Imagine knowing which companies are actively researching the problem you solve before they ever fill out a form on your website. That is the promise of intent data, and in 2026, it has moved from a nice-to-have to a fundamental component of any serious B2B prospecting strategy.
Intent data tells you which companies are showing buying signals right now -- researching topics related to your solution, visiting competitor websites, consuming content about the problems you solve, or engaging with relevant industry discussions. When you combine intent data with outbound prospecting, you stop guessing and start reaching out to companies that are already in-market.
What Is Intent Data
Intent data is behavioral data that indicates a company or individual is actively researching a topic, solution, or category. There are two main types:
First-Party Intent Data
This is data from your own properties -- website visits, content downloads, email engagement, webinar attendance, product page views, and pricing page visits. You already have this data through tools like Google Analytics, your CRM, and your marketing automation platform.
First-party intent data is the most reliable because it comes from direct interactions with your brand. A prospect who visited your pricing page three times this week is showing clear purchase intent.
Third-Party Intent Data
This is data collected from external sources -- publisher networks, review sites, research platforms, and content syndication networks. Third-party intent data providers track which companies are consuming content about specific topics across thousands of websites.
For example, a third-party intent data provider might tell you that Company X has shown a 300 percent increase in research activity around sales engagement platforms over the past two weeks. That is a strong signal that they are evaluating solutions in that category.
How Intent Data Transforms Prospecting
Without intent data, prospecting is largely a numbers game. You build a list of companies that match your ICP, reach out to all of them, and hope that some percentage happen to have a need right now. The timing is random.
With intent data, you add a critical filter: timing. Instead of reaching out to every company that fits your ICP through cold email or LinkedIn outreach, you prioritize the ones that are actively showing buying signals. This changes everything:
- Higher response rates: Prospects who are already thinking about the problem you solve are 2 to 3 times more likely to respond to outreach
- Shorter sales cycles: You are entering the conversation earlier in the buying process, which gives you more influence over the outcome
- Better qualification: Intent signals help you separate tire-kickers from serious buyers before you invest time in conversations
- Competitive advantage: If you reach a prospect while they are researching and your competitor does not, you have a significant first-mover advantage
Top Intent Data Providers in 2026
The intent data landscape has matured significantly. Here are the major players and what they offer:
- Bombora: The largest B2B intent data co-op, tracking content consumption across thousands of publisher sites. Best for broad topic-level intent signals.
- G2: Tracks buyer research activity on its software review platform. Extremely valuable if you sell software, because you can see which companies are researching your category and even your competitors.
- TechTarget: Provides intent data from its network of technology-focused media properties. Strong for IT and technology sales.
- 6sense: Combines intent data with AI-powered predictive analytics to identify accounts most likely to buy. Goes beyond raw signals to provide buying stage predictions.
- ZoomInfo: Offers intent data as part of its broader sales intelligence platform. Useful because it combines intent signals with contact data in one place.
- Demandbase: Provides account-level intent data with strong integration into ABM platforms. Best for companies running account-based marketing strategies.
Integrating Intent Data Into Your Outbound Workflow
Step 1: Define Your Intent Topics
Work with your intent data provider to define the topics that matter for your business. These should include your product category, the problems you solve, your competitors' brand names, and related technology categories. Be specific -- "cybersecurity" is too broad, but "endpoint detection and response" is actionable.
Step 2: Create Tiered Prioritization
Not all intent signals are equal. Build a tiering system:
- Tier 1 (Hot): Companies showing surging intent on your product category plus visiting your website or competitors' websites. Reach out immediately.
- Tier 2 (Warm): Companies showing elevated intent on related topics but no direct product research. Add to nurture sequences with education-focused outreach.
- Tier 3 (Watch): Companies that match your ICP and show occasional intent signals. Monitor and activate when signals intensify.
Step 3: Tailor Your Messaging
Your outreach to intent-identified prospects should be different from generic cold outreach. You know what they are researching, so reference it. You do not need to say "I know you have been researching X" -- that feels creepy. Instead, lead with insights about the topic they are researching.
For example, if a company is showing intent around sales pipeline optimization, your email might open with: "Most B2B companies I talk to are rethinking how they build pipeline heading into Q2. The teams seeing the best results are doing three things differently." This is relevant because you know they care about the topic, but it does not reveal how you know.
Step 4: Align SDR and Marketing Workflows
Intent data works best when sales and marketing are coordinated. When a target account starts showing intent, marketing should serve them relevant ads and content while sales begins personalized outreach. This surround-sound approach dramatically increases conversion rates.
Measuring the Impact of Intent Data
Track these metrics to validate your intent data investment:
- Intent-influenced pipeline: What percentage of your pipeline started with or was accelerated by intent signals?
- Response rate comparison: Compare response rates on intent-flagged accounts versus non-intent accounts
- Time to meeting: How much faster do intent-flagged accounts convert to meetings compared to cold outreach?
- Win rate: Do deals that started with intent signals close at a higher rate?
At Dewx.io, we integrate intent data into our appointment setting workflows for clients wherever possible. The results are consistently strong -- accounts showing active buying intent convert to meetings at 2 to 4 times the rate of cold-targeted accounts. If you are not using intent data in your outbound strategy, you are leaving meetings on the table.