> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getseam.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Intent

> Identify accounts actively engaging with your brand and researching your space

Intent tracks whether companies are showing interest in your business by monitoring engagement signals across multiple channels. This helps you identify buyers earlier in the process and engage before competitors.

## What is Intent?

Intent is one of four scoring dimensions Seam uses to evaluate accounts:

| Dimension   | What It Measures                          |
| ----------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| **Fit**     | Does the company match your ICP?          |
| **Intent**  | Are they interacting with your brand?     |
| **Signals** | External buying signals (hiring, funding) |
| **Reach**   | Can you engage with them?                 |

Intent specifically tracks engagement across your digital properties and third-party channels to identify accounts actively researching or evaluating solutions in your space.

## Data Sources

Seam aggregates intent signals from first-party and third-party sources:

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="First-Party Intent">
    **Onsite engagement you control:**

    * Website visits (de-anonymized via web pixel)
    * Email opens, clicks, and responses
    * Ad interactions (LinkedIn, Google)
    * Sales activity (meetings, emails)
    * Event attendance and engagement
    * Content downloads and form fills
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Third-Party Intent">
    **Offsite signals from external sources:**

    * **Bombora** - Topic research across B2B web
    * **Social listening** - LinkedIn and Twitter mentions
    * **IP-to-company** - Multiple providers in waterfall
    * **Data providers** - ZoomInfo, Apollo, Lucia, 20+ others
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

<Card title="Configure Bombora Intent" icon="signal-stream" href="/guides/configuring-seam/bombora">
  Set up third-party intent tracking with Bombora
</Card>

## Intent Scoring

Seam aggregates all engagement signals into a unified intent score for each account.

### How Scoring Works

1. **Data Collection** - Web pixel and integrations capture engagement
2. **Signal Aggregation** - All touchpoints combined per account
3. **AI Evaluation** - Patterns analyzed to determine intent level
4. **Score Assignment** - Account receives intent score (Low/Medium/High)

### Transparent Scoring

Unlike black-box solutions, Seam shows exactly which activities contributed to an account's intent score:

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintlify.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/signal-97/images/intent-score-breakdown.png" alt="Intent score breakdown showing all signals" />
</Frame>

You can see:

* Which pages were visited
* How many times and when
* Email engagement patterns
* Ad interactions
* Social media activity

This transparency helps sales teams trust and act on the data.

## Key Capabilities

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Website De-anonymization" icon="eye">
    Identify companies visiting your website before they fill out forms using multiple IP-to-company providers
  </Card>

  <Card title="Social Listening" icon="hashtag">
    Monitor LinkedIn and Twitter for keyword mentions, competitor references, and engagement with your content
  </Card>

  <Card title="Offsite Research Tracking" icon="globe">
    Track topics accounts are researching across the B2B web via Bombora intent data
  </Card>

  <Card title="Buying Stage Detection" icon="stairs">
    Determine where accounts are in the buying journey (awareness, consideration, purchase) using AI
  </Card>

  <Card title="Multi-Channel Aggregation" icon="layer-group">
    Combine engagement from website, email, ads, sales, and events into one unified view
  </Card>

  <Card title="Real-Time Updates" icon="bolt">
    Intent scores update continuously as new engagement occurs
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Website Visitor Tracking

### How It Works

Install Seam's web pixel on your site to capture anonymous visitors:

```html theme={null}
<script>
  (function() {
    // Seam tracking snippet
  })();
</script>
```

Seam uses a waterfall approach with multiple IP-to-company providers to identify which companies are visiting, even if individuals don't fill out forms.

