Dreamforce 2016 was a whirlwind of keynotes, sessions, and (of course) parties. One of my favorite events at the conference was Pardot’s B2B Marketer’s Bash featuring Flo Rida. The energy was so contagious that it inspired me to equate my top account-based marketing moments of Dreamforce to my favorite Flo Rida songs.
1. It’s Going Down for Real: Account-Based Marketing
Account-based marketing is the most hyped concept in marketing, but it’s so much more than a buzzword. It’s a proven strategy that B2B marketers need in their arsenals. Almost everyone I spoke with at #DF16 is currently doing ABM or planning on implementing an ABM strategy in the next 12 months. Dreamforce was a time for marketers and salespeople to learn new tools and tactics and bring them home to share with the team.
2. Wild Ones: Sangram Vajre and Jim Hopkins
My hands-down favorite session at Dreamforce was The First Steps to Successful Account-Based Marketing. The wild ones in question? Sangram Vajre, Terminus CMO & Co-Founder, and Jim Hopkins, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Salesforce Data.com. They presented on how to get started with account-based marketing by taking the #FlipMyFunnel approach: Identify, Expand, Engage, Accelerate, and then Measure. Check out their deck from the event to learn more.
3. My House: My Stack
There was tons of discussion about MarTech and account-based marketing stacks at #DF16. Dreamforce is a wonderful opportunity to check out new vendors at the Cloud Expo to add to your current stack. To see how your stack stacks up for account-based marketing, the ABM Stack Grader will help you find the right tools for the job. Input your current stack to identify gaps and areas where you may want to make an investment, or see how effective your hypothetical dream stack would be. It was great to chat with other marketers about the tools they are using and how they work together.
4. Good Feeling: Cloud for ABM
Having the right tools to do account-based marketing is key, and they need to work with Salesforce and your other tools. The Terminus Cloud for Account-Based Marketing features 40 best-in-class ABM vendors that all integrate with Salesforce and work seamlessly with Terminus. By leveraging your existing ecosystem and understanding opportunities for improvement, you can get the most out of your ABM programs. Now that’s a good feeling.
5. Right Round: Can’t keep doing the same thing!
The traditional marketing funnel doesn’t work. B2B marketing is wasting spend filling the top of funnel with leads that will never turn into customers. Marketers can’t keep doing the same thing and expecting improved results. The key is to start with best-fit accounts and focus 100% of your time, money, energy, and resources on them to drive real results. Check out the Account-Based Marketing Framework to learn more about flippin’ your funnel and generating more revenue.
[Tweet “Key to #ABM: Start with best-fit accounts, then focus all your money & energy on them.”]
Having a solid ABM strategy can take your current marketing performance from Low to Zillionaire status — and then hopefully you’ll get you those boots with the fur!
