Account-based marketing (ABM) is being lauded by marketers in B2B organizations as the best new way to drive revenue, according to the State of ABM Report from Terminus — and we agree. Due in large part to the economic pressures of Covid-19, ABM as a trend gained tremendous momentum in 2020, as marketers grappled with shrinking budgets and the need to generate more revenue faster. With 48 percent reporting that their marketing budgets were reduced in 2020, making the most of their available funds by honing their efforts to focus on targeted accounts was an essential strategy.
However, shifting to ABM from more traditional marketing outreach doesn’t happen overnight, and marketers will inevitably experience some trials and tribulations along the way.
In a recent DemandGen Radio episode, David Lewis explored the topic with Trimble Transportation’s (now with Demandbase) Moira van den Akker. Trimble Transportation empowers the transportation supply chain with solutions to improve resource utilization and maximize freight coverage. As Senior Manager of Digital and Demand Generation, Moira, experienced first-hand the challenges of launching an ABM program.
During the podcast, Moira spoke of her journey and the obstacles she faced. Additionally, she and David offered valuable advice on how to overcome common roadblocks on the way to ABM, such as how to get buy-in from Sales and the Executive team, how to decide which accounts to target, what technologies to use, and more.
David: BDO Digital recommends the TEAM approach, an acronym for Targeting, Engagement, Activation and Measurement. How did you handle Targeting when you first started planning for your ABM pilot?
Moira: One of the interesting challenges we faced is that our Sales team didn’t have a named account list. Unfortunately, we had some data issues. We wanted to focus on a cross-sell/expansion play and identify accounts that had certain products but not others. Not having that high-quality customer data made targeting pretty tough for us.
David: Starting with the installed base to turn them into higher-value customers is a great place to start with ABM. And not having data was a bump in the road on your journey. And that’s ok — everyone has them. What other challenges did you face?
Moira: I had been with this group for a year and a half, and at first, we didn’t have a strong lead management framework. Marketing wasn’t really driving leads. We engaged with DemandGen (now BDO Digital) to build our volume of leads and develop an ABM pilot. We had just gotten our lead gen engine off the ground, and were seeing triple-digit growth, year-over-year. We built some rigor and rhythm around it, and then we asked Sales to consider different metrics and a different approach. That’s when I ran into some issues. An interesting question I had to ask myself is how to balance the conversation around mixing ABM with traditional lead generation efforts, while introducing ABM to the Sales team.
David: That’s foundational. It’s not a question of moving from lead generation to account based marketing; it’s more of a layered approach. You have to lay your account-based efforts on top of your lead management framework and demand funnel. Take Trimble, for example. You’re an individual who works for Trimble, but you aren’t the only person involved in the buying decision. If others in your organization visit our website, we need to capture and score those leads and associate them with the account, because they’re part of the buying committee.
Why was it challenging to get help with identifying target accounts?
Moira: We thought we had a champion on our Sales team, and I’d spoken with him a few times about doing an ABM pilot. But in the end, he was reluctant to support the effort. That was a significant hurdle for us. Now, I’m working directly with the VP of Sales and deciding on the best approach.
David: Sometimes the best place to find an advocate is on the Customer Success team. They often know a lot more about what accounts to target. The Sales team’s core competency is to build trust and rapport. They’re very good at taking the leads Marketing gives them, qualifying, and doing discovery. But they’re not data scientists. They’re not accustomed to finding common patterns. I think that’s why many teams struggle with targeting, because determining the best accounts to target isn’t really in their skill set. So, what do you do? You can use technology and ask qualitative questions. Finding the right targets takes a combination of data science and discovery.
What channels does Trimble use to engage with buyers?
Moira: In the COVID era, everything is digital. We use Uberflip for content management, and there are lots of opportunities to personalize playbooks there. We’ve had a lot of success with 6sense as well. We were able to get it up and running easily, and by the second week, we had campaigns running. It’s interesting to hear how our account reps are using it, and looking at the insights it provides, such as a prospect’s location and intent keywords that are showing up, so they can use them in their outreach.
David: I don’t know about you but I’m so excited in this era, to be in Marketing because of the tools and technologies we have available today. In B2C, we’re getting very sophisticated from a digital body language perspective and using data. Does the potential for how we can leverage data excite you, too?
Moira: What’s interesting is knowing that as a marketer, and especially in this ABM journey, is the ability to share the information we have with our internal partners and the value we can provide to the business. We have all these tools at our disposal, and it gives Marketing more authority.
David: You’ve had some progress, tons of learnings, some setbacks and challenges. What’s next for your ABM journey? Where do you want to be with it by the end of this year?
Moira: So far, this has been a pilot. I think we still have some customer expansion work to do, but we’re pivoting to look at creating net new opportunities. We have Leadspace and a few tools that can help us figure out look-alikes, and we’ll work to prove out a model that shows a greater ROI in those target accounts. We’re also bringing new metrics to the Sales team to get everyone on the same page. We’ll continue to drive heavy growth with our inbound marketing and pair it with more targeted efforts.
David: B2B marketers are embracing tools and technologies to do targeted marketing and advertising, and they’re using profiling technology, as well. And when you think about your core competencies in Marketing, you have to decide whether you’re going to focus on the science of marketing or the art of marketing — which are two very different skill sets. Ideally, you want a little bit of both. What’s next for you? Where do you plan to keep learning and focusing your passions?
Moira: A hybrid of science and art is where the magic happens. I love data — it does excite me, especially when you’re looking at the results and how to optimize your efforts based on what the data says. But you have to have creativity, as well. You need to understand your customers’ personas — who they are and what they care about. So, for me, a hybrid approach is best.
Start with the Right Tools
Knowing what technology you need for a successful ABM program is an essential first step — and there are many choices. During the interview, David shared some of his recommendations about what platforms can help teams get off the ground with ABM and pointed listeners to a video series that covers how to use Demandbase One.
You can also listen to a replay of the full podcast with Moira, or find other episodes featuring outstanding marketing leaders at demandgenradio.com.
The post ABM Trials and Tribulations: A Q&A with Moira van den Akker appeared first on DemandGen.