How to use Intent data to develop messaging that resonates

Personalization has become one of the most overused words in B2B marketing.

Most organizations say they personalize their messaging. In practice, that personalization usually happens at the account level, with messaging tailored to an industry’s challenges or a particular stage of the buyer journey. But buying decisions aren’t made at the account level, they’re made by people. When everyone involved in the buying decision receives the same message, it’s difficult to address the priorities of each stakeholder.

The problem isn’t a lack of creativity. It’s a lack of visibility.

Modern B2B purchases rarely involve a single decision-maker. Buying-groups span functions, seniority levels, and business priorities. Even when multiple stakeholders are evaluating the same solution, they aren’t asking the same questions or looking for the same outcomes.

That’s why so much B2B messaging falls flat. It assumes everyone inside an account shares the same priorities. They don’t.

Intent data has already transformed how marketers identify and prioritize accounts showing signs of active research. But its value doesn’t stop there. When combined with deeper insight into the buying group, Intent data becomes a powerful tool for creating messaging that reflects what buyers actually care about and who is driving the conversation.

Move beyond account-level personalization

Knowing an account is researching your solution is valuable, but knowing who within that account is driving the research is transformational.

Company Surge^®, Bombora’s Intent data solution, identifies the topics organizations are actively researching across the B2B web. While Bombora’s B2B personas enriches those Intent insights by revealing which roles and functional groups within a target account are driving that research. Together, they help marketers understand both what buyers are researching and who is shaping the buying decision.

Instead of assuming the same message will resonate across an entire account, marketers can understand whether interest is coming from IT, Human Resources, Finance, Operations, Marketing, Legal, or the executive team. That changes how messaging should be developed.

Consider an account actively researching Cloud Security.

If B2B personas shows that IT Decision Makers are leading the research, messaging should focus on architecture, implementation, integrations, security controls, and deployment.

If the same topic is being driven by C-suite executives, the conversation shifts. Strategic risk, operational resilience, governance, and business continuity become far more relevant than technical specifications.

The topic hasn’t changed, the audience has. The most effective messaging reflects both.

Instead of creating one campaign for every company researching Cloud Security, marketers can align advertising, email, website experiences, and sales outreach with the priorities of the people shaping the buying decision.

Personalization becomes grounded in buyer behavior rather than assumptions.

Strengthen your positioning before buyers reach out

Messaging isn’t only about speaking to the right audience. It’s also about shaping how buyers evaluate your solution.

One of the earliest signs that an opportunity may be emerging is an increase in research around competitors or adjacent solutions.

Rather than waiting for buyers to enter a formal evaluation process, marketing teams can use those insights to reinforce the differentiators that matter most before conversations begin.

If research indicates target accounts are evaluating a competitor known for lengthy implementations, your messaging can emphasize rapid deployment, customer onboarding, or implementation support across digital campaigns, case studies, website messaging, and sales enablement.

The goal isn’t to mention competitors directly, it’s to proactively answer the questions buyers are already asking themselves.

By aligning messaging with active research behavior, organizations can influence perceptions earlier in the buying journey and enter sales conversations from a better starting point.

Let messaging evolve as buying priorities change

Many organizations think of messaging as something developed at the beginning of a campaign. In reality, buyer priorities continue to evolve throughout the buying journey.

The questions buyers ask during early exploration are different from those they ask during evaluation, implementation planning, or executive approval.

Intent data provides a view into those changing priorities, allowing marketing and sales to adapt communications as buying groups move through the decision process.

That evolution can be reflected in every customer interaction: Website experiences can shift from introductory education toward implementation guidance. Email nurture programs can transition from awareness messaging to proof points and customer validation. Sales teams can reinforce conversations with content that addresses the specific topics buyers are researching.

Rather than treating messaging as a static asset created at the beginning of a campaign, Intent data helps organizations make messaging responsive to how buying decisions actually unfold.

Messaging that reflects buyer reality

The best B2B messaging says the right thing to the right audience at the right moment.

Intent data already helps GTM teams understand what organizations care about. Company Surge^® enriched with B2B personas adds another critical layer of context by revealing who is driving that research inside the buying group.

Together, these insights allow organizations to move beyond broad account-level personalization and create messaging that reflects the priorities of the people influencing purchases.

As buying groups become larger and buying journeys become longer, the organizations that win will understand how to communicate with the people driving demand inside their target accounts.