How to Understand Buyer Behavior in Demand Creation

Demand Capture 101. This is actual data from a $60MM ARR SaaS company. Let’s break it down 👇   How a lead/account enters your pipeline is the biggest predictor of sales velocity metrics - win rates, sales cycle lengths, even ACVs.    Because how they enter your pipeline is a surrogate for buying intent & indicator of how far they are complete in the buying process.    Here’s how to measure it & use it to drive your revenue strategy:   1. Measure the Opportunity Source in Salesforce on the opportunity record.    Campaign Source = What campaign type did they convert on to move this opportunity into pipeline? (e.g. demo request, e-book download, cold call, trade show, etc.)   Source / Channel = What source or channel did they come from in order to convert? (e.g. LinkedIn ad, organic search, account intent data, ZoomInfo, etc.)    Using both of these data points combined will literally guide your strategy.    This shows you the optimal paths to *capture demand* and is easily measurable using software-based attribution.   2. Separate conversion sources between *Declared Intent* and *Low Intent*.    Declared Intent = The buyer declares intent to buy from you (e.g. Demo Request, Contact Sales) Low Intent = You assume the buyer has intent based on their digital behavior (e.g. ebook download, webinar attendee, trade show badge scan, intent data, etc.)    3. Calculate core sales analytics between the two sources.    Calculate conversion rates, lead-to-win rate, net new ARR, sales velocity, and more.    4. Visualize how much conversion intent matters to sales velocity and sales productivity.    149X higher lead-to-win rates for declared intent conversions   Declared intent = 26 “leads” to win 1 deal for $54k ARR Low Intent = 3,868 “leads” to win 1 deal for $130k ARR   18X greater sales velocity for declared intent conversions   Declared intent = $14.2MM annual sales velocity Low intent = $781k annual sales velocity 5. Recognize not all MQLs are created equal Measuring on MQLs incentivizes teams to get the most volume of MQLs for the lowest cost (low intent conversions), which is entirely misaligned with sales productivity and sales goals. Separate these into two Pipeline Sources (Declared Intent, Low Intent). Plan and build your goals for these two sources separately.   __   Now you know exactly HOW you want buyers to enter pipeline (capture demand) for maximum sales velocity & sales team efficiency. You also know exactly WHY buyers choose to take those paths to enter pipeline & WHAT triggers / channels / tactics move them to conversion. And with all of these insights, you can re-architect your strategy that optimizes for REVENUE. #revenue #sales #marketing #b2b #gtm p.s. Every SaaS company’s data looks like this, because it’s universal to how buyers buy. Most just don’t take the 3 hours of time to analyze their own data and see it for themselves.

About 2-3 months back, I found out that one of my client’s page had around 570 people visiting the pricing page, but barely 45 booked a demo. Not necessarily a bad stat but that means more than 500 high-intent prospects just 'vanished' 🫤 . That didn’t make sense to me because people don’t randomly stumble on pricing pages. So in a few back-and-forth with the team, I finally traced the issue to their current lead scoring model: ❌ The system treated all engagement as equal, and couldn’t distinguish explorers from buyers. ➡️ To give you an idea: A prospect who hit the pricing page five times in one week had the same score as someone who opened a webinar email two months ago. It’s like giving the same grade to someone who Googled “how to buy a house” and someone who showed up to tour the same property three times. 😏 While the RevOps team worked to fix the scoring system, I went back to work with sales and CS to track patterns from their closed-won deals. 💡The goal here was to understand what high-intent behavior looked like right before conversion. Here’s what we uncovered: 🚨 Tier 1 Buying Signals These were signals from buyers who were actively in decision-making mode: ‣ 3+ pricing page visits in 10–14 days ‣ Clicked into “Compare us vs. Competitor” pages ‣ Spent >5 mins on implementation/onboarding content 🧠 Tier 2 Signals These weren’t as hot, but showed growing interest: ‣ Multiple team members from the same domain viewing pages ‣ Return visits to demo replays ‣ Reading case studies specific to their industry ‣ Checking out integration documentation (esp. Salesforce, Okta, HubSpot) Took that and built content triggers that matched those behaviors. Here’s what that looks like: 1️⃣ Pricing Page Repeat Visitors → Triggered content: ”Hidden Costs to Watch Out for When Buying [Category] Software” ‣ We offered insight they could use to build a business case. So we broke down implementation costs, estimated onboarding time, required internal resources, timeline to ROI. 📌 This helped our champion sell internally, and framed the pricing conversation around value, not cost. 2️⃣ Competitor Comparison Viewers → Triggered: “Why [Customer] Switched from [Competitor] After 18 Months” ‣ We didn’t downplay the competitor’s product or try to push hard on ours. We simply shared what didn’t work for that customer, why the switch made sense for them, and what changed after they moved over. 📌 It gave buyers a quick to view their own struggles, and a story they could relate to. And our whole shebang worked. Demo conversions from high-intent behaviors are up 3x and the average deal value from these flows is 41% higher than our baseline. One thing to note is, we didn’t put these content pieces into a nurture sequence. Instead, they were triggered within 1–2 hours of the signal. I’m big on timing 🙃. I’ll be replicating this approach across the board, and see if anything changes. You can try it and let me know what you think.

