How to Use Intent Data for ABM Targeting: Strategy Guide
You send emails to 50 target accounts. Most ignore you. But 5 are actively searching for your solution right now. How do you find those 5?
Intent data.
Intent data shows you which accounts are researching your solution, your competitors, or related solutions. It's the buying signal that tells you "this account is ready to talk."
This guide walks you through using intent data to focus your ABM efforts on accounts that are actually buying.
Understanding Intent Data Types
First-Party Intent Data
Data from your own properties: website visits, email opens, content downloads, demo requests.
Strength: You own it. It's accurate. It comes with context (which pages they visited).
Weakness: Only shows intent for accounts that already know about you.
How to use it: Account scoring. If someone from Target Account A visits your pricing page and downloads a case study, that's high intent. Prioritize them.
Example: Account ABC visits your website 5 times in 30 days, including your pricing and comparison pages. They download a case study about sales cycle acceleration. High intent.
Second-Party Intent Data
Data from partnerships: when other tools or platforms share behavioral signals about your target accounts.
Strength: Broader reach. Shows accounts researching related topics.
Weakness: Less detailed than first-party. Shared indirectly.
How to use it: Expand your target list. If you know X accounts are researching "sales pipeline visibility," you have a new audience to target.
Example: Your marketing tool partner tells you Company ABC just installed their tool and is using it to build sales processes. That's signal they might be in-market for sales operations software.
Third-Party Intent Data
Data from intent providers like 6sense, Demandbase, Bombora, and ZoomInfo Intent. These platforms track company-level research behavior across millions of websites.
Strength: Shows accounts in-market for your solution (and competitors).
Weakness: Less accurate (company-level vs. individual), requires paid subscription.
How to use it: Identify new accounts to add to your TAL. If a company is researching "ABM platforms" and they match your ICP, they're a buying prospect.
Example: Bombora data shows Company XYZ is researching "account-based marketing" this month. They're new to your radar, but they match your ICP. Add them to your TAL.
Building Your Intent Strategy
Step 1: Define Intent Signals
What signals tell you an account is buying?
Website behavior (first-party): - Visit to pricing page - Visit to comparison page - Visit to demo or trial page - Download of case study or whitepaper - Video view (>50% watched) - Return visits (multiple visits in short time span)
Email behavior (first-party): - Email opens (especially to emails about your solution) - Email clicks (especially to pricing or demo links) - Repeated opens (they're reading multiple emails)
Public signals (third-party or second-party): - Funding announcement - New executive hire (VP Sales, CRO) - Job postings for sales roles - Press release mentioning growth or new market expansion - Recent product launches
Research signals (third-party intent data): - Company researching "ABM software" - Company researching "sales operations tools" - Company researching your specific competitor
Step 2: Set Up Tracking (First-Party)
Implement tracking on your website and email:
Website: Use Google Analytics and tools like Clearbit or Apollo to identify company-level traffic.
- Which companies visit?
- Which pages do they visit?
- How often?
- How long do they spend?
Email: Use your email platform's native tracking (HubSpot, Outreach, Salesloft) to see opens, clicks, reply rates.
- Who's opening your emails?
- Which emails get clicks?
- Are they replying?
Set this up so you can see intent signals per account (not just per individual contact).
Step 3: Integrate Intent Data (Third-Party)
If budget allows, subscribe to an intent provider.
Major providers: - 6sense: Intent data across B2B buying journey, account fit scoring - Demandbase: Account-based demand generation, account matching - Bombora: Company buying intent across hundreds of research categories - ZoomInfo Intent: Embedded in ZoomInfo CRM enrichment
What to look for: - Intent categories relevant to your solution (not just industry) - Account-level signals (not just individual researcher level) - Integration with your CRM - Real-time alerts (when intent score changes)
Step 4: Score Accounts by Intent
Combine your own signals with third-party data into an intent score.
Example scoring (out of 100):
- Visit to pricing page in last 30 days: 20 points
- Visit to comparison page in last 30 days: 20 points
- Email open in last 7 days: 10 points
- Email click in last 7 days: 15 points
- High third-party intent (6sense/Bombora): 30 points
- Recent funding or executive hire: 10 points
Total: 100+ points (normalize to 0-100)
An account with 5 website visits to pricing, an email click, and high intent data scores high. An account with no visits, no email opens, and no third-party signal scores low.
Step 5: Act on Intent
High intent = prioritize outreach.
Account scores 70+: - Call immediately - Personal email from sales leader - Schedule warm intro meeting - Tailor messaging to their research behavior
Account scores 50-69: - Add to nurture sequence - LinkedIn outreach - Targeted ads based on their intent - Follow up in 2 weeks if no response
Account scores below 50: - Monitor (set alert if intent rises) - General nurture (weekly newsletter, low-touch) - Don't call yet
Using Intent to Refine Your Message
Intent data tells you not just WHO to call, but HOW to position yourself.
Example: Account ABC researched "sales cycle compression" and "pipeline forecasting."
Your email should lead with: "Noticed you're evaluating solutions for pipeline visibility and faster sales cycles. We've helped companies like [example] reduce selling time by focusing on account-level prioritization."
Don't lead with: "Check out our product." Lead with what you know they're researching.
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See the demo →Common Intent Data Mistakes
Mistake 1: Acting on stale intent. Account researched your solution 6 months ago. You finally call today. They've already bought from a competitor. Intent data is time-sensitive. Act fast (within 1-2 weeks).
Mistake 2: Confusing intent signal with ICP fit. Account has high intent for "sales operations" but poor ICP fit (wrong size, wrong industry). You'll waste time. Combine intent WITH fit.
Mistake 3: Assuming third-party intent = active buying. Third-party data shows they researched "ABM" but maybe they're just educating themselves. Still worth calling, but adjust expectations.
Mistake 4: Only using third-party intent. Expensive. First-party intent (your website and email) is just as valuable and free. Use both.
Mistake 5: Not acting on intent fast enough. You get alerts that Account X has high intent. Your follow-up process is slow (takes a week to reach sales). By then, they've moved on. Speed matters. Set up real-time alerts and same-day outreach process.
Orchestrating Intent with ABM
Intent data works best as part of a full ABM program:
- Define your TAL (50-100 accounts)
- Layer in intent data (which ones are actively buying?)
- Prioritize (high intent = Tier 1)
- Deploy ABM campaigns to high-intent accounts first
- Monitor intent changes (if a low-priority account suddenly shows intent, move them up)
Intent data is your signal to accelerate outreach, personalize messaging, and focus resources on accounts that are actually buying.
Next: Set Up Intent Alerts
If you're using third-party intent data, set up real-time alerts in your CRM.
When Account ABC's intent score jumps from 20 to 75, you want to know immediately. That's your signal to call within 24 hours.
