Intent data is a set of signals that a company is researching, or preparing to buy, a product or service, usually reported as a score by topic. Its sources differ: content that people read, search and advertising activity, a seller's own site visits, or what the company itself does in public.
Kinds of intent data
- First-party: activity on your own website, content and CRM, which is first-party data that only you can see.
- Third-party: content consumption across a network of publisher sites, or advertising bid streams, gathered by a vendor as third-party data.
- Company actions: public acts of the company itself, such as adding a tool to its site, opening a role, making a filing or announcing a launch.
How to read a score
A score ranks accounts by the strength of the evidence behind it. Ask four things of any source: which signals feed it, how old a signal can be before it stops counting, how a surge is defined, and whether the evidence behind each score is shown. Intent says when to look at an account, and firmographic data says whether the account fits. Test a score against your own won and lost deals before you route leads on it.
In Fokals data
The intent dataset gives each company a weekly score from 0 to 100 on each of 69 topics. A score comes from the dated signals of the trailing 90 days, each fading by half every 30 days. A surge is a score of at least 50 that is at least double the company's own average for the topic over the previous twelve weeks, or a first strong week.
Intent Scores carries the five strongest signals as evidence on every score, and Company Signals delivers every signal with its kind, topics and weight. All signals are public acts of the company itself, so each score is evidence-backed and every score carries the dated signals behind it. The weights and the formula are described in how the scores are built.
Read a score with its evidence. Illustrative: Acme Robotics scores 72 on CRM with a surge flag, and the evidence lists a CRM tool added to its website and a posting that names the same tool. Two separate public acts agree, which says more than a high number alone.
Related terms
- Intent surge: a score that has at least doubled against the company's own average.
- Account scoring: ranking accounts by fit and timing.
- Technographic data: what a company already runs, which intent data does not record.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between first-party and third-party intent data?
First-party intent data is what you observe yourself: visits to your site, content downloads and replies. Third-party intent data comes from outside your own properties: content consumption across other publishers, advertising activity, or the public actions of the company concerned. First-party data is precise but limited to people who already know you. Third-party data reaches accounts that have not met you.
What is an intent surge?
An intent surge is a sharp rise in a company's intent score for a topic, measured against its own recent level. Fokals flags a surge when a score is at least 50 and at least double the company's average for that topic over the previous twelve weeks. Judging a company against its own history stops large, busy companies from always looking active.
How accurate is intent data?
Intent data is an inference, so it is as right as its signals are close to real buying. Judge a source by testing it on your own history: take last year's won deals, read their scores in the quarter before the first meeting and compare them with accounts you did not win. Prefer a source that shows the evidence behind each score, so a reviewer can check the signals.