If you want to really understand your buyer and message to them effectively, think about their jobs to be done across three dimensions: Functional: What breaks? Emotional: How does it feel? Political: Who gets blamed (or gains power)? And consider when to emphasize each: Early-stage: Focus on Functional pain to get attention. Mid-stage: Lean into Emotional pain to deepen urgency. Late-stage: Surface Political stakes to help them sell internally. Example: Revenue accountants at month-end close. Functional: Manual reconciliations → errors, rework. Emotional: "I dread month-end. I’m anxious I’ll miss something." Political: "If I screw this up, Finance leadership loses trust." Great messaging meets the buyer where they are and helps them move forward.

Not everyone visiting your site is interested. Start focusing on customer motivations, not buyer personas and you can create a more impactful marketing strategy. Here's why understanding functional, social, and emotional motivations matters: Functional Motivations Identify Real Needs • Recognize the practical problems your customers are trying to solve • Tailor your offerings to address these specific needs Improve Your Value Proposition • Communicate in a straightforward manner how your product or service fulfills functional requirements • Highlight features that resolve customer pain points Social Motivations Tap into Community Desires • Understand how your customers want others to perceive them • Create content that aligns with their social aspirations Foster Brand Affinity • Develop messaging that resonates with your customers' social values • Build a community around shared interests and goals Emotional Motivations Connect on a Deeper Level • Identify the feelings your customers seek or want to avoid • Craft experiences that evoke positive emotions Build Lasting Relationships • Address underlying emotional needs to create brand loyalty • Use storytelling to create an emotional connection with your audience Implementing a Motivation-Based Approach 1. Research Customer Drivers • Conduct in-depth interviews to uncover underlying motivations • Analyze customer behavior patterns and feedback 2. Map Motivations to Your Offerings • Align product features with specific customer motivations • Develop marketing messages that speak to these motivations 3. Create Targeted Content • Produce content that addresses functional, social, and emotional needs • Use language and imagery that resonates with your customers' motivations 4. Adapt and improve over time • Reassess customer motivations at regular intervals as markets change • Adapt your strategy to meet evolving customer needs and desires Focus on customer motivations, not buyer personas. It will help you connect better and get better results. Are you truly understanding what drives your customers?

Your highest-intent prospects aren't all the same person. I was reviewing several of our recent BOF campaigns and I was reminded of the fact that: The closer someone gets to conversion, the more your messaging matters. But most marketers treat high-intent audiences like they're all the same person. They're not. Someone who abandoned cart yesterday needs different messaging than someone who's been browsing for three weeks. Someone on mobile at 2pm needs different creative than someone on desktop at 9pm. Here’s what you should do: 1️⃣ Understand intent decay patterns. We've tracked this across client accounts - purchase intent has a half-life. After someone shows buying signals, you have roughly 72 hours of peak conversion opportunity. Day 4-7, intent drops 60%. By week two, you're basically starting over. Many advertisers waste this window with generic "complete your purchase" messaging. 2️⃣ Segment your BOF audiences by recency, not just behavior. Recent cart abandoners get urgency-focused creative. Week-old browsers get social proof and reviews. Month-old prospects need fresh product education. Same goal, different psychology. We've seen 40%+ ROAS improvements just from this basic segmentation. 3️⃣ Rotate creative elements based on engagement, not calendar. Most teams mess up by refreshing on schedule instead of performance. Monitor micro-signals: when CTR drops 15% from peak, when frequency hits 2.5x without converting, when engagement falls while impressions climb. Don't wait for Meta to flag fatigue. 4️⃣ Test messaging depth, not just messaging type. Generic "20% off" performs worse than "still thinking about those running shoes?" for cart abandoners. Specific beats generic at every intent level. We use AI to personalize hooks based on browsing behavior, and it consistently outperforms broad creative by 25-35%. Most BOF campaigns fail because they treat high-intent traffic like low-intent traffic. You've already done the hard work of getting someone interested. Don't waste it with lazy messaging.