<Card title="Install Web Pixel" icon="code" href="/guides/configuring-seam/web-pixel">
  Step-by-step guide to implementing website tracking
</Card>

### What Gets Tracked

* Company identified from IP address
* Pages visited and time on site
* High-intent pages (pricing, product, demo)
* Visit frequency and recency
* Visitor journey and navigation patterns

<Warning>
  Website tracking identifies companies, not individuals. Use this for account-level intent, not person-level tracking.
</Warning>

## Intent in ABM Workflows

### Account Prioritization

Intent helps you focus on accounts actively showing interest:

**High Intent + High Fit = Top Priority**

Use intent scores to:

* ✅ Identify which A/B fit accounts are heating up
* ✅ Surface engaged accounts not being actively worked
* ✅ Alert reps when dormant accounts re-engage
* ✅ Allocate marketing budget to in-market accounts

### Tiered Account Strategies

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="A/B Tier Accounts">
    **Strategic ABM**

    * Manually worked by sales reps
    * Intent alerts trigger personalized outreach
    * Multi-threaded engagement with buying committee
    * High-touch, customized campaigns
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Mid-Tier Accounts">
    **Automated Air Cover**

    * Automated plays triggered by intent
    * Scaled engagement across hundreds of accounts
    * Generic but relevant messaging
    * Ensure no high-intent account gets ignored
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Low-Tier Accounts">
    **Nurture Programs**

    * Drip campaigns and content marketing
    * Monitor for intent spikes
    * Promote when intent increases
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

### Buying Committee Targeting

When an account shows intent, Seam helps you engage the full buying committee:

1. **Detect Intent** - Company visits pricing page 5 times
2. **Research Committee** - AI finds 3-5 relevant personas
3. **Enrich Contacts** - Get accurate emails and phone numbers
4. **Multi-Thread** - Engage multiple stakeholders simultaneously
5. **Route Properly** - Assign to correct rep based on territory

<Card title="Build Multi-Contact Plays" icon="users" href="/guides/actions/plays">
  Learn how to engage buying committees automatically
</Card>

## Common Use Cases

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Website Visitor Engagement" icon="computer">
    **Trigger:** Company visits website 3+ times or views high-intent pages

    **Action:** Automatically prospect contacts and add to outreach sequence

    **Benefit:** Engage interested accounts before they contact competitors
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Event Follow-Up" icon="calendar">
    **Trigger:** Account attends webinar or conference

    **Action:** Monitor for additional intent signals, trigger nurture campaign

    **Benefit:** Convert event interest into pipeline opportunities
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Competitor Monitoring" icon="trophy">
    **Trigger:** Account mentions competitors on social media

    **Action:** Alert sales rep, trigger competitive positioning content

    **Benefit:** Insert yourself into active evaluations
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Re-Engagement" icon="rotate">
    **Trigger:** Previously engaged account returns to website after 90+ days

    **Action:** Notify assigned rep, add to re-engagement sequence

    **Benefit:** Revive dormant opportunities when timing improves
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="International Expansion" icon="globe">
    **Trigger:** Intent signals from new geographic regions

    **Action:** Route to regional sales teams, localized messaging

    **Benefit:** Scale global coverage without hiring locally immediately
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Building Intent-Based Audiences

Create dynamic audiences that update automatically as accounts show intent:

**Example Audiences:**

* "High-intent accounts not currently engaged"
* "A/B fit accounts visiting pricing page"
* "Accounts researching competitors on Bombora"
* "Event attendees showing post-event engagement"
* "Dormant accounts re-engaging"

These audiences can trigger plays, sync to ad platforms, or route to sales teams.

<Card title="Build Audiences" icon="users" href="/guides/monitoring-and-intelligence/audiences">
  Learn how to segment accounts by intent
</Card>

## Integration with Plays

Intent signals trigger automated plays that prospect and engage accounts:

**Example Play: High-Intent Outreach**

```
Trigger: Account visits pricing page 3+ times in 7 days
  ↓
Filter: Fit Score = A or B
  ↓
Actions:
  1. Research buying committee (find 3-5 contacts)
  2. Enrich contact data (emails, phones, LinkedIn)
  3. Add to targeted email sequence
  4. Push to LinkedIn matched audience
  5. Notify assigned SDR with context
```

