As hearings become more volatile and more constrained marketing budgets, knowledge of intention signals reconfigures the way in which brands engage their customers. From simple segmentation to targeted activation, a strategic tilting takes place.
Of segmentation for: a break in marketing logic
For decades, sales models were built on static data: sex, age, income, CSP, enriched with declaratives via consumer panels. These approaches are useful to build personas, but they say nothing that really matters today: the real layout of an individual to buy, here and now.
Digital changes the situation, customer journeys have become fragmented, mobile, immediate and the weak signals issued by users (clicks, scrolls, research, basket abandonment) have become more predictive than a fixed profile sheet. They allow companies to go from probabilistic targeting to behavioral targeting.
In this new paradigm, Purchase intention (Buying Inteent) becomes the priority indicator. It makes it possible to detect the prospects closest to the conversion, to optimize advertising expenses, and to strengthen the relevance of commercial interactions.
Call off the purchase intentions: four standard profiles
The intention of purchase is part of a progressive pathwedged on the conversion tunnel. Here are the four major profiles of intentionists observed:
1. Information – Awareness / Awareness
The customer seeks to understand a subject, a need, a trend. It is not yet in the product consideration phase. Example: a research “Best way for ecological urban transport”.
📍 Marketing objective: educate, create brand preference upstream (content marketing, articles, explanatory videos).
❗ Error to avoid: forcing a sale. It is too early.
2. Investigator – Evaluation / Consideration
The prospect knows his problem and explores solutions. He compares the options, consults opinions, reads technical sheets. Example: “Comparison Xiaomi vs. ninebot” comparison.
📍 Marketing objective: to provide differentiating elements, social evidence (reviews, UGC, customer cases).
🎯 At this stage, retargeting is starting to be relevant, in particular via banners or recovery email.
3. Navigator – Preference / intention
The visitor manifests an attachment to a specific brand. He directly hits “Buy Ninebot Trottinette Official Site”. He explores the offer with a real intention, but has not yet taken the plunge.
📍 Marketing objective: Create the emergency or the trigger (limited promo, free delivery, payment in several times).
💡 Example: personalized pop-up triggered on a timer or at the basket.
4. Transactional – Conversion / purchase
This is the strong signal: full basket, visit a checkout page, click on a “Buy” button. The customer is ripe. This is where the final micro-decision is played out.
📍 Marketing objective: finalize. Do not interrupt anything. Fluidify. Add a trigger (free shipping costs, warranty).
🎯 KPI: conversion rate, average basket, unit acquisition cost.
Methodology: How to measure the level of intention?
It is impossible to manually assess the intention to buy a large volume of visitors. It is therefore necessary to rely on technologies capable of aggregating and interpreting these signals on a large scale.
The signals to analyze:
- Individual behavioral data : clicks, pages viewed, time spent, basket abandonment, internal research.
- Contextual data : device used, visit time, geolocation.
- Transactional data : Amount of products consulted, purchase history, frequency of visit.
Three data sources:
| Data type | Source | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1st party | Your internal tools (CRM, site, app) | Scroll Tracking, Heatmaps |
| 2nd party | Partners (social networks, Search) | Google Trends data, Meta Ads |
| 3rd party | External suppliers | Panels, Data Providers |
Integration into marketing stack: tools and use cases
To use this data, companies rely on tools that combine collection, processing, scoring and activation:
🔧 Intentionist toolbox
| Tool | Function | Usage case |
|---|---|---|
| Dealfront | Identification of anonymous companies visiting the site | B2B Inteent Data |
| Axonaute | CRM enriched with behavioral scoring | Prioritization of leads |
| AB Tasty | A/B Testing & Personalization UX | Adapt the landing pages according to the intention |
To conversion marketing, not of the exhibition
In a context of increased cost per click and lower attention, digital marketing evolves towards a logic of Unit profitability. The volume of traffic or print is no longer enough. What matters is the ability to capture the right signals, on the right channels, at the right time.
The intention of purchase allows you to get out of mass marketing to enter a strategy surgical With finer targeting, more relevant content, a shorter tunnel. The benefit is double advertising efficiency, and a better user experience.