There are 4 ways to approach a buyer. Use the wrong approach, and you lose the opp. Most reps only have 1 approach and limit their ability to create pipeline. Here are the 4 approaches and how to use them: First, start off with understanding the buyers journey has 4 parts. 1. Unaware → the buyer is oblivious to or does not have a problem you solve. 2. Aware → the buyer knows they have a problem but isn't ready to solve it. 3. Consideration → the buyer is considering solving a problem you solve. 4. Decision → the buyer is evaluating which solution will solve their problem. Almost all reps approach every conversation like the buyer is in the "Decision" part of the buyers journey. This is important... -3% of buyers are in decision -7% are in consideration -10-15% are in aware -75-80% are in unaware So, most reps have tailored their approach to the area of the buyers journey where the least amount of leads/buyers are. Meaning your conversation is optimized to only convert people closest to buying. Yet, for 97% of leads, this is the wrong approach. When prospecting, you should build your messaging to align to your assumption of where you target is. Example - I believe one of my top accounts is in "Consideration" bc I'm getting signals they are on our website and they've been looking at competitors. Therefore, your messaging should be around why your solution should be considered (most reps just go into why their solution should be bought, which is not where the buyer is yet in their mental process/buyers journey). That might look like this → A// {{Buyer}} - If you are trying to figure out how to solve {{X Problem}}, you aren't alone. My guess is you might not quite be ready for a conversation, but here is a resource I've highlighted a few things on that may be helpful in deciding if you want to evaluate products like ours. Instead of this → B// {{Buyer}} - Looks like you might have {{Problem X}}. If I'm off, just tell me. If you do have that problem, would you be open to 15 minutes to discuss. A// is different from B// in that it is trying to help the buyer with their "consideration" of entering into an evaluation (meet them where they are at) versus trying to get time with them which reads to the buyer as trying to help them with a "decision." If they don't respond to the messaging (assuming you did a good job with it and followup), then they may not be in "consideration," so you move your messaging back to "aware." That might looks like this → C// {{Buyer}} - many people I speak with are trying to decide if {{Problem X}} is actually a problem or not. Here's a quick video I've found that can help you diagnose your situation. Holler if you wanna chat after watching. Understanding the buyers journey, where people are, and meeting them there is the BEST way to create pipeline for creating pipeline (so meta!). Help the buyer where they are at by guiding them to the next stage in the buyers journey.

Prospect says - "Why should I go with you" Here is what most people do, and what to do instead: What most people do "Here are 5 case studies and why we are awesome" Understand at this point your buyer is in a state of overwhelm and confusion...more information is NOT what they need, that can further the problem. Instead, they need clarity, and this is how you help them get clarity: Understand The Buyer's Mindset: This question is coming from a place of fear. They are evaluating multiple options and can't tell them apart. They are worried they are going to pick the wrong one. You need to get them to a place of confidence and trust. Start With Empathy: "Sounds like you are on the fence after evaluating multiple vendors and struggling to figure out the right one?" >This does a few things, it allows them to correct you, and if right, they will share more about the situation. Revisit decision criteria: "Mind sharing the main areas that are giving you pause, or that you are still debating between?" >Now you know where they are lacking clarity so you can guide on the right points The buyer feels like you understand them, their situation, and the issue that needs to be addressed. Only then can they hear what they need to hear from you. Respond with Confidence: "Based on what you shared with me, this is what makes us different in those specific areas, and why people pick us for those specific things" >This is both in your tone - confident, upbeat, and excited- and in being clear about what sets you apart right in the areas they care about. >Do not be frustrated here like you told them this before and don't be vague in general terms. Then simply ask, "Did that help? And would it make sense for us to move forward together" 💡 Always remember, buyers likely heard 90% of the same information from 5 vendors and they are in a place of decision fatigue. The only way to remove decision fatigue is to instill confidence through understanding and clear differentiation on the things they care about.

Relying on assumptions isn’t just risky it’s a missed opportunity. From my experience, businesses that make decisions based on gut feelings or outdated methods often struggle to achieve sustainable growth. Precision, driven by actionable data, has been the cornerstone of the most successful strategies I’ve observed. It’s not merely about reacting quickly; it’s about acting intelligently with data-driven insights. 📊 Intent data stands out as one of the most effective tools I’ve come across in marketing. By examining a prospect’s online behavior, it uncovers their position in the decision-making process whether they’re exploring solutions, comparing options, or engaging with relevant content. These insights go beyond surface level metrics; they are crucial signals indicating when a prospect is ready to engage. With intent data, we can eliminate guesswork and pinpoint exactly who is actively considering a purchase. Engaging these prospects at the right moment often before they even reach out to sales provides us with a significant competitive advantage. Here’s how I utilize intent data to foster business growth: 1. Align Marketing and Sales Teams 🤝: Intent data serves as a bridge between marketing and sales. By sharing insights, both teams can concentrate on high-intent prospects, enhancing conversion rates and streamlining the sales process. 2. Leverage the Right Tools 🛠️: Platforms like Bombora and 6sense offer detailed insights into buyer behavior. These tools monitor intent signals, transforming data into actionable intelligence that directs teams effectively. 3. Personalize Every Engagement 💬: Intent data enables us to create messages tailored to a prospect’s specific challenges and stage in the buying cycle. Addressing particular needs at the right time builds stronger connections, resulting in higher conversion rates. 4. Focus on High-Intent Opportunities 🎯: Not all prospects are created equal. Intent data helps prioritize high-potential leads, ensuring resources are allocated efficiently and effectively. If you’re not utilizing intent data, you’re missing out on valuable opportunities. Companies that embrace data-driven strategies are the ones that experience measurable growth and attain lasting success. The future of marketing relies on insights, stop making assumptions, and start taking charge with intent data. 🔍 #B2BMarketing#IntentData#LeadGeneration#MarketingStrategy#DataDrivenMarketing #SalesExcellence #BusinessGrowth #DigitalMarketing #MarketingInsights #Tausiftalks

