Account-based marketing has been around for more than a decade, but advances in marketing technology and data collection have turned it into a hot trend among business-to-business (B2B) marketers. Key topics include: What account-based marketing involves; What’s different about account-based marketing now that marketers have a tech stack at their disposal; How marketers are using data to inform their account-based efforts; How account-based marketing helps marketers and sales team work toward aligned goals and tactics.
49. Marketo Solves the ABM Dilemma
Multiple Point SolutionsMarketo: ABM Essentials,
Single Platform
vs.
Error-prone account list syncing
Central account targeting &
management
Different apps for each ABM channel
Cross-channel campaign
orchestration
Data stitched together across
systems
Consolidated ABM analytics
51. MARKETO ENGAGEMENT MARKETING PLATFORM
INBOUND
ACCOUNT
BASED
PAIDMEDIA
DIRECT
TARGET ENGAGE MEASURE
INBOUND
ACCOUNT
BASED
PAIDMEDIA
DIRECT
A Single, Unified Platform
for Lead Management + ABM
52. 1. All of the essential ABM capabilities
2. A single, unified platform for ABM &
Lead Management
3. Supported by an ecosystem of ABM
partners
Result: Shorter learning curve, faster
time to value and stronger marketing
Why Marketo ABM?
Thanks for that intro, Nicole.
And hello and welcome to everyone dialed in for this “Account-Based Marketing: Beyond the Hype” webinar.
I am guessing that you signed up today because you’ve heard about account-based marketing or ABM, as I’ll be calling it throughout this presentation. Maybe your co-workers are talking it, or your manager is interested in doing it, or perhaps you have gotten an email about it from an ABM provider and you’re interested in learning more. Well you have come to the right place. As the analyst covering B2B and marketing technology at eMarketer, I know I hear and talk about ABM every day, internally and externally, and that’s because, its a buzzing, hot topic right now. [NEXT]
But before we can discuss the how and why ABM has become all the rage for B2Bs, its important for us to define it. [NEXT]
On the surface, ABM is exactly what it appears to be: a way for B2Bs to focus their marketing efforts at the account level.
Traditionally, B2B marketers have played a volume game, driving a large quantity of leads through the top of the funnel in the hopes that a small percentage will convert into a sale. The quality of these leads, however, can sometimes be questionable, especially for B2B sellers, who place more emphasis on accounts, or target company, rather than individual leads. ABM aims to solve that problem through a strategic, collaborative approach between marketing and sales to identify, target and convert accounts. Instead of trying to generate demand by casting a wide net, ABM flips the funnel upside down by [NEXT] targeting key accounts that are prioritized by factors like potential lifetime value and best customer modeling. [NEXT]
The practice also focuses on finding and engaging with key decision-makers within these accounts [NEXT] with relevant and tailored content and conversations based on data and deep background research conducted on the needs and expectations of those stakeholders. [NEXT]
Ultimately, ABM emphasizes quality over quantity when it comes to engagement, [NEXT] but until recently it had been difficult to scale because of the focus and resources required to execute ABM well. Tech companies are trying to solve for some of those challenges by building software that can speed up the background research, analytics and personalized communications required to help scale the practice of ABM. [NEXT]
So now that we have a definition in place, let’s talk about what marketers are looking to accomplish within their ABM strategies. According to a survey from ABM marketing event and community group #FlipMyFunnel, the objectives are varied.
For 1 in 4 B2B marketers worldwide, the main goal is to generate revenue – an objective familiar to all B2Bs.
Other common goals included accelerating the speed of deals in the pipeline, generating more leads and fostering a better organizational alignment between sales and marketing teams. [NEXT]
It is also worth noting that ABM doesn’t always look the same. In fact, according to the Information Technology Services Marketing Association (commonly known as ITSMA) and the originators of the ABM philosophy over a decade ago, there are three main types of account-based marketing being implemented today.
At the top [NEXT] of the ABM pyramid pictured on this slide is Strategic ABM. ITSMA says this is the traditional ABM approach where one person is assigned to market to a single account in a one to one manner that is customized to the specific company, based on research and personalized content for various decision-makers within the account. Progress through the path to purchase is tracked so that communications and campaigns are also tailored to the part of the buyer’s journey, as well. The effort and investment here is high but so is the ROI on the potential account if it converts.
Next, in the middle of pyramid, is [NEXT] ABM Lite, or a one-to-few model. This operates with one marketer owning a wider group of strategic account targets that all share similar business attributes, challenges, and initiatives. Here, while campaigns are still customized, they are not 100% personalized to the individual company or decision-maker.
