By esantiago@hubspot.com (Erica Santiago)

In business, to waste time is to waste money so you need a strategy that is efficient and the best use of your resources.

With that in mind, intent-based marketing is an optimal strategy for marketers who want to ensure they are reaching audiences who have a genuine interest in what their business has to offer.

But what is intent-based marketing and how is it different from traditional or account-based marketing. Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

• What is intent-based marketing, and how is it different from ABM?
• Why Intent-based Marketing Matters Now
• How to Start Intent-based Marketing
• Intent Signals to Gather and Track
• How to Activate Intent-based Targeting Across Channels
• AI in Intent-driven Marketing
• How to Measure and Optimize Intent-driven Marketing
• 3 Intent-based Marketing Playbooks You Can Copy
• Frequently Asked Questions About Intent-based Marketing

What is intent-based marketing, and how is it different from ABM?

Intent-based marketing (IBM) is a strategy that focuses on delivering targeted messages to consumers based on their online behavior and preferences.

Intent-based marketing differs from account-based marketing (ABM) in that ABM targets specific high-value accounts while IBM targets accounts that are actively searching for solutions.

For intent-based marketing, you’ll want a Smart CRM like HubSpot that utilizes AI automation to identify prospects who are actively showing interest and exhibiting buying signals, allowing you to prioritize and engage at the perfect time.

Furthermore, you‘ll need a CRM that unifies and enriches your data, with key features such as custom reporting, which will turn data insights into manageable reports that track everything from the start of the buyer’s journey to revenue attribution.

Why Intent-based Marketing Matters Now

In an era of rising data breaches and growing distrust in how companies manage their data, consumers are understandably becoming more cautious with their personal information.

As a result, consumers are beefing up the security around their personal data by using privacy tools and deciding which companies they want to purchase from based on their data practices.

With that in mind, intent-based marketing is an excellent strategy for engaging prospects while respecting their privacy, as it relies heavily on first-party data collected from user interactions on your website, as opposed to mostly third-party sources. But what are third-party sources, and why are consumers wary of them?

Have you ever visited a website and been bombarded with pop-ups asking you to “accept or manage cookies”? Well, those website cookies and tracking scripts are third-party sources.

In addition to annoyingly interrupting your internet browsing, they also track your activity. They are owned by external entities, raising concerns about the level of control consumers have over the collection and use of their data.

These third-party sources are under even greater scrutiny thanks to regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which both impose restrictions on how third-party …read more

Source:: HubSpot Blog