When someone visits your website, what’s the likelihood that visit will turn into a sale? The answer hinges heavily on your marketing efforts, and how effectively you’re able to target high-intent users with digital advertising. High-intent users are those coveted customers who drop in with plans to take action, so let’s take a look at how to track down those consumers and bring them over to your website.
What Is a High-Intent User?
A high-intent user is someone actively looking for a product or service. This status is usually signaled by the search terms that bring someone to your site. A person who searches, “buy Medeo T9 e-bike,” for example, is more likely to convert to a sale than someone who simply searches “best ebikes for commuting.”
Search terms are only one way a consumer signals high intent, though. Other signs include:
- Sorting through product reviews.
- Reading comparison articles.
- Adding an item to a shopping cart but not checking out.
- Requesting a demo.
- Signing up for a free trial.
- Clicking on high-intent search ads with keywords like “buy now” and “best price.”
“In my experience, targeting high-intent users is the most cost-effective way to maximize return on ad spend (ROAS),” says Rodrigo Cesar, founder and CEO of SSInvent. “These are the people who are closest to making a purchase, so the likelihood of them converting is much higher than someone who’s just exploring. I always tell small business owners that if they have a limited budget, prioritizing high-intent audiences ensures their marketing dollars are spent on users who are already primed to take action.”
Current Challenges in Performance Marketing to Target High-Intent Users
Marketers have become increasingly aware of the value of focusing on high-intent users. However, performance marketers still face challenges in reaching those consumers. Here are some of the biggest reasons why:
Creative Fatigue and Ad Blindness
Ad fatigue is an ongoing problem for brands. While showing a consumer the same ad multiple times can be effective, unless that consumer is motivated to take action, the ad becomes white noise or, worse, an active annoyance. This lowers engagement, increasing your cost per acquisition.
“Showing the same ads too often can make people lose interest,” confirms Ron R. Browning, founder and CEO at Intellibright. “Targeting high-intent users lets you serve them more relevant ads based on where they are in their journey, keeping things fresh.”
Signal Loss Due to Privacy Regulations
Privacy changes like Apple’s App Tracking Transparency, or Google enhancing its user-based cookie controls, have made things tougher for advertisers. With a reduced ability to track customer behaviors, marketers are forced to rely on other ways to target and convert customers.
“Since third-party tracking is becoming less reliable, I focus on targeting users who are showing clear intent through their behavior — like searching for specific products, visiting pricing pages, or abandoning carts,” Cesar says.
Ad Relevance
Technology makes it easy to target audiences that are most likely to be interested in your offerings. But this also makes it tougher to launch broad campaigns, since most of your competition is likely targeting them, too.
“Broad targeting can result in ads reaching people who aren’t interested,” Browning says. “High-intent targeting ensures your ads reach users already looking for what you offer, making them more effective.”
Limited Scalability and Rising Costs
Targeting the wrong consumers costs your business money. But with more brands using tech tools to target high-intent users, all that competition is driving up costs per click (CPC) and costs per acquisition (CPA). The more effectively you can narrow your audience to those high-acquisition customers, the more cost savings you can enjoy.
“Instead of spending money on people who may never convert, you’re focusing on those who are ready to take action,” Browning recommends. “This makes your ad budget work smarter.”
6 Strategies to Effectively Target High-Intent Users to Drive Conversions
Overcoming these challenges takes some work, but with the right strategies, you can tackle them capably. Here are some techniques you can use to reach high-intent users:
1. AI-Powered Predictive Targeting
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an invaluable tool for identifying and marketing to high-intent users. The right AI solutions allow marketers to predict user behavior via behavioral signals and past engagement, and AI-powered tools use data in real time to help businesses identify which users are most likely to convert.
“AI has been a game-changer for me in terms of audience targeting,” Cesar says. “It helps analyze user behavior in real time and predicts which users are most likely to convert based on previous actions.”
2. Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO)
One of the best ways to address creative fatigue is to refine your targeting. Dynamic creative optimization (DCO) lets you personalize ads in real time based on data you’ve collected on each user. This is a great way to serve the right ads to high-intent consumers at the precise moment they’re most likely to take action.
“For advertisers with a dynamic feed, adjusting elements like images and messaging based on user behavior can lead to more efficient results,” says Chris Kizer, director of media and analytics at Littlefield Agency. “Personalization should extend beyond your website and into your digital activations when possible.”
