kalkoWhat is intent data?
Intent data is a record of which companies read about a topic more than usual. Providers collect it from publisher sites, from your own website, or from review sites. It shows interest in a topic, but it does not show the reason behind the interest.
Key takeaways
- Bombora collects intent data from a co-op of thousands of B2B publisher sites (Bombora).
- Bombora describes its co-op data as consent-driven (Bombora).
- Bombora names remote work as a challenge for matching reading activity to companies (Bombora blog).
What are the types of intent data?
- First-party intent data: activity on your own website, product or emails.
- Second-party intent data: activity that a partner shares with you, for example visits to your page on a review site.
- Third-party intent data: activity across many publisher sites, collected by a provider such as Bombora.
How do sales teams use intent data?
- Pick the topics that a buyer reads before they buy your product.
- Get a weekly list of companies that read more than usual about those topics.
- Remove the companies that do not fit your customer profile.
- Look for a second, public signal at each company that explains the interest.
- Reach out only where you can say why the company needs you now.
What are the limits of intent data?
- It shows interest in a topic, not a project or a budget.
- Many sellers buy the same data, so many of them see the same companies at the same time.
- It usually names the company, not the person who read the content.
- You usually see a score, not the pages that were read, so you cannot check it.
What are common mistakes with intent data?
- Treating a surge as a decision to buy.
- Writing "I saw you were researching" in a first message. The buyer did not share that with you.
- Buying intent data without testing it against your own closed deals.
- Reaching out on a surge alone, with no second signal that explains it.
Intent data vs job post signals: what is the difference?
| Dimension | Intent data | Job post signals |
|---|---|---|
| What it shows | Which companies read about a topic | What a company plans to build or fix |
| Source | Publisher networks and website activity | The job post, on the company careers page |
| Can you open the source | Usually not | Yes, the post is public and dated |
| What you can say in a first message | Little, because the buyer did not share it | The problem, in the company's own words |
Where Kalko fits
Kalko does not sell intent data. It reads job posts, filings and public posts for each account. It shows the source behind each claim, so a rep can open it and check.
Questions people ask
What does intent data mean?
Intent data is a record that a company read more than usual about a topic. Sales and marketing teams use it to guess which companies are researching a purchase.
Can you give me an example of intent data?
A provider reports that people at one company read 12 articles about data warehouses this week, against 2 in a normal week. That is a surge on the topic "data warehouse".
How is intent data collected?
Third-party providers collect reading activity from publisher sites in their network. First-party data comes from your own website and product. Second-party data comes from partners such as review sites.
Is intent data accurate?
It depends on the provider and the topic. Test it on your own closed deals: check how many of them showed a surge before the first call.
Sources
- Bombora: Our data, checked October 22, 2026
- Bombora: Company Surge intent data and remote work, checked October 22, 2026
Sales signals
A sales signal is a public fact that suggests a company needs what you sell. See 11 examples, where each one is published, and how to check it.
→Trigger events
A trigger event is a change at a company that creates a reason to buy now. See common trigger events, where each one is published, and how to act on them.
→Fewer accounts. Better won.
Bring your ICP. We will return a sourced market brief your team can inspect, approve, and act on.