How Intent Data Improves Retargeting Segments

How Intent Data Improves Retargeting Segments

How Intent Data Improves Retargeting Segments

Marketing Strategies

Apr 11, 2025

Explore how intent data enhances retargeting by identifying high-intent buyers, improving conversions, and reducing costs.

Intent data helps businesses target people actively searching for products or services. By analyzing 100 billion buying signals daily and updating 270 million profiles every six hours, it identifies high-intent buyers, improving ad performance. Here's how it works:

  • Higher Conversions: Companies see 2–3x higher conversion rates by targeting active buyers.

  • Lower Costs: Customer acquisition costs drop by 30–45%.

  • Better Lead Quality: Leads are more qualified, with some campaigns increasing lead volume by 71% while cutting costs.

Key Benefits of Intent Data:

  • Precise Targeting: Focus on people ready to buy, reducing wasted ad spend.

  • Custom Segments: Group audiences by their stage in the buying journey (e.g., research, evaluation, decision).

  • Improved ROI: Real-world results show lower cost-per-click (as low as $1.03) and higher conversions (50%).

Intent data ensures your ads reach the right audience at the right time, helping you outperform competitors while saving money.

How To Select Intent Data & Signals To Build Trigger-Based ...

Understanding Intent Data Basics

Online behaviors often reveal patterns that signal buying interest. Intent data platforms analyze vast amounts of behavioral data to pinpoint individuals actively exploring products or services like yours. This information helps businesses target potential buyers more precisely and convert them effectively.

Converting High-Intent Prospects

Intent data focuses on identifying prospects who are ready to take action. By spotting these individuals during their research phase, businesses can engage them with tailored offers at the right time - before they turn to a competitor. This approach has consistently improved campaign performance.

3 Main Sources of Intent Data

Intent data is derived from three key sources, each providing unique insights into buyer behavior:

Data Source

Description

Key Benefits

First-Party

Information from website visits, email engagement, and CRM data

Highly accurate; reflects direct interest in your brand

Second-Party

Data shared through partner networks or co-registration deals

Extends reach while maintaining quality

Third-Party

AI analysis of public data and billions of websites

Broadest coverage; detects early-stage interest

To keep intent data relevant, systems refresh it every six hours. Over 270 million consumer profiles are updated regularly using public sources like LinkedIn and census data. This ensures segmentation for retargeting remains accurate and effective.

"Intent data shows which people or businesses are actively researching a product or service like yours - so you can target high-intent buyers before they choose a competitor." - 24/7 Intent

Creating Better Retargeting Segments

Intent data helps refine retargeting efforts by focusing on genuine purchase signals. This allows businesses to create more accurate audience segments and target the right people at the right time.

Segmenting by Buyer Journey Stage

Using intent data, businesses can identify where potential customers are in their buying journey and segment audiences accordingly. For example, 24/7 Intent processes over 100 billion buying signals every day, helping companies group prospects by their readiness to make a purchase.

Here’s how intent signals align with different stages of the buyer journey:

Buyer Stage

Intent Signals

Targeting Approach

Research

Viewing product comparisons or educational content

Share helpful, educational materials

Evaluation

Visiting pricing pages or analyzing features

Emphasize your product's standout benefits

Decision

Requesting demos or signing up for free trials

Focus on offers that drive conversions

Now, let’s look at real-world examples to see how this segmentation plays out.

Real-World Segmentation Examples

Practical examples show how intent-based segmentation can deliver measurable results across various industries.

Digital Marketing Specialist Rob T. achieved impressive results by using intent-based audience segmentation. His approach reduced cost-per-click to $1.03, boosted the conversion rate to 50%, and tripled click volume.

An automotive company, Bill Luke, leveraged detailed segmentation to generate 1,608 qualified leads in just three days. By targeting prospects based on credit scores, vehicle mileage, car make, and in-market status, they saw a dramatic improvement in lead quality.

Similarly, the owner of iLawyer reported a significant boost in lead quality after implementing intent data. At least 80% of lead form submissions came from qualified prospects, a major improvement for campaigns that often face challenges with form-based conversions.

Improving Ad Performance with Intent Data

Creating Targeted Ad Messages

Intent data allows businesses to create highly specific ad messages by analyzing buyer behavior. Platforms like 24/7 Intent integrate this data directly into ad platforms, offering real-time market insights.

For example, when prospects research particular features or pricing options, advertisers can adjust their ad content to directly address these interests. This approach ensures ad messages resonate with high-intent audiences, leading to better engagement and reduced waste.

Cutting Costs on Low-Intent Audiences

Intent data helps businesses avoid spending on audiences unlikely to convert by focusing on those actively searching for solutions. Here’s how some businesses have saved money and improved performance:

Business Type

Cost Reduction

Performance Gains

Digital Agency

40% decrease in CPA

27 high-value sales ($10,000 each) in one weekend

Marketing Specialist

50% lower opt-in cost

Results achieved within 24 hours

Financial Advisory

42% lower cost per lead

133% increase in appointment show-up rate

These examples highlight how reallocating resources to high-intent audiences can deliver better results without overspending.

