How to Leverage Intent Data to Generate Pipeline

00:02 Welcome back everyone to another installment in our series, Pipeline Playbooks. Great to be back. And this time, we've actually teamed up with the folks at fullfondle.io. That's right. They've helped us build out a playbook focusing on something, well, pretty critical for growth. How to really leverage intent data smartly to build that sales pipeline. Exactly. We're really digging into the nuts and bolts here. Thinking about B2B sales and marketing teams.

00:31 especially those deep into ABM account-based marketing. But honestly, any revenue leader who wants more precision, more focus on who to talk to and how, how do you take all those signals, those intense signals that often get missed and actually turn them into real opportunities? Because, I mean, let's be honest, data overload is real. It's not like we're short on data points these days. Not at all. The tough part is sorting through it all.

00:55 turning those digital breadcrumbs into actual conversations and then hopefully close deals. That's where a lot of teams, they hit a wall. That's exactly the pain point. How do you get past just seeing, someone clicked this link. How do you actually prioritize the accounts that really matter? And get sales and marketing on the same page with it. Yes. Get them working together, using that intelligence. And maybe the biggest piece, how do you make your outreach, your messages actually connect? Make them relevant to the right person.

01:25 right when they need it. So yeah, we're drawing heavily from fullfunnel.io's own experiences here, what they actually do. So it's practical stuff, things they've seen work. OK, practical and proven. So for this playbook, what specific areas are we going to explore? So we'll look at the different kinds of intent data, first party versus third party, understanding what each offers and maybe what it doesn't. Gotcha. Strengths and weaknesses. Exactly.

01:50 We'll also hit on some common challenges, the pitfalls people run into when they try to use this data. Good to know what not to do. Right. And then we'll really zero in on how to weave intent data into your ABM programs effectively, how to use it to, well, really boost pipeline generation. Right. And by the end of this, what should someone listening expect to take away? What's the key outcome for them? You should have a much clearer picture, a sort of roadmap.

02:18 for picking out and prioritizing those accounts. Not just the ones that look good on paper, but the ones actively signaling, hey, I'm interested. OK. So better targeting. Better targeting, definitely. And also concrete ways to craft that timely personalized outreach that actually speaks to what they're looking for right now. All right. Let's dive in then. It sounds like the first big step is just identifying the right accounts, using those signals strategically. Precisely. It's not just about noticing website traffic. It's a deliberate analysis.

02:47 looking for key behaviors that tell you who's actively exploring solutions like yours now. where are you looking for these signals? What are the key data sources fullfunnel.io finds most valuable? Well, they use a few key ones consistently. First up is Leadfeeder. That's huge for seeing which companies are visiting their website. Even if they don't fill out a form. Exactly. Even the anonymous visitors. It gives you that immediate insight layer. OK, that makes sense. A starting point. What else?

03:14 They also really watch LinkedIn engagement, not just follows, but who's interacting with their posts, their updates, even joining industry chats where they're active. Ah, so seeing who's engaging with their ideas, their content, beyond just the website. Right. It shows who's in their orbit, digitally speaking. Then there's what they call aligned intent tracking. Aligned intent tracking. Yeah, basically tracking who's engaging with their more, let's say, bottom of funnel content. OK, like what? Case studies.

03:42 Pricing. Exactly. Case studies, pricing pages are big ones, maybe product demo pages, stuff that suggests a deeper interest, maybe a more immediate need. Right. That's someone seriously evaluating options. You got it. And finally, they use keyword tracking. So identifying companies where people are searching for terms like ADM agency or ABM consultant, things directly related to what they offer. Capturing that active research phase. So you put those pieces together, the site visits, the LinkedIn activity, the deep content engagement.

04:11 the keyword searches. And you get a much fully picture of who's likely in market. That's the goal. But, and this is important, before you even start looking at that data, there's a foundation you absolutely need. OK, what's that crucial piece? Your ICP, your ideal customer profile. Ah, right. You have to be crystal clear on the type of company that's the perfect fit for you. Without a solid ICP, you'll just chase signals from accounts that

04:39 you know, maybe aren't really right for you long term. That's a great point. Know who you're looking for before you start looking. And I think we actually have another playbook specifically on building that ICP, right? Yeah, definitely worth checking out if your ICP isn't nailed down. OK, so assuming you have that solid ICP, the next step is taking those accounts, showing intent and segmenting them, making it actionable. Fullfunnel.io uses this really smart three tier approach. Three tiers? How do they break that down? OK, tier one is cluster ICP.

