A buying signal describes a situation at a given moment. A person who has just arrived reviews what is in place; three months later, they have made their first choices. A job ad published yesterday describes an open need; the same ad three months later may describe a position already filled, or a hire that isn’t happening. Signal decay refers to this loss of value.
Different durations for different signals
- New role: the useful window covers the first weeks, at most the first three months.
- Job ad: a few weeks. Beyond that, check whether the ad is still active and whether the company reposted it.
- Funding round: the effects last longer, but the reason for a message runs out fast. After the first month, rely instead on what the funding produced: hires, openings.
- Post or interaction: a few days. Replying to a month-old post looks out of place.
What to re-check
Before using a signal, check the date of the fact itself, which often comes well before the date you saw it. Then check whether the situation has evolved: is the person still in the role, is the ad still open, has a more recent fact replaced this one?
Consequence for scoring
In lead scoring, the weight of a signal must decrease over time. A score that doesn’t age ends up putting accounts whose news has passed at the top.
Example
A salesperson spots a five-month-old new role on a profile updated late. Rather than writing “congratulations on your arrival”, they look for what the person has announced since, such as a post about their priorities or a hire in their team, and build the message on that recent fact.
See also: Buying signal, Trigger event, and Lead scoring.