer's online activity to determine their interests and purchasing probability. It tells businesses when buyers are actively researching online for a solution and which products and services they are interested in, based on the web content they consume. This type of market intelligence shows which leads or accounts are actively researching topics related to a business.

Intent data comprises billions of online browsing events logged across different digital platforms when prospects research products and solutions. Typical sources include review sites, news articles, and product research. By aggregating these activities over time, intent data systems can recognize when interest around a certain topic is notably higher than normal for a company.

Types of Intent Data

There are three main types of intent data:

1. First-party Intent Data: This is information collected about a business's audience or customers. It includes behavioral data, actions, and interests shared across digital environments such as the business's website or app, data collected in the CRM, subscription campaigns, information from social media efforts, and offline surveys or forms. First-party intent data is most valuable for prospects and customers who are already aware of the brand.
2. Second-party Intent Data: This refers to engagement insights collected from a partner, such as G2, or outside news sources. It often integrates into the intent provider a business is using and provides insights into account engagement on a partner website. Second-party data can be as simple as a publisher collecting first-party data and sharing it with other organizations.
3. Third-party Intent Data: This information is collected from outside sources that provide a broader view of a buyer's intent. It includes behavioral data, actions, and interests shared across digital environments from a cooperative of publishers, websites, and apps. Third-party intent data comes from data conglomerates that purchase intent signals from various websites and model the data to monetize.

Benefits for Sales and Marketing

Intent data offers numerous advantages for sales and marketing teams:

1. Identifying High-Value Prospects: Intent data helps identify prospects that are actively searching for solutions a company offers. This allows businesses to prioritize outreach efforts and maximize ROI.
2. Personalization: With intent data, companies can create hyper-relevant content that directly addresses their audience's needs and challenges. It fuels deep personalization, allowing for tailored outreach and content based on individual buyer behavior and interests.
3. Improved Lead Scoring: Intent data eliminates the risk of inaccurate lead scoring by providing insights into prospect intent. This allows for more accurate scoring and focused lead-nurturing efforts.
4. Targeted Advertising: Knowing prospect needs allows marketers to target the right decision-makers with ads, eliminating guesswork in advertising. This increases clickthrough rates and optimizes ad spend.
5. Bridging Sales and Marketing: Intent data bridges the gap between sales and marketing, providing both teams with a shared understanding of buyer intent. Sales reps can identify leads who are ready to engage, while marketing can adjust campaigns to nurture prospects at the right stage of the buyer's journey.
6. Customer Retention: Intent data helps in retaining current customers longer by providing insights into when they start considering competitor solutions.
7. Efficient Resource Allocation: By empowering marketing teams to determine buyer intent and focus on high-quality prospects, intent data helps avoid wasting time, money, and effort on leads that aren't ready to buy.

By leveraging intent data, businesses can gain a competitive advantage by understanding which prospects are ready to buy and avoiding wasting resources on those that are not. As personalization continues to play a pivotal role in standing out amid vast content, deep personalization utilizing audience behavioral data will target relevant audiences more effectively.

Top 5 Intent Data Software Solutions for 2024

ZoomInfo

ZoomInfo stands out as a powerful intent data software solution for B2B sales and marketing teams. It offers a comprehensive database that can match Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) profiles with prospects by searching for subjects and phrases linked to specific sectors.

ZoomInfo's versatility is evident in its ability to integrate with various programs, including CRMs, through a Google Chrome plugin. The platform provides a range of services, including lead generation, email building, and live chat, all designed to help businesses locate leads that are ready to conver^t.

6sense

6sense has revolutionized the intent data landscape with its specialized approach to detecting anonymous purchasing activity. This capability enables sales and marketing teams to create tailored, multi-channel, multi-touch campaigns that captivate customers effectively.

As the first account-based platform to leverage artificial intelligence for predicting trends in consumer behavior patterns, 6sense goes beyond website data to find potential clients customized to each business. This accelerates the process of identifying eligible consumers.

Key features of 6sense include:

• Uses AI to identify potential buyers and forecast sales opportunities based on behavioral data
• Enables personalized outreach and engagement with high-value accounts using intent data
• Offers seamless integration for targeting prospects across email, social media, display ads, and more
• Provides actionable, real-time data to prioritize leads and optimize marketing strategies for better conversions

6sense has proven its effectiveness, with one client, PTC, sourcing millions in net-new pipeline from 6sense-identified accounts within just three months. Additionally, PTC identified 1,200 net-new accounts and 1,000 qualified leads using the platform.

Bombora

Bombora is a pioneer in the intent data industry, claiming to have invented B2B intent data. The platform provides users with up-to-date client intent information through proprietary B2B contact data sets and access to ad tech platforms. Bombora's unique selling point is its Data Cooperative, which comprises 5,000+ of the top B2B sites on the web, ensuring the most accurate reflection of buyers' digital journeys.

Key features of Bombora include:

• A content consumption model that has become the de facto standard in B2B marketing for third-party behavioral data
• Data collected with consent from a proprietary data source
• Integration with major platforms across the B2B ad, sales, and martech ecosystem
• Coverage of nearly 4 million unique domains via 17 billion interactions a month

Bombora's patented method fuses deterministic, behavioral, and IP2C (Internet Protocol to Company) data, enhanced with firmographic and demographic information to intelligently resolve business identity.