05:09 These companies fit your profile based on size, industry, whatever your criteria are. But they look right on paper. Exactly. But they haven't really engaged with your brand yet. You don't know their specific needs. So the goal here, build awareness. Broad campaigns, just get on the radar. Got it. Potential fits, but early stage needs awareness building. Right. Tier two is future pipeline. Now these accounts have shown some interest.

05:36 They've crossed an engagement threshold. Like what? Multiple visits, downloaded something? Yeah, maybe spent say 10 minutes on key pages a few times or grabbed a white paper. They know your brand exists, but there's specific pain points? It's still a bit fuzzy. OK. So these are perfect for nurturing. Targeted campaigns to uncover their challenges tailor your approach later. Sales should start doing some digging here too. Research mapping out who's who. So warmer leads need more discovery. Precisely. Then tier three, active focus.

06:06 This is where the intent signals are loud and clear. OK, hot list. Basically, yeah. They fit the ICP. Yeah. And they're showing obvious buying behavior, hitting those product pages, pricing, maybe asking for a consult. You might even know someone there already. These are the accounts sales needs to prioritize. Focus their energy here to drive actual opportunities. Where the data really points to a current need makes sense. Absolutely. And to make this work, you need both first party and third party data. Quick refresher on the difference. Sure.

06:35 First party is your data, website visits, form fills, webinars, signups, stuff you track directly. Think Dealfront tracking that in real time. Okay, stuff happening on your turf. Third party is external stuff, G2 review. Maybe they just posted jobs indicating a new project, news about funding rounds. It adds context from outside your ecosystem. So what they do with you and what they're doing out in the world. You got it. And the really cool part is

07:02 The segmentation isn't fixed, it's dynamic. Meaning it changes in real time based on what accounts are doing. A cluster ICP account suddenly starts hitting your solution pages. Boom, they might move up to Active Focus. So it adapts as their interest level changes. Constantly. And for those Active Focus accounts, the goal is simple. Generate sales opportunities. Integrating this with your CRM is key here, so you can track everything, spot those warm leads, and make sure sales jumps on.

07:30 Okay, so how do you actually build these lists? Tools, processes, how does fullfunnel.io manage it? They rely heavily on Leadfeeder by Dealfront for this. It tracks and analyzes those company website interactions like we mentioned. And by connecting Leadfeeder to their CRM, a lot of that tier categorization can be automated based on how intensely they're engaging. So Leadfeeder sees a company hitting the pricing page three times and flags it as active focus automatically. Pretty much, yeah. Or if they're mostly reading blog posts,

08:00 Maybe they start as future pipeline. It can even spot new companies matching your ICP visiting for the first time, feeding that cluster ICP list. Sounds like a massive time saver compared to digging through analytics manually. Oh, definitely. And you can refine it further with custom feeds and lead feeds. Custom feeds. Yeah. You said filters, like show me ICP companies who visited page X more than Y times in the last Z days. Filter by firmographics, quality of visit. You build specific feeds for each tier.

08:28 So a feed just for ActiveFocus's manufacturing companies in North America. Exactly like that. And within the feed, you can quickly check the company details to confirm they fit the segment. You can even add tags like tier one priority for more granular tracking. OK, very cool. So you've used the tools, identified, segmented. What's the next move to turn data into pipeline? Right. So once you have those segments, especially ActiveFocus and maybe the top end of future pipeline,

08:56 The next vital step is deep account research. More than just the intent signals. Way more. FullFunnel.io really stresses understanding these priority accounts, their strategy, recent news, mergers, funding, and crucially, who are the decision makers, the buying committee. So layering business context onto the digital behavior. Exactly. You're identifying stakeholders, mapping the committee. You're looking at company announcements, hiring trends. Are they hiring salespeople? Maybe they're growing. Market movements affecting them.

