the next evolution of account-based marketing

©TechTarget 1

The Next Evolution of Account-Based Marketing

©TechTarget 2

53%of B2B firms are more focused on ABM this year versus last

ABM isn’t new…so why all the hype?

Businesses are focused on return on marketing investment – now more than ever

Opportunity for better sales & marketing alignment

Technology to support ABM scale is maturing

Done well, ABM drives out waste and improves ROI

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But there are many reasons ABM may fail to live up to expectations

• Flaws in identifying the right accounts leads ABM down the wrong path

• Short-term focus on lists and lead gen results in list burnout

• Misaligned messaging and content that fails to resonate

• ABM perceived as a risky bet that doesn’t yield promised results

• Target only accounts that have a propensity to buy from you

• Ability to monitor changes in acct activity and engagement over time

• Personalized content that yields increased conversion rates

• Efficient marketing that spends less to generate higher ROI

The Promise of ABM The Pitfalls of ABM

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Goal Lead-Based Marketing (LBM)

Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

Primary target People Accounts

Focus Volume Quality

Approach Funnel Land & Expand

Initiative Marketing Sales & Marketing

Timeframe Campaign-based, short term

Continuous, long term

Demand marketing requires access to multiple buying team members

LBM identifies individuals with interest, but falls short when they can’t be mapped to an account opportunity

ABM targets buying units, but is useless without an accurate understanding of who’s involved in the purchase

ABM and LBM: Different approaches to the same goal

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Successful ABM is a marriage between Account Discovery and Account Marketing

Account DiscoveryQuality over quantity

“We’re focusing on not only the lead but really the account as a whole. It’s a much more laser-focused approach that eliminates a lot of waste.”

Justin GrayCEOLeadMD

Account MarketingNot just leads…opportunities

“Marketers need to base plans on actual insights about actual accounts and the actual people in them. That’s a dramatic change and it will be the hardest thing in ABM.”

Megan HeuerVP and Group DirectorSiriusDecisions

©TechTarget 6

The 6 Critical Success Factors of ABM

Personalize content and promotions

Generate consideration and demand

Measure, adjust and evolve

Discovery

Marketing

Identify accounts most likely to buy

Discover contacts on the buying team

Create account insights and prioritization

©TechTarget 7

Identify accounts most likely to buy

Discover contacts on the buying team

Create account insights and prioritization

TechTarget ABM Exposes known contacts at known accounts with known activity

300K Active Prospects with buyer-supplied, validated demographic and firmagraphic data, monitored weekly for purchase activity

100K accounts actively monitored and re-ranked weekly across 300 IT segments

150M annual inbound IT buyers from enterprise accounts to 140 TechTarget sites; 90% direct via Organic Search

Discovery

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TechTarget’s one-stop shop efficiently drives ABM pipeline

Continuouslyupdated insight into account fluctuations, new contacts and your progress influencing them

Surroundthe named acct buying team via Active Prospects, Leads, Qualified Sales Opportunities and account-targeted banners

3-6xhigher CTRs due to activity-based audience targeting in outbound promotions delivered by TechTarget

Marketing

Personalize content and promotions

Generate consideration and demand

Measure, adjust and evolve

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• Align marketing & sales success metrics for ABM. Emphasis on account influence & engagement versus volume

• Leverage tools to prioritize optimal time to market your solutions to priority accounts – when they are in market

• Personalize messaging to emphasize account pain points

• Influence multiple buying team stakeholders• Monitor & optimize

4 Key Takeaways to Create a Successful ABM Strategy