20 Intent Signals You Should Be Tracking to Understand Buyer Behaviour

Understanding the signals that drive buyer intent is crucial for building an effective sales and marketing strategy. By capturing signals that reveal a prospect’s interest, intent data helps businesses engage with potential buyers at the right time.

But not all intent data is created equal. Multi-source intent data pulls insights from a variety of signals to create a comprehensive picture of your prospects’ intentions. With 20 key intent signals at your disposal, you can craft more targeted campaigns, prioritise high-value leads, and drive measurable business growth.

 

 

The Full Spectrum of Intent Data Signals

Each signal represents a distinct layer of insight into your prospects’ behaviours, interests, and priorities. Together, these signals provide a complete picture of the buyer’s journey and show how to engage a prospect at the right moment with the right message.

From tracking company announcements to monitoring interactions on platforms like G2, these signals reveal the nuanced decision-making processes of your target audience.

Here’s a breakdown of the 20 intent signals you should be tracking and how they can transform your approach to lead generation:

#1–7: Announcements

Company announcements often reveal strategic priorities or upcoming needs. By tracking these signals, you can identify opportunities to engage at the right moment. Key announcements include:

1. Leadership Changes: A new executive often signals fresh initiatives and budgets.
2. Expansions: Geographic or operational growth may require additional products or services.
3. Investments: Funding rounds indicate readiness to scale and innovate.
4. New Offerings: Product or service launches highlight areas of focus or evolving needs.
5. Awards and Recognition: Achievements can indicate thriving businesses worth targeting.
6. Partnerships: New alliances often open doors for complementary solutions.
7. New Client Contracts: These reflect growing demand and potential cross-selling opportunities.

#8–10: Topic Intent

Topic intent captures content consumption patterns to reveal what your audience is researching. These signals are derived from analysing content consumption patterns and can provide insights into:

1. Trending Topics: Knowing what prospects are prioritising can help you craft relevant content and messaging. This can be identified by monitoring industry blogs, forums, and social media platforms like LinkedIn or Twitter for frequently discussed topics. Tools like Google Trends or Reddit threads can also provide insights into trending conversations. Look at engagement metrics on your own content, such as blog posts or videos, to see which topics resonate most with your audience.
2. Competitor Content Engagement: Discovering what topics drive traffic to competitors.
3. Industry Trends: Analysing broader market trends can reveal what’s shaping decision-making and demand in your sector. Subscribing to industry newsletters, following key thought leaders, and tracking reports or whitepapers released is an effective method of keeping up to date with trends.

#11–14: G2 Intent Signals

Buyer activity on G2 provides rich insights into prospects’ intentions, including:

1. Profile Views: Interest in your company’s offerings.
2. Competitor Page Views: Comparisons with rival solutions.
3. Alternative Views: Consideration of similar tools or products.
4. Category Views: Broader interest in your industry or niche.

#15: Keywords

Tracking industry-specific and competitor-related keywords is a powerful way to identify prospects who are actively participating in conversations relevant to your offerings. This signal shows opportunities to engage with prospects who show immediate interest through their online activity.

For example, by monitoring posts, discussions, forums, and reviews for targeted keywords, you can better understand the prospects researching your industry or even engaging with competitors. This includes identifying mentions, likes, comments, and shares across platforms, that reveal conversational intent.

#16: Competitor Engagement

Monitor how prospects interact with your competitors through likes, comments, and shares on social media or forums. These signals reveal:

• Competitors’ strengths you can address.
• Opportunities to highlight your unique value proposition.

#17: Website Intent

Anonymous website visitors provide clear signals of interest. By monitoring website traffic, you can identify prospects who are showing interest based on their online activity.

Using tools that can assist with IP tracking can help to map the IP addresses of visitors back to specific companies. By associating these IP addresses with known organisations, you can see which companies are browsing your website content, even if they don’t submit a form or interact directly. With this data, you can identify companies actively researching your solutions and engage with them early to stay ahead of competitors.

#18: Downloads

When prospects download resources like whitepapers or case studies, they signal deeper engagement. Use these actions to tailor your outreach with relevant follow-ups.

#19: Events

Participation in industry events like trade shows or webinars indicates high engagement. Track:

• Which companies attended events in your sector.
• Their level of interaction during these events.

#20: Hiring Signals

Organisations hiring for specific roles often have evolving needs. These signals highlight:

• Expanding teams that may require your solutions.
• Shifts in focus areas or priorities.

Why You Should Be Incorporating Intent Data Signals into Your Strategy

​​Intent signals provide valuable insights into buyer behaviour, but their true power lies in how they guide your strategy. By leveraging the above 20 tracked signals, you can learn to engage with prospects more effectively, personalise your campaigns, and prioritise efforts for maximum impact. 

Engage Buyers at the Right Time

Timing is everything when it comes to converting prospects into customers. By tracking intent signals like funding announcements, website visits, or G2 profile views, you can pinpoint when a company is actively researching solutions like yours. Reaching out at these critical moments not only increases your chances of conversion but also positions your business as a proactive partner that understands their needs.

Deliver Personalised and Relevant Messaging

Generic outreach no longer resonates with modern buyers. With multi-source intent data, you can create campaigns that speak directly to each prospect’s pain points and priorities. By addressing the specific challenges and goals of your prospects, personalised campaigns build trust, foster engagement, and significantly improve conversion rates.

Optimise Resource Allocation

Wasting resources on low-priority accounts can be costly. Intent signals help you identify the leads most likely to generate ROI, allowing your sales and marketing teams to focus on high-value opportunities. This targeted approach means that your team spends less time on unqualified prospects and more time engaging with accounts that are truly in-market.

Maximising Success with Zymplify’s Intent Data Platform

Zymplify’s Buyer Intent Activation and Intelligence Platform brings these signals together in a single, actionable system. Unlike single-source tools, Zymplify provides comprehensive coverage that:

• Validates and activates intent data for immediate use.
• Eliminates the need for multiple subscriptions.
• Integrates seamlessly with your existing tech stack.

With Zymplify, you can identify high-value leads, create highly targeted campaigns, and engage prospects with precision. Whether you’re refining your ABM strategy, crafting hyper-personalised content, or improving sales outreach, Zymplify equips you with the tools to succeed.

Build a Smarter Strategy with Intent Data Signals

Intent data has become an indispensable tool for understanding and engaging today’s complex buyer journeys. By interpreting signals from multiple sources, businesses can gain a comprehensive view of their prospects’ interests and behaviours, allowing for more informed and strategic decision-making. From prioritising high-value leads to crafting personalised outreach, intent signals provide the roadmap for smarter engagement.

Ready to see how intent data can transform your sales and marketing strategy? Book a call with one of our experts today to learn how we can help you better engage and convert prospects.

If you’d like to find more actionable insights, practical tips, and expert advice, explore the other articles on our blog.