Finding Intent Gems: How Search Intent Marketing Transforms Your Keyword Strategy

When marketers review search term reports, the focus often falls on what’s not working — irrelevant clicks, poor-performing keywords, or wasted ad spend. But within those same reports lie powerful, untapped insights: the intent gems.

These are the phrases real people use when they’re searching — often in the heat of a problem, using language that reveals emotion, urgency, and genuine need. While it’s tempting to filter out odd or hyper-specific terms, those are often where the gold is buried.

Look Beyond Negatives to Discover Intent

Most advertisers run negative keyword audits to refine their targeting. That’s smart — but stopping there means missing the opportunity to uncover intent signals. When someone searches using a pain point (“can’t get website to load fast on mobile”) or a detailed phrase (“affordable social media marketing for small cafés”), they’re telling you exactly what they need.

By collecting and analyzing those unexpected terms, you can:

Identify new keyword clusters that reflect real-world customer concerns.
Uncover long-tail keywords that have lower competition and higher conversion potential.
Shape content topics that align with actual search behavior, not assumptions.

Turn Intent into Action

Use your intent gems to expand your strategy beyond search ads. For example:

Build new ad groups around customer-driven phrasing.
Create landing pages tailored to niche problems or industries.
Develop blog posts and guides that answer specific questions customers are already typing into Google.

This approach bridges the gap between keyword data and customer empathy — moving from keyword lists to audience understanding.

Why Intent Gems Matter

The beauty of these insights is that they give you a direct window into the customer’s mindset. Instead of relying on keyword tools alone, you’re mining first-hand language straight from your audience. This makes your campaigns feel more human and your content more relevant.

So next time you dive into your search term report, don’t just filter out the noise — listen to what the noise is saying. Those oddly specific searches could spark your next high-performing ad, a landing page that converts better, or a blog post that ranks organically for months to come.