Buyer Intent Data: How to Turn Signals into Sales?

Between “curious” leads and those who are truly ready to buy, the difference often comes down to one thing: timing ⏱️. That’s exactly what buyer intent data enable: spotting real buying signals so you know who to contact and when, instead of prospecting blindly.

This article explains B2B buyer intent data, how it’s collected, how it’s used in sales and marketing, and how to activate it to create more opportunities. Because a signal of intent is only valuable if it triggers a sales action at the right time 💸.

What is buyer intent data?

Buyer intent data is all the data that indicates that a prospect or company is actively interested in a specific topic, solution, or problem. We’re not talking about simple contact information or firmographic data, but behavioral signals that help us understand where a prospect is in their buying process 👀.

These signals can take different forms: repeated visits to certain pages, viewing content, specific searches, etc. Taken individually, they remain weak. But when analyzed together and over time, they become indicators of commercial maturity. 🤓

Why is timing more important than volume?

Accumulating leads is of little value if none of them are ready to move forward. The real value of buyer intent data is not to increase the volume of prospects but to prioritize them better.

A prospect that is perfectly aligned with your ideal customer profile but shows no recent signals will often be less responsive than a “less-than-perfect” account that’s actively demonstrating intent right now. In B2B, timing almost always beats volume.

That’s why intent data has become a lever for 👇🏻:

• Prioritizing leads and accounts.
• Trigger sales actions at the right time.
• Reducing over-solicitation and improving conversion rates.

How is buyer intent data collected?

Here’s a clean, natural revision with “intent data types” integrated smoothly:

Marketing intent is derived from observable behaviors, captured across different channels, and analyzed to identify signals of varying degrees of interest. Based on their origin, there are generally three main intent data types 📊.

First-party data

First-party buyer intent data is data that you collect directly, without an intermediary. This data is often the most reliable, yet it remains underutilized 👀.

➡️ It includes:

• Behavior on your website: Pages visited (product, pricing, etc.), repeat visits, time spent, and navigation on key pages.
• Engagement with your content and offers: White papers, case studies, webinars, product trials, and demo requests.
• CRM data and sales interactions: Email opens and replies, exchanges with sales, and opportunity history.

Third-party intent data

External players collect third-party buyer intent data through networks of sites, platforms, and partners. It allows you to identify accounts even before they interact with your brand.

It can be found in particular via 👇🏻:

• B2B publisher networks (specialized content, professional media). 🔍
• Review and comparison sites. 👩🏻
• Data co-ops and partnerships that pool anonymized signals. 👯‍♂️

First-party intent data vs. third-party intent data

Here is a table to help you better understand these two types of data:

Criterion	First-party intent data	Third-party intent data
Source	Data collected directly by your company	Data collected by external providers
Source of signals	Website, content, emails, CRM, commercial interactions	B2B media, review sites, comparison sites, partner networks
Level of accuracy	Very high, contextualized signals	Varies depending on the provider
Coverage	Limited to your existing visitors and prospects	Broad, including unknown accounts
Timing	Very precise on your active leads	Useful for detecting projects early on
Compliance	Easier to manage	Highly dependent on the supplier’s practices
Use cases	Prioritization, lead nurturing, scoring, sales follow-up	ABM, in-market account detection, prospecting

Intent signals related to search and behavior

Search and behavioral signals are often used to enrich the two previous sources. 📊

➡️ These include, for example:

• Search keywords such as “solutions,” “alternatives,” “comparisons,” and “issues.”
• Topics consulted repeatedly.
• Frequency and engagement rate over a given period.

Taken in isolation, these signals are weak. But when cross-referenced and combined with other data, they can be used to identify real purchasing dynamics rather than just a one-off interest 😉.

Buyer Intent data vs. traditional lead data

Traditional lead data (form fills, business cards, CRM records…) is still useful. But taken alone, they mainly provide a static snapshot of the prospect, not a view of their actual intent. This is where buyer intent data completely changes the logic.

Static data vs. dynamic data

➡️ Traditional data is mostly static:

• Position.
• Company.
• Industry.
• Company size.
• Contact details.

➡️ Buyer intent data is dynamic:

• It evolves.
• It reflects recent behavior.
• It indicates a level of interest at a given moment.