<Card title="Configure Intent Plays" icon="play" href="/guides/actions/plays">
  Set up automated workflows triggered by intent
</Card>

## Multi-Provider Approach

Seam uses a waterfall enrichment strategy with 20+ data providers to ensure the best data quality:

1. **Primary Provider** - Try highest-accuracy source first
2. **Secondary Providers** - Fall back if primary fails
3. **Tertiary Providers** - Continue until data found
4. **Best Result** - Return highest-confidence match

This ensures comprehensive coverage across:

* Geographic regions (US, EMEA, APAC, LatAm)
* Company sizes (SMB to Enterprise)
* Industry verticals
* Public vs. private companies

## Best Practices

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Combine with Fit Score" icon="layer-group">
    Intent is most powerful when filtered by Fit. Don't chase every website visitor—focus on high-intent accounts that match your ICP.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Set appropriate thresholds" icon="sliders">
    Adjust intent thresholds based on your sales cycle. Enterprise deals may require lower thresholds (earlier engagement), while SMB might need higher thresholds (closer to purchase).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Track high-intent pages" icon="star">
    Not all pages indicate equal intent. Pricing, product comparison, and demo pages signal stronger intent than blog posts or careers pages.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Monitor recency and frequency" icon="clock">
    An account visiting once 6 months ago is different from 5 visits this week. Weight recent, repeated engagement higher.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Use multi-channel signals" icon="chart-network">
    The strongest intent comes from multiple channels. Website visits + email engagement + social activity = very high intent.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Act quickly on spikes" icon="bolt">
    Intent is perishable. When an account shows sudden increased activity, engage within 24-48 hours before momentum fades.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Implementation Checklist

<Steps>
  <Step title="Install Web Pixel">
    Add Seam's tracking snippet to your website to capture visitor data
  </Step>

  <Step title="Connect Marketing Systems">
    Integrate email platforms, ad platforms, and marketing automation
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enable Bombora (Optional)">
    Add third-party intent data for offsite research tracking
  </Step>

  <Step title="Define High-Intent Actions">
    Identify which pages and activities indicate strong buying intent
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set Intent Thresholds">
    Configure what constitutes low/medium/high intent for your business
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create Intent Audiences">
    Build dynamic segments based on intent signals
  </Step>

  <Step title="Launch Intent Plays">
    Automate engagement when accounts cross intent thresholds
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Viewing Intent Data

### In Seam

* **Account records** - See all intent signals per account
* **Intent dashboard** - View trending accounts and topics
* **Audience builder** - Filter by intent level
* **Play triggers** - Configure intent-based automation

### In Your CRM

Intent scores and signals sync to Salesforce/HubSpot:

* Intent score field on Account object
* Recent activity summary
* High-intent page visits
* Bombora topic surges

Sales reps see intent data where they already work.

## Common Questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How is intent different from signals?">
    **Intent** = Engagement with your brand (website visits, email opens, ad clicks)

    **Signals** = External events at the company (new hires, funding, job postings)

    Both are valuable, but intent shows direct interest while signals indicate timing.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I track individual people or just companies?">
    Seam tracks companies visiting your website. Once a company is identified, you can then prospect and track individuals within that account.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How accurate is IP-to-company identification?">
    Accuracy varies by provider and company size. Enterprise companies with dedicated IP ranges have 90%+ accuracy. Smaller companies may be harder to identify. Seam's multi-provider waterfall maximizes accuracy.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does intent replace lead forms?">
    No. Intent identifies anonymous research activity. Forms still capture specific individuals expressing interest. Use both together for comprehensive coverage.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How often does intent data update?">
    First-party intent (website, email) updates in real-time. Third-party intent (Bombora) updates weekly. Intent scores recalculate continuously.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I export intent data?">
    Yes. Intent data syncs to your CRM and data warehouse. You can also export via Seam's UI or API.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>
