The State of Modern Marketing
A Guide to GTM Transformation
Presents
The State of Modern Marketing // terminus.com
B2B marketing has been transitioning in recent years, evolving from archaic strategies lacking personalization to sophisticated efforts leveraging technology that enables companies to build real and meaningful customer relationships.. Enter account-based marketing (ABM) – an approach that aims to achieve maximum revenue generation by targeting the right customers and transforming them into advocates. Moving away from the status-quo of marketing and sales teams operating in silos, they must be fully aligned – it’s this sense of unity that is absolutely critical to the success of ABM strategies. Both departments must work closely to market, sell, and retain best-fit customers with the highest value. How do they do this? Organizations must utilize both current and emerging tools and technologies to target the right accounts and engage with customers in more meaningful and personalized ways. This ‘purpose-driven marketing’ approach changes with time, building excitement among customers who are being targeted with marketing content that aligns with their particular goals.
Particularly within French, UK, and German markets, there is large disagreement about what “ABM” actually means.
Introduction:
By exploring the array of sophisticated technology solutions available to organizations, and connecting them with their current approaches, sales and marketing teams will create stronger campaigns that can be targeted to “best-fit” accounts to maximize their full value. These integrated tactics will create troves of unique, first-party, intent data…the “good stuff” that is so critical to the success of account-based GTM strategies. Moving away from generic, third-party data, sales and marketing teams must not only revolutionize their traditional marketing approaches, but the data they use to support them too – after all, we’re in the twilight of third-party data.
Here’s to the future of modern marketing.
Maturity Model Classification and Profiling
Using a series of questions and scores, we have compiled a model which assesses respondents’ organizations’ maturity against digital transformation efforts, ABM strategy implementation, ABM strategy maturity, generation of revenue from “best-fit” accounts, and performance ratings at various stages of the sales funnel. This shows the characteristics of organizations that are excelling or underperforming, in addition to uncovering why they may be experiencing these results.
The breakdown of the maturity model looks like this:
“ABM” is most likely to mean the ability to upsell/cross-sell to existing customers (56%) which is accurate. However, they're the least likely to recognize other meanings such as it being a holistic approach to revenue generation (18%) or giving organizations the ability to identify high-value accounts (33%). This indicates that there is a lack of understanding in what B2B marketing means exactly
Those respondents’ organizations that we are calling ‘laggards’ are the least mature and are likely to behave in the following ways:
Are highly likely to cite that there is room for improvement when it comes to focusing on targeting “best-fit” accounts (93%)
Be least likely to cite that there is room for improvement (87%) when thinking about targeting “best-fit accounts” …even though they are dedicating the least amount (55%) of sales efforts in this area
Be least likely to cite that they would adopt an ABM strategy if challenges and barriers didn't exist (76%)
Highly likely to cite that there are barriers to implementing an ABM strategy (98%), such as not enough expertise to execute (41%), insufficient or limited technology (35%), and insufficient engagement or performance data (33%)
Report a number of issues that prevent them from maximizing their use of available data in marketing efforts such as slow analysis (49%), data being inconsistent and disorganized (40%), and data accuracy unable to be verified (31%)
Be less likely to have seen an increase in their organization’s marketing budget in the last 12 months (66%)
Innovators
Early adopters
Early Majority
Late Majority
Laggards
Be most likely to say that there is no room for improvement when it comes to focusing on "best-fit" accounts (12%)
Those respondents’ organizations that we are calling ‘early majority’ are likely to behave in the following ways:
Have a wide variety of channels feeding into their account-based marketing program. However, there is still room for improvement when it comes to targeting "best-fit" accounts using an ABM model (93%), even though they're dedicating 61% of sales efforts towards these target accounts
Those respondents’ organizations that we are calling ‘early adopters’ are likely to behave in the following ways