Intent data does not guarantee a sale

Sales intent data is not a crystal ball. A signal of intent reflects interest, not a firm purchase decision.

A prospect may simply be researching for later, exploring a topic as part of market monitoring, or showing interest without being the actual decision-maker. In those cases, signals do exist, but they don’t necessarily mean the opportunity is ready to be activated right away.

The classic mistake is to interpret buyer intent data as proof of purchase. In reality, it is an indicator of priority and timing, not a certainty.

Combine buyer intent data and lead data to better qualify your leads

It is when you combine the two that the value explodes 💥.

• Lead data answers the question: who is the prospect?
• Intent data answers the question: is this the right time?

By combining them, you can 👇🏻:

• Improve lead scoring and sales qualification.
• Prioritize the hottest leads.
• Adjust your sales pitch.
• Trigger actions at the right time.

Less unnecessary volume, more relevant opportunities, and often a shorter sales cycle 🙂.

Best practices and limitations of intent data

Buyer intent data is a powerful tool, but it must be used methodically and with perspective. 🫠 Here’s what you need to know:

• False positives: Not all signals indicate an immediate intention to purchase. A prospect may be monitoring the market, preparing for a long-term project, or simply gathering information. The right approach is to cross-reference signals, taking into account their recency, frequency, and consistency.
• Data overload: Too many signals can quickly create noise. Having multiple dashboards and scores complicates decision-making. It’s better to focus on a few truly actionable indicators that are aligned with your sales cycle.
• Ethical use and compliance: Not all buyer intent data is equal when it comes to compliance. GDPR, consent, and transparency issues are important. It is essential to understand how data is collected and to adopt a non-intrusive activation approach. 🤓

The stages of purchase intent and associated signals

Buyer intent data makes perfect sense when linked to the customer journey. Not all signals have the same value, simply because a prospect is not always at the same level of maturity 🙂. Identifying which stage they are at allows you to tailor the message, timing, and sales action.

Awareness phase

At this stage, the prospect is starting to realize they have a problem or challenge to address, without actively looking for a solution yet. The intent is still vague, the signals are broad and exploratory, and it’s far from a product-driven mindset 👀.

In concrete terms, they gather information, read educational content, take an interest in business issues, consult articles and guides, etc. to better understand what is at stake for them.

Here, the goal is definitely not to sell 😅. The challenge is rather to fuel reflection, support this awareness, and position your brand as a reliable and expert source.

Consideration phase

The prospect has identified their problem and is beginning to evaluate different approaches or possible solutions. The signals become more specific and more frequent. 📈

➡️ We often see:

• Searches focused on solutions or categories of tools.
• Consultation of comparison pages or customer case studies.
• More regular engagement with high-value content.

This is a key phase for prioritizing accounts and adapting the sales pitch without being too aggressive. 😇

Decision phase

At this stage, the prospect is clearly engaged in a purchasing process. The intention is no longer theoretical; it is concrete and actively moving towards action. The signals become stronger, more frequent, and, above all, very concentrated in time, which makes them particularly valuable.

We generally observe explicit behaviors: research on specific brands or solutions, direct comparisons between tools, and marked interest in features, prices, customer reviews, or alternatives. Repeated visits to product or pricing pages often reflect an internal validation or shortlisting phase. 📋

How do sales and marketing teams use intent data?

Once the signals of intent have been identified, the challenge is to turn them into concrete actions. Used effectively, buyer intent data can align marketing and sales around the same priorities, avoid unnecessary over-solicitation, and focus efforts in the right place. 🎯

Are you really ready for buyer intent data? (Checklist)

Before investing in tools or multiplying signals, it’s best to make sure the basics are in place. This checklist will help you take stock:

• 🙆🏻‍♀️ Do you have a clear definition of your ICP, beyond simple firmographic criteria?
• ⚠️ Do you know which intent signals should actually trigger a sales action and which ones to ignore?
• 🔥 Do your marketing and sales teams know what to do when a lead is “hot”?
• ⏱️ Do you have a rapid activation channel (LinkedIn, email, outbound) to act without missing the timing?
• 📊 Are you able to measure the impact of these signals on your responses, opportunities, and sales?

If you answer “yes” to most of these questions, you’re on the right track! You can implement the other steps with your team.

