• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, April 18, 2023

Intent data does not always live up to its users’ intentions. 

Almost all B2B marketers say it can work for different tasks — but only 28% are very satisfied with their current intent data solution, while 59% are somewhat satisfied, according to The State Of Intent Data for Go-to-Market Teams, a study from Intentsify, conducted by Ascend2.  

Of the companies polled, 36% use intent data as part of a well-designed and measured strategy, while 18% have no such strategy in place. And they face the following challenges when using intent data to improve their go-to-market (GTM) efforts: 

• Creating a strategy for the use of intent data — 42% 
• Measuring impact of intent data — 35% 
• Converting data to insights efficiently — 33%
• Verifying validity of intent signals/insights — 28% 
• Identifying keywords/topics that signal intent — 21%
• Ingesting data into CRM or MA system — 21% 
• Acting on intent signals/insights — 19%
• Creating a cohesive view of all intent data collected — 17%
• Aligning account intent data to contacts for outreach — 15%
• Implementing processes needed to execute an intent-driven strategy — 13%
• Achieving broad coverage of all target-account research activities — 11% 
• Other — 1%

Despite those issues, 48% of intent users rate their GTM strategy as very successful, versus 17% of non-users. 

Where kind of data are they deploying? 

Of intent users, 47% utilize both first- and third-party data, while 31% rely on first-party data (website data) and 21% third-party (ad exchange sources, data co-op, publisher).  

And they are using intent data for these purposes:

• Lead generation — 47%
• Customer account expansion — 43% 
• Account identification — 32% 
• Digital advertising — 31%
• Account prioritization/scoring — 27% 
• Market intelligence — 25%
• Message selection/customer optimization — 25%
• Identifying at-risk customers/churn prevention—18% 
• Pipeline acceleration—8%
• Event planning—5% 
• Other—1%

Moreover, the most impactful uses of intent data are:

• Customer account expansion — 45% 
• Digital advertising — 42% 
• Lead generation — 35% 
• Account identification — 29%
• Account prioritization/lead scoring — 27%
• Market intelligence — 26% 
• Identifying at-risk customers/church prevention — 19%
• Event planning — 13% 
• Message selection or optimization — 11% 
• Other — 4%

But here’s one more issue that B2B brands should consider: Return on investment takes longer than respondents expect. 

For instance, 30% expect to see ROI in from one to three months. 

But only 23% realize it in that timeframe. 

Similarly, 32% forecast between three and six months, but 31% get there in that period. 

But the situation is reversed as the months go on: From six months to one year, the actual time is shorter than the expected time.  

In general, B2B marketers face these challenges with their go-to-market strategy:  

• Identifying target audiences/accounts — 38%
• Cross-departmental collaboration — 37%
• Sales and marketing alignment — 31% 
• Reaching target audiences through digital channels — 32%
• Adequate skills sets/knowledge — 27%
• Establishing/identifying appropriate message for specific accounts — 26%
• Scaling program results with current resources — 25% 
• Data actionability — 21% 
• Account/lead prioritization — 12%
• Other — 3%

Ascend2 surveyed 612 B2B customer success, marketing and sales professionals at companies with more than $10 million in annual revenue.

Of those respondents, 41% are managers, while 27 are directors, 11% are vice presidents, 4% are senior vice presidents and 16% are at the C-suite level and 1% fit into the “other” category.