If you're here, you probably want more than generic "intent" data and cookie-cutter dashboards. Maybe you've poked around the default features in Getsignals, and now you're wondering how to actually tailor things to fit your business—not someone else's idea of what you should track. This guide is for marketers, sales ops, and product folks who want to cut through the noise and get real signals, built their way.
Let’s walk through how to build custom intent signals in Getsignals, step by step. I’ll call out the bits that actually matter, flag the stuff you can skip, and give you a heads-up where things tend to go sideways.
Before You Start: What Are Custom Intent Signals, Really?
Quick reality check: "intent signals" just means clues that someone might care about what you do. The default signals are usually things like visiting your pricing page or downloading a whitepaper. Custom signals let you get more specific: maybe you want to track when someone from a target company hits your API docs three times in a week, or when users in a certain industry all start poking around your integrations page.
Custom signals can be powerful—but only if you know what matters to your business. Don’t overthink it. Start with something you wish you could see, and build from there.
Step 1: Get Your Data Sources Sorted
Getsignals collects data from your website, CRM, ads, and more. But custom signals are only as good as the data you feed in.
What you need: - Website tracking (usually via a script tag or integration) - CRM connection (Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.) - Any other sources you care about (ad platforms, product analytics, etc.)
Pro tip: If you’re not seeing the data you expect in Getsignals, stop now and fix that first. Custom signals can’t read minds.
What to skip: Don’t bother wiring up every tool under the sun. Start with web and CRM—the rest is usually noise until you get the basics working.
Step 2: Nail Down What You Actually Want to Track
This is where most folks get stuck. Don’t just chase “engagement” or “high intent.” Pick something concrete.
Examples: - Visits to your pricing or enterprise features page - Returning visitors from a specific company - Users who hit your contact form but don’t submit it - People who interact with your product demo
Write it out in one sentence:
“I want to know when someone from a target account spends 5+ minutes on our solution comparison page within a week.”
If you can’t describe the signal in plain English, you’re not ready to build it.
Step 3: Set Up the Custom Signal in Getsignals
Head into the Getsignals dashboard and look for the “Signals” or “Intent Signals” section. (The UI moves sometimes—if you can’t find it, try the help docs or search bar.)
3.1 Create a New Signal
- Click “Create Signal” or “Add Custom Signal.”
- Give it a name you’ll actually recognize later—skip the jargon.
- Write a simple description. This helps when you come back in six months and forget what “IntentSignal_42” was supposed to do.
3.2 Define Your Trigger Criteria
This is the guts of your signal. Here’s where most people either go way too broad, or get lost in the weeds.
You’ll usually see options like:
- Page views or URLs: e.g., /pricing
, /demo
- Event triggers: things like form fills, downloads, video plays
- Frequency/recency: how many times, and over what time frame
Example setup:
- Criteria: Visited /enterprise
page
- Frequency: At least 2 times
- Time window: In the past 7 days
- Company filter: Belongs to any of your target account lists
Pro tip: Start simple. You can always add filters or complexity later. Over-engineered signals almost never survive first contact with reality.
3.3 Add Filters (Optional, But Usually Worth It)
You can filter by: - Account lists: Only track companies you care about - Geography: Ignore traffic from regions you don’t sell to - Firmographics: Industry, size, etc.
What to ignore: If you have no idea what a field does, skip it. You can come back and tweak later.
Step 4: Test Your Signal (Seriously, Don’t Skip This)
Most people forget this and end up with a mess of false positives.
- Save your signal.
- Use the “Preview” or “Test” function (if available) to see recent matches.
- Check: Are these the kind of leads or actions you care about? If not, tweak the criteria.
- If you can’t preview, run it for a week in “silent” mode and review the results before you hook it up to alerts or automations.
Pro tip: Every new signal will catch some weird edge cases. That’s normal. Just keep tuning.
Step 5: Connect Actions or Alerts
A signal isn’t much use if nobody sees it.
- Alert sales or marketing: Set up notifications via email or Slack.
- Push to CRM: Create a task, update lead scores, or flag the account.
- Automations: (Optional) Trigger campaigns, ads, or nurture flows based on the signal.
Honest take: Don’t blast every signal to everyone. Pick one or two channels and start there. Too many alerts, and people will tune them out.
Step 6: Monitor, Tune, and Kill Bad Signals
Here’s where most intent projects fall apart: nobody checks if the signals are actually working.
- Review your signals every week or two.
- Kill any that aren’t surfacing useful leads or actions.
- Combine or split signals when you notice patterns.
- Ask your sales or marketing team if the alerts actually help. If not, tweak or scrap them.
Pro tip: Less is more. One or two useful signals beats a wall of noise.
Step 7: (Optional) Layer in More Data—But Only If It’s Useful
After you’ve got your first signals working, you might want to get fancier: - Add product usage data (if you have it) - Track specific campaigns or channels - Use enrichment tools to add more company info
But honestly? Most teams don’t need this right away. Start simple, get real feedback, then add complexity.
Common Pitfalls (And How to Dodge Them)
- Trying to track everything: You’ll drown in noise. Pick the signals that actually move the needle.
- Overcomplicating filters: Start broad, then tighten up if you get too many false positives.
- Ignoring user feedback: If sales or marketing aren’t using the signals, ask why and adjust.
- Forgetting to maintain signals: Set a calendar reminder to review and clean up every quarter.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate Fast
Building custom intent signals in Getsignals is about surfacing the clues that matter—not chasing every possible event. Start with one or two signals you can describe in plain English. Make sure your data is solid. Test before you blast alerts to the whole team. Most of all, don’t be afraid to ditch what doesn’t work.
Keep it simple. Iterate. You’ll get better results—and fewer headaches—without the noise.