Be using technologies such as direct mail (65%), chat (61%) and customer relationship management (58%) to support their ABM efforts, and plan to use intent data (64%), ABM orchestration (64%), and account-based advertising (61%) in the future
Be most likely to cite that they would be likely to implement an ABM strategy if challenges didn't exist (95%)
Be most likely to be using direct mail (79%) to support their ABM efforts, while they're far less likely to be using intent data (37%). However, there are plans to in the future (62%)
Be most likely to have seen an increase in their overall marketing budget in the last 12 months (93%), and are the most likely to see one in the next 12 months (96%)
Have the widest range of channels that feed into their account-based marketing platform, and are more likely to be using technologies such as chat (88%), direct mail (82%), and customer relationship management (CRM) (80%) to support their account based marketing efforts
Those respondents’ organizations that we are calling ‘innovators’ are likely to behave in the following ways:
Dedicating, on average, over two-thirds (69%) of their sales efforts towards target accounts, however, there are signs that they may have rushed things, indicated by their need for vast improvement (41%) of their organization's marketing strategy in focusing on targeting "best-fit" accounts
Be most likely to cite that nothing stops them from maximizing their data in their marketing efforts (12%), indicating high levels of expertise
Show high levels of confidence as they are the most likely to say that there are no barriers (10%) to implementing an ABM strategy
Key Findings
Agree that being able to target prospects and customers through a tailored approach, with personalized campaigns and sales outreach, is something their organization is interested in
Agree that augmenting traditional lead-based strategies with a stronger focus on account-based strategies is the best way to maximize revenue generation
91%
87%
ABM implementation is still in its early stages as 58% of those who have started their journey are in the experimental phase, or still implementing processes
58%
However, it’s unclear as to whether they’re having any success as 84% say that their organization needs guidance when it comes to understanding how well their marketing strategy is working
84%
Although there appears to be some misalignment between the two when looking at business priorities, 93% agree that a fully aligned sales and marketing team is vital to activating a successful account based marketing strategy
93%
An ABM strategy must provide organizations with more unique first-party data – 87% agree that their organization’s revenue team needs more data, marketing channels, and sales/marketing intelligence to make more well-informed decisions
While they’re calling for more data, the disappearance of third-party data is on the horizon and 95% say they’re concerned about this and the impact it might have on their marketing efforts
95%
Setting the Sales and Marketing Scene
Section 1
Organizations must remember that a key facet of a successful ABM strategy is that the sales and marketing teams can’t operate together if they have separate goals. It’s absolutely crucial that they completely align on goals over the coming year, but currently, there are signs of misalignment. When asked what the biggestsales/marketing priorities for over the next 12 months are, the top three for respondents from sales departments were customer expansion (50%), retention (50%), and new business generation; the top 3 for those from marketing communications teams were customer retention (45%), brand awareness (40%) and product adoption (40%). In order to be truly successful, sales and marketing teams need to already be aligned – organizations must understand that this is not an outcome post-implementation of an ABM strategy. This doesn’t seem to be a point of concern as the vast majority of respondents (93%) agree that a fully aligned sales and marketing team is vital to activating a successful ABM strategy.
When casting the spotlight on the competencies of ABM such as targeting, engaging with, and creating opportunities with target accounts (see below), organizations are seeing greater success in areas that are in line with their business priorities for the next year (i.e.: customer retention and expansion). However, there are areas for improvement, and it’s those organizations who are perhaps having less success who will need the support that vendors can offer. Organizations are measuring this success through a wide variety of key performance indicators (KPIs), although when exploring the inverse of these results, there is a worrying proportion that are not. For those who are, the three most likely KPIs being measured are revenue generated (38%), leads generated (35%) and opportunity-to-customer rate (34%).
