How To Use ABM Intent Data for B2B Marketing

Building a target account list is step one. The harder question: which accounts are actually in-market right now? Intent data answers that by showing you who's researching solutions and when they're ready to engage.

We'll show you how to use intent data to identify in-market accounts, prioritize outreach, and run ABM campaigns that actually convert.

What is intent data?

Intent data tracks what accounts are researching online—search queries, content downloads, website visits—to show you who's actively looking for solutions like yours.

This data captures various online behaviors, such as search queries, website visits, content downloads, and engagement with specific topics online. When analyzed, these activities can indicate readiness to buy, show which products or services your prospects are most interested in, and at what stage they are in the buyer's journey.

Intent data helps ABM by showing you which accounts are actively searching for what you sell.

With intent data, you can:

• Identify and prioritize accounts that show a strong interest in relevant topics and ensure that advertising budgets target your ideal customer profiles (ICP) —prospects most likely to convert
• Tailor messaging and contentto meet these targeted accounts' needs and interests, improving engagement and conversion rates
• Time their outreach and engagement efforts more effectively, connecting with potential buyers when their purchase intent is highest

Where do you get intent data?

You can collect intent data from your audience (first-party data) or external sources (third-party data). Combining first-party and third-party data shows you where buyers are in their journey and exactly when to reach out.

Here's how each works.

First-party intent data

First-party intent data comes from your website and interactions with potential or existing customers. You can directly collect this data from the actions and behaviors observed on your website and through interactions with your CRM and marketing automation platforms.

• Website behavior: Downloading white papers, visiting the pricing page and specific product or service pages, and signing up for demos or webinars can indicate a strong buying intent. Monitoring these activities helps you understand which solutions or content attract interest and allows you to tailor your follow-up strategies accordingly.
• CRM and marketing automation data: These systems capture prospects' interactions with your brand, including email opens, clicks, form submissions, and event registrations. Past purchases and interactions offer insights into areas of interest and potential upsell opportunities. This shows you how prospects engage over time and what signals indicate they're ready to buy.

Third-party intent data

While first-party data offers direct insights from your channels, third-party intent data expands this view by including signals from across the web.

Third-party data providers collect and analyze online behaviors such as browsing patterns, website visits, and engagement with content. Data providers collect this data from numerous sources to identify brands and individuals researching topics or solutions relevant to your offer. It provides a broader view of market interest and helps identify prospects that may not directly engage with your brand.

Benefits of using intent data in your ABM program

Intent data makes your ABM campaigns more relevant and converts high-value accounts faster.

Here's what intent data does for your ABM strategy:

1. Create targeted content

Intent data reveals what topics your target accounts research and which types of content they engage with most. Use these insights to create content that addresses what high-intent accounts are actually researching.

Tailoring content—blog posts, white papers, or case studies—to these interests improves relevance and engagement and increases the effectiveness of your content marketing efforts. When you match content to their research stage, you move them closer to a decision.

2. Prioritize high-value leads

Intent data lets you score leads on both firmographics and behavior—so you know who fits your ICP and who's actively researching. You can prioritize leads that show active buying signals, like researching specific solutions or engaging with relevant content. Focus on the leads most likely to convert, and you'll spend less while closing more.

3. Focus on qualified leads

Intent data shows your sales team which accounts are ready to buy.

Your sales team can focus outreach on accounts that are actually ready to engage, not waste time on cold leads.

4. Identify upsell/cross-sell opportunities

Intent data reveals upsell and cross-sell opportunities in your current customer base. Track what your customers are researching to spot interest in solutions that complement what they already use. Your sales team can reach out when interest is high with offers that actually fit, driving more revenue per customer.

5. Proactively work on customer retention

Changes in intent data signal potential customer churn early.

For instance, if a current customer begins researching competitor solutions, it may signal dissatisfaction or a readiness to switch providers.

Detecting these signals enables you to engage proactively with these customers through retention efforts, such as addressing concerns, offering special deals, or demonstrating additional value. You can improve customer retention rates and maintain stable revenue by acting before customers churn.

How to use intent data in ABM: 5 key steps

Intent data sharpens your ABM strategy by showing you exactly which accounts are ready to convert. You'll see where buyers are in their journey and can personalize outreach to match what they're actually researching.