TechTarget

TechTarget offers a comprehensive suite of intent data solutions, leveraging its network of over 140 enterprise technology-focused websites. The platform provides detailed insights into the online research and buying behavior of IT and business decision-makers. TechTarget's Priority Engine™ gives users direct access to the most active buyers in their space.

Key features of TechTarget include:

• Account Intent Feeds to identify and prioritize accounts with immediate needs
• IntentMail AI™ for personalized outreach
• Integration with CRM systems for improved workflow
• Access to prospect-level intent insights and granular account journey details

TechTarget's data is unique, as it's the first place many buyers go for information, and their data isn't available elsewhere. This exclusivity allows for more targeted and effective marketing and sales efforts.

G2

G2, a popular B2B software review platform, has expanded its offerings to include intent data solutions. G2's Buyer Intent follows aspects of the buyer's journey to provide account intelligence that helps build an account pipeline. The platform's scoring methodology reveals the strength of intent signals, helping sales teams detect which accounts have high intent and are ready to engage.

G2's intent data includes several key signals:

• Buying stage (Awareness, Consideration, or Decision)
• Activity level (High, Medium, or Low)
• Sponsored content signals
• Category signals
• Alternative signals
• Profile signals
• Pricing signals

These signals help inform lead scores and status, quantify intent, and provide valuable insights into prospective organizations' tech stacks. G2's intent data integrates with platforms such as LinkedIn, Slack, and ZoomInfo, allowing businesses to harness buyer intent data in multiple ways.

Key Features to Look for in Intent Data Software

When selecting intent data software, businesses should consider several key features to ensure they choose a solution that aligns with their specific needs and goals. These features can significantly impact the effectiveness of their sales and marketing efforts.

Data Quality and Coverage

One of the most critical factors to consider is the accuracy and relevance of the data provided by the intent data software. High-quality intent data is essential for making informed decisions and targeting the right prospects. The best intent data providers offer reliable insights by using advanced methodologies and diverse data sources to identify and deliver accurate information.

Data coverage is another crucial aspect to evaluate. A provider that can offer a wide-ranging dataset across multiple channels enables businesses to better target potential customers. This comprehensive coverage allows for a more holistic view of buyer behavior and intentions.

It's also important to consider the types of intent data available. First-party, second-party, and third-party intent data each provide unique insights. Look for a provider that offers a mix of these data sources to gain a deep understanding of potential customers' intent. This combination of data types can provide a full picture of a prospect's interests and needs.

Integration Capabilities

The ability of intent data software to integrate seamlessly with existing marketing and sales tools is crucial for maximizing its value. When evaluating intent data providers, businesses should ensure that the software can effortlessly integrate with their current tech stack, including CRM systems, marketing automation platforms, and other relevant tools.

Integration capabilities allow for the enrichment of existing customer records with intent data and firmographics, enabling more targeted and personalized outreach efforts. Additionally, look for providers that offer automated workflows and filters for segmentation, as these features can streamline the process of identifying and engaging high-potential leads.

Analytics and Reporting

Robust analytics and reporting features are essential for deriving actionable insights from intent data. Look for intent data software that offers comprehensive reporting capabilities, allowing businesses to track and measure the effectiveness of their campaigns. These insights can help teams adjust their approach and optimize their strategies over time.

Advanced intent data tools may also offer predictive analytics capabilities. By leveraging AI and machine learning, these tools can predict future buying behaviors, providing businesses with a significant competitive advantage. This predictive capability enables companies to anticipate market trends and adjust their strategies accordingly.

Ease of Use

The usability of intent data software is a crucial factor to consider, as it directly impacts adoption and effectiveness within an organization. Look for solutions that offer intuitive interfaces and user-friendly features, making it easy for team members to access and utilize the data effectively.

Additionally, consider the level of customer support and training provided by the intent data vendor. A provider that offers comprehensive onboarding and ongoing support can help ensure that teams can fully leverage the software's capabilities and derive maximum value from the intent data.

By carefully evaluating these key features, businesses can select intent data software that not only provides high-quality data but also integrates seamlessly with their existing processes, offers valuable insights through analytics, and is easy to use across their organization. This strategic approach to selecting intent data software can significantly enhance a company's ability to identify and engage with high-potential prospects, ultimately driving more efficient and effective sales and marketing efforts.

FAQs

1. What is intent data software, and how can it maximize sales?

Intent data software analyzes user behavior and signals to identify potential customers' interests and buying intent, allowing businesses to tailor their sales and marketing strategies, leading to higher conversion rates.

2. How does intent data software work?  

Intent data software collects data from various sources like website visits, content consumption, and search patterns, then analyzes it to predict buying intent. It helps sales teams target leads more effectively based on user activity.

3. What are the key features of the best intent data software in 2024?

The best intent data software includes features like real-time data tracking, integration with CRM systems, AI-driven insights, multi-channel analysis, and privacy compliance to maximize sales opportunities.

4. How can intent data software improve lead generation?

By providing insights into prospects’ online behavior and purchase intent, intent data software helps identify high-quality leads, allowing sales teams to focus their efforts on the most promising opportunities.

5. What should businesses consider when choosing intent data software in 2024?

Companies should evaluate features like data accuracy, integration capabilities, ease of use, AI-driven insights, and how well the software aligns with their sales goals to maximize sales effectively.