However, the overall goal is to create more focused awareness and engagement with customers, and so there are other measures such as customer lifetime value which organizations should perhaps be focusing on. On average, the number of KPIs being measured by organizations is 4, this is the same for those categorized in the ‘laggards’ maturity model groups who are on par with their counterparts, however ‘innovators’ are measuring 6. While it isn’t necessarily about how many metrics are being measured, this may explain why they’re in the group that they are – they have greater visibility and capacity to measure and understand success metrics, as well as where they need to improve. It’s clear that as a go-to-market strategy advances and improves within an organization, it matures into something that’s far more customer-centric which should also be a key metric of success. ABM implementation may explain the differences in business priorities amongst ‘innovators’ and ‘laggards’ with the two at opposite stages of their ABM journey
Figure 1: Which of the following key performance indicators (KPIs) does your organization currently measure as part of its sales and marketing activities? [base numbers in chart] split by maturity model groups] omitting some answer options
Organizations may also be experiencing varying levels of ABM success depending on where they are in their digital transformation (DX) journey. Those who are succeeding in their DX efforts are of course more digitally savvy and therefore more likely to have the ability and expertise to implement some of the key tenets of ABM. For example, personalizing website pages ensures that site experiences differ depending on who is visiting that particular site and is more likely to resonate with customers. On the other hand, those who are less digitally savvy may not know how to implement more sophisticated digital channels and tactics and may not understand the importance of utilizing digital strategies to improve and personalize the overall customer experience. Contributing towards more advanced DX journeys is the budget an organization has dedicated towards marketing. Those with a higher marketing budget naturally have more choices available to them, including more advanced technology solutions and resources that can drive more successful and creative marketing strategies.
As with most investments, cost considerations should be taken into account when exploring ABM, as it may seem expensive to some organizations. However, there should be confidence in the overall benefit that these solutions provide, as every study into ABM that Terminus has conducted has shown outsize revenue performance benefits. While more innovative marketing programs are more expensive, they’re also more resilient and predictable in terms of their performance. Organizations who are investing more into such solutions are likely to be more confident in their ability to turn this success into revenue. For example, almost nine in ten (89%) of those in the ‘innovator’ group have seen an increase in their organization’s overall marketing budget in the last 12 months compared to just 29% of ‘laggards’. On top of this, 90% of ‘innovators’ expect to see an increase in their organization’s overall marketing budget in the next 12 months compared to just over half (55%) of ‘laggards’. Organizations are at varying stages of their ABM journey and still have much to consider. While this may seem daunting, the benefits far outweigh the risks. When implemented correctly, organizations can expect to have much more personalized and meaningful interactions with exactly the right customers. The first step is to ensure that sales and marketing teams are aligned, and working towards mutually agreed, and achievable goals. From there, organizations can begin to dig deeper into the different stages of ABM to understand areas where they need the most support from vendors.
The Journey to ABM
Adopting a successful ABM strategy to tailor “best-fit” accounts is crucial in generating maximum revenue. Organizations are showing a clear understanding and desire to explore this further - 87% of respondents agree that augmenting traditional lead-based strategies with a stronger focus on account-based strategies is the best way to maximize revenue generation. On top of this, 91% agree that being able to target prospects and customers through a tailored approach, with personalized campaigns and sales outreach, is something their organization is interested in.
Section 2
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements? [1000] Omitting some answer options. Showing a combination of “strongly agree” and “slightly agree”
...agree that augmenting traditional lead-based strategies with a stronger focus on account based strategies is the best way to maximize revenue generation.
...agree that being able to target prospects and customers through a tailored approach, with personalized campaigns and sales outreach, is something their organization is interested in.
...agree that a fully aligned sales and marketing team is vital to activating a successful account based marketing strategy.
This research shows that the three most likely definitions to be selected are: Alignment of marketing and sales strategies (56%), the ability to upsell/cross-sell to existing customers (51%) or the ability to identify high-value accounts (47%). However, there is some indication that there are regional differences too, indicating there are still some debates to be settled as to how ABM fits in an overall GTM strategy.
But what does modern B2B marketing mean to surveyed decision-makers?
Figure 2: Based on your current understanding, what does modern B2B marketing mean to you? [base sizes in chart] split by country. Omitting some answer options
When looking further into implementation levels, it’s interesting to see that enterprise-size organizations (1,000 or more employees) are the least likely to have begun their journey (57%), compared to smaller organizations (66%). This could be for a number of reasons - while this group has a bigger business need, and arguably the most to gain, the implementation of such a strategy is likely to be far more complex. On top of this, larger organizations have a wider pool of customers and target accounts to focus on, which takes increased time and resources.