Key Performance Metrics

By combining precise audience targeting with reduced costs, businesses can see clear improvements in key metrics:

Metric

Improvement Range

Conversion Rate & Lead Quality

2-3x higher conversions

Cost per Lead & Customer

30-45% reduction

Show-up Rates & Sales Qualification

Up to 133% improvement

For instance, a financial advisor using intent data saw a 71% increase in leads while cutting cost per lead by 42%. Even more impressive, their appointment show-up rate jumped by 133%, outperforming previous Facebook targeting methods.

Intent data’s strength lies in its ability to pinpoint buyers actively searching for solutions. This real-time targeting approach ensures better ad performance while maximizing the return on ad spend.

Intent Data Implementation Guide

Connecting Data and Ad Platforms

To make the most of intent data, connect it directly to your ad platforms. 24/7 Intent integrates seamlessly with major platforms like Meta, Google, LinkedIn, and programmatic networks.

Here’s how to get started:

  • Set Up Your Data Model: Create custom audience segments based on your ideal customer profiles and intent signals. These models analyze billions of websites and user profiles to pinpoint buyers with high intent.

  • Integrate With Platforms: Feed the intent data into your advertising platforms to enable real-time targeting updates. Refresh data every six hours to keep it relevant. Ensure compliance with privacy standards during this process. This integration also lays the groundwork for advanced performance tracking and optimization.

Data Privacy Requirements

Staying compliant with privacy regulations is non-negotiable when using intent data. Here’s a quick overview of key requirements:

Regulation

Key Requirements

GDPR

User consent, data minimization, right to erasure

CCPA

Opt-out rights, data disclosure, privacy notices

Industry Standards

Data encryption, access controls, audit trails

Using Data Models for Results

Once compliance is in place, predictive models can help you achieve better campaign outcomes. With intent data integrated and privacy safeguards in effect, refined models can improve your targeting and performance.

"We build, implement, and optimize your custom data models - so you never have to lift a finger." - 24/7 Intent

The goal is to reduce wasted ad spend by focusing on buyers actively searching for your solutions. For example, one company cut their cost per lead by 50% within 24 hours of using intent data.

"The best results come from plugging our data into your paid ads, giving ad platforms the best market context - boosting conversions, improving lead quality, and lowering customer acquisition costs." - 24/7 Intent

To keep your campaigns performing at their best, schedule regular performance reviews and refine your data models as needed. This ensures precise targeting and compliance with ever-changing privacy laws.

24/7 Intent Platform Features

24/7 Intent

24/7 Intent's platform combines advanced segmentation and targeting tools with powerful features to deliver impactful results.

Core Platform Capabilities

This platform processes over 100 billion buying signals daily and updates 270 million consumer profiles to provide real-time intent data. These updates ensure your retargeting campaigns are always relevant and effective.

Key features include:

  • Real-Time Updates: Data refreshes every 6 hours to keep your campaigns aligned with the latest insights.

  • Pre-Made Segments: Access over 24,000 ready-to-use audience segments for quick campaign launches.

  • Platform Integration: Seamlessly connects with Meta, LinkedIn, Google, and programmatic advertising channels.

  • B2B2C Matching: Combines personal and business data for a complete view of buyer profiles.

  • Custom Models: Automates model creation, simplifying campaign management.

"Our real-time intent data plugs directly into your ad platforms - so your ads reach qualified buyers before your competitors even know they exist." - 24/7 Intent

These tools are designed to help businesses achieve better targeting and measurable results.

Platform Results and Outcomes

The platform's features deliver proven results, showcasing the effectiveness of intent-driven strategies. For example, digital marketing expert Rob T. reduced his cost per click from $6–$9 to just $1.03, while boosting conversion rates from 20% to 50%.

Other common outcomes include:

  • 2–3x higher conversion rates

  • 30–45% lower cost per customer

  • Reduced ad spend waste

Agency owner Peter L. used the platform's lookalike audience feature to generate 27 sales worth $10,000 each in a single weekend, cutting customer acquisition costs by 40%.

"We build, implement, and optimize your custom data models - so you never have to lift a finger." - 24/7 Intent

The platform also ensures compliance with GDPR and CCPA regulations while delivering these results, thanks to frequent data updates and privacy safeguards.

Conclusion

Intent data has changed how businesses run retargeting campaigns, offering precise audience segmentation. Companies using strategies based on intent data have reported conversion rates increasing by 2–3 times and customer acquisition costs dropping by 30–45%.

Examples from actual campaigns back up these claims, showing lower costs per click and lead costs, alongside higher conversion rates. These results highlight how accurately intent data identifies audiences in real time.

By analyzing over 100 billion signals daily, intent data identifies buyers at the perfect stage, helping you connect with prospects before your competitors do.

With updates every 6 hours and easy integration into ad platforms, intent data helps create focused campaigns that cut wasted ad spend and deliver clear results. For businesses looking to improve ROI, intent data is a powerful tool in today’s digital space.

Related posts

  • Intent Data Integration Guide for Ad Platforms

  • How Intent Data Improves Marketing ROI

  • How to Use Intent Data for Precise Segmentation

  • How Intent Data Powers Retargeting Campaigns