At the bottom of our diagram is [NEXT] Programmatic ABM or what ITSMA calls “the new kid on the ABM block” in which one marketer uses technologies to automate ABM to hundreds or even thousands of identified accounts at scale. It allows marketers to cover much more ground on its account list, with fewer personnel resources. Although, keep in mind, this software-forward approach, does require a big investment in technology and automation.
Choosing the type of ABM that works best for your company’s goals and resources is important. However, ITSMA notes [NEXT] that sometimes a low investment of time and resources will yield a lower ROI per account, which means the aforementioned scale is critical for Programmatic ABM to yield results. [NEXT]
http://www.itsma.com/three-approaches-to-scaling-abm/
But no matter which type of ABM your company decides to execute, the responsibilities of ABM teams all focus around building knowledge on accounts and then executing a content and engagement plan to speak to the individual stakeholders within the selected accounts. [NEXT]
Most companies who use ABM do so for prospecting, however the applications for ABM can go well beyond finding and converting new buyers.
For example, professional translation services company Lionbridge has an ABM team focused solely on cross-sell and up-sell opportunities. When I spoke with Jessica Sousa (so-sa), senior manager of customer marketing at the language localization provider, she said since the majority of Lionbridge’s revenue was coming from their top 40 current clients, her team was tasked with using ABM approaches to grow existing accounts through customized campaigns and communications. [NEXT]
Now that we know what ABM is and how it can be used, let’s start to get beyond the hype and find out how hot ABM is, really. [NEXT]
From a percentages point of view, despite massive buzz in the B2B space, multiple surveys indicate that adoption for ABM hasn’t reach its tipping point yet.
47% of US B2B marketers currently have an ABM strategy in place, according to Demand Gen Report.
And another study from Kapost found that only a third of US B2B marketers are investing in ABM this year. [NEXT]
Further, most companies doing ABM haven’t been at it for that long.
That same Demand Gen Report survey found that among US B2B marketers who have an ABM strategy up and running, nearly 60% had only been doing it for less than a year.
In fact, only one quarter have actually been implementing ABM for two-plus years. [NEXT]
And many will be joining in the ABM ranks soon.
32% of respondents in that same Demand Gen Report study said that while they’re not currently doing ABM, their company has plans to launch a strategy within the next 18 months. [NEXT]
When in practice, ABM doesn’t receive the full support of marketing’s budget, according to the annual State of Pipeline Marketing study.
In fact, nearly 36% of B2B marketers said that only a quarter of their marketing budget is dedicated to ABM.
Less than 5% of respondents said that all of their marketing budget is allocated to account-based programs. [NEXT]
However some companies are going all-in on their ABM efforts.
At ad technology company Rocket Fuel, for example, ABM is becoming the new marketing standard. John Anagnost (An-nag-nost), senior director of sales strategy and enablement at Rocket Fuel, said ABM is a top priority. In fact, the marketing team has aligned its entire function around the top 50 target accounts with personalized events, email and content that is designed for each account. [NEXT]
Now, despite all of this, I want to also note that no matter hot of a trend, for some B2B marketers, ABM is a little bit of old news.
Sousa (so-sa) of Lionbridge was quick to point out that ABM has always been a strategy for B2B marketers and she has been using account-based methods throughout her career. But she does believe that with the advent of technology and automation, ABM is becoming more of a buzzword and tech vendors have “rebranded” it to be something new. [NEXT]
Still, whether its a so-called rebranding or something more, the rise of automation has reinvigorated ABM as marketing departments now have the tools to locate accounts more efficiently.
With tech and access to better data analytics, marketing can do that upfront work to help research, engage and penetrate target accounts. [NEXT]
But before we discuss how ABM is fueled by automation, let’s take a step back. [next]
eMarketer defines marketing automation as the software platforms and technologies used to automate numerous steps along the path to conversion, including campaign management, customer segmentation, and lead generation, nurturing and scoring and all of this is with the ultimate end-goal of efficiently marketing via a diverse set of channels at scale. [next]
And B2B marketers are embracing automation. In fact, more than two-thirds are using marketing and sales automation, according to findings from Progress and Dimensional Research.
Further, more than a third qualify their usage of these systems as advanced. [NEXT]
And a sophisticated application of automation is really needed for ABM at scale to work. According to SiriusDecisions,
8 in 10 B2B marketers are currently using sales force automation for ABM and
nearly 3 in 4 are utilizing marketing automation. [NEXT]
Data and technology play apart in ABM, as well, and that’s according to two separate studies both resulting in the same percentage.
Firstly, Openprise uncovered that 31% of US B2B marketers thought ABM is the most effective use of their marketing data.