No matter their size, organizations must understand that ABM implementation should be viewed and approached as interval training, rather than trying to bench-press 500 lbs on the first day. The benefit of an account centric program is that it allows organizations to stop and take a step back to explore what’s going on, reflect, change, and adapt accordingly – you can’t rush perfection. For those who have implemented an ABM program, they’re still in the earlier stages as just over half (58%) say that they are in an experimental, pilot phase or are currently implementing processes and technologies and just 17% say that they have fully implemented their ABM strategy. While larger organizations are less likely to have implemented an ABM strategy, those who have done so earlier than smaller ones - enterprise organizations implemented their ABM strategy earlier, on average, 9 months earlier, compared to medium-sized (8 months) and small (7 months) organizations.
Although ABM implementation is in its early stages for most, its importance is widely recognized. Currently, just under half (46%) of surveyed respondents cite that their organization’s ABM strategy is critically important to its business goals. This indicates a clear willingness and understanding of just how essential such a strategy can be for organizations, who are aware of the associated benefits, such as more successful sales conversions (53%), improved relationships with key accounts (51%), and better customer service (51%). Respondents in the mature, ‘innovators’, group are more likely to understand other benefits comparedto the least mature, ‘laggards’, likely due to their advanced experience and understanding of more sophisticated go-to-market strategies. For example, they’re more likely to cite more efficient use of budget (59%) as a benefit compared to laggards (34%), and a clearer/stronger measure of ROI (60% versus 39% respectively)
While it’s apparent that organizations are aware of the importance of implementing an ABM strategy and the associated benefits, it’s also clear that they need guidance and assistance in successful implementation. The vast majority (84%) agree that their organization needs guidance when it comes to measuring how well their marketing strategy is workin. On top of this, a similar proportion (86%) agree that automated account engagement activities across multiple channels is something their organization needs assistance with. An essential concept of an ABM strategy is orchestrating a wide range of marketing channels that are targeted to “best-fit” accounts, and for organizations who have historically used a “one size fits all” approach, moving away from the marketing status-quo may prove challenging. Contributing to the need for assistance and guidance are the number of barriers in the way of implementation such as insufficient or limited technology (35%), insufficient engagement or performance data (35%), or concerns around the ability to scale ABM (34%)
When looking further into these challenges, it’s interesting to see that it’s more likely to be a perceived challenge to achieve buy-in and support from the executive team (32%) than the sales team (17%). It’s key for the sales department to be on board with an ABM strategy, and so while it’s positive that this seems to be less of a challenge, the executive team may hold the purse strings; receiving their approval is critical. The journey towards ABM may be daunting for some organizations, who may think it impossible to tailor marketing efforts to their vast client base. Moving away from the “one size fits all” status-quo may be a challenging feat for some, however, the benefits are so advantageous, as organizations will witness the transformation of customers into advocates right before their eyes. Before diving headfirst into this journey, organizations must make sure they can clearly define what “ABM” means because if they can’t, then how will they truly understand what technologies and resources can help to support them in their journey?
Technology and Resources to Support ABM
Section 3
In order to engage with customers in more meaningful ways, organizations must connect the vast array of marketing efforts already being undertaken. For example, by running direct mail, a marketing channel already in use by over two-thirds of respondents (69%), alongside personalized landing pages and webinars, etc., organizations create strong campaigns that can be targeted to “best-fit” accounts, maximizing the value and potential of customer relationships. Organizations who have fully implemented their ABM strategy are more likely to be using a wide variety of channels feed into their strategy such as website chat (55%) or virtual or in-person events (55%) than those who are in an experimental phase (25% and 34% respectively). On top of this, the same group are also dedicating a slightly higher proportion of sales efforts towards target accounts (67%) than those who have yet to implement one (58%). While there is a difference, it is fairly narrow which indicates that even those who haven’t implemented a strategy are still very much account-centric - but this doesn’t mean that they are seeing success in their efforts, which could ultimately be being wasted.
