Case Study: How we doubled pipeline by leveraging intent data

You know the Series A drill. The pressure is on to prove ROI, but you’re stuck in a "spray and pray" loop. Your SDRs are grinding out cold outreach, and you’re crossing your fingers that organic search captures enough inbound interest to hit the number.

That was exactly the situation at my previous company. We were relying on brute force outbound and passive inbound. This worked to get us where we were, but we knew we needed to change things to hit the growth numbers. There was no applied strategy to scale, and honestly, we were flying blind.

We decided to stop guessing and start measuring. We leveraged intent data to focus on just 140 companies - and the result was a 111% increase in pipeline value in the first full quarter.

Here is the exact framework we used, the friction we faced (because it wasn’t all smooth sailing), and how you can replicate it.

The Strategy: Fit + Intent + Context

Most companies get "account selection" wrong. They either pick a list of companies on gut feel, or target anyone with a specific job title. We went deeper.

To build our hit list of 140 accounts, we triangulated three specific signals:

1. Firmographics: Standard size and revenue fit in the geographic markets where we knew we had a good concentration of product usage.
2. Tech Stack & Roadmap: We analysed job boards to see who was hiring for specific developer skills. We weren't just looking for "tech companies"; we were looking for enterprises signalling a move from monolithic stacks to application modernisation, where their need for developer skills indicated a good product-market fit for us.
3. Active Intent: We plugged this into 6sense to see which of those perfect-fit accounts were actually researching solutions like ours right now.

This wasn't just a list of 140 companies we wanted to sell to. It was a list of 140 companies where we knew we could add value.

The Execution: Surrounding the Buyer

Once we had the list, we didn't just hand it over to Sales and walk away. We needed to ensure we were scrutinising every pound spent to minimise wastage. We built a coordinated campaign to surround these accounts where they were actually spending time.

The Marketing Layer: We used a precise mix of Programmatic Display, LinkedIn Paid, Reddit, and Google Ads. By targeting only the 140 identified accounts, we kept our spend tight but our frequency high. We weren't blasting the whole internet; we were just making sure the right people saw the right message everywhere they looked.

The Sales Layer: We set up SDR activation based on engagement signals. The goal was to move from "cold calling" to "contextual calling."

The Friction (Real Talk)

I won’t pretend this was an overnight magic trick. The hardest part wasn't selecting the audience or building the ad campaigns - it was the operational reality.

First, Sales team buy-in was a genuine hurdle. Moving from high-volume cold calling to a focused, intent-led approach requires a mindset shift. They worried that fewer accounts meant fewer opportunities.

Second, the workflow needed surgery. We had to experiment heavily with how we delivered data to the SDRs. If an alert about high intent arrived three days late, it was useless. We had to iterate on the timing and format of those alerts to ensure outreach was timely and relevant.

Finally, we hit content gaps. We realised halfway through that we didn't have enough specific assets for every stage of the funnel. We had plenty of "top of funnel" fluff, but not enough "middle of funnel" substance to help a technical buyer make a decision. We quickly spun up product comparisons and technical guides to fill the gap.

The Result

By the end of the first full quarter running this strategy:

• Pipeline Value: Increased by 111% compared to the previous quarter.
• Efficiency: We stopped wasting SDR time on accounts that weren't ready to buy.

How to Replicate This (Without the Headache)

If you’re a lean team looking to run this play tomorrow, don't overcomplicate it. Here is your checklist:

1. Align Before You Act: Do not launch until Sales and Marketing agree on the list. If Sales doesn't believe in the data, they won't work the leads.
2. Audit Your Content: Ensure you have material for the whole journey. Can you answer the technical questions a buyer has after they click your ad?
3. Score Ruthlessly: Don't treat a generic web visit the same as high-intent behavior. Prioritise your team's time. Pricing, contact and technical doc pages give more of a buying signal - score these visits appropriately.
4. Watch the Budget: In the beginning, scrutinise every penny of paid spend. Prove the efficiency first, then scale.

Demand gen doesn't have to be a guessing game. It just needs the right approach for your growth stage.

Photo by Hasan Albari: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-photo-of-dart-pins-on-dartboard-1424745/