3. First-Party Data Utilization
Businesses that have relied heavily on third-party data have found the need to pivot. That’s where first-party data comes in. Increasingly, brands are using website interactions, subscriptions, and loyalty and rewards programs to get the information they need. AI-powered tools can help with this too, providing predictive audience targeting that’s based on a customer’s intent.
“I use tools like CRM integrations, email lists, and behavioral tracking on websites to understand user intent,” Cesar says. “If someone has browsed a specific category multiple times or spent time on a checkout page but didn’t purchase, I make sure they’re retargeted with relevant ads. Consent-based tracking, like encouraging users to opt into email lists or rewards programs, also helps build a strong audience of high-intent users without relying on third-party data.”
4. Omnichannel Marketing Approach
You shouldn’t limit your marketing approaches to one format. The right tools will let you target the same customers through search, social media, display, and connected TV.
“An omnichannel approach ensures high-intent users experience consistent messaging across all platforms,” Kizer says. “It increases touchpoints with potential customers and provides a truly personalized experience across the user’s total experience with your brand.”
5. Intent-Based Keyword Targeting
Your keyword strategy can also be adjusted to target high-intent users. By focusing on transactional keywords like “best price” or “buy now,” you can more easily pinpoint consumers who are serious about making a purchase, weeding out casual browsers.
“Keyword targeting allows marketers to reach users actively searching for relevant products or services,” Browning says. “By bidding on high-intent keywords (e.g., ‘buy running shoes online’ vs. ‘best running shoes’), brands can connect with users who are closer to making a purchase.”
6. Enhanced Audience Segmentation
Segmenting your audience is a great way to personalize your campaigns to large swaths of your audience. Newer technology allows you to refine that targeting to better isolate those users who seem close to making a purchase.
“Instead of just relying on demographics, I focus on actions that signal intent, like users who visit product pages but don’t purchase, repeat visitors, cart abandoners, and email subscribers who engage with promotions,” Cesar says. “I also use lookalike audiences to expand reach, targeting new users who exhibit similar behaviors to existing customers. By continuously refining these segments, I make sure that my ads are always targeting the most conversion-ready users.”
Use the power of AI to target consumers ready to convert with realize:
Key Takeaways
A high-intent user is someone who’s close to converting, making them ideal for advertisers and marketers. However, you’ll need to adjust your strategy to reach high-intent users, including using technology to isolate those users who are toward the end of their buying journey. AI-driven predictive targeting, DCO, and first-party data are among the best tools for identifying and marketing to high-intent users.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What are high-intent vs low-intent users?
A low-intent user is someone who isn’t close to making a purchase. This person may be doing preliminary research into buying or may simply be clicking out of curiosity.
High-intent users, on the other hand, are close to making a purchase. They might have visited your site multiple times, paying close attention to reviews and pricing. High-intent users typically indicate clear buying signals in their online searches.
“When I talk about intent in digital advertising, I think of it as a spectrum,” Cesar says. “High-intent users are those who are actively looking to make a purchase or take a specific action — they’re searching for solutions, comparing products and often using transactional keywords like ‘best price for’ or ‘where to buy.’ On the other hand, low-intent users are more passive. They might be browsing, researching, or simply scrolling through social media with no immediate need.”
How is AI powering targeting?
AI thrives at analyzing patterns and learning from those patterns over time. The technology can be used to fine-tune targeting in ways never seen before, making adjustments in real time to ensure every user is delivered the most relevant ad possible.
“AI helps identify user-behavior patterns, as it can analyze things like search activity, website visits, past purchases, and more to predict users who are more likely to convert,” Browning says. “This also helps with real-time bidding, audience segmentation, and personalized ad delivery, so ads reach the right audience at the right time.”
How can marketers diversify their channels to reach high-intent users?
It’s important to expand your marketing beyond just one channel. As Cesar explains, high-intent users tend to engage across multiple channels, making it important to take an omnichannel approach to your marketing.
“While search ads are a great starting point, I also invest in retargeting ads on social media, email campaigns for abandoned carts, and even SMS marketing for time-sensitive offers,” Cesar says. “Video content, especially on platforms like YouTube, also plays a role — I’ve seen great success running video ads targeting users who have watched competitor reviews or product demos. The key is to meet high-intent users where they already are, rather than forcing them into one specific channel.”
