‘Intent data’ describes any information that signals what a customer intends to do. Consequently, intent data can be used to make marketing messages more relevant. This is achieved in many ways; understanding what the customer is searching for online, spotting what information they request through free membership subscriptions, even what they are saying on social media.

With consumers now having on average 7 connected devices at home, technology continues to generate more ways to collect large amounts of information for real time insight. Sources include e-mail addresses for newsletters, or tracking cookies to identify who’s been on an online shopping journey but not made the final step to purchase. This ‘big data’ is particularly easy to obtain with tracked advertising, though of course complying with responsible data practices is a must on both legal and ethical grounds.

‘Location analytics’ can now be added to gain even greater insight into customer activity. This enables a company to pinpoint where its current and potential customers are geographically located. The benefit is that it becomes clear whether someone is at work when looking for car hire, or if they’re at home when posting on social media. Customers might even be in store when searching for the lowest price on an item of clothing.

Companies can use location analytics to visualise this data and swiftly identify where customers live or work before rolling out a marketing campaign. This is a great way to bridge the gap between knowing where existing customers are and deciphering where potential customers will be.

Intent data enables companies to combine their customers’ digital and physical footprints with location analytics to make marketing messages more relevant and personal, and even possibly identify new markets that weren’t previously considered.