Late in 2022, Forrester launched a year-long mission to increase our physique of analysis centered on B2B intent information for advertising and gross sales. This work is now properly underway, with a number of items already developed for Forrester shoppers and rather more on the way in which.

Whether or not you’re a present consumer or simply exploring what Forrester has to supply, you possibly can profit from this analysis by collaborating in our Q1 2023 B2B Intent Knowledge Survey. Each respondent who offers contact data will obtain a abstract of our key findings from the survey when full. We’re in search of respondents from B2B organizations with firsthand information of how your organization leverages intent information in your gross sales or advertising efforts to assist us derive even deeper insights into prime use instances, in addition to the commonest advantages and challenges that customers are experiencing as we speak.

Forrester advertising Operations, Demand & ABM, and Market Insights shoppers can already entry a few of our newest analysis, together with An Introduction To B2B Intent Knowledge and The B2B Intent Knowledge Suppliers Panorama, Q1 2023.

For these of you who aren’t but shoppers, I’ve assembled some key highlights from the work thus far: the ten largest intent information errors that we’re seeing from B2B advertising and gross sales groups.

10. Treating all intent information sources the identical
The time period “intent information” is used broadly by information suppliers and platform distributors to market a variety of curiosity indicators, from extremely particular buy behaviors for an outlined answer to extra imprecise interactions round a high-level business matter. Entrepreneurs ought to perceive the gathering methodologies utilized by their supplier to higher perceive the importance of particular person indicators.

9. Counting on distributors for privateness compliance
Entrepreneurs ought to do not forget that it’s by no means sufficient to depend on vendor compliance with privateness laws. So as to shield your self, you must be certain that you preserve a lawful foundation for storing and leveraging any information about your prospects and prospects, even when that information was initially collected in a compliant method.

8. Undervaluing first-party intent
Many entrepreneurs underestimate how a lot of this information could be collected from your personal first-party interactions with prospects and prospects. It’s vital to make sure that these insights are being captured and mixed constantly, then shared throughout capabilities.

7. Ignoring information decay
Intent information is among the many most time-sensitive information varieties obtainable, with a restricted window by which performing on the indicators is sensible. Remember the fact that if you’re storing historic shopping for indicators, you must incorporate the idea of knowledge decay, or it can quickly seem that each firm in your database is demonstrating intent.

6. Failing to map sign varieties to the shopping for cycle
Some sign varieties could be robust indicators of a prospect’s probably stage within the shopping for cycle. Entrepreneurs ought to perceive which sources are more likely to accumulate early analysis conduct and that are capturing late-stage indicators. With the ability to extra precisely pinpoint a prospect’s location within the shopping for cycle will permit for higher prioritization, extra correct identification of your subsequent greatest motion, and, in the end, increased conversion.

5. Treating intent indicators as qualifiers
Most advertising and income growth groups are anticipated to move to gross sales solely these alternatives that meet strict qualification standards to keep away from losing worthwhile gross sales sources. Intent information mustn’t grow to be an exception to that rule, as these indicators on their very own mustn’t substitute the qualification course of.

4. Utilizing intent indicators in a vacuum
So as to perceive how important a sign is for your corporation, it’s vital to pair that information up with the opposite insights you’ve got obtainable to color a clearer image. Engagement information and technographic information, which offers info reminiscent of buy historical past and product utilization, are significantly robust companions to intent information that will help you perceive whether or not the indicators obtained are more likely to be a part of an lively shopping for cycle.

3. Underleveraging present intent funding
It’s vital for entrepreneurs to acknowledge the complete scope of use instances for the intent information that they’ve acquired. Failing to completely undertake a selected answer or to create the mandatory processes to behave on indicators minimizes the worth you possibly can achieve. Firms also needs to acknowledge that the identical information that was bought to drive account prioritization can be utilized to assist in different areas, reminiscent of content material personalization or retention modeling.

2. Settling for one supply on intent indicators
Extra sources of intent information are usually extra predictive of shopping for conduct, assuming you aren’t merely buying duplicate indicators from a number of suppliers. Buying assorted sign varieties from a number of sources permits organizations with the sources to afford that funding to higher validate indicators, determine shopping for group members, and triangulate the buying-cycle stage.

1. Not leveraging intent information in any respect
At this level, most giant B2B organizations have both included intent information into their advertising (and, typically, gross sales) processes or are working to take action. Firms that select to not leverage intent information are at a drawback in opposition to opponents that know which corporations are actively purchasing.

Avoiding these errors takes cautious planning and energy however will give you an actual aggressive benefit in your gross sales and advertising execution. As soon as once more, if you happen to’re actively utilizing or contemplating intent information in your gross sales or advertising methods as we speak, please take a couple of minutes to finish our Q1 2023 B2B Intent Knowledge Survey to assist us additional refine our steering and give you your complimentary abstract of our findings.