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Case study · Enrichment and signal routing

An intent engine for a long buying cycle

A specialist asset manager sells to advisors and institutions over buying cycles measured in months. I built a custom intent engine that combines industry-specific intent data with the firm's own website data, so every signal now does something.

Client
Specialist asset manager, intermediary and institutional channels
Platforms
HubSpot Sales, Marketing and Operations Hub Enterprise, custom intent engine
Services
Enrichment and signal routing

Key result

6

layers of response, so every intent signal reaches a nurture, a caller, a rep or a record

  • 3

    categories of intent: firm products, competitors, the investment category

  • 2

    routing tiers: Leads for internal specialists, call lists for an outsourced team

The situation

Advisors and institutions research an asset manager's products long before they talk to anyone. The firm's own website showed part of that research. It missed everything happening elsewhere: research on competitor products, research on the investment category in general, and early interest from people who had never visited the site.

The firm needed to see that research and act on it at every stage, from someone's first exposure to a contact already in a sales conversation.

What was getting in the way

  • First-party data stops at your site

    A prospect comparing three competitors and reading about the category looks inactive until they land on your page.

  • Raw intent data doesn't act on its own

    Signals help no one until they reach a nurture, a caller, a rep or a record.

  • Different signals need different responses

    A first sign of interest, a strong single signal and overlapping signals each call for a different next step and owner.

  • Reps in long cycles lose context

    A deal open for months needs current evidence of what the buyer is researching.

A rep opening a contact sees what that person is researching, at the firm and across the industry, without opening a report.

What I built

One engine, with a response for every stage of the buying cycle.

  1. A purpose-built intent engine

    Industry intent data ingested into HubSpot, each signal stored as its own record so history and surge stay visible.

  2. First- and third-party data combined

    One view of what a contact does on the firm's site and across the industry.

  3. Nurtures for emerging intent

    First exposure to the firm enrolls the contact in a marketing nurture.

  4. Call lists for strong single signals

    Strong but single signals become lists for an outsourced calling team.

  5. Leads for intersecting signals

    Two or more signals on one contact create a Lead for an internal specialist.

  6. Context on open pipeline

    New signals land on open Leads and deals, and owners are alerted when contacts engage.

How it works now

Before
After
BeforeOnly the firm's own site showed intent
AfterFirm, competitor and category research in one view
BeforeRaw signals sat in files
AfterEvery signal triggers a nurture, call list, Lead or alert
BeforeReps lost context in long cycles
AfterOwners alerted when open deals show new intent
BeforeContext buried in reports
AfterAt-a-glance research properties on every record

What carries to your firm

Decide what every kind of signal should trigger before you buy the data.

Settle which signals go to marketing, which go to callers, which go to your own sales team, and how reps will see the context without leaving the record. Store signals as history so you can see a contact's research building over time.