“I feel like this collaboration with marketing makes it seem like I have 100 SDRs running in the background.”
Could there be any higher praise from a sales team member when asked about a marketing program? Well, this is exactly what Jen Leaver’s Bazaarvoice teammate said about her ABM programs. Not only that, but Jen was able to generate $2.8 million in pipeline and 30 opportunities with her Terminus-powered ABM programs. Talk about some high-powered, pipeline-generating ABM.
Jen Leaver is the Global ABM Manager at Bazaarvoice, which provides brands and retailers the ability to showcase user-generated content on their websites and collect ratings and reviews to inspire shoppers across their buying journey. She’s also a Terminus rock star customer. And since she’s rocking her ABM programs and soliciting some pretty incredible feedback from her sales counterparts, we asked her to share some of her biggest tips and takeaways for building super-effective ABM programs.
ABM 101: Getting Started
“When I first came on board of Bazaarvoice, they had done ABM in the past, but it was very ad hoc.”
Since ABM was not commonly used and the process was pretty manual among her team, Jen’s very first initiative was to rebuild ABM practices from the ground up. This included re-educating and re-exciting sales, especially leadership, to get their buy-in. This is where Terminus came in for Jen and her team–since Terminus gave them access to account intent and engagement insights, a small pilot team was rolled out to test the data, lean on sales to see what worked and what didn’t, and build out playbooks for the wider business.
“That really helped us show the value and celebrate those early wins in terms of the results that ABM could bring in from an account-based selling standpoint.”
Jen’s ABM Strategy Playbook
Jen learned a lot during her ABM implementation journey and wanted to share her biggest takeaways and tips with us. Here are her biggest tips for leveling-up your ABM journey and tackling common obstacles along the way.
Tip #1: Focus on telling the ABM story internally, first and foremost
Jen’s team was similar to most traditional sales and marketing teams; Their focus was heavily on leads and lead generation. So when the term ABM started getting thrown around internally, Jen noticed there was a bit of a disconnect.
“The first roadblock was coming in with sales already having a misconception about account-based marketing.”
It turns out the common misconception among her team was this: ABM was just another lead generation tactic. However, Jen worked to shift that narrative. She learned how to tell the story to her team that ABM is about far more than traditional lead generation–it’s about creating campaigns that build traction, awareness, and relationships with only the most likely-to-convert accounts (AKA, target accounts).
“We want to run alongside sales and we want to help them push those deals across the finish line throughout the entire funnel.”
Shifting this narrative and getting away from a lead generation mindset and into a relationship cultivating mindset put everyone on the right path, and the team was officially primed for ABM success.
Tip #2: Resist the urge to dive into all types of campaigns right away
Jen shared that starting small with a crawl, walk, run approach was key before scaling.
“It’s really smart to take a step back, look at your lowest hanging fruit and start to gain some traction…celebrate those early wins and identify those metrics that matter…create alignment on what true results look like.”
By starting with their most likely to convert accounts and focusing their ABM efforts on super-pointed campaigns and programs for those targets, Jen’s team was able to prove value with their ABM efforts and scale appropriately.
Want some crawl, walk, run ABM strategy inspiration? This starter pack should do the trick.
Tip #3: Figure out which engagement metrics to track and build out a tech stack
By using Terminus data and metrics, Jen’s team was able to quickly identify key metrics that mattered to her team, and scale their programs accordingly. Here are a few key metrics that you’ll want to track for an ABM strategy at any stage:
- How many net new contacts are in front of target accounts?
- What is the meeting to opportunity conversion ratio?
- After ads are run, is there an increase in intent?
- Are keywords present in messaging starting to pop up in the intent topics being tracked?
- How are people engaging with the website?
- How does website engagement relate to engagement with marketing activities?
Making sure that you have the proper tech stack in place to measure these metrics is key, and Jen and her team relied heavily on the Terminus Data Studio to glean these important metrics.
Jen’s Favorite ABM Campaigns
One of the best things about Multi-channel ABM is that no two campaigns look alike! Each program that Jen and her team runs involves different channels, different methods of outreach, and different themes and messaging. Here are a few of Jen’s favorite campaign types, and some inspiration to help you dream big for your next multi-channel ABM campaign.
Jen’s Favorite Direct Mail Campaign:
“Direct mail has been that number one driver for me in terms of showing marketing-sourced impact on pipeline and bookings.”
Jen’s favorite Bazaarvoice direct mail campaign was a “Sip & Sparkle” kit. It was sent out with fun items that would typically make up a bar cart (but they held on the alcohol). Infographics centered around crafting the perfect user-generated content (UGC) strategy were included under the theme of mixology. The catchy tagline? “BYOB (Bring Your Own Brand) and Bazaarvoice will bring the rest.”
With Jen’s team being responsible for a certain percentage of pipeline and bookings, direct mail campaigns like this one have been a great way to showcase data-driven success with ABM. Sales has used these campaigns as door openers, deal accelerators, and to surprise and delight current customers.
Results (12 month period of all direct mail campaigns):
- $2.5 million in pipeline
- 68 opportunities
- Average deal size around $46k
- $956k in CW revenue
These results speak for themselves, but we want to emphasize that they ultimately prove the value of a coordinated marketing and sales relationship within the context of ABM.
Jen’s Favorite One-to-One Campaign:
Jen’s team used this campaign below to target an enterprise strategic account. They launched Terminus ads paired with personalized content experiences. Sales and customer success were able to leverage both to scale their messaging across a house of brands account.
Results (6 month period):
- Display click through rate is .1%, normally .06%
- An 83% lift in website engagement
- $2.8 million in pipeline
- 30 opportunities
- Average deal size around $91k
With Terminus ad engagement metrics anywhere from three to six times higher than previous average metrics (CTR, impressions, etc.), it’s safe to say that this campaign was a success.
We will leave you with one final quote, where Jen reflected on her ABM journey:
“Joining the Bazaarvoice team two years ago has been a huge pivot in the way that I view ABM and what I’ve been able to tap into from a technology standpoint.
The traction that I’ve made not only with the campaigns but also collaborating with sales has been an amazing ride.
It is a true indicator of account-based marketing success when you’ve got that full team dynamic backing you and your work.”
You can follow Jen on LinkedIn for more learnings and tips from a real ABM rock star HERE!
