5 Intent-Based Marketing Strategies to Acquire New Customers

As a marketer, finding ways to promote your brand is every bit as challenging as acquiring new customers. You must stay updated on the latest trends and constantly innovate your playbook to stay relevant in your industry.

One concept that's on the rise is intent-based marketing, a hyper-focused strategy that gauges the customer's intent and tailors the marketing message accordingly.

The question now is, how can your sales team use this new concept to improve your customer acquisition? Let's dive in and discuss how to use intent-based marketing correctly.

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What is Intent-Based Marketing?

As the term suggests, intent-based marketing is a type of digital marketing strategy that shifts the focus to consumers who display strong buying intent.

Marketers measure a consumer's buying intent by analyzing their online behavior. Variables like browsing history, social media activity, and search queries indicate a user's buying intent.

Marketers identify many different types of user intent when they use this kind of strategy.

• Navigational intent: Users with this intent are looking to reach a specific website or page. They already know where they want to go and use search engines to navigate directly to that destination.
• Informational intent: These users actively search for information or answers to their questions. They're in the research phase and are looking for detailed, helpful content to learn more about a topic.
• Transactional intent: Users with transactional intent are ready to make a purchase or complete a specific action. They've likely done their research and are now looking for the best place to buy or convert.
• Commercial investigation intent: These users compare products, services, or brands before purchasing. They read reviews and watch comparison videos to determine which product best suits their needs/interests.
• Local intent: This intent involves users seeking information about services or products in their geographic area. They often look for local businesses, addresses, hours of operation, and directions.

How Does Intent-Based Marketing Work?

Let's say you run an online bookstore that sells rare antique books and want to target potential customers who are strongly interested in them.

This is where intent-based marketing comes into play.

Identify Intent

First, you analyze the data from your website and other online channels.

You notice that a huge number of visitors search for terms like "first edition books," "rare antique books," and "collectible novels."

These search terms indicate a strong intent to find and potentially buy rare and collectible books.

Create Targeted Content

With this information, you create targeted content such as blog posts, landing pages, and product descriptions tailored to these specific searches.

For instance, you write a blog post titled "Top 10 Tips for Collecting Rare First Edition Books" and optimize it for search engines.

This content attracts users who are actively searching for related topics.

Personalize Ads

Next, you set up personalized ads using platforms like Google Ads or social media advertising. These ads target users recently searching for rare books or visiting related websites.

The ads showcase your best-selling books, and you can offer special discounts for first-time buyers. This entices potential customers to click through to your site and follow through with their purchasing intent.

Retarget and Follow-Up

Once you've set up your ads, the next step is implementing retargeting strategies.

If someone visits your website but doesn’t make a purchase, they start seeing ads for the books they viewed as they browse other sites.

This keeps your store top-of-mind and encourages them to return and complete their purchase.

Measure Success

The success of your intent marketing campaigns depends on a personalized approach, as your ads cater to a small group of interested buyers instead of a broad audience.

Monitor metrics like click-through, conversion, and overall sales from these targeted campaigns.

Data from these sources will help refine your strategies and adjust your advertising efforts to see improved results.

5 Ways to Use Intent-Based Marketing to Acquire New Customers

Don't mistake intent-based marketing for simply targeted ads. There are other creative ways to strategically implement this concept.

Here are five ideas on how to use intent-based marketing to land new customers:

1. Keyword Optimization

Intent-based marketing starts with understanding the search terms potential customers use. Optimizing keywords involves identifying and targeting terms that indicate a clear intent to purchase or engage.

For example, someone searching for "best CRM software for small businesses" shows a specific intent to buy or learn about CRM software.

Businesses can use tools like Google Keyword Planner or Rankify to discover these high-intent keywords.

Once identified, these keywords should be incorporated into website content, blog posts, and meta descriptions to attract the right audience.

2. Personalized Content Creation

Intent marketing heavily relies on creating content that speaks directly to the user's intent. This is where personalizing content can make a huge difference in your intent-based marketing efforts.

Personalized content can be in the form of blog posts, eBooks, videos, or infographics. For instance, a company selling eco-friendly products might create a blog series on the benefits of sustainable living, targeting users who are already interested in environmental conservation.