09:26 plus checking their engagement history with you. Sounds like detective work. Where does all that info live? They centralize it in a tracking spreadsheet. sales has that complete picture, that 360 view. Before they even think about reaching out, it's about informed engagement. Smart. Go in knowing something relevant, not just a cold pitch. And there was a LinkedIn tip in there. Oh, yeah. Super useful. Right from Leadfeeder, you can often click through to the company's LinkedIn page. Instantly see if you or a colleague has a first degree connection. That warm intro.

09:56 Gold. a good shortcut. OK, research the segments. Now, how do you decide which ones actually get pushed into the CRM for sales to actively chase? Clear engagement criteria. That's key. Fullfunnel.io only moves accounts to the CRM if they hit a specific activity threshold showing real buying intent. Like what specifically? It's a mix. Depth and frequency of site visits. Yeah. The type of content they engage with. Bottom funnel stuff.

10:24 Did they respond to any marketing? Any explicit signals like requesting a quote, a demo? So it's not just any interest. It has to signal they're likely in an evaluation phase. Precisely. Set those criteria clearly. It keeps sales focused on the accounts most likely to convert, stops them wasting time on tire kickers. OK. Makes sense. Prioritized researched accounts are now in the CRM. How do sales and marketing work together smoothly now using all this intent data?

10:52 Yeah, this alignment piece is absolutely critical for what they call account velocity, moving accounts through the pipeline efficiently. Right. You need to qualify those cluster ICP ones quickly to find the gems. Exactly. And get the promising ones to active focus where fields can really engage. needs to be a smooth handoff, a shared understanding. So how do they make that happen? Avoid silos. A big part of it is regular weekly pipeline review meetings. It's a dedicated time for sales and marketing to look at the intent data together.

11:20 Review account categorization is this really active focus or still future pipeline, a line on priorities. And marketing shares insights to help sales craft better outreach. Sounds like a good rhythm, breaking down those walls. It really is. And they structure it like a weekly sprint, which seems really effective. A focused 60-minute meeting on Mondays, clear roles. SDRs share insights from calls, AEs update on deals, rev ops brings engagement data.

11:47 and the ABM lead pulls all together and sets the priorities for the week. A sprint approach. What comes out of that meeting, like tangible actions? Oh yeah, very specific things. SDRs might ask marketing for a specific blog post to nurture an account. Marketing might plan targeted ads for key cluster accounts. SDRs get precise tasks, not just follow-up, but reach out about X based on their visit to Y. AEs get clear next steps for their deals. So it's a working session, not just a review. Drives actual work for the week.

12:16 Exactly. It's agile. Keeps everyone focused on the best opportunity surface by the data. Strategic alignment week by week. And they mentioned dynamic lists versus static ones. Yes. Crucial point. Don't just make a list of, say, the Fortune 500 and stick to it forever. Right. Your ABM lists need to live. Update constantly based on your ICP and real time engagement signals. Who's actually showing interest now? Tools like Dealfront's Connected Lists.

12:44 help manage these dynamic data-driven lists. So the list reflects current reality, not just a plan made months ago. You got it. Strong alignment, dynamic lists. That's how you speed things up and drive more revenue. OK. Identified, aligned, targeted. Now the outreach itself. How do you go beyond generic messages and actually use the intent data to personalize effectively? Right. This is where the rubber meets the road. And personalization fueled by that intent data is everything. The big mistake.

13:13 Treating intent data like just a list of visitors and blasting generic emails. Yeah, I can see that happening. Data without context. Exactly. Raw data doesn't open doors. You need to translate they viewed page X into a message that resonates with why they might have viewed page X. OK, so how do you do that? What's the first step? A foundational thing is connecting your intent platform, like Leadfeeder, to your CRM, like HubSpot. Why is that so important? It gives sales context instantly.

13:39 They see an account showing intent. Are they already talking to us? Is there an open deal? Imagine someone on an existing deal suddenly starts hitting your key feature pages again. Whoa, yeah. That's a huge buying signal. Time for a call. Right. A timely, relevant message there can make all the difference. Yeah. But beyond just seeing if they're in the system, you use the specific data points. OK, give me some examples. How do you weave it in? Sure. First touch point. Saw they attended your webinar on topic X. Mention it. Saw you joined our webinar on X.

