Account-Based Marketing

• Account insights are the foundation of account-centric marketing
• Account-centric marketing is a team sport, not an individual pursuit
• Existing technology can go a long way toward supporting a move to account-centric marketing

• Maximizing the value of your sales force automation system requires value delivery for end users and the company
• Sales operations should conduct an annual audit of data entry requirements and mandatory fields
• Reducing data entry time has benefits in terms of sales productivity and data quality

• Corporate messaging tends to be a generic and internally driven word salad
• B2B sales organizations are hungry for a meaningful way to explain who and what the company is
• B2B marketers responsible for the corporate message have five common problems

This past Tuesday evening (October 17), TechTarget and Discover.org invited me to share some wisdom about success strategies for account-based marketing (ABM) with a couple dozen customers, prospects, and friends.  If you missed it, here’s a quick synopsis: It’s 2017. ABM was new in 2004, but not any longer.  What’s different today? It’s much easier to access and use […]

• Asia-Pacific marketers are turning to account-based marketing (ABM) to prioritize marketing efforts in an environment that is high-growth yet often under-resourced
• Make ABM resources go further by leveraging the wider marketing ecosystem, including content creators, marketing operations, global demand centers and other global account-based marketers
• With high employee attrition common in Asia, organizations must have a plan for hiring, training and retaining ABM talent

• Approximately one in seven account-based marketing (ABM) programs (13.6 percent) doesn’t have an ABM leader in place
• ABM activities are often added to marketers’ already-full plates – having an ABM leader ensures success can be repeatable, sustainable and efficient
• Three key characteristics of successful ABM leaders include leadership, passion for process and passion for people

• Account-based marketing (ABM) technology continues to be a hot topic, but not all early adopters are enamored
• Take the risk out of your ABM technology implementation by avoiding these four common challenges
• Be a responsible and informed technology buyer, and ask prospective vendors the important questions

• Customer advocacy is an increasingly popular tactic family supporting account-based marketing
• Customer advocacy helps protect and accelerate opportunities
• Advocacy technologies help source, monitor and amplify advocacy impact

• To launch an ABM program without dedicated tech, organizations must get creative
• Joe Quinn of National Instruments created a successful ABM program by leveraging existing technologies
• Ensure processes are well-defined before deploying ABM tools

• A marketing automation platform (MAP), combined with process definition, should enable buyer engagement at scale
• Marketing must ensure that business value and ROI are achieved from the MAP investment
• MAPs must contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing programs

• Events give an organization a powerful opportunity to present its ideas, brand and culture
• Event tech support is now much more sophisticated, which enhances the event experience and allows for greater personalization
• By making appropriate use of the latest technology, events professionals and marketers can keep people engaged with the event

• This deep-dive roundtable discussion included topics that ranged from sales and marketing interlock to ABM measurement
• We heard from participants about how they were implementing core ABM principles at their organizations
• Our discussion ended up touching on four common challenges, reinforcing the value of sharing best practices and war stories

• The targeted and personalized nature of B2B marketing underscores the need for a localization strategy
• Consistency in a localized customer experience is critical for success, and it requires cross-organizational support
• Localization includes every touchpoint in the buyer and customer lifecycle – in addition to the ways data is gathered, classified and analyzed

• Predictive analytics and account-based marketing are two of the hottest areas in B2B
• Intent monitoring is often considered predictive, but doesn’t actually use data in an algorithmic way
• Intent monitoring will grow in popularity as it continues to or serve as a “lightweight” alternative to predictive analytics

• Take the guesswork out of your account-based marketing (ABM) by following SiriusDecisions’ best practice frameworks
• Discover the most common challenges in implementing ABM and how to overcome them
• Key challenges include keeping stakeholders engaged, expanding into new markets and hiring talent

• ABM pilot programs are a best practice approach to launching account-based marketing programs
• Many ABM pilot programs do not effectively establish pilot goals at the onset
• Establishing more formal structure for the ABM pilot helps ensure key processes are tested and adapted for full implementation

• Companies that are successful in large account account-based marketing often cite marketing and sales alignment as the single most important factor of success
• Sales and marketing working together in one room for a full day on joint account planning can be very powerful for jumpstarting an ABM pilot
• Sales and marketing benefit from jointly developing a common language, aligning on goals, and developing concrete plans

• Gigamon applied the account-based marketing framework and best practices to deliver greater customer lifetime value and a predictable revenue stream
• By leveraging best-in-class frameworks, Gigamon launched a consistent industry ABM process that increased pipeline contribution from targeted accounts
• Results are beyond expectation and have driven future expansion; this was coupled with improved customer insights and $3 million pipeline identification

• There are three different types of personalization that can be used in marketing
• A company’s personalization needs will vary depending on their specific goals and circumstances
• Matching company needs and personalization types is critical to successful and effective personalization implementation