3. Behavioral Targeting

Behavioral targeting uses data about users' online behavior to deliver relevant advertisements.

For example, if users frequently visit fitness equipment pages, they are likely interested in health and wellness products. Advertisers can then target this user with ads for fitness gear, workout programs, or nutritional supplements.

This strategy ensures that marketing efforts are directed at users with a higher likelihood of conversion.

4. Email Marketing Campaigns

Email marketing remains a powerful tool for intent-based marketing. Sales and marketing teams segment email lists based on user behavior and preferences to send highly targeted messages that resonate with recipients.

This makes it easier for e-commerce sites to send personalized product recommendations based on a user's online activity.

Automated email sequences can nurture leads by providing valuable content at the right time, guiding them through the sales funnel, and increasing the chances of conversion.

5. Retargeting Ads

Retargeting ads are specifically for users who have previous interactions with your brand but have not yet purchased. This strategy keeps your brand top-of-mind and encourages users to return and complete their purchase.

For example, a user who adds items to their shopping cart but leaves without buying can be retargeted with ads featuring those specific products, possibly with a discount or special offer.

Retargeting ads can be displayed on various platforms, including social media, search engines, and other websites, ensuring your brand stays visible to potential customers.

Leveraging Intent Data to Create Personalized Campaigns

When consumers show strong buying intent, you want to capitalize on this by creating personalized campaigns. Here's how you can tailor your marketing campaigns using intent data:

Analyze Intent Data Signals

To create personalized campaigns, start by understanding and analyzing intent data signals. These signals come from multiple sources, such as website visits, content downloads, and social media interactions.

You want to analyze this information to understand potential customers' behaviors and interests.

Say a user frequently visits a software brand online to look for project management tools. You know they're actively looking for a solution to organize their projects.

Integrate Intent Data with Account-Based Marketing

Combining intent data with account-based marketing (ABM) strategies offers a powerful approach to personalization.

ABM focuses on targeting specific high-value accounts rather than a broad audience. When intent data reveals which accounts show buying signals, marketers can prioritize these accounts and develop customized campaigns.

This targeted approach directs marketing efforts and resources toward the accounts most likely to convert, optimizing the use of your marketing budget and increasing return on investment.

Use Programmatic Advertising Platforms

If you haven't heard of programmatic advertising platforms, marketers use these tools to buy and sell digital ad space.

These platforms use complex algorithms to process data and let you target specific audiences with relevant ads. They track user behavior, search history, and online activities to infer purchase intent.

These platforms identify users who actively seek products or services similar to those offered by your business and serve highly targeted ads to those individuals.

This precision targeting increases the likelihood of engagement and conversion, making your marketing efforts more effective and efficient.

Craft Personalized Messages with Intent Marketing Data

Intent marketing data provides insights to craft personalized messages that resonate with your audience.

Understanding potential customers' interests allows marketers to create content addressing their specific pain points and needs.

Personalization goes beyond including the prospect’s name; it involves delivering the right message at the right time, tailored to their stage in the buyer’s journey.

This approach fosters a deeper connection with the audience and increases the likelihood of moving them down the sales funnel.

Maximize Marketing Budget

Using intent data to create personalized campaigns maximizes the efficiency of your marketing budget. Targeting only those prospects showing genuine interest avoids wasting resources on uninterested audiences.

This precision targeting allocates your marketing spend where it can have the most impact.

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FAQ About Intent-Based Marketing

How is intent-based marketing different from traditional marketing?

Intent-based marketing targets consumers based on their current behaviors and actions that indicate a readiness to purchase. Traditional marketing, on the other hand, relies on broader demographic data and aims to create brand awareness and interest.

Is intent-based marketing cost-effective?

Yes. Intent-based marketing is very cost-effective, as you're targeting consumers with strong buying intentions. This helps reduce customer acquisition costs and improve conversion rates as well.

Do small businesses benefit from intent-based marketing?

Small businesses benefit most from intent-based marketing, which concentrates marketing efforts on buyers already interested in your brand's offerings.

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