Guide to Buyer Intent | LinkedIn Sales Solutions

In an ideal world, sales professionals could target customers who are researching their products or services at the moment when they intend to buy them. In reality, roughly 95% of a business’s target market is not looking to buy right away. Sales teams need the right tools and strategies to move those prospects from “out-market” to “in-market.”

Technology is already helping account teams identify and build relationships with prospective customers and accounts with high buyer intent. It’s achieved through using behavioral data analysis and insights.

In this post, we’ll explain what buyer intent is, how to use buyer intent data to boost sales, and which tools can help sales teams identify purchase behaviors.

Learn more about Buyer Intent:

What is buyer intent?
Types of buyer intent
Strategies to identify B2B buyer intent
Three ways to use buyer intent data to boost sales

Searching buyer intent keywords related to challenges and pain points
Clicking on an advertisement for a specific product, service
Downloading an ebook or report that answers buyer intent questions
Posting questions on social media to get recommendations from friends and colleagues
Visiting a website or company page to learn about a product or service
Viewing a sales rep’s social media page to learn about their industry expertise
Accepting an InMail request to learn more about a company, product, or service

Active buyers are customers presently moving through the traditional purchase funnel process. For example, they may start their buyer’s journey by clicking on a brand awareness ad that leads them to download an ebook about a particular challenge they are facing at their company or in their job.

Next, they might research information related to that product or service using a search engine, follow a company page on social media, visit a branded website to learn more, and post questions to colleagues on social media to provide feedback about whether the product or service has worked well for them.

Sales teams must identify where a prospective customer is in their buyer’s journey, so they can provide the right information and resources to start a conversation and nurture the lead all the way through the purchase funnel.

For example, sales reps could send a personalized InMail message after a prospect has downloaded an ebook or followed their company page. Or ask a colleague to make a warm introduction to a social media connection.

Passive buyers are customers who might already be using a competitive product or service but are unsatisfied with its features or customer support.

For example, they may complain about the product on social media or review sites. Or reach out to peers when shopping around for competitive solutions.

These customers may not intend to buy another option right away. However, having this information can help sales teams to approach passive-intent customers with an alternate solution.

It’s also an opportunity for sales teams to identify customers who might cancel their usage of a product or service and offer new solutions to avoid customer churn.

What industries and size of businesses will buy their specific product or service?
Are the buyers of that business CEOs, CFOs, directors, or middle managers?
Who at that organization can also influence decisions?
What are the common customer challenges and pain points that lead them to intend to buy a new product or service?
How can those challenges be translated into buyer intent keywords that a prospect might use to search for solutions?
How can a business address those pain points through lead generation content or brand awareness campaigns?
What are some reasons why a customer might be reluctant to buy?
What types of sales solutions and resources will help to ease their minds?

To understand a buyer persona better and discover what kinds of professionals are already visiting a brand’s website, businesses can use LinkedIn’s Website Demographics.

Next, account teams can analyze search engine queries to learn what types of questions those personas or customers might search for online.

Early in their buying journey, prospects will conduct generic queries about “best practices” or look for a “how-to guide” to help them with their challenges before researching specific brands that offer the right solutions.

For example, a customer may use the buyer intent search keywords: “Compliance training best practices” to learn more about onboarding new employees at their organization.

The top articles and web pages related to that keyword phrase, that are displayed on the first search engine results page (SERP), might inspire a sales organization to create custom, downloadable ebooks or blog posts to help address the questions “People also ask.” This content and advertising strategy will help to capture qualified leads for account teams to reach out to later.

Sales and marketing teams can also dig deeper by looking at the bottom of a search engine results page to discover other searches related to the original query.

These related search terms might help account teams create content that captures leads through ad campaigns. Likewise, they can identify customers with buyer intent through search terms used on social media, which we’ll look at next.

A quick search on social media can help sales and marketing professionals identify prospective customers who are starting conversations related to buyer intent.

For example, a leader at an organization may post a comment on LinkedIn about how difficult it is to get employees to engage in compliance training. That comment is an excellent indication of buyer intent for the right solution provider.

Reading about customer challenges on social media can also help account teams develop resources to engage in a conversation about how a product or service might solve their pain points.

It’s also useful for account teams and sales pros to join industry-related groups on social media to see what kinds of conversations customers engage in around topics or keywords related to their specific industry.

Finally, businesses can use buyer intent data tools and software to uncover insights about specific buyer behaviors online.
Buyer intent data consists of online behavioral insights that help sellers identify and reach out to the right people, in the right accounts or at the right organizations, at the right time.

How can buyer intent data providers help sellers?
Buyer intent data software helps sellers identify buyers expressing interest in a product or service at each stage of their purchase journey.

Following and frequently visiting a LinkedIn company page or website
Following or visiting a seller’s LinkedIn profile

Completing a lead generation form through an ad
Accepting an InMail request

Category	Buyer Activity	Currently Available in Sales Navigator	Buyer Identity Visibility
Company engagement	Following a company	✔	Identity visible
	LinkedIn Company page visits	✔	Buyer profile visible
Employee interactions	Profile visits to self	✔	Identity visible
	New connection to self	✔	Identity visible
	New connection in the company		Identity visible
	Profile visits to sellers on contract, or visits to leadership	✔	Buyer profile visible
Ads engagement	Lead generation form completion	✔	Identity visible
	LinkedIn ads engagement		Buyer profile visible
Outreach response	Accept InMail request to colleagues on contract	✔	Identity visible for InMails from contact
Website visit	Company official website visits		Buyer profile visible

As a sales professional learns more about key customer questions or pain points identified through buyer intent data, their marketing teams can integrate that information into their workstreams. This partnership between sales and marketing helps generate more qualified leads for inbound sales reps to work with.

Creating solution-based guides or ebooks tailored to a common buyer intent challenge will enable B2B sellers to offer a more tailored and valuable experience for prospects who are learning about the company for the first time.

It also showcases the company’s industry expertise, which increases a customer’s likelihood of buying from the brand.

Finally, sales pros and account teams can use buyer intent data to tailor their customer service strategy to the needs of specific buyers who are showing interest in their products or services.

For example, they may discover decision-making buyers who have complained on social media that their current solution doesn’t offer 24/7 customer support. This knowledge can help them either improve their current service offering to help similar customers or promote the fact that their product already offers this support.

Watch the video to learn how Sales Navigator’s buyer intent data helps organizations deliver targeted and personalized outreach, integrated content, and enhanced customer service.

Technology is helping to change the purchase funnel process for B2B sales individuals and organizations.

Using buyer intent data tools and software like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, sales pros are empowered with deeper knowledge about their target customers’ pain points, product or service questions, and needs.

Intent data also helps to capture the right leads faster than ever – through personalized outreach and custom content – to nurture and close more deals and deliver better customer support.

What is Buyer Intent?

What is buyer intent?

Why is it important to understand buyer intent?

2 types of buyer intent

Active buyer intent

Passive buyer intent

Strategies to identify B2B buyer intent

1. Create a buyer profile or persona

2. Analyze search engine queries

3. Monitor online conversations

4. Use buyer intent data software

Three ways to use buyer intent data to boost sales

1. Use buyer intent data for personalized marketing

2. Integrate buyer intent into social and solution-based content creation

3. Enhance customer service with buyer intent data