When building a pipeline of leads for sales, it's essential to start with a sound foundation of accounts that are in-market and intent-driven. Once you have a solid intent-driven account list, you can segment out leads for focused, value-added marketing campaigns that can speak directly to various buying circles.
However, figuring out who has intent and where they are in their buyer's journey can take time and effort. ABM makes the task easier by focusing on intent signals and creating tactics for uncovering both in-market accounts while providing insights into how close they are to making a buying decision.
Need help figuring out where to start? In this strategy session, we'll help you understand what an intent-driven account list is, why it's integral to target accounts that show intent, and how an ABM framework can provide you with a better account list for more successful engagement. By the end of this document, you'll be well on your way to understanding who you should be targeting and how to find them.
What is Intent Data?
To build an intent-driven account list, you'll need to understand the concept of intent data.
Intent data is formed around the research a company does. When a company researches different topics or articles, it shows an intent or interest. Using ABM, you'll be able to see which companies are showing an interest in the topics most relevant to your company.
What is an Intent-Driven Account List?
An intent-driven account list is precisely what it sounds like a list of accounts showing signs of intent. Accounts on this list should have different levels of prioritization (from high to low) based on the recency and frequency of intent signals and the number of intent signals they are trending on.
Why is it Important to Target Accounts That Show Intent?
While showing intent doesn't necessarily mean these accounts are ready to buy, it does signal (especially if they are researching with recency and frequency) a willingness to learn more about a topic. The research frequency or recency reveals a perceived level of interest around which you can build engagement. Once you have an "in" with accounts, you can construct more targeted campaigns that will allow you to increase engagement more quickly and pass warm/hot leads to sales to increase win rates.
How You Can Use ABM to Reveal Intent Signals (For a Better Account List)
The point of making an intent-driven account list is not to gather as many names as possible. Instead, it's to be mindful of who to go after and why. ABM can help you understand signals to focus your resources in the right direction. Here are some ways to make sure you're concentrating resources and energy effectively.
Target Wisely
Not every company will fit into your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile). Look for accounts trending on topics and signals you care about as a business or based on research you've done. Segment your accounts based on firmographic details (company size, industry, locations, etc.) and relevant intent signals. For example, if your target accounts are mid-size SaaS payment platform providers in the USA, it doesn't make sense to go after the entire SaaS market. Narrow your scope and be specific about who your ideal client base is. Focusing on the right signals is critical to the success of a good ABM campaign, as it will help with future messaging and account targeting.
Use ABM to Understand Signals That Are Important to Your Business
There are two types of intent signals: soft intent signals (broad) and buyer intent signals (specific). While it's good to know when companies are researching more general topics, remember to look at competitive signals, too. For example, if your company offers online secure payment services, a soft intent signal may be accounts researching online payment security. A buyer intent signal would be accounts researching multiple competitors offering your exact services. Use both types of signals to compile your account lists.
Find Out Where Accounts Are in Their Buyer's Journey
Accounts will reveal where they are in their buyer's journey by the type of research they conduct. More general searches typically indicate an account is early in the buyer's journey (the discovery phase). As searches get more specific (for example, if a company is starting to compare among companies), they're nearing the end of their buyer's journey. You can estimate just how far along accounts are in their evaluation cycle based on specificity, recency, and frequency. This is important as it can dictate the marketing choices you'll be making in your ABM campaigns.
Seek Accounts That Are Early in the Buyer's Journey
ABM is all about building relationships, which happen slowly over time. If your company has less brand recognition, targeting only accounts already in the buying phase may not give you enough time to warm up leads. Instead, look for intent that suggests a target is early in their buyer's journey. That will provide ample time to build recognition, add value, solve problems, and initiate engagement.
Stay Agile and Consistent
Accounts shift and change over time. Some who weren't looking for your product or service a month ago may be looking now, while others may have moved closer to a purchase. There's also a chance that accounts that showed intent no longer do. That's okay! It just means you need to go and recalibrate to ensure you're always targeting based on the strongest likelihood for conversion (and not wasting time on accounts that are no longer in-market). Think of your account lists as living documents that need constant nurturing. Refine your account lists by updating in-market accounts monthly to maximize consistency and maintain accuracy.
What You Do With Intent Matters
Hypothetically, just because an account has the buying intent, budget, timeline, and all the elements it needs to become an SQL doesn't mean they're ready to buy from you. You must still form trust and add value to prove your company's worth. And, while ABM is a shortcut to qualifying and warming leads, you still have to put in the work to create rapport and brand recognition before you get within range of closing a sale. Intent-driven lists give you a competitive edge by uncovering the likeliest to convert. It's up to you to model a foundation of outreach that will encourage engagement and interest.
Practice Layering to Build Your Pipeline
At the end of the day, you'll want to find as many companies as possible moving through a buyer's journey. Once you have an intent-driven list of accounts, the next step is to place an omnichannel campaign in front of them.
Think of account lists as cohorts. In the first cohort, you've found companies with a list of intent signals. The next step is to reach out via an omnichannel campaign. Some of those accounts may begin to engage in a way strong enough to hand off to sales. However, with most, you'll just be starting the process of brand visibility.
Over time, as you run more cohorts, you'll find more and more of the companies you're reaching out to are early in their buying cycle. That's the best time to start marketing. From there, you'll develop a cadence of continuously warming accounts up, driving engagement, brand familiarity, trust, and rapport, ultimately creating a pipeline of hot leads to hand off to sales for conversion.
Conclusion
The best use case for intent data is when it can continually refresh your account and contact lists. Start early and seek accounts with intent signals that align with your product or service offering. Also, look for signs that they are early in the buyer's journey to give marketing the time needed to nurture relationships. From there, it's all about refining messaging and warming leads with value-added omnichannel content. Be patient, and you'll be rewarded with higher visibility and a rich list of potential customers ready to convert.