Looking further into success levels in relation to generating revenue from “best-fit”, targeted accounts, organizations who have fully implemented an ABM strategy and are dedicating more effort to such accounts are more likely to be reaping the rewards of successfully generating the majority of revenue from those targeted customers. The difference in these success levels is extreme, with 67% of those who have implemented an ABM strategy, citing that their organization is extremely successful compared to just 1% who say the same and have not implemented an ABM strategy. These differences clearly highlight the importance of creating tailored approaches to marketing strategies for these accounts that will be receiving more personalized and engaging experiences.
Organizations must look to use both current and emerging technologies to support and maximize the success of their ABM efforts. The technologies most likely to be used currently are direct mail (69%), chat (61%), or Customer Relationship Management (59%). Conversely, the least likely (and arguably the most sophisticated) are intent data (35%) – with 61% planning to use this in the future, ABM orchestration (42%) – with 55% planning to use this in the future or account-based advertising (44%) – with 54% planning to use this in the future. The lack of utilization for the latter technologies raises some interesting questions: Do organizations know these solutions exist? Do they have the expertise to manage them? And if so, do they know how to measure their success?Take intent data, for example: While it is highly sophisticated and somewhat complex, for organizations that fully leverage it can segment and prioritize targeted accounts; in turn, the sales team would be more efficient, the sales cycle potentially shortened, and customers met with personalized experiences.
Figure 3: Is your organization currently using, or planning to use any of the following technologies to support your account based marketing efforts? [931] Omitting some answer options, asked to respondents whose organizations have implemented, or plan to implement an ABM strategy
There are a wealth of sophisticated technologies and solutions available to organizations to support them in their ABM goals. When played together with current marketing efforts, sales and marketing teams will unleash a newfound ability to target personalized campaigns to “best-fit”, high-value customers. These innovative approaches will introduce organizations to data they may have never used before, data that’s so rich and insightful that it makes achieving ABM seem so simple, yet so effective. Say goodbye to generic, third-party data, and hello to intuitive, first-party data.
Data as a Barrier to Success
Section 4
Historically, marketing efforts have depended on third-party data and cookies. These once-cornerstone pieces of data are no longer a reliable source of information. Google’s anticpated removal of third-party cookies has instilled concern in organizations as they are told to turn towards first-party customer data to inform their marketing decisions. In order to alleviate these concerns, vendors must emphasize their preparedness for this transition. There exist solutions, such as Terminus’ Chat and Email Experiences, that can provide clients with powerful and entirely unique data sets that marketers must begin to learn, understand, and use in order to target customers without third-party data. There are notable differences across both respondent types and markets as those in the US are the most likely to cite that they are extremely concerned with these upcoming changes (48%) compared to their global counterparts in France (37%), Germany (33%), UK (27%) and Canada (24%). Those in European markets already have laws such as GDPR to contend with, which may explain their diminished impact from these changes.
Shifting the focus onto maturity model groups – although those in the ‘innovators’ group are clearly more mature and advanced in other ways, they’re still concerned with the disappearance of third-party data (41%), emphasizing its importance. While they’re more likely to have the most sophisticated technology stacks, they’re clearly still, to some extent, reliant on third-party data, and can you blame them? It’s what marketers know, it’s what they’re comfortable using – it’s their bread and butter. On the other hand, ‘laggards’ are less likely to say that they are extremely concerned (10%) suggesting that they’re somewhat ignorant to some of the impacts that these changes will have on them.