Here's how to use intent data in ABM:

1. Source your data

You can collect first-party intent data from:

• Website analytics
• CRM system
• Email marketing tools

Use tools like Google Analytics to track visitor behavior on your website. Look for page views, time spent on specific pages, and interactions with your product or service pages. Set up tracking on your website to automatically capture and categorize visitor behavior.

You can also extract valuable information on customer interactions from your CRM system. Pay attention to email opens, click-through rates, and responses to targeted campaigns.

Your email marketing tools also capture engagement metrics worth tracking. Analyze engagement metrics from your email marketing software, focusing on who opens your emails, clicks on links, and the type of content that drives interaction.

For third-party data, partner with providers that aggregate intent data online.

These providers track potential buyers' interactions with content, product research, and even social media engagement related to your industry. Vet providers for privacy compliance and ethical data sourcing before you commit.

Some platforms collect intent data from a network of sites, providing insights into broader research and interest trends outside your direct engagement channels.

Tip: Audit your data sources regularly to keep them accurate and current. Use filters and segmentation to retain only data aligning with your target audience and buying signals indicative of intent.

2. Identify and prioritize high-Intent accounts

Here's how to identify and prioritize high-intent accounts using first-party and third-party signals:

Define Key First-Party Intent Signals

• Page views: Track which product or service pages prospects visit the most, especially multiple times or for extended periods. Use your web analytics tool to set up alerts for high activity levels on key pages.
• Downloads: Note the number and types of downloads (e.g., whitepapers, case studies, product sheets) indicating interest. Create tags for downloadable content to track each download.
• Webinar/event sign-ups: Monitor registrations for your webinars and events as a strong engagement signal. Use your event management platform to track sign-ups and attendance, tagging each event by topic or product interest.

Assign a score to each intent signal

Develop a scoring model where each intent signal has a numerical value. Create a list of actions you consider intent signals and assign initial scores based on assumed buying intent. Assign higher scores to actions indicating stronger purchase intent.

Here's an example list of actions along with their initial scores:

• Requesting a demo: 100 points
• Signing up for a free trial: 90 points
• Attending a webinar: 80 points
• Contacting sales: 70 points
• Viewing pricing page: 60 points
• Downloading a white paper: 50 points
• Adding items to the cart: 40 points
• Repeated visits to product pages: 30 points
• Subscribing to email updates: 20 points
• Following on social media: 10 points

Review conversion data regularly and adjust scores to keep your model accurate.

For instance, if webinar attendees convert more than demo requests, increase the webinar score.

Set thresholds for lead scoring

Analyze your sales cycle and historical conversion rates to determine appropriate scoring criteria for marketing qualified leads (MQLs) and sales qualified leads (SQLs).

Set a lower score criteria for those ready for more direct marketing engagement but not yet ready to buy and a higher threshold for leads that indicate they are likely prepared to engage in a sales conversation.

Set these thresholds in your CRM or marketing automation tool to automatically segment leads into MQLs and SQLs.

Use sales and marketing feedback to refine your signals, scoring, and thresholds so they match actual buying behavior.

3. Research and monitor high-intent accounts

Combine intent data with your CRM or ABM platform data to build profiles that include industry, company size, and known pain points. You can also use B2B sales intelligence to add demographic and contact details, and buying triggers.

Look for patterns in how accounts engage with your content and website. Do they show high interest in certain topics? These patterns reveal specific needs you can address through targeted content or email.

Employ social listening tools to capture discussions, questions, or mentions related to your industry or product, offering insights into the account's current interests and concerns.

Set up alerts for significant changes—like spikes in engagement or new topic interest—so you can act fast when accounts show buying signals. Review high-intent accounts regularly to understand their needs and interest levels. This keeps your outreach relevant and increases conversions.

4. Create sales enablement content

Use intent data to see what topics and solutions your high-intent accounts are researching, then create content that matches. These insights show you which pain points to address in your content. For instance, if you find that an account shows interest in "efficiency tools," prepare case studies proving your tool boosts operational efficiency.

Format matters too. If your target accounts engage more with videos, produce video case studies or product demos. For those who prefer written content, develop in-depth white papers or blog posts. Include statistics, results, and testimonials—real customer outcomes build credibility and drive engagement.

Organize sales content in a library or enablement platform where your team can easily find what they need. Categorize content by use case and key points so your team knows exactly when to use each piece.

