ABM Strategy: Account Scoring Using Intent Data – Propensity

What this is

Account scoring helps teams understand how engagement evolves over time and how to prioritize outreach across different stages of the buyer journey.

This article explains how to use intent data to score accounts and prioritize them based on their likelihood to engage and convert.

Account scoring helps you identify which accounts are:

Cold (low engagement)
Warm (increasing interest)
Hot (high intent, ready for sales)

Why account scoring matters

Not all accounts in your audience have the same level of interest.

Without scoring, it is difficult to:

Prioritize outreach
Identify high-intent accounts
Determine when to involve sales

By applying a scoring model, you can:

Focus on the most engaged accounts
Align marketing and sales efforts
Improve conversion rates

What is intent data

Intent data reflects the research behavior of a company.

When a company interacts with content or topics related to your offering, it signals interest.

This can include:

Visiting websites
Engaging with ads or emails
Researching topics or competitors

Types of intent data

First-party intent data

Collected from your own channels:

Website visits
Content downloads
Form submissions
Email engagement

This provides direct insight into how accounts interact with your brand.

Third-party intent data

Collected from external sources:

Publisher networks
Industry content platforms
Research activity outside your website

This helps identify accounts that are researching relevant topics, even if they have not engaged with your brand yet.

Second-party intent data

Represents engagement across your campaigns:

Ad clicks
Email clicks
Campaign interactions

This reflects how accounts respond to your outreach efforts.

How to build an account scoring model

1. Start with firmographic filtering

Before scoring, ensure your accounts match your ICP.

Use filters such as:

Industry
Company size
Location

Scoring is most effective when applied to relevant accounts.

2. Use third-party intent to identify interest

When scoring based on third-party intent, focus on:

Recency (how recent the activity is)
Frequency (how often it occurs)

Accounts with consistent and recent activity should receive higher scores.

3. Use first-party data to measure engagement

Website activity is one of the strongest indicators of intent.

Consider:

Visit frequency
Recency of visits
Pages viewed

Accounts visiting high-value pages (such as product or pricing pages) should be scored higher.

4. Incorporate cross-channel engagement

Account scoring should reflect engagement across all channels.

For example:

Ad impressions and clicks
Email engagement
Website visits

Each interaction contributes to understanding overall interest.

5. Apply different weights to different actions

Not all actions have equal value.

Examples:

A pricing page visit may be more valuable than an email open
An ad click may be more valuable than an impression

Assign higher scores to actions that indicate stronger intent.

6. Adjust scoring by account type

Scoring approaches may vary depending on your target market.

Enterprise accounts:
Focus more on individual contact engagement (contact-level signals)
Mid-market accounts:
Focus more on overall account-level activity

This helps ensure scoring reflects how buying decisions are made.

7. Identify buyer stage

Intent signals can help estimate where an account is in the buyer’s journey:

Early stage: Broad research
Mid stage: More specific engagement
Late stage: Comparing solutions or vendors

Use this to adjust scoring and prioritize outreach.

8. Keep scoring dynamic

Account behavior changes over time.

Increase scores when engagement rises
Decrease scores when activity drops

Regular updates ensure your scoring model stays accurate.

Additional considerations

Separate existing and new customers

Existing customers should not be treated the same as new prospects.

However, their behavior can indicate:

Upsell opportunities
Cross-sell potential

Use website activity as a key signal

Website visits act as a central signal of engagement.

Accounts that:

Visit frequently
Return multiple times
Engage with key pages

should be prioritized.

How scoring supports your ABM strategy

Account scoring helps connect marketing activity to sales action.

With a clear scoring model, you can:

Identify when accounts are ready for outreach
Pass high-intent accounts to sales
Focus campaigns on accounts that are most likely to convert

This creates a more efficient pipeline and improves alignment between teams.

Conclusion

Account scoring transforms intent data into actionable insights.

By combining:

Firmographic targeting
First-party engagement
Third-party intent
Cross-channel activity

you can build a scoring model that helps prioritize accounts and improve campaign performance.