8 Surefire B2B Intent Signals to Double Your 2024 Pipeline

The breadcrumbs left by modern buyers are more diverse, more nuanced, and potentially more revealing than ever before. Knowing which ones matter can transform your pipeline.

Just ask HockeyStack's CRO Emir Atli:

"We have a lot of high-intent triggers. But we never acted on signals like interactive demo visitors, product page visitors, company page followers, etc. So we started running semi-automated campaigns to convert the existing demand."

The result? They doubled their pipeline in one quarter.

We've analyzed reports from G2, Common Room, Forrester, and others to gather over 100 intent signal recommendations. 

We then filtered out the ones that consistently outperformed others to create a list of the MVPs of B2B intent signals. Here’s what made the cut!

8 Intent Signals You Can’t Ignore in 2024

1. Interactive Demo Engagement

Picture this: A prospect lands on your homepage and immediately dives into an interactive product demo. They're not just passively consuming information; they're actively exploring your solution. That's intent with a capital "I"!

But it's not just about homepage demos. 

You can strategically place these interactive experiences across high-intent pages - support documentation, G2 profiles, Product Hunt listings, and even ad landing pages.

Success Story: Take Robin, the CRO Manager at sevDesk, for example. 

He strategically placed demos on pages where users were actively searching for specific solutions, such as invoicing software. This targeted approach ensured that the demo reached users with high intent.

By analyzing how prospects interacted with these demos—which features they explored, how long they engaged, at what point they converted—and using the firmographic data that Storylane's account reveal feature provides, Robin generated 527 leads and achieved an impressive 28% conversion rate.

Pro Tip: Don't limit interactive demos to just your website. Integrate them into your email campaigns, social media posts, and even sales presentations to en gage prospects at every touchpoint.

Want to replicate Robins’s success? 

2. Hiring Activity

Job postings are windows into a company's strategic direction and potential pain points. Here's how to turn this signal into sales opportunities:

• Strategic Priorities: New roles often indicate areas of focus or expansion for a company.
• Pain Points: Job descriptions can reveal challenges the company is trying to address.
• Buying Cycle Indicators: Certain roles (e.g., project managers for new initiatives) may signal upcoming purchasing decisions.

How to Track:

1. Set up alerts on LinkedIn and other job boards for key roles in your target accounts.
2. Use tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator to filter and monitor job postings in your target market.
3. Implement a system to flag relevant new positions in your CRM or sales intelligence platform.

Action Plan:

• Reach out to hiring managers or department heads with congratulations and offers to support the new initiative.
• Tailor your pitch to address the challenges implied by the new role.
• Create content that speaks to the goals of the new position and share it with relevant stakeholders.

Insight: At Storylane, we monitor openings for Sales Engineer roles and contact SE leaders about scaling demo ops.

3. High-Intent Page Visits

Not all website visits are created equal. Certain pages signal higher levels of purchase intent and readiness. Here's how to capitalize on these signals:

• Pricing Pages: Visitors here are evaluating the cost-benefit ratio of your solution.
• Security/Compliance Pages: Often overlooked, these visits usually indicate advanced purchase discussions.
• Product Features: Repeated visits to specific feature pages highlight which aspects of your solution resonate most.
• Case Studies: Engagement here shows prospects seeking real-world validation of your product's effectiveness.

How to Track:

1. Use website analytics tools to identify and segment high-intent page visitors.
2. Implement lead scoring that weighs visits to these pages more heavily.
3. Use tools like Rb2b or Clearbit Reveal to deanonymize website visitors.

Action Plan:

• Set up immediate alerts for sales when high-value prospects visit these pages.
• Create tailored follow-up sequences based on the specific high-intent pages visited.
• Develop retargeting campaigns that speak directly to the intent signaled by these page visits.

Pro Tip: Don't overlook the power of security and compliance page visits. These often indicate that a prospect's legal or IT team is vetting your product—a strong sign of serious purchase intent.

4. Champion’s Job Change

When a champion within your target account changes jobs, it's not just a personnel update—it's a golden opportunity. Here's why it matters and how to leverage this signal:

• New Company, New Opportunities: Your champion might bring your solution to their new organization, opening a fresh pipeline.
• Replacement at Old Company: The person filling your champion's former role might need guidance, so this presents a chance to reinforce your relationship with the account.
• Network Expansion: A job change often means your champion is expanding their professional network, potentially introducing you to new prospects.