But it’s not just third-party data that causes challenges: As a result of implementing an ABM strategy, it’s likely that organizations will be faced with vast amounts of first-party data. It’s imperative that they’re able to fully leverage that data in such a way that not only allows them to create personalized campaigns but to recognize success and measure KPIs too. This may come as a welcome challenge, as 87% of respondents agree that their organization’s revenue team needs more data, marketing channels, and sales/marketing intelligence to make more well-informed decisions
However, it isn’t just the disappearance of third-party datathat’s expected to cause challenges for organizations: It’s data in general. In fact, when presented with an overwhelming amount of data, this can in fact introduce the opposite effect, causing marketing and sales teams to be less efficient as they become overwhelmed, and unsure as to how to best interpret and analyze it. Customers need guidance on how to make the most of the data that’s available to them to ensure they have good visibility, and that they’re maximizing its value. Other data-related challenges include real-time data being analyzed too slowly (44%), inconsistent and disorganized data (37%), and the accuracy of data being unable to be verified (35%).
It might be difficult to say goodbye but the demise of third-party data shouldn’t be as scary or concerning as these teams think. While third-party data has historic ally been at the foundation of marketing efforts, positive change is on the horizon. First-party, intent data uncovers so much more about customers that directly feeds into more personalized marketing campaigns, which are of course the very basis of ABM strategies. This valuable resource will allow organizations to truly understand their client-base, target them with the content they’re calling for, reduce wasted time and effort, and ultimately drive ROI.
Final Analysis
There are a huge number and wide variety of benefits associated with account-based go-to-market strategies, which organizations should look to implement sooner rather than later. However, there seem to be varying levels of success when casting the spotlight on the sales funnel and competencies of ABM, and so vendors must tailor how these organizations are targeted depending on the areas where they need support most. Defining what, exactly, “account-based marketing” means is a persistent challenge, and so there is much work to be done around educating and demonstrating the definitions and benefits of an ABM strategy, especially when thinking about less-mature organizations.
There are a number of important elements associated with the implementation of an ABM strategy, one of the most critical being the unity between sales and marketing teams. It’s absolutely vital that organizations come to the understanding that the alignment of these two teams is fundamental to the success of an account-based marketing program rather than a product of it. On top of this, it’s important to remember that ABM implementation cannot be rushed - it’s an incremental journey where each individual stage takes patience, time, and attention to detail to perfect. There will be challenges along the way, but the results will be worth it, and many vendors (just like Terminus) can support organizations through them. Finally, organizations must begin to prepare for the demise of third-party data. While this has historically been a comfort blanket for marketers and their efforts, positive change is on the horizon. ABM strategies will present marketers with vast troves of first-party data which is so much more valuable in the personalization of engaging marketing, remembering that this is the ultimate goal.
Here’s to the future of modern marketing...welcome to the world of ABM.
Terminus commissioned independent technology market research specialist Vanson Bourne to undertake the quantitative research upon which this whitepaper is based. A total of 1,000 respondents were interviewed in July and August. Research took place in the following markets: US [300], Canada [100], UK [200], Germany [200] and France [200]. Respondents were from organizations with 50+ employees, from all private sectors that sell to business customers. Interviews were conducted online using a rigorous multi-level screening process to ensure that only suitable candidates were given the opportunity to participate.
Methodology
Terminus is the only account-based engagement platform built to deliver more pipeline and revenue through multi-channel account-based marketing (ABM).The platform, Terminus Engagement Hub, connects the first and third-party data needed to understand both customers and prospects, with the most robust suite of engagement channels—including ads, chat, email, and web—available. Terminus powers multi-channel ABM for thousands of brands globally including DHL, G2, Outreach, and TripActions. Terminus is proud to be a G2 leader in ABM for 13 consecutive quarters.
About Terminus:
Vanson Bourne is an independent specialist in market research for the technology sector. Their reputation for robust and credible research-based analysis is founded upon rigorous research principles and their ability to seek the opinions of senior decision makers across technical and business functions, in all business sectors and all major markets. For more information,
About Vanson Bourne:
Visit terminus.com to learn more or connect with us on
visit www.vansonbourne.com.
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LinkedIn.
