50 Buyer Intent Statistics Every SMB Marketer Should Know

Buyer intent data has evolved from buzzword to business essential. As marketing and sales teams race to reach the right audience at the right time, understanding what prospects are actively researching—and why—can unlock a major competitive edge.

Buyer intent data aggregates behavioral signals—such as content consumption, search queries, and engagement patterns—to identify businesses showing active interest in a specific product or service category.

This definitive guide compiles 50 data-backed statistics to help small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) evaluate how buyer intent data is being used, the return on investment (ROI) it delivers, where challenges lie, and what the future holds.

Buyer Intent Data Is Rapidly Gaining Traction

Buyer intent data is no longer reserved for enterprise teams. It’s now widely adopted across SMBs as a cornerstone of smarter, more targeted go-to-market (GTM) strategies.

Adoption and Usage Trends

1. 97% of B2B marketers believe intent data provides a competitive advantage​
   (Source: Rollworks, The B2B Perspective on Using Intent Data)

2. 96% of B2B marketers have a documented account-based marketing (ABM) strategy
   (Source: Foundry, Increasingly confident marketers find new ways to apply ABM)

3. 91% of marketers use intent data to prioritize accounts or identify content in ABM campaigns
   (Source: Foundry, Increasingly confident marketers find new ways to apply ABM)

4. 82% of marketers use intent data across more than one channel
   (Source: Foundry, Increasingly confident marketers find new ways to apply ABM)

5. 30% of marketers are using intent data throughout the entire funnel​ while 26% use it for top of funnel, 37% use it for the middle of the funnel, and 7% for the bottom of the funnel
   (Source: Mixology Digital, Intent-based lead generation)

6. 54% of revenue teams have used intent data for more than a year​
   (Source: TechTarget, Intent Data: It’s Becoming a Key Ingredient for Revenue Growth)

7. 82% of marketing teams say their lead generation programs include intent data strategies
   (Source: Mixology Digital, Intent-based lead generation)

The ROI of Intent Data

These stats underscore the measurable value of intent data in improving campaign efficiency, lead quality, revenue growth, and sales velocity.

ROI, Results, and Revenue Impact

8. 90% of B2B CMOs say intent data delivers good or excellent ROI/Impact​
   (Source: Intentsify, Decoding Demand: Why B2B Revenue Teams Need Buying Group Intent)

9. 93% of marketers believe their ABM efforts are very or extremely successful​
   (Source: Foundry, Increasingly confident marketers find new ways to apply ABM)

10. 94% of marketers say their lead gen programs are successful at delivering high-quality leads​
    (Source: Mixology Digital, Intent-based lead generation)

11. 63% of marketers say they can measure the ROI of intent data
    (Source: Mixology Digital, Intent-based lead generation)

12. 84% of intent data users report success; 37% call it great success​
    (Source: TechTarget, Intent Data: It’s Becoming a Key Ingredient for Revenue Growth)

13. 57% of high-growth companies see great success using intent data, compared to 17% of mature firms​
    (Source: TechTarget, Intent Data: It’s Becoming a Key Ingredient for Revenue Growth)

14. 43% of companies use intent data to improve conversion rates to offers​
    (Source: TechTarget, Intent Data: It’s Becoming a Key Ingredient for Revenue Growth)

15. 47% say intent data helps accelerate lead qualification​
    (Source: TechTarget, Intent Data: It’s Becoming a Key Ingredient for Revenue Growth)

16. 93% say their lead conversion rate increases when using intent data​
    (Source: Mixology Digital, Intent-based lead generation)

How Marketers Are Using Buyer Intent Data

Intent data supports a range of use cases—from lead gen to content strategy, ABM, and personalization.

Applications Across the Funnel

17. 53% of marketers use intent data for lead generation​
    (Source: Mixology Digital, Intent-based lead generation)

18. 91% of marketers say they use intent data to identify what content to serve in ABM campaigns​
    (Source: Foundry, Increasingly confident marketers find new ways to apply ABM)

19. 57% of marketers use intent data to generate higher-quality leads​
    (Source: TechTarget, Intent Data: It’s Becoming a Key Ingredient for Revenue Growth)

20. 43% use it for email marketing and personalized messaging​
    (Source: Mixology Digital, Intent-based lead generation)

21. 48% use it to build audience segments for ad campaigns​
    (Source: Foundry, Increasingly confident marketers find new ways to apply ABM)

22. 47% say their top goal is optimizing lead scoring models​
    (Source: Foundry, Increasingly confident marketers find new ways to apply ABM)

23. 32% use intent to inform landing pages ​
    (Source: Mixology Digital, Intent-based lead generation)

24. 83% of marketers use intent data to shape content messaging​
    (Source: TechTarget, Intent Data: It’s Becoming a Key Ingredient for Revenue Growth)

25. 50% apply intent to align messaging based on features/function priorities while another 42% use it to track competitive interests
    (Source: TechTarget, Intent Data: It’s Becoming a Key Ingredient for Revenue Growth)

26. 51% of marketers use intent for persona-level targeting in ad programs
    (Source: TechTarget, Intent Data: It’s Becoming a Key Ingredient for Revenue Growth)

Intent Data as a Sales Accelerator

Sales teams are leveraging intent data to prioritize accounts, shorten sales cycles, and enhance targeting accuracy.

