All companies hate wasting money.
That’s why it’s important to understand that collecting buyer intent data (page visits, return visitors, content downloads) only really matters if it makes it into the hands of the people who can act on it. In fact, 76% of businesses already use buyer intent data to inform their sales and marketing strategy, but that only works if it’s clear, accessible, and actionable.
With this guide, you’ll see exactly how to track the signals that matter, plug them into your GTM plays, and tie every signal back to real revenue so your team actually does something with it.
When you look at buyer intent data, don’t treat every click like it means something.
In fact, that’s often the trap: 87% of B2B companies collect these signals but never fully use them to drive deals forward. A single visit doesn’t tell you much. What matters is when someone shows real interest by coming back more than once and checking the pages that serious buyers care about.
Good signals look like this:
These patterns usually mean they’re deciding what to do next.
Your best buyer intent signals shouldn’t be hidden in some dashboard. Push them right into your CRM so sales can see them right away.
Set up a clear rule. For example, if someone checks pricing three times in five days, that should automatically trigger a follow-up task.
Keep checking which signals actually turn into deals. Buyer habits change, so you’ll need to adjust over time. It’s no surprise that 56% of teams use intent data primarily to identify new accounts to target, but you only get that value if you track and act on the signals that really matter.
This is how you make buyer intent data something your team uses every day, so reps spend more time on real opportunities and less time guessing who’s worth a call.
You don’t need a massive toolset, just a few pieces that work well together so you can see buyer intent signals clearly and act on them fast. 70% of B2B companies now use third-party intent data tools to spot buying signals they’d miss otherwise, but the trick is keeping that stack tight and connected.
Once you know who’s showing intent, you need to reach them and see what actually works.
When these tools sync up, your buyer intent data flows from signal to follow-up to closed deal, without manual updates or lost contacts along the way.
Start by mapping out how your buyers move from research to decision. Use buyer intent data to place people in campaigns that match what they’re actually researching, not just what you want to sell them. It works….52% of marketers now use intent data to craft tailored content that connects with where buyers are in the journey.
For example, a visitor checking competitor pages might need a comparison guide or customer proof, while someone reading deep product docs could be ready for a pricing incentive.
Use your tools, such as Smartlead, Octave, and HubSpot, to run this across ads, email, and social, but tie every step back to what the buyer signaled they care about.
Don’t just dump buyers into endless drip emails. Use buyer intent patterns to fine-tune timing and content. If someone spikes activity, like multiple visits in a week, move them into faster-touch sequences.
If an account goes quiet, use the same signals to pause or shift your spend so you’re not burning budget on cold leads.
Track performance in HubSpot so you see which signals drive clicks, meetings, and pipeline. Over time, this makes your marketing engine feel personal, and stops you from running the same play for every lead, no matter how ready they are. This pays off as 96% of B2B marketers say they hit their campaign goals when they actually use intent data to guide strategy.
Don’t treat buyer intent as extra data on the side, build it right into your deal stages and qualification process. Half of B2B leaders say intent data directly improves sales and marketing alignment, and that alignment is what makes follow-up faster and more consistent. For example, adjust your lead scoring so when an account does things like multiple pricing visits or competitor research, it bumps their score and shows they’re warming up.
Use these patterns as real proof points to move an opportunity forward, instead of relying on gut feel. If you need three strong buying actions to advance to proposal, intent signals give you that evidence, which makes pipeline reviews more objective and helps prevent deals from stalling out.
Buyer intent only pays off if sales teams know exactly when to act and what plays to run. So when an account shows a spike in activity, like researching pricing or comparing you to a competitor, have a clear play your reps run every time. That could mean pulling out a competitive battlecard, offering a quick incentive, or bringing in a technical expert to move things along.
Look at your past deals too. Which signals tend to show up before a win, and which ones hint that an account might go dark? Use that data to fine-tune your outreach plays by segment and deal size, so your reps aren’t left guessing who to talk to or what to say. That’s how intent data becomes more than a signal….over 85% of companies using it say they’ve achieved measurable business benefits.
Just because someone’s clicking around doesn’t mean they’re worth your time. Add firmographic filters like industry, size, and location so you only see signals from accounts that match who you actually want. It’s why about 66% of B2B marketers use a mix of first and third party data, it helps you filter out noise and zero in on the right people.
Combine your ICP filters with your best intent signals. When an account shows strong buying behavior and fits who you actually want, then pass it to sales.
Keep this synced back to your CRM so reps know every lead they see is worth working. This keeps your pipeline strong and stops your team from wasting time on the wrong people.
Too many teams stop at pushing buyer intent into a lead score. Go further by tying each signal to an opportunity record so you can see what happens after handoff. Use campaign tags, list names, or custom properties to connect every touch to pipeline stages.
This way, you’re tracking how those signals actually influence deal progress and closed-won outcomes. 47% of companies see higher conversion rates when they actually tie intent signals to deals, not just dashboards.
Once you can see which signals show up in real deals, analyze trends by segment and funnel stage. For example, does competitor research always appear before a pricing negotiation on mid-market deals? Do repeat demo views lead to faster closes for enterprise?
Set up dashboards that show not just the signal volume, but how they change win rates, deal size, or velocity. This helps you prove which signals are worth the spend and which campaigns or tools aren’t pulling their weight.
This way, you’ll spend less time guessing which buyer intent signals matter and more time scaling the ones that reliably drive real revenue. 43% of companies using intent data say deal sizes grow when they use those signals to decide which accounts to push through the pipeline.
One common mistake is leaving buyer intent signals stuck in marketing. If sales never sees them, they can’t act. Make sure your CRM and workflows push key signals to sales in a way they can actually use, which is tied to accounts, not buried in a report.
A lot of teams break good CRM records by pushing sloppy enrichment updates without checks. Make sure your enrichment tool only fills in blanks and protects the fields your reps trust. If you pull in new firmographic or behavioral data, set up your enrichment to protect the details your team already trusts.
If you don’t tag signals by campaign or source, you can’t tie them back to revenue. Use clear naming conventions when you enrich and sync so you can track what happens later.
Buyer behavior shifts all the time. A signal that showed high intent last quarter might not mean the same today. Review what signals still correlate with deals moving forward and update your rules so you’re not working with stale patterns.
Want to see where your buyer intent signals get stuck? Get a FREE Revenue Engine Diagnostic and see what’s slowing you down 👇