7 Ways to Find In-Market Buyers with Intent Data | Simple Scale Marketing
In sales and marketing, timing is everything. Reaching a prospect at the exact moment they need your solution is the difference between a closed deal and a missed opportunity. But how can you know when that moment is? The answer lies in intent data—the digital clues that signal a buyer's interest and readiness to purchase. By tracking these behaviors, you can stop chasing cold leads and start engaging with prospects who are actively looking for you.
Focusing on in-market buyers allows you to prioritize your resources, personalize your outreach, and shorten your sales cycle. This post will explore seven practical ways you can use intent data to identify these high-value prospects and gain a significant competitive advantage.
1. Track Spikes in Research on Key Topics
A single person reading a blog post might just be curious. But when multiple people from the same company start consuming content around a specific topic in a short period, it’s a powerful buying signal. This sudden increase in activity is often called an "intent spike" or "surge."
For example, if several employees from an accounting firm begin researching "cloud security solutions" or "data encryption software," it’s a strong indicator that the company is facing a security challenge and exploring potential solutions.
How to act on it: Use an intent data platform to set up alerts for topics relevant to your product. When a target account shows a spike in research activity, flag it for your sales team to begin personalized outreach. Your message can be tailored to the exact topic they are exploring, making your outreach timely and relevant.
2. Monitor for Competitor Comparisons
One of the strongest signals of buying intent is when a prospect starts researching your competitors. They are no longer just problem-aware; they have moved into the solution-evaluation phase of their journey. They might be reading reviews, visiting competitor websites, or searching for terms like "[Your Competitor] vs. [Your Company]" or "[Your Competitor] alternatives."
This behavior shows they are actively comparing options and getting ready to create a shortlist of vendors.
How to act on it: Track keywords and online discussions related to your direct competitors. When an account shows interest in a competitor, it's the perfect time to engage. You can launch targeted ad campaigns highlighting your unique advantages or have a sales rep reach out with a compelling case study that showcases why you are the better choice.
3. Identify Engagement with High-Intent Content
Not all content consumption is equal. A visit to your homepage is a weak signal, but a download of a technical whitepaper or a visit to your pricing page is a very strong one. High-intent content is any asset that a prospect would only engage with if they were seriously considering a purchase.
Other examples include:
Watching a product demo video.
Reading detailed case studies.
Using an ROI calculator on your site.
Requesting a trial or a sales call.
How to act on it: Make sure you are tracking these high-value conversions on your own website (first-party intent data). Score these actions heavily in your marketing automation platform to fast-track these leads to your sales team for immediate follow-up. This ensures you connect with prospects while their interest is at its peak.
4. Look for Multiple Stakeholders from the Same Account
A major B2B purchase is rarely made by a single person. It typically involves a buying committee with members from different departments, such as IT, finance, operations, and leadership. When you see research activity from multiple contacts at the same company, it suggests a formal evaluation process is underway.
If someone from IT is researching the technical specs of your product while someone from finance is looking at pricing information, it’s a clear sign that a purchase is being seriously considered.
How to act on it: Use your intent data to identify all engaged contacts within an account. This enables your sales team to use a "multi-threading" strategy—building relationships with several stakeholders simultaneously. This approach helps build consensus and accelerates the deal by addressing the unique concerns of each decision-maker.
5. Analyze "Fit" and "Intent" Together
Intent data is most powerful when combined with your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). A company showing strong buying intent is only a valuable lead if they are also a good fit for your business in terms of size, industry, location, and technology stack.
Focusing only on intent can lead you to waste time on companies that are too small, in the wrong industry, or simply can't benefit from your solution. Conversely, focusing only on fit means you’re targeting companies that may have no current need for your product. The magic happens when you find the overlap.
How to act on it: Create a prioritized list of target accounts that match your ICP. Then, use intent data to monitor only those accounts. This dual-filter approach ensures your sales team spends its time on high-fit, high-intent prospects—the ones most likely to convert.
6. Monitor Hiring and Expansion Signals
A company’s strategic initiatives can also signal future needs. For instance, if a company posts job openings for a "Director of Demand Generation," they will likely need marketing automation or analytics tools soon. If an organization announces a new product line or expansion into a new region, they may require new software and services to support that growth.
These organizational signals often precede active product research, giving you a chance to get in front of a prospect before they even begin their buying journey.
How to act on it: Use sales intelligence tools to track job postings, press releases, and funding announcements from your target accounts. Use this information to initiate a conversation, positioning your solution as a key enabler of their upcoming initiatives.
7. Leverage Third-Party Publisher Networks
While your own website provides valuable first-party intent data, it only shows you a small piece of the puzzle. Most of a buyer's research (over 70%) happens on third-party websites like industry publications, review sites, and online forums.
Third-party intent data providers partner with these publishers to collect behavioral signals from across the web. They can tell you when an account is researching relevant topics, even if they have never visited your site. This gives you a much broader view of your total addressable market and their hidden research activities.
How to act on it: Invest in a third-party intent data platform to supplement your first-party data. Use these signals to discover new in-market accounts that aren't yet on your radar and to get a more complete picture of your known prospects' interests.
Turn Insights into Action
Identifying in-market buyers is the first step. The next is to engage them with a personalized and timely message. By leveraging these seven strategies, you can shift your go-to-market efforts from a broad, volume-based approach to a precise, data-driven one.
Want to dive deeper and get a complete playbook for implementing these strategies?
Download our free resource, The Ultimate Guide to Finding In-Market Buyers with Intent Data, to get expert insights, practical examples, and a step-by-step framework for turning intent into revenue.