Lead Prioritization and Conversion

27. 79% of marketers using 5+ data sources say over half their leads become sales-accepted​ so the data helps prioritize the most valuable opportunities
    (Source: Foundry, Increasingly confident marketers find new ways to apply ABM)

28. 53% of marketers say intent data helps align sales and marketing​
    (Source: Mixology Digital, Intent-based lead generation)

29. 85% of sales teams use intent data to prioritize accounts​
    (Source: TechTarget, Intent Data: It’s Becoming a Key Ingredient for Revenue Growth)

30. 40% use it to modify sales opportunity stages​ based on relevancy of activity
    (Source: TechTarget, Intent Data: It’s Becoming a Key Ingredient for Revenue Growth)

31. 44% use automated sales alerts based on intent triggers​
    (Source: TechTarget, Intent Data: It’s Becoming a Key Ingredient for Revenue Growth)

32. 43% of companies use intent to convert website visitors into known leads​
    (Source: TechTarget, Intent Data: It’s Becoming a Key Ingredient for Revenue Growth)

33. 38% use it for targeted digital outreach and advertising​
    (Source: TechTarget, Intent Data: It’s Becoming a Key Ingredient for Revenue Growth)

34. 50% of marketers say intent helps fuel sales outreach with better insight
    (Source: Rollworks, The B2B Perspective on Using Intent Data)

35. 32% use intent data to optimize lead scoring models
    (Source: Mixology Digital, Intent-based lead generation)

36. 80% say they are applying intent data insights to increase the velocity of opportunities
    (Source: TechTarget, Intent Data: It’s Becoming a Key Ingredient for Revenue Growth)

37. 43% use intent to uncover customer pain points for cross-sell/upsell opportunities​
    (Source: TechTarget, Intent Data: It’s Becoming a Key Ingredient for Revenue Growth)

Challenges in Intent Data Adoption

Intent data is powerful—but not perfect. Here’s where marketers report roadblocks, especially for SMBs with leaner teams.

Data Complexity and Trust Issues

38. 50% of B2B marketers say making intent data actionable is a top challenge​
    (Source: Rollworks, The B2B Perspective on Using Intent Data)

39. 84% of respondents say interpreting intent signals has become more difficult with more people working remotely
    (Source: Foundry, Increasingly confident marketers find new ways to apply ABM)

40. 56% cite data quality as their top challenge​
    (Source: Rollworks, The B2B Perspective on Using Intent Data)

41. 35% say it’s hard to maintain accuracy across multiple sources​
    (Source: Mixology Digital, Intent-based lead generation)

42. 49% say sales teams often don’t trust intent data quality​
    (Source: Foundry, Increasingly confident marketers find new ways to apply ABM)

43. 47% cite difficulty combining intent data from multiple providers​
    (Source: Foundry, Increasingly confident marketers find new ways to apply ABM)

44. 31% find it expensive and another 31% find it difficult to measure ROI​
    (Source: Mixology Digital, Intent-based lead generation)

45. 34% cite issues integrating intent into existing tech stacks​
    (Source: Rollworks, The B2B Perspective on Using Intent Data)

46. 92% of marketers say knowing the exact source of intent data is important​
    (Source: Foundry, Increasingly confident marketers find new ways to apply ABM)

Looking Ahead: The Future of Buyer Intent Data

Intent data continues to expand in scope, value, and strategic importance. For SMBs, now is the time to start or scale up.

Investment and Innovation Outlook

47. 82% of companies plan to increase their investment in intent data in the next 12 months​
    (Source: TechTarget, Intent Data: It’s Becoming a Key Ingredient for Revenue Growth)

48. 91% of marketers agree intent data is useful in building audience segments, triggering actions, and prioritizing outreach​
    (Source: Foundry, Increasingly confident marketers find new ways to apply ABM)

49. 54% of high-growth firms expect to increase their investments in intent data significantly​
    (Source: TechTarget, Intent Data: It’s Becoming a Key Ingredient for Revenue Growth)

50. 92% of companies are increasing the number of data providers they use​
    (Source: Foundry, Increasingly confident marketers find new ways to apply ABM)

Conclusion: Intent Is the Future — But Only If You Use It Right

These 50 statistics prove that buyer intent data is transforming how modern SMBs approach marketing, sales, and customer growth. It helps teams prioritize the right accounts, personalize outreach, and measure ROI with greater confidence.

For small and mid-sized businesses, the message is clear: start using buyer intent data now—or risk falling behind competitors who already are. The tools are accessible, the insights are powerful, and the timing couldn’t be better.