5. Target accounts through multi-channel marketing

Here's how to personalize marketing across email, social media, and display ads using intent data:

• Segment your audience: Categorize accounts by the behaviors and interests your intent data reveals. Segmentation makes your messaging more relevant to each account.
• Customize content for each segment: Create content that speaks directly to each segment's needs and interests. For example, if one segment is highly interested in "cost-saving solutions," tailor your messages to highlight cost efficiency.
• Personalize email campaigns: Adjust the subject line, content, and call-to-action (CTA) based on the recipient's interests and behaviors. Address the recipient's stage in the buying journey in your emails.
• Tailor social media ads: Use targeted ads to deliver personalized messages that resonate with each segment's interests and needs.
• Optimize display advertising: Create ads that address your target segments' pain points and interests. Personalized ads drive higher engagement rates.
• Use dynamic content on landing pages: Use dynamic content to adjust your landing pages based on the visitor's intent data. Show different content variations to different segments, making the landing page more relevant to each visitor's interests.
• Ensure cross-channel consistency: To build a cohesive brand experience, keep your messaging consistent across all channels and tailor the content to fit the format and audience of each channel.

Account-based marketing strategies for reaching more high-value target accounts

These ABM strategies help you reach high-value accounts and close more deals:

Personalized marketing and sales outreach

Sales intelligence platforms like UserGems give you detailed data on target accounts—key stakeholders, business objectives, and pain points.

Use this account data to personalize your messaging.

Create custom emails, landing pages, and social outreach that speak to each account's specific pain points.

Use various channels (email, phone calls, social media) to reach decision-makers within the accounts. Personalize your approach across each channel for maximum impact.

Gifting

Strategic gifting works when gifts are relevant, timed well, and personalized.

Here are a few tips:

• Choose gifts relevant to the recipient's interests, demonstrating your understanding of their business
• Align your gift with a specific event or milestone related to the account, like attending a conference they're hosting or celebrating a recent achievement
• Include a handwritten note that personalizes the gift and expresses your genuine interest in building a relationship

Dynamic retargeting ad campaigns

Use retargeting ad campaigns to stay top-of-mind with decision-makers within your target accounts.

Here's how to make them dynamic:

• Website visitor tracking: Use website tracking pixels to identify visitors from your target accounts.
• Personalized ad creatives: Develop dynamic ad creatives tailoring the message and visuals to each account visitor's interests and browsing behavior.
• Multi-channel retargeting: Retarget website visitors across various channels (display advertising, social media) with relevant messaging reflecting their engagement with your website content.

Strategic partnerships

Partnering with complementary businesses expands your reach to a wider audience of high-value accounts:

• Use LinkedIn or industry forums to reach potential partners
• Create a value proposition and clearly explain how they benefit from a partnership
• Co-create content addressing your audience's needs
• Plan co-hosted webinars, joint research reports, or e-books, and use both marketing channels to promote these initiatives

Community building

Identify the platforms where your prospects spend the most time—it can be LinkedIn, Reddit, or an industry-specific forum. Conduct social listening to track mentions of your or competitor brands, or industry-specific keywords across various platforms.

Engage in meaningful conversations focused on value, and showcase your expertise to increase visibility and become recognized as an industry leader.

Account-based events

Host exclusive virtual (online) or in-person (offline) events for your high-value target accounts. For example:

• Industry workshops
• Product demonstrations
• Executive briefings

Tailor the event's theme, content, and speakers to match the segmented audience's specific needs. Follow up after the event, share relevant resources, and schedule meetings to create lasting relationships.

Intent data integration

Use intent data to identify companies actively seeking your solutions. Prioritize accounts with a higher chance of conversion and personalize your outreach accordingly.

Best practices for optimizing your ABM campaigns with intent data

Blending strategic insights with actionable tactics will optimize your ABM campaigns with intent data. Here's how you can refine your approach to capture the attention of your high-value accounts and effectively engage them throughout their buyer's journey.

Find target accounts in your sweet spot

To find high-value targets explore intent data to discover prospects actively seeking solutions you provide. Merge intent data with firmographics (like industry and company size) to discover accounts that align with your ICP and ensure a match.

By analyzing your current high-value customers, intent data providers can help you find a lookalike audience so you can expand your target list with high-potential prospects.

Personalize your marketing messages

To personalize your outreach, you must know where your prospects are in their buying journeys. Use insights from intent data to personalize your messages with dynamic content that adapts to the intent signals and prospects’ current needs. It will increase relevance, engagement, and the likelihood of conversions.