Additional Data
Respondent country [1000]
1,000 sales, marketing and customer service decision makers were interviewed in July and August 2021, split in the following ways…
How many employees does your organization have globally? [1000]
Within which sector is your organization? [1000]
…by country
…by organization size
…by organization sector
Which of the following are the biggest priorities for your organization’s sales/marketing activity over the next 12 months? Combination of responses ranked first, second and third [1000]
Sales and marketing departments have a variety of priorities they aim to achieve over the next year
There are a wide variety of business priorities that sales and marketing departments hope to achieve which can be directly supported through the implementation of an account-based marketing (ABM) strategy. Rivalries between the sales and marketing departments have been no secret in recent times as they work towards different goals. For sales, their aim is typically to drive revenue while =marketing departments aim to raise brand awareness. However, in order for an ABM strategy to be successful it’s absolutely crucial that the two teams are aligned in what they hope to achieve over the coming year and beyond to ensure they’re working closely, and towards the same goals
How would you rate your organization’s performance in each of the following areas? [1000]
When casting the spotlight on the revenue funnel, there are clear areas of improvement
Taking a closer look at the revenue funnel, the areas where organizations are seeing greater success are largely in line with their business priorities for the next year (i.e.: customer retention and expansion). While it’s great to see that organizations are very successful across different areas, it’s those who are perhaps having less success who will need the support that vendors can offer, for example speeding up the rate at which deals make their way through the sales pipeline, and also guiding customers on what success looks like and how it can be measured
Which of the following key performance indicators (KPIs) does your organization currently measure as part of its sales and marketing activities? [1000] Omitting some answer options
The success of sales and marketing activities are measured through a range of KPIs
Although there are a wide variety of KPIs measuring the success of sales and marketing efforts, these are not being adopted by the majority of organizations indicating that some aren’t doing these at all. While the more traditional measures (i.e.: revenue and leads generated) are the most popular, these are just a small part of the bigger picture. With the overall goal to create more focused awareness and engagement with customers, organizations should perhaps be focusing on other measures such as customer lifetime value which can be driven by ABM strategies. It’s clear that as a go to market strategy advances and improves within an organization, it matures into something that’s far more customer centric and should also be key metric of success
To what extent did/will your organization’s overall marketing budget change in the following timeframes? [Base numbers in chart] Omitting some answer options. Split by maturity levels
Front running, innovative organizations are more likely to indicate an increase in their marketing budgets
Organizations with higher marketing budgets of course have more choice available to them in terms of advanced technology solutions and resources that can help drive a successful marketing strategy. As with any investment, there are cost considerations that must be taken into account such as subscription, service and implementation fees; however, there should be confidence in overall benefit that these solutions provide i.e.: richer insights outweighing the investment costs. In short, more innovative marketing programs are more resilient and more predictable in terms of their performance, and organizations who are investing more into such solutions are perhaps more confident that they can turn this success into revenue
Showing those who expect(ed) their organization’s marketing budget to increase in the following timeframes
Based on your current understanding, what does modern B2B marketing mean to you? [Base numbers in chart], omitting some answer options. Split by maturity levels
Organizations personified as “innovators” are more likely to have a wider understanding of modern B2B marketing
Those who are more likely to have implemented an advanced ABM strategy are of course more likely to understand the finer details of what implementation of such a strategy looks like and have more experience with success. Modern B2B marketing has a variety of components, and while some are more widely understood and accepted than others, they all have a key role in the wider B2B puzzle
What benefits has your organization experienced or do you anticipate with the implementation of an account based marketing (ABM) strategy? [977] Omitting some answer options, asked to respondents whose organization has, or plans to implement an ABM strategy
The perceived importance of an ABM strategy may be a result of the numerous, widespread benefits that can be achieved upon implementation
Organizations show clear awareness of the many associated benefits of an ABM strategy, which is likely to be contributing towards how important this is to them [slide 21]. However, the impacts that this can have on the length of the sales cycle is perhaps less clear, and so while organizations understand the more customer-centric advantages, they must also be aware of how an ABM strategy can act as a sales cycle catalyst, helping to accelerate deals through the pipeline – a key stage in the revenue funnel [slide 10]
