Signal-led Prospecting Nuances - For SMB, Mid-Market and Enterprises

Have you heard about Signal-led Prospecting ? Is that a game changer or another jargon?

Let's analyze…
Signal-led prospecting involves monitoring the activities of your prospects across your brand initiatives, assets and third-party platforms.
Purpose - Identify those actively seeking a solution like yours.

Examples:
- Visiting your website
- Searching for email marketing categories on G2
- Registering for a sales newsletter

The Key:
Using these signals to pinpoint high-priority prospects and reach them.

But how do you reach them effectively? We'll cover it below.

A common advice would be automating the warm-up process after receiving an intent signal on any of the initiatives.
But, Would that work on all or any of SMB, Mid-Market and Enterprises?
→ Would these automated funnels work for larger organizations?
→ Who benefits most from these strategies after signal identification?

How companies have used Intent Signals?

Majority of Companies Use Intent Signals To:
- Trigger Email Sequences based on the signals received.
- Retarget Prospects Through Paid Ads

The Main Idea:
Warm Prospects to take further action, like setting up a demo or signing up for a trial.

Key steps they follow:

1. Identifying Ideal Customer Profile (ICP):

• Analyze intent signals to filter out the most promising leads.
• Focus on signals that align with target customer behaviors.

2. Scoring Leads:
Implement a scoring system to prioritize leads based on their intent signals.

• High Score: Multiple interactions, such as repeated website visits and content downloads.
• Medium Score: Single interaction, like a one-time G2 search.
• Low Score: Minimal engagement, such as a newsletter signup without further activity.

Use these scores to allocate resources effectively and focus on high-priority leads.

3. Effective Email Sequences:
Customize email sequences based on the type of intent signal.

• Website Visits: Highlight relevant content or case studies.
• G2 Searches: Offer comparison guides or industry reports.
• Newsletter Registrations: Provide value-driven content and exclusive offers.

4. Retargeting Ads:
Specific ads to match the intent signal and desired outcome.

• Website Visits: White papers or case studies.
• G2 Searches: X vs Y, Top 5 Listings, Innovation Drivers

5. Planning Further Activities:
Develop a follow-up strategy based on lead scores and behaviors.

• High-Scoring Leads: Assign to sales reps for immediate outreach.
• Medium-Scoring Leads: Nurture with personalized email sequences and targeted ads.
• Low-Scoring Leads: Include in broader marketing campaigns to maintain engagement.

Where does it fit in your Sales Workflows?

Curious to know how intent signals integrate into your sales workflows? Intent signals fit across your conversion funnel. They feed data into the funnel, triggering separate custom initiatives tailored for interested prospects.

If you are following Product-Led Growth (PLG) Motion:
- Trigger a series of emails.
- Launch paid ads with free offers, trials, and product feature access.

so that prospects directly sign up and experience the product's value.

If you are following Sales-Led Growth (SLG) Motion:

 - Trigger an email sequence and paid ads to warm prospects.

 - Pass these leads to sales reps to prioritize as they are actively exploring solutions.

And, if you are targeting Mid-Market and Enterprise prospects:

Prioritize them for immediate outreach.
Since they might be evaluating other competitors simultaneously, you need to build a unique point of view (POV) on the account.

- Use AI to conduct research across public sources and official documents like 10k reports and earnings calls.

- Identify their business goals, immediate priorities, expansion plans, and growth milestones.

- Link these insights to the solution you provide.

With tools like Evabot AI, reaching mid-market and enterprise accounts with detailed research and a POV can be done within 24 hours after an intent is registered.

Reiterating-

SMB: If your call-to-action (CTA) is a demo or free trial, intent signal-triggered email sequences can drive conversions.

Mid-Market and Enterprise: Use intent signals mainly for retargeting.

• This may not have a measurable impact on sales workflow conversions, but it keeps your brand top-of-mind.

Questions You Need to Address

Implementing signal-led prospecting for outcomes requires addressing key questions:

1. What kind of intent signals do I need to track and use?
   1. Suggestion - Categories signals that indicate strong, medium, low buying intent.
2. How to track those signals for generating lists and automate email triggers?
3. What to send in an email if a strong/medium/low intent is registered?
4. What kind of research do you need for all the intent accounts?
   1. Suggestion: Identify their immediate business priorities, expansion plans, and growth milestones. Automate this process to ensure you have up-to-date and relevant information for each account.
5. How can you fit this into your existing sales workflows?
   1. Example:
      1. Initial Outreach: Use signals to prioritize and personalize initial contact.
      2. Nurturing Campaigns: Design automated email sequences and retargeting ads based on signals.
      3. Sales Follow-Up: Update your sales team with the insights needed for informed and timely follow-ups.

Way Ahead

Here's how you can integrate signal-led prospecting effectively into your sales process.

Deeply link account research and prioritization with intent signal triggers:

For PLG Motion and SMB Market:

• Intent Signals → Email Sequence and Retargeting Ads
  • Automatically trigger a series of emails tailored to the prospect's actions.
  • Deploy targeted ads to keep your product top of mind.
  • Example: If a prospect visits your pricing page, send them a detailed comparison guide and follow up with ads highlighting key benefits.

For SLG Motion and Mid-Market, Enterprise Market:

• Intent Signals → List → Account Research → Prioritized List with Research → Outreach:
  • Collect intent signals and create a list of interested prospects.
  • Conduct detailed account research using AI tools to gather insights.
  • Prioritize the list based on the research and intent signals.
  • Reach them with personalized insights and POV
  • Example: You receive multiple signals from a mid-market company. An AI tool can automatically assign a lead to a sales rep with a brief on the prospect's recent activities and recommended talking points.

Summary

If used with account research tools, Intent signals can drive sales outcomes, whether you're targeting SMBs, mid-market companies, or large enterprises.

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