Who Uses Buyer Intent Data Providers?
Marketing teams: Campaigns that capture the interest of potential leads are created by marketers using intent data. This data helps put into perspective what is interesting to a demographic of high-quality leads. This makes it an ideal marketing tool for B2B companies in marketing campaigns.
Sales teams: B2B sales teams will use it daily to find and act on qualified leads. They are the ones that prioritize outreach to then get a feel for purchase intent. All leads are founded within a data-driven framework making an ideal sales pipeline.
Challenges with Buyer Intent Data Providers
Software solutions can come with their own set of challenges. Below are the top concerns with buyer intent data providers.
Identifying the correct data approach: With the segmentation of the data provided, there can be difficulty in understanding the appropriate one for a user's target market. Understanding the accounts and the appropriate mapping to campaigns is crucial.
Potential blocks in lead flow: Sometimes, even when one has the intent data, there can be a bottleneck in which opportunities are lead ready. This requires a consistent review of the process of reporting for sales reps. That way, they can understand if the data available is ready to be acted upon.
How to Buy Buyer Intent Data Providers
Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP) for Buyer Intent Data Providers
For buyer intent data products, the requirement should be that the software offers the ability to aggregate and deliver context around when prospects and customers are interacting with a particular product or company. When dealing with B2B marketing data, there must be a standard of security, so ideally, users should look for ones that are GDPR-compliant.
Compare Buyer Intent Data Providers
Create a long list
Buyers must start from the beginning of the buyer journey by understanding which products won’t be a good fit. The next step is to compile the buyer intent data features that would be essential, such as actual buyer journeys and signs of their purchase intent. If there’s one specific thing from a product that others don’t have but isn’t critical to the business goals, buyers can consider leaving that product behind to find one that checks all the boxes. This is where online research can come into play.
Create a short list
Once a primary selection of features is made of needs and wants, buyers must start identifying products that fit into this mold and ensure that these products meet all requirements essential to the key business objectives. Once the options have been narrowed down, businesses should consider reviews, their impact on current workflows, and objective third-party analysis. Software buyers must include options that are GDPR-compliant, as that’s key for B2B customers.
Conduct demos
There may be an option to take part in a free trial, usually ranging from a week to a month of use, to help make the decision. Often after the trial period, most buyer intent data vendors will include a tiered pricing plan that best suits the needs and size of a business. It’s essential during the demo period to make a list of questions that are crucial to the buyer's purchase decisions so that one can review them with the sales contact.
Selection of Buyer Intent Data Providers
Choose a selection team
Unless the decision is made to use the free version of a product, internal stakeholders, such as immediate managers or department heads, must be included in this purchase. These decision makers will direct the strategy, and to collaborate effectively, they will need visibility over cost and implementation. Buyers should also consider the cost of buyer intent data and the time of the implementation.
Negotiation
Most of these products won’t require negotiation, but that doesn’t mean buyers should compromise on features, add-ons, or services. If a specific feature might cost extra but garner better results, buyers should consider it and try to include it in a package for the basic cost.
Final decision
This purchase decision should be made with business goals and budget top of mind. Making sure all internal parties are aligned on how this purchase or addition will benefit the business is critical.
