V10.38: Understanding Intent Marketing

Give your customers what they want. This seems pretty obvious, right? But consumers are much more technologically literate and are extremely comfortable with using Google to start their evaluation process.  So, how do you match their search “intent” with your marketing strategy?

Intent Marketing is becoming more popular as a technique to attract new customers. The idea is to match content with a particular intent conveyed by a customer.

This has been around for quite some time. We have talked before about marketing in its simplest form in my last blog; this is no different. I really liked what Data-Driven Thinking had to say about the beginnings of Intent Marketing:.

“ ‘Intent Marketing’ – matching offers (and a little later in history, ads) to the specific intent expressed by a consumer – probably dates back to the first merchant who noticed a customer eyeing a product and stepped in to help her decide. ‘Yes, those are lovely figs. But perhaps you might be interested in these? They just came in on this morning’s caravan…’ “

It makes sense that to keep bringing in new customers (and keep the current customers happy) we have to tailor our services to what they want out of it. Give the people what they want and all that, right? In order for intent marketing to work, you have to stay relevant.  There are three things that every marketing team should consider when creating their strategy:

1. Must be specific—your offer or ad should consistently match the expressed intent.
2. Must be immediate—The expressed offer and the intent are happening concurrently.
3. Must be consumer driven—what are they asking for?

These things are necessary for Intent Marketing to help bring in new customers. If done right, it can be an absolutely essential marketing strategy in your repertoire. Every step is an opportunity for a sale. The more you know what your customer wants, the better you can accommodate them.

I recently came across a video that perfectly describes what Intent Marketing is and why it is important. It’s a little cheesy but incredibly informative. I’ll leave you with a quote from that video and hopefully you’ll want to go and watch it!

“To be perceived as relevant by consumers, the online experience (search results, ads, landing pages, etc) needs to flex and respond to expressed user intent.”