One of the most underated strategies in demand generation is this... Capturing users in the mid-intent funnel as they start to feel the pain your service solves. Ebooks don’t work. But mid-intent funnels do. This is one of the most underutilized demand generation strategies—and it’s likely costing you pipeline. The reality is your prospects are in pain but not quite ready to talk to sales. Why? Because a sales call is a great experience when you’re ready to buy. It’s a terrible experience when you’re still building the case internally. At Workable, we launched a flow targeting mid-intent buyers who weren’t “in-market” yet. Here’s what we noticed: 1️⃣ The Pain: Thousands of people searched for job descriptions to help them post jobs—an early step in their buying journey. 2️⃣ The Journey: Step 1: Define the profile of the hire. Step 2: Build the job description (Google search). Step 3: Post the job. We saw the opportunity to create a seamless experience: From job description → directly into our free trial signup. What Happened? 1. We created demand from people who weren’t “in-market” yet, but were about to be. 2. Trials converted faster because users already had job descriptions ready to post. 3. Sales cycle shortened because we caught them at the perfect inflection point. You need to identify these mid-intent signals: 👍 Where is your ICP experiencing pain but not yet considering a purchase? 👍 How can you map their journey to intercept them just before they come into market? At Compound Growth, we do this for every client. We map the buyer’s journey, find these overlooked points of intent, and design experiences that create demand before they’re ready to raise their hand. The result? ✅ More pipeline from overlooked opportunities ✅ Higher quality leads ✅ More efficient CAC Stop chasing only top-of-funnel awareness or bottom-funnel intent. Mid-intent funnels is a fantastic place to focus.

B2B buying behavior is evolving fast. In the past, sales reps played the key role in educating the buyer throughout their journey. According to a buyer trends study by 6sense, today's B2B buyers are nearly 70% through their purchase process before engaging with sellers. What's more, 85% have mostly defined their purchase requirements before reaching out to vendors. Much of the buyer journey now is self-directed and self-served. This shift is primarily driven by the availability of digital resources. What this means is that if you want to align with B2B buyer behavior and fuel greater SQLs and sales pipeline, you better have a sophisticated digital strategy and a strong-as-heck digital presence throughout their journey. Here’s how you can achieve that: 1. UNDERSTAND YOUR ICP Build an audience insights engine. Understand your ICP’s frustrations and pain points as deeply as possible. Continually interview customers, survey your audience, track what they are searching for in Google and the AI engines, listen to sales call recordings and talk to your sales team, and conduct win-loss analysis of your CRM data. 2. FIND THE GAPS Conduct a gap analysis. What is your audience currently focused on, yet you have no web pages or content addressing those questions or concerns? Identify the gaps and prioritize the most important topics. You'll likely be surprised by the number of gaps you spot. 3. CREATE IMPACTFUL CONTENT Then, create web pages, content, and experiences that truly resonate with your audience based on your deeper ICP understanding. Solve their problems. Eliminate their frustrations. Empower them to achieve more. If a content piece doesn’t, then ditch it. Ruthlessly focus on being the most useful content provider to your ICP. And make sure that the content covers the questions they are wrestling with when they are not only problem-aware, but also solution-aware, and product-aware. 3. AMPLIFY, AMPLIFY, AMPLIFY This is a step that many marketing teams fail at. It’s not enough to create content. You gotta amplify it to ensure that your valuable content is actually reaching your audience. To that end, make it easy to discover your brand. Make sure that your SEO & AEO game is on fire, and that you’re just as focused on PR, content amplification, event marketing, and social media. If you are world-class at these four steps (or striving to be), you’ll be sure to significantly increase SQLs and pipeline with today’s self-directed B2B buyers. Let’s Destroy Mediocre Marketing!