A CMO’s Guide to Intent Data: How it Supports Your Go-To-Market Strategy

By Michelle Voznyuk, Marketing Specialist at Heinz Marketing

As a CMO, it can be challenging to create an effective go-to-market (GTM) strategy that drives results. Not only is there more data circulating than ever before, but it’s changing in real time. This can make it difficult to keep up with the most relevant information to support your strategy and protect your investment. That’s where intent data comes into play.

What is Intent Data?

Intent data captures a potential customer’s behavior or interest in a specific product or service. This data is collected from various sources, including website behavior, social media activity, and content consumption. Intent data can provide valuable insights into a prospect’s likelihood to purchase and can help sales and marketing teams tailor their messaging and outreach accordingly.

How Intent Data Can Support Your GTM Strategy

Intent data can play a critical role in helping you go to market. Here are four ways it can support your strategy:

1. It can help you build a targeted account list.

One of the main ways intent data can support your GTM strategy is by helping you identify target accounts. By analyzing intent data, you can find those who are actively researching your product or service and prioritize your efforts. Rather than exhausting your resources on accounts that aren’t going anywhere, your team is able to focus on those that are in market and ready to buy. This helps you maximize your return on investment and convert more leads in the long haul.

2. It can help you better personalize your messaging.

Intent data can also help you personalize your messaging and tailor it to the specific needs and interests of your target audience. Reviewing the data of a potential customer can give you insights into their pain points, challenges, and interests. This information can be used to craft messaging that resonates with your audience and drives greater engagement. With the prevalence of technology and automation today, maintaining a personal touch is key to ensuring effectiveness of your efforts.

3. It can help you optimize your marketing channels.

Another way that intent data can support your GTM strategy is by helping you optimize your marketing channels. You can determine which channels your target audience is most active on and tailor your budget and outreach efforts accordingly. Maybe you find that your audience is highly active on LinkedIn. This could highlight the need to invest in sponsored content, ads, or InMail to increase visibility. Instead of spinning your wheels on channels that aren’t working for you, intent data can help narrow your focus.

4. It can help you improve sales and marketing alignment.

Lastly, intent data can improve sales and marketing alignment by providing your teams with the information needed to create a fluid experience across the funnel. Rather than one message from marketing and another from sales, the insights gained from intent data can ensure there’s consistency throughout the buying experience.

Best Practices for Using Intent Data

To assist you in your journey to implementing intent data in your organization, here are some best practices to help you get the most out of your data:

1. Start with a clear objective.

Before diving in, you should have a clear objective in mind. Determine what you want to achieve with your GTM strategy and how you plan to use intent data to support your departmental and organizational goals. One you have a plan in place, you can hit the ground running.

2. Use the right tools.

To analyze intent data effectively, you need the right tools. There are many tools available that can help you collect and interpret intent data. Some of these include 6sense, Bombora, ZoomInfo, Priority Engine, Leadfeeder, and UserGems, just to name a few. In the end, you should choose a tool that is user-friendly, accurate, and provides actionable insights.

3. Focus on quality data.

To get the most out of intent data, you should focus on quality and accuracy. Your data should be monitored and updated frequently to make sure you’re reflecting the current interests and actions of your target audience. Verified data is more likely to produce results and aid in making informed, data-driven decisions.

Conclusion

By using intent data to identify target accounts, personalize your messaging, optimize your marketing channels, and improve team alignment, you can drive more qualified leads and increase revenue growth for your organization.

Want help incorporating intent data into your marketing strategy? We’d love to assist. Reach out to us or send an email to acceleration@heinzmarketing.com.