What are the biggest barriers your organization has experienced or do you anticipate with the implementation of an account based marketing (ABM) strategy? Combination of responses ranked first, second and third [987] Omitting some answer options
There are a number of barriers that must be overcome when thinking about implementing an ABM strategy
While there are hurdles to overcome during ABM implementation, it’s interesting to see that it’s more likely to be a perceived challenge to achieve buy-in and support from the executive team than the sales team. It’s key for the sales department to be on board with an ABM strategy, and so while it’s positive that this seems to be less of a challenge, the executive team may hold the purse strings; receiving their approval is absolutely crucial. These challenges may be discouraging implementation for some, however even if they didn’t exist there is still a small group that would not implement an ABM strategy, and understanding the reasons behind why this might be would uncover deeper insight into what’s truly holding them back
If none of the challenges associated with implementing an account based marketing (ABM) strategy existed, to what extent would your organization be likely to implement one? [347] Asked to respondents who have implemented an ABM strategy and believe there are perceived challenges
Which of the following channels feed into your account-based marketing program? [Base numbers in chart] omitting some answer options, asked to respondents whose organization has implemented an ABM strategy. Split by implementation stages
Organizations must connect their vast array of marketing efforts in order to engage with customers in more meaningful ways
Traditionally, email marketing has been and still appears to be the most popular way to communicate with current and potential customers. However, in order for an ABM strategy to be successful, organizations mustn’t simply target prospects in the same way, and must instead utilize the wide number of channels available to them to communicate in more engaging ways. By running direct mail, a tactic already in use, alongside personalized landing pages and webinars etc, organizations will create strong campaigns that can be targeted to “best-fit” accounts, maximizing the value and potential of customer relationships
Which of the following statements best describes how successful your organization is at generating revenue from “best-fit”, targeted accounts? [Base numbers in chart], omitting some answer options. Split by ABM maturity
Organizations who dedicate sales efforts to targeted accounts are seeing increased success in the form of maximised revenue generation than others
Of course, the higher the proportion of sales efforts dedicated towards providing a personalized experience to “best-fit”, target accounts, the more likely organizations are to gain maximum revenue from them. Organizations who have implemented an ABM strategy and are dedicating more effort to such accounts [slide 27] are more likely to be reaping the rewards of successfully generating the majority of revenue from those targeted customers. This is as a result of successfully creating tailored approaches to marketing strategies for these accounts who will be receiving more personalized and engaging experiences
To what extent are you concerned about the disappearance of third-party data and the impact this might have on your organization’s marketing efforts? [Base number in chart] Split by maturity levels
Although innovative in other areas, even advanced organizations are concerned with the disappearance of third-party data, emphasising its importance
Concerns over the disappearance of third-party data are being felt across most organizations regardless of their maturity level, emphasized by the most innovative organizations who are extremely concerned for this change. While they likely have the most sophisticated technology stacks, they’re clearly reliant on third-party data as this is what marketers know and are comfortable with using – it’s their bread and butter. Conversely, laggards are less likely to be as concerned, and are perhaps ignorant to some of the impacts that these changes will have on them. Are some organizations even aware of the upcoming changes? Marketing teams must use this time to prepare themselves and learn how to fully utilize and maximize the value of first-party data, as this will soon be their new normal
What are the biggest barriers your organization has experienced or do you anticipate with the implementation of an account based marketing (ABM) strategy? Combination of responses ranked first, second and third [987] Omitting some answer options. Split by size
Chart showing the barriers of implementing an ABM strategy – split by organization size
Is your organization currently using, or planning to use any of the following technologies to support your account based marketing efforts? [931] Omitting some answer options, asked to respondents whose organizations have implemented, or plan to implement an ABM strategy. Split by maturity model group
Showing organizations currently using the following technologies – split by maturity model groups
Showing organizations plans to use the following technologies – split by maturity model groups
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