And separately, Ascend2 found that 31% of marketers worldwide believed that ABM is a marketing technology tactic that their company uses effectively. [NEXT]
While automation and tech are the major building blocks in the development of an ABM program at scale, B2Bs need much more than just technology to get the job done.
For instance, an April 2016 ITSMA polling found that importance must also be placed on personnel, whether that’s hiring new people or having existing marketers cover more accounts.
77% also said that developing tools and templates to facilitate reuse and best practice sharing is an approach used to expand ABM.
Whereas 69% cited that adding technology to automate and create more leverage was critical for scale. [NEXT]
This does prove that tech can potentially be major barrier to entry to ABM and for 23% of B2B marketing professionals in North America, it is.
But it actually isn’t the most common hurdle. According to the Account-Based Marketing Consortium and Demand Metric, 45% of respondents cited that they don’t use ABM because other initiatives were higher priority, while 36% don’t have the necessary skills or expertise, and 34% had budget constraints. [NEXT]
A big point of contention I came in across in my research is that some experts feel that ABM only works as a one-to-one scenario and therefore, it can’t be automated.
They argue that at the core of any ABM initiative is the ability to understand the relationship with the account and then determine, through in-depth background research, how tailor the message. The big caveat is that the content and strategy needs to be different for each accounts and it isn’t as simple as changing the name on the email or sticking a different logo on the graphic. ABM is about a singular, unified approach to a customer and some believe this cannot be accomplished through automation at scale. [NEXT]
Now moving away from a point of controversy, I want to talk a little about how ABM can lead to a change in organizational culture and help with the alignment of marketing and sales teams.
All experts agree that marketing and sales should have a consensus around the way they approach accounts and together, should use data for account identification. So let’s jump into the how and why that is done. [NEXT]
According to SiriusDecisions’ April 2016 polling of B2B marketers worldwide, 83% said that sales participates in ABM by helping to determine the list of target accounts. This is up from 75% in 2015.
However, most other areas where sales could work with marketing for ABM were actually down, albeit slightly, year over year.
In 2015, 63% said that sales would provide feedback on ABM, whereas only 56% did so this year.
Further, only 46% of sales representatives are regularly using marketing-supplied assets and support to do their own outreach to account – a percentage decrease of 6%.
This shows that while ABM should and certainly can foster an alignment between sales and marketing, B2Bs are still figuring out the best way to accomplish that. [NEXT]
Account-based lead scoring is one common approach used by marketing and sales to find the right target accounts.
And according to Annuitas, it is used by 4 in 10 US B2B enterprise marketers. This means that accounts are given a score that is surmised with account-based criteria such a target company’s revenue, employee count and industry. [NEXT]
Results from a May 2016 Avention study revealed a few other account-based indicators used by US B2B marketing and sales professionals to define their best customers. While some of those were mentioned on the previous slide, this is a much more comprehensive list. So take a look at right.
At 61%, annual spend was the most frequently used indicator, followed by length of relationship with 52%.
Estimated lifetime value and frequency of purchase and engagement were also noted in this study, showing there are many attributes at the company-level that can be used to determine whether an account is a good target. [NEXT]
I wanted to share a real brand example to bring account scoring to life.
As a practitioner of ABM, Tyler Lessard, CMO of video marketing and analytics solution provider, Vidyard, explained that his marketing team uses a mix of firmographic and demographic data to do account-based scoring. They look at 20 different attributes -- everything from the indicators I have already mentioned in the last two slides to using intent data to monitor actions taken by the account. [NEXT]
As just indicated, there are many different data sources that need to be harnessed to understand accounts and contacts.
In 2015, SiriusDecisions found that third-party, non-custom account and contact information sources were the primary ways B2B marketers worldwide got data for ABM.
Predictive analytics was used by only 21%. [NEXT]
But in 2016, the ways that B2Bs are gathering their data is getting more sophisticated.
Firstly, year over year, custom data is on the rise with 44% of B2B marketers worldwide using custom third-party account information sources.
And predictive is being used more, as well, up 9 percentage points from 2015 to 30%. [NEXT]
Dun & Bradstreet is one B2B using predictive capabilities in its ABM strategy to assess and prioritize the set of accounts that it goes after, both from a marketing and a sales perspective.
Rishi Dave, CMO at the business information services company explained that predictive scores help his team know which accounts and which decision-makers within that account to target so they can execute marketing against those accounts to drive pipeline. [NEXT]
Yet despite advances in data sources for ABM, some still don’t have access to the right data, according to Avention.
