What is intent data?
Treat a research spike as permission to email and you've mixed up when to reach out with whether you may.
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Intent data — Intent data is third-party or first-party evidence that an account is researching a category, such as content consumption, review-site visits and search behaviour, used to time outreach. It signals interest, not identity.
Why it matters
Intent data shows that a given account is looking into a category right now. It comes from signals like reading on industry sites, trips to review sites, or search behavior, which a third-party provider pulls together and reports. There are first-party versions too. Your own website can track which accounts keep coming back to pricing or product pages. Either way, the signal answers a timing question. Is this account paying attention to this category right now?
Intent data doesn't tell you who a person is, or that they've agreed to be contacted. It's a signal about behavior, laid on top of an account. It won't stand in for a real contact at that account. And it's no basis for consent under laws that need one. A spike can fairly change what your team sends and when. Move that account up the list. Shape the message around the topic they seem to be reading about. But it doesn't change whether the outreach is allowed. That still turns on the consent and opt-out rules for the channel you use.
How intent data is used
- 1
Signals are collected
Reading, review visits or search behavior tied to an account get captured, by a provider or your own tracking.
- 2
Signals are aggregated by account
Single signals are rolled up to the company level.
- 3
A threshold or spike is detected
A real jump in activity for an account gets flagged.
- 4
The account moves up the list
Sales time shifts toward accounts that are doing active research.
- 5
Messaging is timed and tailored
Outreach is timed around the signal and can mention the topic they likely care about.
The mistake to watch for
Questions
- How is intent data different from a buying signal?
- Buying signal is the wider term for any sign that an account may be ready to buy. Intent data is one part of it: the research signals, such as reading or search activity, that vendors or your own tracking gather into that wider picture.
- Does intent data identify a specific person to contact?
- Not on its own. Intent data usually works at the account level. It shows that a company is looking into a category, but not which person is reading or searching. You still have to find that out some other way.
- Does a strong intent signal remove the need for consent before outreach?
- No. Intent data affects timing and how well the message fits, not the legal basis for contacting someone. Whatever consent or opt-out rules cover the channel still apply, however strong the signal is.