1. Set up a scoring system based on intent

The primary role of buyer intent data is to help sales teams decide who to prioritize. There are many signals to consider:

• Recency and frequency of activity.
• Types of content or pages viewed.
• Interest in comparisons, alternatives, etc.

Not all signals have the same value. A single download does not indicate the same intent as repeated activity concentrated over time.

2. Use Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

In ABM, intent data makes it possible to move from “theoretical” targeting to prioritization based on real-world signals.

Rather than working with all high-potential accounts in the same way, you can:👇🏻

• Identify those that show active signs of interest. 👩🏻‍💻
• Automatically move these accounts up in your priorities.
• Focus your efforts where a project is likely underway.

The other strength of buyer intent data in ABM is multi-decision-maker coordination. In B2B, decisions are rarely made by individuals. Signals help you understand who is interested in what topics and at what level of maturity.

3. Personalize marketing campaigns

Buyer intent data also allows you to personalize messages. The content, tone, and angle can be adapted according to the prospect’s position in the sales funnel. 🛝

A prospect in the discovery phase does not expect the same message as an account in the decision phase. By relying on intent signals, marketing teams can offer the right content at the right time without falling into blind automation.

Prospects who are still too cold enter a nurturing process, with content tailored to their position in the funnel. The hottest prospects are passed on to sales reps to initiate contact at the right time and maximize the chances of a sale.

Example: What does an in-market “account” look like in practice?

Let’s imagine a B2B SaaS scale-up that sells a tool to sales teams, with an average basket value of around $6,000 per year 👀.

1. Identifying profiles

Over a 14-day period, the team observes signals on the same account of 120 employees:

• 3 different people interact with content related to prospecting.
• 7 visits to comparison pages.
• 2 visits to the pricing page, a few days apart. ⏱️

Nothing explosive taken separately. But together, it starts to look like a project is underway 👀: concentration of signals over time. Everything happens in less than two weeks, and more importantly, several profiles are involved (Head of Sales, Sales Ops, and manager). At this stage, the account is tagged as in-market with a high level of intent. 🧚🏻‍♀️

2. Setting up the scoring

The team applies a simple scoring system that has been defined in advance with the various sales and marketing teams:👇🏻

• High recency (+30 points).
• Repeated visits (+25 points).
• Pages with high intent, such as pricing and comparisons (+30 points).
• Presence of a decision-maker (+20 points).

Here, the final score reaches 105 points, above the “sales-ready” threshold set at 80. The account is automatically moved to the top of the sales priority list 📚.

3. Activation with Waalaxy

Rather than sending a generic message, the account is imported into Waalaxy and integrated into a short LinkedIn + email sequence. The logic is simple:

• Day 1: Personalized LinkedIn message, focused on sales structuring issues. 📝
• Day 4: Gentle follow-up with feedback from a customer experience. 🙋🏻‍♀️
• Day 7: The follow-up email focused on a “quick exchange” (no direct demo). 📩

What really changes compared to traditional prospecting is the context. Without intent data, the account would have been contacted somewhat randomly, often too early or too late, with a standard message arriving when the subject was not yet (or no longer) relevant.

With buyer intent data enabled, the logic is entirely different. The right account is targeted at the right time, with a contextualized message that echoes current issues. The contact is then perceived as relevant and useful, rather than an interruption. 🫠

Which buyer intent data tools or providers should you choose?

There are many intent platforms available today, but they are not all equal 🤓. Before looking at the names, the key is to understand what you really expect from this data and how you plan to use it.

Good buyer intent technology is not necessarily the one that promises the most signals, but the one that provides actionable signals. Here are the main criteria to consider:

• Type of data collected: First-party data, third-party data, web behavior, search signals… or a mix of all three. 🔄
• Freshness and update frequency: Intent data quickly loses its value if it is not recent.
• Signal granularity: At the account, individual, topic, or solution level. 😎
• Integrations: Is it compatible with your CRM, marketing tools, and activation platforms? Otherwise, the data will remain stuck in a dashboard. 🫠
• Compliance and ethical use: GDPR, consent, transparency on collection, etc. 🫥

To help you find your way around, here is an overview of some of the leading buyer intent APIs on the market.

