As a demand generation marketer, you’re already creating target account lists (TALs) for campaigns to tailor your messaging to a specific audience. Great start, but that’s only half the battle. Did you know that you’re likely missing out on connecting with actual in-market buyers relying solely on static account information from your CRM?
If this is you, don’t fret as you’re not alone. In fact, only 39% of marketers are satisfied with the target accounts they have identified for their ABM programs, according to the Salesforce’s 2021 State of Marketing report.
Take your campaign and TAL creation up a notch by leveraging intent data. Layer intent data into your TALs to identify high revenue potential accounts based on diverse and recent (emphasis on recent) buying signals and actions from different channels. In other words, use intent data to build a TAL of contacts showing a high propensity to buy and/or key decision makers who might be researching solutions like yours. By knowing what is being researched, when, by whom, and at which company, you can nurture high value accounts with relevant messaging, through appropriate channels, and across the buying journey.
Building intent based TALs invariably leads to higher conversions because it lets you:
- Identify those accounts that are actively pursuing solutions based on keywords and engagement
- Create clearer and relevant CTAs
- Develop landing pages that create a strong connection with the messaging
- Conceptualize clear email and ad copy that’s aimed at what the buyer intent is telling you
- Create content that resonates the most with in-market buyers
Benefits of Building Intent Driven TALs
Refine Target Account Selection and Identify Accounts That Best Fit Your Ideal Customer Profile
Over the years, marketers have been using information about their buyers (e.g., demographic, psychographic, firmographic, behavioral data) to create and segment TALs that closely match their ideal customer profiles (ICPs).
While you may have access to all these datasets, how well do you understand it to launch targeted marketing programs for those accounts who are most likely to buy? What is the thought process of your potential buyers before they make a purchase decision? Understanding the steps that a buyer may take – leading up to a particular action – is the main premise that makes intent data powerful.
Adding intent data to all the layers of information allows you to better predict buying journeys and create a more personalized and targeted buyer experience. Using intent data to authenticate your TALs is a great way to ensure your data provides the maximum outcome for other marketing activities as well from lead nurturing, email marketing, to content marketing.
Data Dimensions
- Demographic data is used to segment TALs based on age, gender, designation, education, and income.
- Psychographic data gives a view of the emotions behind purchase decisions (e.g., attitudes, interests, personality traits, values).
- Firmographic data focuses on information related to organizations (e.g., company size, location, revenue, sales cycle stages, performance).
- Behavioral data gives a granular view of how contacts actively researching are interacting with your products and solutions, in real time.
Pro tip: To derive maximum value from data, ask your intent data provider to deliver two types of reports. One using your TAL and another one using your ICPs as a broader targeting parameter (suppressing accounts on your current TAL). By comparing the performance of these two lists you can identify in-market, “unknown” accounts that fit your ICP and have high intent scores but are not in your current TAL. Creating targeted marketing programs using a concise TAL with niche contacts are more likely to deliver higher conversion rates than a generic marketing campaign for a large TAL.
Add Diversity to Your Data and Tap into Buyer Intent Signals from Behind the Firewall
Different buyer personas give intent signals across multiple touchpoints through various channels. To truly have a complete picture of your target accounts, you need diversity in your data that has buyer intent signals from various touchpoints, from the server room to the board room.
Buyer intent signals could range from activity on tools and apps, discussion on blogs and forums, to product reviews and comparisons. It could also include information about ad clicks and content consumed on third-party and owned websites. But some of the most important intent signals for you as modern marketers are those that you get from “behind the firewall” – from tool downloads, helpdesk Q&As, remote support interactions, infrastructure monitoring, to interactions on community platforms such as the Spiceworks Community.
Pro tip: The power of intent data and the value you can derive from it when building TALs depends on the source. Make sure the intent data provider you choose can capture and monitor engagement signals across touchpoints (especially signals from behind the firewall). Because Authentic IntentTM gives you continuous data signals to get a real image of your prospects and allows you to build TALs of niche contacts, resulting in higher conversions to actual sales.
Combine First and Third-Party Intent Data and Extend Your Visibility into In-Market Accounts
To get the most authentic indicator of purchase intent, the best practice is to combine first and third-party data. With wider coverage and deeper full-funnel account-based signals, you can build new segments with prospects who are most likely to be interested and customize your sales and marketing outreach with business-level data.
Building target account lists at scale with high-quality intent data includes first party intent data from a range of owned and operated channels (e.g., websites, communities, events), credible third-party data (e.g., firmographic, technographic, industry intelligence) from comprehensive market research and customer insights from communities.
Pro tip: To get better visibility into your entire buying collective, capture actionable intent signals from a combined dataset of first-party and third-party intent data. Get a better understanding about the primary use cases of intent data and find out important questions you must ask your B2B intent data vendors.
The Results You Can Achieve from Building Intent Driven TALs
Intent-based TALs help build a strong pipeline, shorten sales cycles, drive greater pipeline influence, and gain a higher quality of prospects that are most likely to convert. The quality of intent data you utilize to create TALs could determine the success of your demand generation initiatives.
Outcomes You Can Expect When Building TALs Using Intent Data
- Drive greater acceleration in pipeline influence
- Gain higher quality lead funnel from marketing to sales
- Nurture prospects based on intent and stage in the buying cycle
- Improve efficiency and save time by targeting in-market prospects
To gain unparalleled visibility into your buyers’ intent to purchase, get to know how SWZD’s Authentic Intent™data can help you build TALs which yield high conversion rates. If driving greater pipeline acceleration or gaining high quality lead funnel are your key goals, read the complete eBook or let us help you derive maximum value from intent data.