14:09 offer a related resource. Simple, direct. Yeah, follow up. They viewed case studies on, say, challenges in the finance sector, mentioned that. Notice you were looking at our work with finance companies. Are you exploring solutions for specific challenge? Or maybe you see activity from a new department in a current client company. Ping your main contact. Hey, saw some folks from your new department checking us out. Any internal expansion happening we could help with?

14:36 So you're showing you noticed their specific actions and are thinking about their potential needs. Precisely. And Leadfeeder Insights can even help you, like gently test a hypothesis. If they're browsing ABM resources but haven't requested a demo, maybe open with. Seeing some interest in ABM resources from your team, is that a big focus for marketing right now? Starts a conversation. Less assumption, more dialogue.

15:01 making it meaningful, not mass market. Exactly. And the playbook actually has some great templates starting points, really for different scenarios. Templates based on intent signals. Yeah, like one for webinar follow-ups, one for case study downloads, one for high website engagement. It gives you a structure. You just plug in the specifics. That sounds incredibly useful for sales reps. It is. And there are follow-up templates, too. For when they re-engage with content, show clear buying signals. When an open-deal contact revisits pages,

15:30 or that cross-department interest we talked about. Each gives a framework for acknowledging their specific interests. Connecting their behavior directly to your value prop. You nailed it. But remember, one touch point, even a great one. Usually isn't enough. Rarely. It's noisy out there. You need a multi-touch, multi-channel approach. Meaning? Coordinated effort, personalized emails, yeah. But also LinkedIn messages, maybe a phone call, targeted ads, persistence, but always adding value. Keep following up, but use new signals too.

16:01 They commented on a LinkedIn post, mention it, company announce news, reference it, keep the outreach relevant. And the message stays consistent with the original intent signal. Absolutely. Offer those relevant resources, case studies, webinars, playbooks that match what they showed interest in. And don't forget to reach out to multiple people on the buying committee. Build consensus. Strategic, persistent, personalized, multi-channel, guided by data. That's the recipe. But you're not done yet.

16:30 You have to measure and optimize. Right. How do you know if it's actually working? What do you track? Yeah, a great ABM strategy is never finished. It needs constant tweaking based on data. You got to track conversions. Like what specifically? Which touch points, which channels get responses? Are those active focuses accounts actually moving forward? Are they closing? You need to look at the whole funnel. From initial signal to close deal, seeing where intent driven actions make a difference. Exactly. Look for patterns. What's working? What's not?

17:00 Double down on the good stuff, cut the waste. Crucially, which intent signals correlate most strongly with closed deals? Ah, so not all signals are equal predictors of success. Definitely not. Figure out which ones really matter for closing business and prioritize accounts showing those signals even more. And then adjust based on what you learn. Constantly. Test your messaging, subject lines, calls to action. Test your follow-up cadence. If email outreach is crushing it but LinkedIn isn't,

17:27 Maybe shift resources. It's iterative. Test, learn, optimize sounds familiar. It is. And don't forget to talk to your sales and marketing teams. Get their feedback. What are they seeing on the ground? What's resonating? Use that qualitative insight, too, to keep refining your playbook. So wrapping this all up, what are the big takeaways, the core benefits of doing intent data this way? Well, when you get structured about it, you get much more strategic targeting. You focus sales on the accounts actually showing intent, the ones most likely to buy. That means more efficiency.

17:57 better win rates. And it seems like it really helps bridge that sales and marketing gap. Huge benefit there. Better alignment means smoother handoffs, faster pipeline velocity. Everyone's rowing in the same direction using the same Intel. It leads to, frankly, better conversations, stronger relationships, and ultimately, yeah, more revenue growth. Makes perfect sense. So for everyone listening, maybe the question to ponder is, what's your biggest challenge right now in finding and prioritizing those high potential accounts?

18:26 Could using intent data more strategically, like we've discussed, be the key to unlocking more focused, more effective pipeline generation for you? Definitely food for thought.