Platform	Main positioning	Strengths
Bombora	Third-party B2B intent data	Extensive B2B coverage, thematic signals based on content consumption.
6sense	ABM & intent data	Combination of intent data, predictive scoring, and sales/marketing organization.
ZoomInfo	B2B data & intent data	Contact database and intent data integrated into prospecting.
Cognism	Sales intelligence & intent data	Focus on compliance and enriched data.

Which tool should you use to activate intent data?

Buyer intent data is only valuable if it leads to concrete actions 🏃🏻‍♀️. Once the signals have been identified via your tools or suppliers, the challenge is no longer collection… but commercial activation. This is exactly where Waalaxy comes in ✨.

It’s important to clarify from the outset that Waalaxy does not collect intent data. However, it is an activation tool that allows you to transform these signals into effective prospecting actions, particularly on LinkedIn and via email. 📮

Import leads qualified by intent

The first step is to enter buyer intent data into your prospecting engine. Once your accounts or contacts have been identified as “in-market” on LinkedIn, you can import them into Waalaxy to integrate them directly into your campaigns.

By starting with prioritized leads, you avoid cold or generic targeting. 🥶

Segment according to level of intent

Not all signals have the same maturity. Waalaxy allows you to segment your leads with tags based on their level of intent: discovery, consideration, or decision. 👀

This segmentation is key for 👇🏻:

• Adapting the pace of contact.
• Avoiding over-solicitation.
• Focusing sales efforts where intent is strongest.

Adapt LinkedIn and email sequences

Once the segments have been defined, you can adapt your LinkedIn and email sequences according to the context. A prospect in the discovery phase will not receive the same message as an account in the decision phase.

Automate follow-ups without losing timing

Timing remains critical ⏱️. Thanks to automation, Waalaxy allows you to:

• Follow up on contact points.
• Follow up at the right time.
• Maintain a regular presence without relying on manual actions.

You stay in sync with the detected intent, even on a large scale 😅.

Measure the impact on the pipeline and conversions

Last point, measurement 📊. By activating buyer intent data via Waalaxy, you can analyze the real impact on 👇🏻:

• LinkedIn response rates.
• Opportunity creation.
• Progress in the pipeline with tags…

KPIs to track when using intent data

These are the key KPIs you should focus on:

KPI	What it measures	Why it’s important
Outbound response rate (with intent vs. without intent)	The real impact of intent signals on engagement.	Allows you to validate that the right message is arriving at the right time.
Time between detected signal and first contact	The responsiveness of teams to intent.	The shorter this delay, the better the timing.
Lead conversion rate	The quality of leads activated via intent data.	Less volume, but more real opportunities.
Sales cycle length	The speed at which a prospect moves through the funnel.	A shorter cycle indicates greater purchase maturity.

Let’s recap on buyer intent data marketing.

Intent technologies and buyer intent data don’t replace targeting or prospecting, but they completely change priorities and timing. ⏱️ They enable a shift from a volume-based approach to a far more precise, contextual, and effective strategy focused on prospects who are truly in a buying phase. 🛍️

A signal of intent is only valuable if it is activated 😉. Identifying the right accounts at the right time and then triggering the right sales actions is what makes the difference. When used and activated correctly, intent marketing becomes a real accelerator for your pipeline and conversions 📈.

Frequently asked questions

Can intent data be used without a dedicated tool?

Yes, it is possible. Even without a specialized platform, you are already leveraging buyer intent data through your existing tools: website analytics, CRM, email interactions, and engagement on LinkedIn or with your content. These “internal” signals can be enough to prioritize your actions and optimize your sales timing ⏳.

The limitation is scale. Without a dedicated tool, analysis often remains manual, partial, and less responsive. Intent data platforms become especially useful when volume increases or when you are looking to identify accounts before they even interact with you.

Is buyer intent data suitable for small sales teams?

Buyer intent data is by no means reserved for large organizations. Small sales teams can even reap immediate benefits because every action counts. By focusing on a few key signals (recency, engagement, clear intent), a small team can:

• Better target its priorities. 🤗
• Avoid unnecessary prospecting. 🙃
• Maximize the impact of each contact. 📈

Ultimately, it’s not the size of the team that makes the difference, but the ability to leverage data.

Now you know everything there is to know about buyer intent data! 🧚🏻‍♀️