If you’re a B2B marketer, you know the drill: everyone promises “intent data” will supercharge your pipeline, but most of it is noise. You end up with bloated lists, vague signals, and SDRs chasing dead ends. This review is for you—the skeptical marketer who’s tired of hype and just wants tools that actually help fill the funnel.
Let’s cut through the buzzwords and take a hard look at Intentsify: what it really does, where it fits into your go-to-market (GTM) stack, and whether it lives up to the promise of transforming demand gen in 2024.
What Is Intentsify (and What’s the Pitch)?
Intentsify is marketed as a “go-to-market intelligence” platform—a fancy way of saying it collects and analyzes B2B intent signals, then feeds these to your sales and marketing teams. The idea is to spot companies that are actively researching solutions like yours, so you can reach out when they’re actually looking.
In theory, this should mean less wasted outreach, more relevant campaigns, and better pipeline. In practice? Let’s dig in.
How Intentsify Works: Under the Hood
Here’s the gist:
- Data Aggregation: Intentsify pulls in intent signals from a pile of sources—publisher networks, co-op data, website activity, and sometimes third-party providers.
- Signal Scoring: It claims to filter out noise by “scoring” intent based on recency, frequency, and strength.
- Audience Building: Marketers can build target account lists based on signals, company firmographics, or other filters.
- Activation: Pushes these lists into your CRM, MAP (marketing automation platform), or display ad campaigns for action.
Pro Tip
If you’ve used Bombora, 6sense, or Demandbase, you’ll see a lot of overlap here. The devil is in the data quality and how easy it is to actually act on these signals.
What Intentsify Gets Right
Let’s start with the good stuff:
1. Signal Customization
Unlike some intent vendors who just hand you a black box of “interested” accounts, Intentsify actually lets you tweak what you look for. You can set up custom topics, define what counts as a “surge,” and focus on the signals most relevant to your niche.
- Why it matters: Not all intent is created equal—what matters to a cybersecurity vendor isn’t the same for a payroll SaaS. Customization means less junk in your pipeline.
2. Multi-Source Data
Single-source intent is usually weak. Intentsify blends data from multiple networks (publishers, co-ops, your own web activity), which helps avoid tunnel vision and missed accounts.
- Heads up: No vendor covers everything, but the blended approach does reduce blind spots compared to relying on, say, Bombora alone.
3. Integration with GTM Tools
Intentsify has pre-built integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, and a few others. You can trigger campaigns or notify reps without manual list uploads.
- Translation: Less spreadsheet hell, more automation.
4. Transparency
You can dig into why an account is flagged as “in-market”—not just that they are. This is way better than the “just trust us” signals some vendors provide.
Where Intentsify Falls Short
No tool is magic, and Intentsify isn’t immune from the usual intent data headaches.
1. Signal Quality Still Varies
Even with better filtering, you’ll get some junk signals—companies who downloaded a whitepaper but have zero budget, or students tripping your triggers. Intent data is never 100% accurate. If your sales team expects every flagged account to be hot, expect disappointment.
- Real talk: Use intent as a prioritization tool, not a crystal ball.
2. Cost
Intentsify isn’t cheap. Pricing is custom and usually tied to the number of accounts or volume of signals. For small teams or niche TAMs, it can be overkill.
- Watch out: If you’re not ready to fully operationalize intent-driven campaigns, you won’t get your money’s worth.
3. Learning Curve
It takes time to dial in the right topics, scoring thresholds, and workflows. There’s a risk of “analysis paralysis”—spending too much time fiddling with settings and not enough actually running campaigns.
- Advice: Start simple. Don’t try to automate every edge case on day one.
4. Overlap With Other Tools
If you already have a platform like 6sense, Demandbase, or even Bombora, you might be duplicating effort. Intentsify’s biggest value is in signal customization and multi-source blending, but if you’re happy with your current stack, switching may not justify the cost.
How to Actually Use Intentsify: A No-Nonsense Workflow
Here’s what a realistic deployment looks like for a B2B marketing team. If you’re evaluating, start with these steps—don’t get seduced by fancy dashboards.
1. Pick the Right Topics and Triggers
- Collaborate with sales to pick specific topics that map to your value prop.
- Avoid broad, generic terms (“cloud computing” is useless if you sell niche security software).
- Set thresholds for what counts as a “surge.” Too low, and you get noise; too high, and you miss real interest.
2. Align Signals with Outreach
- Don’t just dump intent accounts into your SDR queue. Build playbooks around why that account surged (what content, what keywords).
- Personalize outreach: “Noticed you’re researching XYZ” is better than a generic cold email.
3. Integrate With CRM/MAP—But Keep It Simple
- Start with a basic workflow: flag surging accounts, trigger a task or campaign.
- Avoid over-automating. Manual review by SDRs or marketers is still valuable, especially early on.
4. Test and Iterate
- Track results: Are intent-flagged accounts moving through your funnel faster? Are conversion rates up?
- Don’t be afraid to tweak topics, scoring, or outreach cadence every month. What works today might not in a quarter.
5. Combine With Other Signals
- Don’t use intent in a vacuum. Layer in first-party data (your own site visits, demo requests), firmographics, and even old-school lead scoring.
- Cross-check “hot” accounts with actual inbound activity before prioritizing.
What To Ignore (or Not Overthink)
- Don’t obsess over every data point. You’ll never get perfect signals.
- Forget the “AI-powered” hype. It’s mostly basic scoring logic under the hood.
- Don’t expect intent data to replace outbound. It just makes your targeting less random.
Is Intentsify Worth It?
Here’s the honest take:
- If you have a mature, account-based marketing (ABM) motion and your SDRs/marketers are ready to act fast on intent signals, Intentsify can help you prioritize and scale outreach.
- If you’re early in your ABM journey or don’t have the resources to operationalize these signals, you’ll probably waste money and time.
- If you already use something like 6sense or Demandbase and are happy, you may not need to switch—unless you crave more flexibility or want to blend more data sources.
Final Thoughts: Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Don’t Buy the Hype
Intent data, including what Intentsify provides, is a tool—not a silver bullet. It can help you cut through the noise and focus on accounts that might be ready to talk. But it’s only as good as your team’s ability to act on the signals and your willingness to keep testing and tuning.
Start small, measure what matters, and don’t get distracted by shiny dashboards or vendor promises. The basics—good messaging, tight targeting, fast follow-up—still win. Use intent to make those basics a little smarter and faster, and you’ll see real results.