In fact, only 31% of sales and 24% of marketing said the data was working. The majority within both teams agreed that they are building toward having access to the right data. [NEXT]
Once accounts and stakeholders have been vetted and researched, a big part of ABM requires that marketing communications and content are customized to the intended recipient within each account. [NEXT]
Demand Gen Report found that there are numerous ways that B2B marketers deliver content that is targeted and personalized.
75% tailor content to a specific industry and 51% by role. And just less than half personalize custom content for each account.
Oddly, the study also found that 8% of respondents use generic content for all outreach – which technically isn’t really an ABM approach at all.
To me, this means there is still some confusion about what ABM really is. [NEXT]
At Vidyard, ABM helps Lessard’s team develop messages based on relevance. One of the ways they execute this to actually create custom videos for each account. A member of the sales team, using the research that marketing has done, puts together a quick video that speaks to that individual account and how Vidyard can help them.
Of course, creating a custom video is much easier for a video marketing company compared to most other B2Bs. But, still, Lessard believes that this targeted content approach pays for itself because it gets the recipient’s attention. [NEXT]
And other ABM practitioners believe that customers not only recognize, but they also appreciate when the content is tailored to them.
Danny Nail, runs SAP’s global account-based marketing program as a senior director. He said that having a personalized content experience makes the recipient feel that SAP understands them because that message is specific to their company, pain points and needs. This helps close the gaps in the buyer’s journey through comfortability. Further, it enables that person to be a better mouthpiece and advocate of that message, internally, at their company. They can speak more intelligently about the offering to their colleagues and managers because the time was taken upfront to research and craft a story for them that wasn’t generic. [NEXT]
Creating this content can, of course, be resource-intensive. For that reason, many B2Bs are turning to third-party support for their ABM programs.
SiriusDecisions found that 37% of B2B marketers plan to use an agency to support content and messaging in 2016, up from 23% YOY.
Additionally, 28% plan to use third-party content development this year, up in a big way from 3% in 2015.
For programs looking to scale, this is a trend I expect to continue. [NEXT]
Of course, creating that content in a personalized manner is just the first step. That content then needs to find its intended target.
Demand Gen Report found that at 96%, email was the most common tactic used by US B2B marketers to deliver targeted offers to their ABM list.
Other frequently used delivery systems included:
account-based nurturing, which is similar to lead nurturing, but with a focus on groups of people within the account rather than the individual lead. Interestingly, although only 72% are using this tactic currently, that percentage could grow to 99%, when the 27% who say they plan to use it, implement the practice.
teleprospecting, or inside sales, is another major method, although it won’t grow as much as nurtured-based delivery tactics.
finally automated sales enablement platforms and personalized web content are also used by about half of respondents. [NEXT]
One way that web and content personalization is possible is through technological developments like reverse-IP lookup.
Many ABM tech vendors offer data platforms that can determine the company a website visitor works for via their IP-address. This enables B2Bs to personalize the website content and customer experience to that account. Further, they can track that account’s engagement on the website, allowing for dynamic insight and data to develop and understand how to communicate with that account in the future.
In fact, half of B2B marketers worldwide surveyed by SiriusDecisions said they implement web personalization for ABM in 2016. [NEXT]
Finally, at the account-level, advertising strategies to reach intended targets via paid tactics is also on the rise to deliver messages.
SiriusDecisions found that YOY account-based advertising is growing steadily.
In 2015, 62.7% of B2B marketers were using account-based advertising. That percentage creeped up to 66.4% in 2016 and 70% have stated they plan to invest in account-based advertising in the future. [NEXT]
But for those of you in attendance today, none of what we have discussed really matters if the return on investment isn’t there. While ROI can be difficult to qualify, let’s spend some time discussing how marketers are determining if their ABM programs are working. [NEXT]
When asked about the effectiveness of their ABM efforts, nearly 40% of US B2B marketers gave it a middle of the road rating of 3.
The second largest group, at almost 30%, gave ABM’s effectiveness a 2 and nearly 20% said 4.
Also of note is that fact that the smallest percentage, at only 5.7%, said it was extremely effective. [NEXT]
However, other studies show more promising results for ABM. For instance, more than 70% of B2B marketing professionals in North America said that ABM was one of the most important revenue generating strategies, according to the Account-Based Marketing Consortium and Demand Metric.
1 in 10 went as far to say that ABM was the most important.
Only 3% said ABM was one of the least important. [NEXT]
And all of that is well and good but, how do somewhat subjective qualifiers like “effectiveness” and “importance” equate to real gains in revenue? Well, that same study also asked about changes in revenue as a result of ABM programs.
Half of respondents said they saw a favorable change in revenue, however, they couldn’t actually measure it.
Not so encouraging was that 22% said they don’t know and another 10% said it their revenue impact was actually negative.
