Leveraging intent data for your ABM strategy

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a powerful strategy that brings sales and marketing together to reach key personnel in specific target accounts. ABM in my eyes is zero waste marketing. It’s a strategy, not a tool.

Unlike traditional marketing methods that focus solely on numbers and maximising ROI, ABM takes a customer-centric approach, aiming to understand and connect with the audience on a human-to-human level. It means investing the time to understand their behaviours and collecting deeper insights. The more you can understand your audience the better you can serve them.

Unlocking human-to-human marketing

It is no surprise the ITSMA reported that 87% of account based marketers say ABM initiatives outperform other marketing initiatives. And as a fellow marketeer, I have to say I agree with that statement from my own personal experience. What I find encouraging is not only how ABM has been adopted but also how it is evolving. 

In previous articles and webinars, we’ve covered what good ABM looks like and ABM maturity, but what we want to focus on here, is how you enhance your ABM and overall marketing efforts with intent data. 

One of the key elements that I love about ABM is that it’s true “human to human” marketing. Taking the time to understand your audience on that 1:1 level. But to do this you need insight, you need to do your research. So where do you start when it comes to gathering customer insights?

A few common approaches are surveys, interviews and analysing your website data, all of which provide a solid foundation, but what about intent data? My colleague, Melanie Barnes, has some key insight to share from her experience using intent data. 

The power of Intent data 

Ensuring your marketing and sales strategies are in alignment with the audiences’ needs is core for the success of any business. Intent data gives you the means to do just that! 

Intent data allows you to know what topics interest your audience. When a contact or an account shows interest on a certain topic, this means they are more receptible to further communications around that same topic. Through the recurring analysis of intent data, it is possible to identify receptible contacts and accounts at an early stage. Once identified, these contacts and accounts can be nurtured and guided through the marketing funnel. 

 Tracking the pulse of audience engagement

True change starts from within, and that also applies to intent data. Your first step in this journey should be to analyse the data you already have and collect daily through website analytics, paid campaign analytics and social engagement. For example, attending a webinar or filling in a form related to a specific topic is a key indicator of intent towards that topic. By maintaining a regular analysis of first-party intent data you can discover new market segments, retarget contacts and accounts, and identify specific areas of focus.  

Another step you might want to consider is second-party intent data. This data is sourced from other organisation’s first-party intent data, tracking engagement with products and vendors, and other activities that sit in a lower part of the marketing funnel. Even though this type of intent data gives you access to a very strong prediction of purchase intent, it will leave out any contacts and accounts that have just started their buyer’s journey. 

Contrary to that, third-party intent data will not give you any indication of buying intent. Instead, it will enable you to track the keywords and topics associated with the content the audience consumes online. For example, if a contact is reading an online article, posting on social media, or downloading a whitepaper, the intent data tools will be able to track the keywords associated with those actions. The contact-level data is combined, creating a clear, overall picture of the account (or company) interests. Besides knowing the keywords and topics associated with the content an account is consuming online, it’s also important to analyse the growth in intent and how that account scores, when compared with peer companies. 

Having the knowledge provided by intent data will enable you to build a strategy where all the marketing and sales efforts are completely focused on the audience interests, ensuring there is a higher probability of engagement. By using these three types of intent data you’ll target your audience in different parts of the funnel, in a more meaningful way. 

How to use the intent data in your ABM 

So, as you can see, intent data is a powerful tool to have in your marketing tool kit. But, for all my fellow marketeers reading this, how would you use intent data when it comes to creating a marketing strategy? 

Let me share with you an example of how you could use it as part of your ABM strategy on a 1:few level. 

As you can see in the diagram below, you should always prioritise your insights.

Here, I have included intent data and reporting as key components. While the term ‘reporting’ may sound generic, it should encompass crucial data points specific to your needs, such as website activity, social media performance, ad campaigns, and email performance. The objective is to assist you in identifying accounts that exhibit significant intent, along with the channels and subject matters associated with their engagement.

Based on your insights, you can identify accounts with high levels of intent. Look for similarities in the data, such as the type of account or intent signals (note: this applies to accounts you already have a relationship with). This information can be used to create targeted approaches for a select few. One of the remarkable aspects I love about ABM, especially in 1:1 and 1:few strategies, is the opportunity for genuine human interaction. For instance, a video message can be sent to contacts, informing them that something is on its way via mail. This personal touch adds excitement and makes a lasting impression.

Direct mail is a great tactic because it's tangible and allows for a meaningful impact based on what you send. In this case, personalised content aligned with the intent and reporting data, along with a thoughtful gift, can leave a memorable impression and create an open atmosphere for further conversation. From there, it's up to sales to nurture the dialogue, add value, understand challenges, and offer solutions that ultimately lead to a sale.

There are lots of nuances to take on board and there is no ‘cookie cutter’ one-size-fits-all approach, but we hope that the insights we’ve shared have sparked your imagination to effectively harness intent data in your ABM and marketing campaigns moving forward.