Orchestrate integrated marketing and sales efforts

When sales and marketing align,businesses can earn 208% more revenue from their marketing efforts. That's why integrating your teams around intent data matters.

• Use a shared data platform for easy access to intent data for both teams
• Include the sales team in campaign creation to ensure messages meet prospects' needs
• Give sales data-driven insights, enabling them to guide each prospect toward conversion
• UserGems AI agents can expand your team's capacity by handling personalized outreach at scale.

Engage prospects with a multichannel approach

Use intent data to keep outreach consistent across email, social, and display ads—each message should address what prospects are actually researching.

Attend or sponsor events where your prospects gather to demonstrate value in person.

Track metrics your stakeholders care about

Track these metrics to measure ABM performance:

• Engagement rate measures how many prospects interact with your content
• Account coverage checks do you reach the prospects signaling buying intent
• Pipeline contribution tracks how prospects' engagement contributes to your sales pipeline
• Win rate shows the percentage of deals won from accounts identified through intent data as potential buyers
• Average deal size reflects the revenue from deals with prospects targeted based on their buying intent, revealing increases in deal value
• Customer lifetime value (CLV) estimates the total value generated from accounts selected using intent data over the entire business relationship
• Return on investment (ROI) compares the costs of using intent data against the revenue earned from improved targeting and personalization

Best tools to collect intent data for ABM

These tools help with different parts of ABM—from finding high-intent accounts to personalizing outreach:

UserGems

UserGems identifies high-value prospects through:

Identifying buying opportunities

UserGems helps you track job changes within your existing customer base. When a key contact from a satisfied customer moves to a new company, this signals a potential buying opportunity at the new company. This enables you to target these new companies proactively with relevant messaging.

Assigning scores to accounts based on various data sources

UserGems scores accounts using multiple data sources, including public information and platform interactions, so you can focus on accounts with the strongest buying signals. Multiple data sources and behavioral signals help you identify champions within target accounts.

Providing insights for more personalized outreach

Industry data or publicly available information about the champion’s role at the new company informs personalized outreach efforts for each target account.

Overall, UserGems contributes to ABM campaigns by:

• Focusing on high-intent accounts: UserGems intent data identifies accounts actively researching solutions beyond basic firmographics, increasing your outreach effectiveness.
• Prioritizing efforts: Scoring systems prioritize accounts with the strongest buying signals, enabling you to focus resources on the most promising opportunities.
• Personalizing outreach: UserGems insights inform personalized messaging resonating with each target account's needs and decision-makers.

ZoomInfo

ZoomInfo offers a comprehensive platform that provides access to in-depth information on organizations and professionals, facilitating sales, marketing, and recruiting activities.

With features like advanced prospecting tools, data enrichment, and intent signals, ZoomInfo allows companies to precisely target their ideal customers. This tool is particularly useful for B2B sales and marketing, as it improves outreach and conversion strategies.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

LinkedIn Sales Navigator helps sales teams target, understand, and engage with potential clients. It uses LinkedIn's extensive network to offer advanced search capabilities, personalized algorithmic recommendations, and real-time insights on companies and contacts.

This tool is valuable for businesses looking to streamline their sales process, foster meaningful connections, and close more deals with rich data available on LinkedIn's professional network.

Leadfeeder

Leadfeeder identifies companies visiting your website and provides insights into their online behavior. For ABM campaigns, this tool helps you distinguish website visitors from high-value target accounts, allowing you to prioritize outreach toward high-value prospects.

DemandBase

DemandBase offers intent data for B2B marketing and sales teams. It provides features tailored for ABM campaigns, such as account identification, website visitor tracking, and multi-channel marketing automation.

Cognism

Cognism identifies buying committees and key decision-makers within target accounts. This is particularly valuable for ABM as it allows you to personalize your prospecting process and outreach to different stakeholders' specific needs and roles within each target account.

Use UserGems for smarter account-based marketing

Intent data helps you distinguish interested prospects from those actively researching solutions—the high-value targets for personalized engagement. You can transform your ABM campaigns from sporadic attempts into focused initiatives that provide measurable results.

With UserGems, you’ll get end-to-end automation that identifies the best prospects that actively search for solutions like yours. You will:

• Identify and prioritize key contacts in ICP accounts and personalize your outreach
• Stay on top of changes in your open opportunities
• Proactively prevent any churn risks
• Get an accurate CRM that automatically refreshes monthly and updates contact info

Book a demo today and discover how intent data can transform your ABM strategy.

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