Intent-Driven Growth: Unlocking User Signals for Startup Marketing Success

THE INTRODUCTION

Hello 👋 Marketing Context Fam!! Welcome to this week’s edition.

In todays edition of startup marketing deep dive we unpack a critical startup marketing process of “leveraging user intent to drive marketing strategy”.

We will cover:

• Why user intent data matters for startup marketer

• Unpack the core concepts

• Strategy teardown : Chargebee

• Role of marketer

• Resources

Did you know… 🤔 

Using intent signals can boost conversion by 70%. Thats not just incremental growth. Its the thrust your product needs to make your competitors nervous

After grad school, I was excited to start my marketing career at Walmart as an marketing intern. Walmart for the first time entered India.

But my excitement soon fizzled. The first store was set to launch in 2 years!!. So why did they hire me?

The answer I soon realised was in their meticulous approach to identify not just the target local market and customers, but also the type of product they intent to sell (Walmart usually have more than 2000-3000 SKU on an average)

This was the focus of the world’s largest retails on understanding user need and intent. Even as a global giant, in a new market Wal Mart understood that it was starting from zero.

Every startup marketer wants to ensure their startup has the best chance at succeeding. However post the initial success 70% of marketing campaign fail to keep the momentum going.

As a marketer, you don't just launch products. You craft experiences, predict needs, and solve problems. Sometimes even before users know they have a problem. Your secret weapon? Understanding and acting on user intent.

This deep dive will show you how to use intent signals to grow your startup. It's about learning to speak fluent "user", and it's going to set you up for success faster than you can plan for it.

So let’s dive in….

THE CONTEXT

What are intent signals?

Think of intent signals as the "digital breadcrumbs" from your potential customers. They are left when customers interact with your product or content. These signals are the GPS coordinates of your user's journey to conversion, revealing who they are, what they want, and when they are ready to act.

For us startup marketers, it's our chance to be data-driven champions. We must analyse these signals. Then, we can create product experiences and marketing campaigns that resonate with our target users.

Example spotlight: How Airbnb uses intent data to drive user experience.

In its early days, Airbnb leveraged intent signals to refine its user experience. They found that users often wanted unique, local experiences, not just a place to stay. They identified this by analysing search patterns and booking behaviours. This insight led to the " Airbnb Experiences". It greatly expanded their products and user engagement

Why Intent Signals Matter for Tech Startups?

In startups, every dollar and user interaction count. Intent signals can fuel early startup for growth.

Lets look at some impact areas that should matter to every founder and product marketer:

• Intent-based strategies can cut ad waste by 40%, optimising your runway and CAC.

• Campaigns driven by intent signals can boost conversion rates by 5x, accelerating your path to product-market fit.

• Using intent data can boost conversion rates by up to 70%. This growth will please both your board and your bottom line.

These aren't just vanity metrics – they're the KPIs that can make or break your startup's trajectory.

THE DEEP DIVE

Becoming an intent signal expert

So how do we become and expert? Marketers must be data-driven or social enough to engage with a data person.(if available at a startup). They should know what to look for and where to find it. This is the simple premise on how you become a signal expert.

Start by seeking answers to a few simple yet relevant questions, for example,

• What search terms are leading users to discover your product?

• Which features or pricing tiers are getting the most engagement?

• What user actions correlate most strongly with conversions and, more importantly, with retention?

There's information everywhere. Be mindful of where to look for it.

For example, when I was building Exclusively.com ( a Snapdeal* vertical for luxury products)  I did not limit myself to website data alone.

I went deep and explored in-app behaviour, email engagement metrics, and even listened to customer calls, read customer chats and queries.

Start by creating a dashboard of intent signals. It is not necessary to design something fancy, but it should be something that works for you to document your data set.
The idea of this dashboard is to help you align with your startup's north star. After all, this isn't just data – it's the blueprint for your product roadmap and go-to-market strategy.

I am sharing below a sample dashboard I user for my startup Awvent

(*Snapdeal is a leading ecommerce platform in India, and I was head of marketing for fashion, lifestyle and luxury products in 2015)

Mapping the user intent journey: From first touch to power user

Every startup has a user journey map, but here's where you can gain an edge – overlay this with an intent layer.

Chart out the path from initial awareness to power user, identifying key intent signals along the way:

Let’s look at each phases of the startups user journey in detail

The awareness phase.

This is the stage where your potential users are just beginning to recognise they have a problem your product can solve. Your goal is to capture their attention and position your solution as the answer they've been searching for.

Signals to look for:

• Search queries related to pain points your product addresses

• Engagement with thought leadership content

• Time spent on product overview pages

• Newsletter sign-ups

• Product hunt upvotes or comments

Use this intent data to refine your product positioning and top-of-funnel content strategy. Use high-intent keywords in your messaging. Build a community engagement strategy to make your startup the go-to solution in your niche.

The consideration phase.

Here, potential users are actively evaluating solutions. Your goal is to showcase why your product is the ideal fit for their needs.

Signals to look for:

• Multiple visits to your pricing or features pages

• Engagement with case studies or ROI calculators

• API documentation views

• Comparison page visits

• Questions asked during sales demos

This is where you start nurturing your leads with precision. Launch retargeting campaigns based on specific feature interests. Do this like you'd trigger in-app onboarding flows. Create email sequences. They should provide more technical product info. Tailor them to the user's intent and role.