How to Track:

1. Set up LinkedIn alerts for your key contacts.
2. Use tools like UserGems or Momentum Data to automate job change tracking.
3. Implement a "job change" field to flag these opportunities in your CRM.

Action Plan:

• Reach out to congratulate your champion within the first week of their new role.
• Offer to help them succeed in their new position with your solution.
• Connect with their replacement at the old company, offering a smooth transition and continued support.

5. Competitor Insights

Keeping a pulse on your competitors' activities can provide valuable intent signals from your shared target market. Here's what to watch:

• Events: Attendees of competitor events are likely in-market for solutions like yours.
• Mentions: An uptick in competitor mentions might indicate growing interest in your space.
• Social Campaigns: Engagement with competitor campaigns can highlight pain points and interests in your target audience.

How to Track:

1. Use social listening tools like Mention or Brandwatch to monitor competitor names and relevant keywords.
2. Set up Google Alerts for competitor news and events.
3. Follow competitor social media accounts and analyze their engagement metrics.

Action Plan:

• Create comparison content addressing the topics generating buzz around competitors.
• Reach out to prospects engaging with competitor content, offering your unique perspective.
• Time your campaigns to coincide with or shortly follow competitor events, capitalizing on heightened market interest.

6. Technographic Data

Understanding a prospect's tech stack can reveal opportunities for replacement or integration. Here's how to leverage this intent signal:

• Outdated Systems: Identify companies using legacy systems ripe for replacement.
• Complementary Technologies: Spot potential integration opportunities.
• Recent Tech Adoptions: These might indicate a broader digital transformation initiative.

How to Get This Info:

1. Use technographic data providers like BuiltWith or HG Insights.
2. Analyze job postings for technology requirements.
3. Leverage public API documentation and integration pages.

Action Plan:

• Create targeted campaigns addressing pain points of specific outdated systems.
• Develop integration guides and highlight them in your outreach.
• Partner with complementary technology providers for co-marketing opportunities.

7. Community Tracking

By actively tracking and engaging with community activity, you can identify high-intent prospects earlier and nurture them more effectively towards a purchase decision.

This engagement spans two key areas:

Social Media Communities Watch for ICP prospects:

• Engaging with and sharing your content
• Asking questions or seeking advice
• Attending community events or AMAs

Online Forums Monitor ICP discussions in industry forums:

• Inquiring about product features and use cases
• Sharing pain points your product addresses
• Comparing your offering to competitors

Action Plan:

1. Respond promptly to questions and comments
2. Create content addressing common inquiries
3. Personalize outreach based on specific interactions
4. Identify potential brand advocates

Tools to Use:

• Social Listening: Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Mention
• Forum Monitoring: Boardreader, Reddit Keyword Monitor
• Community Management: Khoros, Hivebrite

8. Thought Leadership Orbits

When your ICP starts following industry thought leaders or influencers in your space, it often indicates growing interest in solutions like yours.

How to Track:

1. Use tools like Followerwonk or SocialBlade to monitor follower growth of key influencers.
2. Set up Twitter lists of relevant influencers and regularly check new followers.
3. Leverage LinkedIn's "Followers" insights if you have a company page.

Action Plan:

• Engage with the same content your ICP is interacting with to increase visibility.
• Reach out to influencers for potential collaborations or guest content opportunities.
• Develop thought leadership content addressing topics trending among these influencers.

How to Make the Most of These Intent Signals? 

• Develop a nuanced scoring system that weighs different actions based on their likelihood to indicate purchase intent. For instance, extensive interaction with an interactive demo might score higher than a single high-intent page visit.
• Use the rich context these signals provide to tailor your outreach. When a prospect engages with specific product features in a demo, ensure your follow-up addresses those exact pain points.
• Set up alerts and workflows that allow your team to act quickly on high-intent signals. For example, Storylane directly integrates with Slack so you can be notified when a "known" lead views a demo. You will receive instant notification to your configured Slack channel. 

Remember, the goal isn't just to collect more data, but to derive actionable insights that drive meaningful conversations and conversions.