What Is Intent Data?
Behavioral signals that indicate a company or person is actively researching a solution.
Intent data captures online research behavior that suggests a company or individual is in-market for a solution. This includes content consumption patterns, search queries, product review site visits, and engagement with competitor websites, all aggregated and scored to identify buying intent.
There are three types of intent data. First-party intent data comes from your own properties: website visits, content engagement, and product usage. Second-party intent data comes from partners who share their audience data with you (like review sites such as G2 or TrustRadius). Third-party intent data comes from aggregators like Bombora or TechTarget that track content consumption across thousands of websites.
For demand gen teams, intent data changes targeting from 'who fits our ICP' to 'who fits our ICP and is actively looking right now.' This distinction dramatically improves campaign efficiency. Instead of blanketing your entire TAM with ads, you concentrate spend on accounts showing buying signals.
The limitation of intent data is noise. Not every research signal means purchase intent. Someone reading an article about your category might be a student, a journalist, or a competitor. Combine intent data with fit scoring and first-party signals for the most accurate targeting.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the types of intent data?
First-party (your website and properties), second-party (partner and review site data), and third-party (aggregated research behavior from providers like Bombora). First-party is the most accurate; third-party provides the broadest coverage.
How do demand gen teams use intent data?
Teams use intent data to prioritize outbound targets, trigger ad campaigns for in-market accounts, personalize website experiences, and alert sales reps when target accounts are actively researching.
Which intent data providers are most common?
Bombora, 6sense, ZoomInfo, G2, TechTarget, and Demandbase are the most commonly mentioned intent data sources in demand gen job postings. Many teams use multiple sources for broader signal coverage.