The decision phase.

The moment of truth!! – when potential users are ready to commit. This is the stage which makes me the most nervous. It takes me back to my school days! It’s like you have worked had, taken the test now you wait for the results. (Don’t you agree 😃)

Anyway, moving on. Your goal as a marketer is to convert potential users into customers.

Signals to look for:

• Trial sign-ups and feature usage during trials

• Engagement with implementation or migration guides

• Direct questions about enterprise features or customisations

• Requests for security documentation or compliance information

Here's where you close the deal. Segment users based on intent strength and create offers as targeted as your product's most advanced features. Create dynamic pricing pages ( if possible) and personalised onboarding flows. These should be adapted to the user's behaviour and needs.

The adoption and advocacy phases

So you have a customer onboard now, can you now breathe easy? Guess not.

Post-conversion experience is vital for a fragile startup. It may have faltered after early growth due to a false sense of achievement. Post onboarding offers a crucial . opportunity to shift your focus from acquisition and onboarding to drive deep product adoption and turning satisfied users into vocal advocates.

Signals to look for:

• Frequency and depth of product usage across key features

• Time-to-value metrics

• Engagement with advanced feature tutorials

• Participation in user feedback sessions or beta programs

• Social media mentions or product reviews

Sharing below a dashboard on how to measure user intent signals ( you can have your own dashboard to suit your need)

Example spotlight: How Slack use intent date for growth

We all know that Slack is a master of driving growth through experimentation and testing.  

Enterprise is a key business segment for Slack, and it relies on internal adoption within a target organisation for its growth.

Slack's approach to identifying signals in this segment is noteworthy. It tracks user engagement with its API docs and integration guides. This gives Slack important data about its users, which it uses to improve its developer resources and prioritize new integrations.

Mapping user signals throughout the user journey, Slack can gain key insights about its users. It can also find ways to refine its product to better appeal to potential enterprise clients.

Leading your product towards product market fit (PMF)

Achieving PMF is a significant milestone in a startup's journey. To understand its deeper meaning, we must know the role of a startup product marketer in the context of the mission, milestones, and objectives of your startup

As a marketer, you should set up triggers to find expansion opportunities based on usage patterns. You'd analyse user data for product improvements, too. Create 'power user' programs. They should turn your best customers into community leaders and unofficial salespeople which in turn fuel growth and also a road to PMF*

(We will deep dive into the specifics of leading your product towards PMF in another article)

STRATEGIES IN ACTION

How Chargebee leverages user intent data to win over users

About:

Chargebee is a subscription management platform designed to streamline billing and invoicing processes for businesses. It offers comprehensive tools for managing subscriptions, invoicing, and revenue operations. Chargebee leveraged extensive intent data in three key areas of operation to drive its lead generation, reduce churn and improve its marketing effort.

The how,

1.  Harnessing social proof and competitor comparisons 

   

   Chargebee G2 Review

Chargebee extensively leveraged user intent data from platforms like G2 to transform it website into a destination for trusted information for buyers.

It digs deep into third party review, comparison data and buyer purchase intent signals to win trust, capturing and converting potential users at various stages of their buying journey.

The team highlighted key metrics based on customer sentiment, such as average time to go live, product usability index, and customer relationship index. This approach resonated with the problems of their ideal customers and helped Chargebee stand out against larger competitors.

1. Personalizing the cancellation flow

Chargebee implemented a sophisticated cancellation flow to reduce churn and retain customers. Using “Chargebee Retention”, they created personalised offers and experiences based on the specific reasons customers were considering cancellation.

This approach allowed them to:

👉️ Identify the customer's specific reason for cancellation

👉️ Deploy appropriate messaging

👉️ Present relevant offers to encourage customers to stay

Impact:

• Chargebee improved its customer save rate from 8% to 13% at the point of cancellation, representing a 63% increase in retention.

• Leveraging buyer intent data for targeted marketing.

• Generate 280+ top-of-funnel leads in one year.

• Increase leads from competitor campaigns by 4x

• Improve form submission rates by 37% by using G2 Content as an assurance factor.

MARKETING MINDSET MOMENT

Developing intent signal intuition

In my years as a startup marketer, I've learned that success often hinges on a skill I call "Intent Signal Intuition." It's about sensing user readiness beyond data.

As marketers, especially in a startup, we must sense user readiness beyond the data. This is where a lot of creativity and our own intuition come into play.

I always encourage marketers to cultivate curiosity about user behaviour. Train your mind to spot patterns in data noise. It will help you to focus on relevant information, not distractions.

You may fail at times. Embrace this uncertainty and learn from the failed hypotheses. Stay adaptable by refining your approach on a regular basis. Be patient, as insights often emerge over time.

This mindset will help you transfer your approach to user data and help you to be intuitive towards identifying user intent.

RESOURCES ON SPOTLIGHT

• Hacking Growth by Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown (link)

• Amplitude on building loyalty with analytics (link)

• GrowtTLDR podcast (link)

• Intent data dashboard (link)