Only 18% of respondents were able to give a true percentage as a response:
7% said they saw their revenue grow by more than a quarter
6% said it grew by 10-24%
And 5% said the growth was marginal, by less than 10%. [NEXT]
B2B marketers are still working to understand whether ABM helps reach revenue goals.
Currently, the most common metric used to measure the success of ABM is very opinion-based -- which I think is part of the problem. SiriusDecisions found that “feedback on ABM from internal stakeholders” was used by 76% of B2B marketers worldwide, up from only 34% in 2015.
Still, other more number-based metrics, including the number of closed deals and leads touched by marketing and new contacts identified from ABM, were used by 6 in 10 respondents. Showing that data-driven analysis is an important part of measurement and one that really needs to be emphasized over more subjective KPIs. [NEXT]
At Vidyard, Lessard measures ABM efforts by benchmarking his usual marketing metrics, such as conversion rates, against traditional marketing tactics to order to compare and measure how ABM is performing.
They also look at speed of deals in the pipeline in order to determine the efficiency of ABM practices. [NEXT]
Important to note is that B2B companies with very large contract values will see better return from ABM, according to Phil Hollrah, vice president of product marketing at ABM vendor Demandbase.
If a company is focusing on accounts yielding contracts with a low dollar amount attached to it, the ABM efforts made to secure that contract won’t be worthwhile.
He also noted that ABM practices cannot operate in vacuum – they must be used in conjunction with other traditional B2B demand generation and brand awareness campaigns in order to gain traction and realize their greatest outcome. [NEXT]
We have dug deep into the world of ABM today so let’s take a moment to recap.
First, account-based marketing is the practice of identifying, targeting and marketing to accounts to lead them to conversion through customized content. The focus here, is on quality, not quantity. And although adoption is still pretty limited, ABM is probably the hottest trend in B2B marketing right now and its time in the limelight will continue into 2017.
The rise in automation, technology and data in marketing have been integral in ABM’s growth because these advances allow B2Bs to do ABM at scale.
It is also critical to foster a strategic collaboration between sales and marketing in order to best determine which accounts will yield a higher lifetime value.
Custom content must be delivered to the decision-makers within target accounts and these messages are crafted to be relevant.
Lastly, measuring return on ABM is still a work in progress, but many have said the results are favorable. As more B2Bs jump on the ABM train and become more data-driven in their measurement efforts, 2017 will show just how positive ROI can be.
Thank you.
So today we heard about what ABM is and why it’s important. But…
Anyone who implements ABM faces a dilemma… ABM is supposed to help your marketing be more effective…
But getting started requires implementing and integrating numerous disjointed point solutions, which is inefficient
Marketo solves the ABM dilemma by providing the 3 ABM essentials in a single engagement marketing platform:
With Marketo, you have
Central account targeting & management vs....syncing target account lists from multiple sources, which is error prone and inefficient
Centralized Cross-channel campaign orchestration vs. Different apps for each ABM channel
Consolidated ABM analytics vs. data stitched together across systems, in different formats
Let’s take a closer look at Marketo ABM; Marketo provides the 3 essential ABM capabilities built natively within our engagement marketing platform;
First, you can Target & Manage key accountsWhether you target a few very large accounts or use many lists of hundreds of target accounts – Marketo ABM helps you target the accounts that matter, do lead to account matching and manage named account lists
Next, with Marketo ABM you can ENGAGE target decision makers and influencers within those accounts by delivering highly personalized, relevant content across multiple channels, including email, web, mobile, social, social and more
Finally, with the built-in powerful analytics tools, you can Measure the effectiveness of your ABM programs and optimize the revenue impact.
Because Marketo ABM is built natively into our Engagement Marketing Platform…
You get ABM + best-of-breed inbound lead management capabilities in one place, so you can
Target your leads and key strategic accounts across inbound channels, your own web site, paid media, email, mobile, social
This brings Marketo’s full set of proven marketing automation capabilities to support your ABM initiative, plus a familiar user interface!
So in summary, why choose Marketo ABM
1. First, because Marketo provides all of the essential ABM capabilities to target, engage strategic account and measure the impact of your ABM efforts, you save time and reduce complexity by eliminating the need to manage multiple ABM systems, integrations and data sets
2. Second, Marketo unifies ABM and lead management in one solution making it easy for marketers to execute personalized campaigns for both accounts and leads in a single platform…
3. Third, Marketo provides you with a powerful ABM “hub” plus a complete ecosystem of partners to extend capabilities as you grow
The result is a shorter learning curve, faster time to value and stronger marketing ROI.Thank you!