B2B Intent Data: What It Is and Where It Falls Short

Gartner Digital Markets describes intent data as observed digital behavior that a company collects through first-party and third-party sources. Examples include white paper downloads, website visits and time on page, search activity, webinar sign-ups, product reviews and newsletter subscriptions.

One action means little. A pattern means more. If several people at one company read about the same topic in the same week, that account may be doing research. Marketing and sales teams use that pattern to decide whom to contact first and what to say.

Intent data is usually tied to an account, which means a company, not a named person. That matters later, when we talk about limits.

Sources: Gartner Digital Markets, "Leverage Intent Data In Your Marketing and Retargeting Campaigns" (October 27, 2020)

First-party intent data is what you collect yourself. It covers visits to your site, pages viewed, content downloaded, emails opened, webinar attendance and conversations with your sales team.

Its strengths are clear. You know where it came from. You own it. It reflects interest in your company, not just your topic. Forrester analyst Brett Kahnke lists "undervaluing first-party intent" among the common mistakes in this field. His point is that your own contact with prospects tells you a lot, so you should capture it the same way every time and share it across teams.

The weakness is reach. You only see people who already found you. An account that is actively shopping your category but has never heard of you will not show up.

Sources: Forrester, "The 10 Biggest Intent Data Mistakes for B2B Marketing and Sales" (February 17, 2023)

Third-party intent data comes from a vendor that watches activity beyond your own channels. That may include reading on publisher sites, searches, and visits to review sites. The vendor groups the activity by topic and company, then sells you a feed or a score.

Its strength is reach. It can point to accounts that have never visited your site. Forrester's 2023 look at the market sorted 14 major providers into four business models, based mostly on how they price signals:

• Traditional data providers sell third-party signals on their own, priced by volume.
• ABM platforms include signals in a software subscription.
• Campaign execution firms fold the data into marketing services.
• Walled gardens collect second-party signals from their own review sites and communities.

Knowing which model you are buying helps you compare prices fairly. A feed priced by volume and a service priced per lead are not the same thing.

Sources: Forrester, "What Type Of Intent Data Provider Is Best For Your B2B Business?" (July 31, 2023)

Buyers of these services often expect more than they get. Forrester's Q1 2023 survey found that over 85 percent of companies using intent data had seen some business benefit, most often better outbound response rates and more successful prospecting. It also found that only half used the data to speed up pipeline, and that more companies expected certain benefits than actually reached them. The gap was widest for sales use cases and revenue growth.

The same survey named the top problem: finding the right decision-makers inside accounts that show intent. A signal that says "this company is researching" does not say who at the company is doing it.

Other limits to keep in mind:

• Signals go stale. Forrester warns that intent decays fast. If you ignore age, nearly every account will look active.
• Signals are not equal. Some point to early reading, others to late-stage interest. Map them to the buying cycle.
• Intent is not qualification. It should add to your normal criteria, not replace them.
• One source can mislead. Using several distinct sources helps confirm a signal.

Sources: Forrester, "Intent Data Expectations Vs. Reality" (October 26, 2023); Forrester, "The 10 Biggest Intent Data Mistakes for B2B Marketing and Sales" (February 17, 2023)

A vendor saying its data is compliant does not end your duty. Forrester lists "relying on vendors for privacy compliance" as a mistake: you still need your own lawful basis for storing and using prospect data.

In California, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) gives people the right to know what a business collects, to ask for deletion, and to opt out of the sale or sharing of their personal information. The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) amended the law and added the right to correct data and the right to limit use of sensitive data. Most of those changes took effect on January 1, 2023. The state attorney general's office also notes that the exemptions for employee and business-to-business data expired on December 31, 2022.

In plain terms, data about a person at a business is no longer outside the law in California. If your intent feed names individuals, ask the vendor how the data was gathered and how people can opt out. This is general information, not legal advice. Talk to a lawyer about your own case.

Sources: California Attorney General, "California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)"; Forrester, "The 10 Biggest Intent Data Mistakes for B2B Marketing and Sales" (February 17, 2023)

1. Ask how the signals are collected. Methods differ, and the meaning of a signal depends on the method.
2. Ask for a sample. Test a small set of accounts and topics you already know well, over a short window.
3. Check overlap. Forrester suggests looking for signals that are at least 30 to 40 percent unique compared with the sources you already have. If a new feed mostly repeats them, it adds little.
4. Ask how fast signals expire. Find out how the vendor handles old activity.
5. Ask about people. Find out whether the feed names contacts or only companies, and how they were sourced.

Sources: Forrester, "What Type Of Intent Data Provider Is Best For Your B2B Business?" (July 31, 2023)

1. Gartner Digital Markets, "Leverage Intent Data In Your Marketing and Retargeting Campaigns," October 27, 2020. gartner.com
2. Forrester, "The 10 Biggest Intent Data Mistakes for B2B Marketing and Sales," February 17, 2023. forrester.com
3. Forrester, "What Type Of Intent Data Provider Is Best For Your B2B Business?" July 31, 2023. forrester.com
4. Forrester, "Intent Data Expectations Vs. Reality," October 26, 2023. forrester.com
5. California Attorney General, "California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)." oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa