It’s a data-driven world these days as online marketers and their teams have more information at their fingertips than they have ever had before.
With the ability to track, analyze and measure a consumer’s every online move, intent marketing became a game changer for those in the industry who want to cater their reach directly to potential customers and further drive their brand awareness.
Identifying and attracting those most likely to buy your goods or services through intent-based marketing is an easy process that is tremendously effective once you have a good understanding of how it works.
What Is Intent Marketing?
Simply put, intent marketing is the ability to use online search-related data in an effort to reach the right customer at the right time. The data is collected from a consumer’s digital footprint, which is made from activities including online searches in a search engine, visiting and interacting with websites or even clicking or posting on links on social media platforms.
Unlike marketing emails or banner ads that advertise sales and services to everyone and anyone at any time, intent marketing targets consumers almost in real-time of their needs, based off of their online activity.
Using the data collected through intent marketing, strategic marketers can determine what stage a consumer may be in while doing an online search based on the keywords they use. The stages could range from initial research to ready-to-buy.
What It Is Not
To fully understand what intent marketing is, it is important to understand what it is not. It is not affiliate marketing. This is when an online retailer pays a commission to an external website that drives traffic and sales back to the retailer.
Intent marketing does not rely on demographic data, either. According to an article published on dotdigital.com, while demographic information is one tool marketers use to successfully build a customer base and help them become aware of your goods and services, it doesn’t help encourage a decision in that moment.
“Intent Marketing is when you are able to identify users who are likely to convert and weed out users that are less likely to convert,” said Emanuel Hoch, industry expert and chief executive officer of Compado, a European-based intent marketing start-up offering pay-per-customer services globally.
Advantages of Intent Marketing
Once users who are likely to convert are identified through intent marketing, online marketers then strategically customize advertisements to them.
“Brands that want to grow their followership effectively benefit from high-intent users, as those are more likely to sign up,” said Joschka Weltgen, chief strategy officer for Compado. “Those users have already said ‘yes’ to the brand they’re visiting once, by clicking on it and by following a recommendation.”
Lior Schachter, chief technology officer for intent marketing company Natural Intelligence said, “a phenomenal number of 16% of potential consumers we refer to our partners convert and become paying customers.” Andreas Hoogendijk, chief executive officer of intent marketing start-up Compado agrees. According to Hoogendijk, “conversion rates of beyond 20% are not at all uncommon.”
So how effective is the use of intent marketing? What Natural Intelligence’s Schachter calls “magic,” confirms through various studies. According to research published by the tech industry analyst company AI Multiple, 64% of companies reported higher return on investment and conversion rates.
In addition to converting more high-intent traffic to your goods or services, the process also helps keep advertising costs lower. This happens when the advertising targets those more likely to buy rather than serving as a broader initiative.
How to Get into Intent Marketing Swiftly
Effective intent marketing implementation involves research and a blend of analysis that explores both competitor practices as well as relevant news and advancements in the market.
Familiarizing yourself with reviews to understand what others say about top-performing sites is a great way to position yourself to compete. Also, look for ways to optimize your brand awareness through intent marketing by connecting with experts in the field.
Hire a Specialist
Two full-service companies widely known in the field of intent marketing are Compado and Natural Intelligence.
- Compado is an intent-marketing rising star, founded in 2017 and currently operates over 1,000 media and review websites relating to meal kits, weight loss programs, learning apps and more. According to the company, about a million users visit those sites every day. On those sites, users can compare brands and find unique recommendations through brand lists, comparisons or quizzes. “We are presenting millions of consumers with rankings and reviews,” said Andreas Hoogendijk, chief executive officer. “Consumers that decide to follow our recommendations have revealed their intent: They are ready to convert!” As a full-service intent marketing platform that charges for customer acquisition only, Compado may pose one of the swiftest and riskless ways to get into intent marketing.
- Natural Intelligence, a company with a long-standing tradition of providing affiliate marketing services, is also a global intent-marketing leader, operating comparison websites. They are noted for their work with Top10.com, which delivers high-intent traffic for leading brands. According to their website, the company “specializes in identifying high-intent users who haven’t demonstrated brand preference” by simplifying the decision-making process resulting in a strong return on investment for brands. Lior Schachter, chief technology officer for Natural Intelligence said, “we know how to bring consumers to the finish line of their journey.” Schachter adds, “we are huge in media buying — we know how to identify and bring high intent consumers to our funnel.”
Use Search Engine Marketing
There are powerful tools that help enhance the use of intent marketing by determining a user’s intent based on the word(s) they use to search for something on the internet.
SEMrush, a notable SaaS platform, suggests building trust with consumers with informational and educational content. “In addition to increasing your visibility, you can use this content to target new leads you can convert later,” the article says.
Two ways to help build effective content and drive high-intent traffic is through the use of:
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This is a way to build content around the keywords or keyword phrases users search for on the internet. Those keywords or phrases are valuable when determining intent.
- Search Ads from Google Ads (SEA) allow retailers and marketers to run advertisements on search engines to produce more visibility.
SEO and SEA are both tools that can be done in house or outsourced out to professional agencies, such as Directive Consulting, that can maximize the benefits through their expertise.
Garrett Mehrguth, founder and chief executive officer for Directive, said, in intent marketing, it all boils down to “how a buyer finds you.” According to Mehrguth, “in order to consistently deliver value,” it takes “marketing solutions that are long term and that work” — and that’s what intent marketing does.
The Future of Marketing
The ability to analyze and act on the searches of those who can convert to online sales is a crucial strategy every company must embrace.
To make the process successful, follow the best practices of intent marketing by utilizing search intent that source users from search engines.
Or, for those who are looking to make the leap quickly, consider reaching out to a full-service partner, like up-and-coming pay-per-customer start-up Compado, affiliate-marketing icon Natural Intelligence, or other intent marketing specialists. They can do the heavy lifting for you.
