Each week is like a box of chocolates for us at the Funnel Flipping HQ. We see just about every angle of account-based marketing (ABM) imaginable. This week’s roundup features shiny objects from ANNUITAS, Tech Trends from Marketo and 6Sense, Smarketing insights from Heinz Marketing, Dirty Secrets of ABM from Kathryn Roy, and a nice fancy infographic from our friends at Markistry.
1) Shiny Objects, Demand Generation and Account-Based Marketing
It seems there’s always the new hottest trend in B2B marketing and ANNUITAS points out how ABM is the latest buzzword. Before that, it was Revenue Performance Management, Chief Marketing Technology Officers and Chief Revenue Officers. It can be daunting to keep up with all the latest trendy techniques.
Flipping Points:
- While ABM is not new, technology now allows it to be done at scale.
- You still need your inbound programs to supplement your outbound ABM initiatives.
- You are still selling to people and individual stakeholders still matter.
ABM is something that marketers need to consider, but at the same time, be careful not to go so far down the ABM road they lose their bearings on what constitutes strategic demand generation best practices. — Carlos Hidalgo, CEO and Principal at ANNUITAS
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][Tweet “#ABM isn’t the new #B2BMarketing flavor of the week. @_ANNUITAS @CAHidalgo”]
2) Three Technology Trends Powering Account-Based Marketing
Technology now allows B2B marketers to scale their ABM programs like never before. Many marketers shyed away from implementing ABM before because it was simply too manual. Our friends at Marketo and 6sense share why they believe tech is fueling the ABM renaissance.
Flipping Points:
- Your target accounts leave digital footprints all over the web. Having the right tools in place allows you to better understand buyer behavior.
- It’s not enough to have the right data. You also need analytics tools that can help you make decisions and act on it.
- Time is of the essence and B2B marketers have no shortage of tasks to complete. Using tech allows you to automate workflows to drive efficiency.
The ability to access and make sense of new data sources, and automate key marketing activities, has made ABM a strategy that is implementable across the full spectrum of a company’s target market. — Amar Doshi, VP of Product at 6Sense
[Tweet “#ABM Tech allows you to better understand #CX and make sense of your #BigData @Marketo @6Sense”]
3) Why Account-Based Marketing is Key To Marketing and Sales Alignment
Involving both marketing and sales teams in an account-based marketing approach not only brings the two teams together, but gets them speaking the same language. The two teams should work together to identify target accounts and develop the best game plan to reach them.
Flipping Points:
- ABM drives brand awareness within target accounts and helps unify the message that both marketing and sales are speaking.
- Sales teams fully understand the personas they are targeting. This helps the Sales Development Reps (SDRs) to book demos with key decision-makers.
- Total Addressable Market (TAM) is defined with input from key leaders in the organization.
By looking at the world the same way – via targeted accounts that have certain characteristics, sales and marketing teams come together around revenue and customer acquisition activities. — Robert Pease, Pipeline Performance Practice Lead at Heinz Marketing
[Tweet “#ABM helps to drive #Smarketing alignment by driving input from both parties. @RobertCPease”]
4) Three Dirty Secrets of Account-Based Marketing
There are two sides to every story and ABM is certainly no exception. Every day we see a new article on why ABM rocks, but rarely do we see one that highlights some drawbacks.
Flipping Points:
- Loss reasons should be entered as detailed and accurate as possible in the CRM so marketing can course correct it’s efforts.
- Marketers wear a lot of different hats and personas might not always map as neatly as we might expect.
- When sales people send content, you often miss out on the ability to measure effectiveness.
Correcting course is much easier when you have an accurate reading on where and why you’re losing. — Kathryn Roy, Managing Partner at Precision Thinking
[Tweet “There are some dirty little secrets your #ABM friends aren’t telling you. @karoy1”]
Markistry gets right down to the point in this Infographic and blog post. The bottom line is your CEO and CFO don’t care how many clicks your tweet gets. There care about one thing and that’s revenue. So what’s a social seller to do?
Flipping Points:
- 80% of CEOs don’t trust their marketing teams because results are not reported in a way that is relevant.
- Only 10% of B2B marketers surveyed say they can show the impact of revenue on the business.
- Social media allocation in B2B marketing budgets is expected to increase in the coming years.
Your CEO and CFO only want to know whether Social Selling is a viable revenue generating tactic. – Kevin Thomas Tully, Vice President of Marketing Enablement at Markistry
[Tweet “Can you prove the ROI of #SocialSelling in your organization? @markistry”]
Want to learn more about account-based marketing from the best thought leaders and practitioners in the industry? Join us on April 1, 2016 for the #FlipMyFunnel Virtual Summit. This full day event will feature all sessions from our #FlipMyFunnel San Francisco event. Watch any session at any time throughout the day. We promise this isn’t an April Fools Joke. 🙂
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