What if you could see opportunities arise with your prospects before they go public?
Many go-to-market professionals already use intent data to spot prospects that are interested in their products or services. But advanced users know that intent can also be a handy tool for forecasting major corporate announcements like layoffs, acquisitions, or data breaches — events that can drive huge opportunities for any business able to capitalize.
Let’s break down a few examples to show how intent can be your crystal ball.
Intent Data: How it Works
Intent data detects what your leads and accounts are actively researching on third-party sites across the web. When a company is consuming a larger-than-usual amount of information on a particular topic, the ZoomInfo platform will display an intent spike for that account.
We aggregate these spikes so your go-to-market teams can get ahead of customer problems and opportunities, whether that means sales reps reaching out to key contacts or account-based marketing campaigns that can get your brand in front of decision-makers.
ZoomInfo covers over 4,500 topics, ranging from sales enablement tools to M&A to private equity. We also run a live feed of companies spiking on various topics. If you’re not sure where to start, you can browse through the Intent Topic Explorer — no matter what industry you work in, we have intent topics that can help you pinpoint exactly when your next best prospect is in the market.
Here are a few examples:
Twitter’s Rebrand
On July 22, 2023 just before midnight, Elon Musk announced the rebrand of Twitter to “X.”
In the days and weeks leading up to this moment, Twitter’s profile registered ZoomInfo Intent spikes on topics including:
- Domain Name Services
- Trademark Registration
- Copyright Licensing
While Musk’s affinity for the letter “X” (which is featured in other companies he owns like SpaceX, and even his child’s name X Æ A-12) makes the letter a potentially predictable mascot to replace the company’s blue bird icon, ZoomInfo Intent could have helped you see the rebrand was brewing.
Washington Commanders Sale
On Nov. 2, 2022, the owners of the Washington Commanders announced they were putting the team up for sale.
In September and October, the team was spiking for “mergers & acquisitions (M&A),” “mergers & acquisitions due diligence,” and “acquisition strategy.” ZoomInfo CEO Henry Schuck highlighted on LinkedIn how valuable this information would be to those working in M&A.
T-Mobile Data Breaches
On Jan. 19, 2023, T-Mobile revealed that someone had hacked into their systems and accessed personal data affecting 37 million customers.
Five days before the announcement, ZoomInfo Intent tracked spikes for T-Mobile on these topics:
- Cyber Threats
- Cybersecurity
- Cybercrime
- Computer Hacking
Interestingly, it appears that intent spikes aren’t confined to relatively massive events. ZoomInfo Intent registered similar security spikes for T-Mobile in mid-March and early April, and in late April, the company disclosed another data breach, this time affecting fewer than 900 customers.
Amazon Layoffs
On Nov. 16, 2022, Amazon confirmed that it was laying off thousands of employees. In the weeks before the announcement, ZoomInfo recorded intent spikes for “layoffs,” “severance pay,” “labor relations,” and “unemployment claims management.”
Unlock Insights with ZoomInfo Intent
Whether you work in cybersecurity, law, PR, HR or finance, ZoomInfo has valuable intent data that can help your company go to market more effectively. Armed with our intent signals, you can reach out to prospects right when they need you — and before your competitors.
Ready to capitalize on your next big prospect? We’ve put together an explainer for how you can incorporate intent signals into your sales strategy.