Intent data without the noise: turning surges into pipeline

Intent data promises to tell you which accounts are researching your category right now. In practice, many teams end up with a weekly spreadsheet of surging accounts that nobody acts on. The problem is rarely the signal. It's what happens next.

Start with fewer, sharper topics

Broad topics like “cloud computing” flag half the market. Build a small set around your specific use cases, the problems you solve and the competitors you replace. Ten precise topics beat a hundred vague ones.

Compare accounts to themselves

A large enterprise always produces more research activity than a mid-market company. Useful surge scoring compares each account's current activity to its own baseline, so you catch real change instead of just size.

Map the people, not just the account

An account-level surge is only actionable if you can reach the buying committee. For each surging account, identify the roles that matter (economic buyer, champion, technical evaluator) and confirm you have a lawful way to contact them.

Decide the play before the signal arrives

• Early-stage surge: educational content through syndication and display
• Competitor research: comparison content and proof points
• Sustained, multi-topic surge: SDR outreach and ABM personalisation
• Surge from an open opportunity: alert the account owner the same day

Measure what the signal changed

Track engagement, meetings and pipeline for surging accounts against a control group of similar accounts that weren't surging. If intent isn't changing outcomes, adjust the topics or the plays, not just the thresholds.

BootSoc Signal combines first-party engagement from our publication, IntentBuy, with vetted third-party research signals, and routes surging accounts straight into live programs so nothing sits in a spreadsheet.