ABM

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO

The purpose of this Demand Metric guide is to
explain what ABM is, why it is replacing traditional
Demand Generation strategies, and how to
practically implement an ABM strategy.
Table of Contents

What Is ABM?
PART 4
Why ABM?

PART ABM Success Stories: A Tiered Approach 19

PART How to ABM: A Step-by-Step Implementation Guide 25

PART ABM Troubleshooting: Common Challenges and Solutions 57

PART Action Plan: How to Adopt an ABM Strategy 65

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO ABM

PART I

What Is ABM? Why ABM?

6 ABM Defined 13 ABM Solves Common Business Challenges
8 The Road to Modern B2B Marketing 17 The Shift in the Role of Marketing
10 ABM: The Past Five Years
PART I

What Is ABM?
WHAT IS ABM? ■
ABM Defined
All effective marketers know
that their job is to get the right
message to the right person in
the right way at the right time.
Account-based marketing (ABM) is
one specific way of doing exactly
that in the B2B setting, and as
such, it’s hardly a new idea.
The coining of the term and
associated buzz over the last
five years is the result of new
technologies that allow marketers
to implement the strategy at scale.
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO ABM
ABM’s core characteristics include identi-
fying a subset of high-potential accounts
and collaborating with sales to personalize
engagement with each account’s stake-
holders, thereby closing deals on accounts
that offer maximum bang for marketing
department bucks.
Ultimately, it is a strategic B2B marketing
approach that aligns sales and marketing
efforts to target the right accounts, resulting
in more meaningful and profitable customer
engagement.
Many have heard of ABM by other names: target
account marketing or strategic account marketing.
6
WHAT IS ABM? ■ ABM DEFINED

Peter Isaacson explains the term and its evolution this way:

PETER ISAACSON
CMO
Demandbase

“The ITSMA [Information Technology Services Marketing Association] consulting and

research group gets credit for coining the term ‘account-based marketing’ back in 2004.
But it was really just something that focused on companies that were targeting very,
very large companies…That was it for over a decade. What changed was technology…
that allowed you to start scaling account-based marketing programs. And instead of
just reaching one or two or three accounts, you could actually start doing personalized
account-based approaches through advertising and website personalization and other
means that would actually target 50 or 500 or even 5,000 accounts. And it was the
introduction of this technology, and the ability to scale an ABM program, which led to the
explosion of account-based marketing that you’re seeing today.”

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO ABM 7

WHAT IS ABM? ■

The Road to Modern B2B Marketing

In the mid-nineties, activity identifiable as Instead of engaging with their audience

ABM today was primarily associated with
field marketing tactics and an event-centric
approach. Organizations have long focused
on “wining and dining” potential buyers of
key sales accounts, relying on in-person
events to develop one-on-one relationships
with potential buyers.
Marketers would utilize trade shows, sur-
veys, direct mail, and other tactics. In 2004,
the ITSMA coined the phrase “account-
based marketing,” and in 2006, a notable
shift in the scalability of marketing efforts
began. Here the digital revolution, and the
role of the modern B2B marketer, began to
change in earnest.
directly, B2B marketers began to use a
combination of direct marketing and digital
Fast forwarding to 2020,
approaches. Marketo reports that now
90% of buying behavior is
Multi-channel marketing automation
self-directed and occurs online
software surfaced as a solution to replace
email-centric platforms, adding new through multiple channels.
channels to reach buyers.
Ironically, the transition to digital marketing
increased expectations for personaliza-
tion and a human touch. Today’s buyer
now expects this personalized experience
across all channels.

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO ABM 8

WHAT IS ABM? ■ THE ROAD TO MODERN B2B MARKETING

As buyer expectations increase, brands More importantly, sales teams don’t want
must not only provide personalized multi- poor quality leads or, worse, leads from
channel campaigns, but also laser-focused accounts that were never the right fit.
messaging catered to the individuals on the Requiring sales teams to follow up with high
buying team. volumes of leads detracts from the overall
sales process. As a result, sales teams often
Many marketing organizations fail to meet
undervalue and distrust lead generation
these expectations for more than a few
strategies.
accounts because they lack the supporting
technologies. This environment set the stage for account-
based marketing to emerge as a key modern
While a focus on inbound, demand gen-
marketing strategy.
eration, and lead nurturing can enable
companies to send higher volumes of
qualified leads to sales, assigning qualified
inbound leads to sales often results in a
lack of alignment to sales strategies. Most
traditional sales organizations focus on
accounts, not leads.

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO ABM 9

WHAT IS ABM? ■

ABM: The Past Five Years

Since 2015, Demand Metric has been at the forefront of ABM research.
A close look at past ABM studies reveals that while martech options have grown explosively, As detailed subsequently
many companies face the same core ABM challenges. in this report (see ABM
Troubleshooting section), ABM
maturity level remains perhaps
the key differentiator between
successful and ineffective
ABM programs.
D OW N LOA D R E S E A R C H

The last five years of ABM

The Demand Metric “High Performance
ABM Capabilities Benchmark Report”
revealed a sharp divide in strategic
approaches to ABM (and ABM success)
based on maturity level.
research confirms that the
strategy is not an automatic
ticket to success; reaping
benefits requires seeing a
thoughtful approach through
to the finish line.

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO ABM 10

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