Intent data vs public-record signals: which gives a UK seller a better reason to call?

Intent data infers that a company is interested in a topic from online behaviour. A public-record signal is a dated fact in an official or public register: a new charge at Companies House, a public contract ending, a planning application, a first hire in a function. The practical difference for a UK seller is checkability. You can open the record behind a public-record signal and read it before you call. Intent data is usually a score you have to trust.

What intent data is

Buyer intent data is behavioural data about which accounts appear to be researching a product category before they contact a vendor. It is usually grouped into first-party data (your own website and product usage), second-party data (a partner site such as a review site) and third-party data (a co-operative of publisher sites).

Bombora is the best-known example of the third-party model. It describes a network of business publisher sites that share reader behaviour, which it classifies by topic and compares with each company's usual level of activity. When activity spikes, the company gets a topic score. Surge data shows which accounts are researching a topic, not who the buyers are, so teams usually add a separate contact tool to find people. Review sites such as G2 sell a second-party version: which companies are comparing software on their site. Several explanations of these products come from vendors, so treat their figures cautiously.

What a public-record signal is

A public-record signal is an event that someone filed, published or awarded, with a date and a reference number. Lockley reads Companies House (officers, charges, filings), Contracts Finder and Find a Tender, job postings from Adzuna and planning registers every night, plus each company's own website. Each finding links to the record it came from.

The signal says what happened, not what the company is thinking. A new charge shows borrowing was secured against assets. A contract ending shows a buyer will need a supplier. It still takes judgement to turn that into a conversation, but the fact itself is not in doubt.

Intent data and public-record signals compared

Which should you use?

If you sell to large enterprises with long research cycles and a team to work scored accounts, intent data can help prioritise a known list. If you sell to UK small and medium-sized companies, a business owner may leave no trace on a publisher network but still files accounts, appoints directors, registers charges and posts jobs. For that buyer, the public record is the more reliable source.

The two are not rivals. A public-record signal gives you a specific, checkable opening. Intent data, if you buy it, can suggest timing. The mistake is to call on a score you cannot explain.

A test before you rely on either

Ask one question of any signal: if the person you call asks how you knew, can you answer in one sentence and show them? "You registered a charge on 3 October, and I work with firms financing equipment" passes. "Our data says you are in market" does not.

Questions