Programmatic ABM
Article | June 9, 2022
Many marketers define ABM as good B2B marketing. Targeting the right accounts at the right time with an appropriate message is the golden aim of account-based marketing (ABM). ABM ensures not only reach but also accuracy.
In an interview with Media 7, Ryan Phelan, Marketing Chief / Fractional CMO at Origin Email, talked about the importance of ABM technology and the challenges in marketing after the COVID-19 pandemic began.
"B2B companies should adopt ABM technology to level up their communications and react quickly."
ABM technology enables marketers to hit pipeline and revenue targets swiftly while working alongside sales teams.
Salesforce provides ABM automation to its clients using AI Einstein technology in their Customer Success Platform. But what does Salesforce’s ABM platform look like? How are they finding accounts that need a sophisticated AI-run ABM marketing platform?
How Salesforce Created Its ABM Program
Salesforce considered B2B buyer behavior (purchase intent and engagement) to deliver a solid marketing and sales experience for each of its strategic accounts. Accordingly, it took the following steps to kick-start its ABM program:
Defining ABM
Salesforce ABM marketing team handles campaigns that target 300 or fewer accounts.
An ABM program can have many approaches. It can be 1: Many, 1: Few, or 1:1. The smaller the radius of the process, the more hyper-focused the campaign, content, budget, and customer journeys are.
By simply aligning their approach strategy with defined ABM, Salesforce achieved larger deal sizes, higher sales win rates, higher ROI, and faster revenue growth compared to other marketing strategies. It suitably approached accounts that it thought were high value and showed buyer intent for their products and services.
Choosing a Suitable Account-based Platform
Salesforce was aware that it would have to engage a variety of vendors and platforms to run its ABM program smoothly. It had to go beyond building a foundation for its program. For that, it needed dedicated tools and resources. Without account-based partners that could provide them with these tools and resources,it would be difficult to implement their program. They chose RollWorks as their account-based partner, to set up their ABM program.
Putting Together a Dedicated Team to Ensure ABM Program’s Success
Creating a single team to support and execute the ABM program was crucial before launching the ABM campaigns Salesforce had planned. They had teams who knew what ABM was all about; they even ran campaigns in silos. So, Salesforce pooled its ABM resources and formed a single team to carry out ABM-related operations.
Identifying Strategic Target Accounts
With the support of technology, Salesforce validated the list of target accounts and filtered out accounts that weren’t such a good fit using their first-party data. They made sure they looked at all the possible data they had, including third-party, so there was no scope for error. As a result, they had a list of high-value accounts with an ideal customer profile (ICP).
Engaging the Target Accounts
After the target accounts were identified, Salesforce ran campaigns of highly customized content for each stage of the sales journey to entice prospects. Once the prospects entered the sales pipeline, hyper-personalized messages, ads, and emailers were sent to them using AI.
Using Data for Continued Engagement
Salesforce ABM campaigns used all available data to create new or repurpose existing content assets like customer stories, consultation forms, research reports, and blog posts to nurture the leads at every stage.
Cultivating Customer Relationships
Using a specially created ABM dashboard, Salesforce monitored its campaign results to understand which content its leads engaged with the most. Then, it removed the content that did not generate engagement to streamline engagement with previous unengaged leads. The secret was to create humane content that didn’t have buzzwords, consistently maintain brand voice and tone, and make special content that the leads could resonate with.
Educating and engaging the leads increased the deal sizes and customer lifetime value. Holistic reporting helped them evolve their ABM strategy continuously.
By creating a robust ABM program that took care of its targeting accounts’ evolving needs, pain points, and expectations, Salesforce saw a 24 percent faster revenue growth and an 87 percent higher ROI.
How Salesforce Got a 30 Percent Close Rate by Using ABM Technology
While promoting their Boston World Tour Series, Salesforce used ABM campaigns to get registrations. One out of their fourtarget accounts engaged with their content, and an average of five contacts per account engaged with them. In six weeks, they got in touch with 410 target accounts, of which 110 engaged with them. They achieved a 30 percent close rate for their campaign.
Creating an ABM Program like Salesforce
Salesforce has come a long way by using ABM technology to expand its offerings. It has AI-powered products, tools, and services that provide ABM automation to other companies. For example, their ABM Salesforce Marketing Cloud product has helped brands like Herman Miller achieve a 200% increase in their email revenue.
To create an effective ABM program like Salesforce, you can use their steps as a blueprint. These steps apply to all kinds of businesses, but if you still don’t know how and where to start, find the answers to the following questions to comprehend what you can do next:
Do you think ABM is right for your business?
Are there any customer accounts that require special attention?
Can your business fund expert consultation for ABM and eventually an ABM program?
Once you find the answers to the above questions, you can take your first step towards building an effective ABM program that can help you scale your business.
Conclusion
ABM technology is revolutionizing B2B marketing by harnessing AI and targeted approaches, personalization, and automation using high-quality intent data. Implementing an effective ABM strategy is crucial to driving ROIs and growth.
FAQ
How does ABM differ from a traditional lead generation marketing strategy?
ABM helps you target high-value accounts with hyper-personalized content, instead of presenting generic content to unclassified accounts.
What is an ABM platform?
An ABM platform is a technology that helps marketers run their ABM programs at scale.
Why is ABM important in your marketing efforts?
With the help of ABM, marketers may be able to shorten their sales cycle, increase their marketing involvement in the sales funnel, and achieve a high ROI.
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Buyer Intent Data
Article | September 11, 2023
Discover the key to enhancing marketing expertise through a carefully curated selection of top buyer intent data books to create effective targeted and customer-centric marketing campaigns.
In the dynamic marketing world, achieving a competitive edge requires a deep understanding of buyer intent data. Businesses can gain invaluable insights into their target audience's preferences, needs, and motivations by deciphering the intricacies of buyer intent. With the ability to unlock valuable insights into consumer preferences and behaviors, buyer intent data empowers businesses to create targeted and effective marketing strategies.
This article presents a curated selection of expert-level books that will empower businesses and marketers to master buyer intent data and optimize their marketing strategies. As the marketing landscape continues to evolve rapidly, businesses and marketers must explore the top books that delve into this subject matter and assist them in creating customized strategies, enhancing customer experiences, and driving meaningful business outcomes.
1. Total Customer Growth: Win and Grow Customers for Life with ABM and ABX
Author: Adam Turinas and Ben Person
A comprehensive guide, Total Customer Growth: Win and Grow Customers for Life with ABM and ABX, unveils the power of Account-Based Marketing (ABM) and Account-Based Experience (ABX) in driving long-term customer growth and loyalty. Authored by industry experts Adam Turinas and Ben Person, the book offers a strategic framework for businesses to adopt a holistic approach toward building a sustainable, long-term business model. It also explains in detail how-to guides, strategic rationales, examples, and references to online resources.
2. No Forms. No Spam. No Cold Calls: The Next Generation of Account-Based Sales and Marketing
Author: Latané Conant
No Forms. No Spam. No Cold Calls: The Next Generation of Account-Based Sales and Marketing by Latané Conant is a groundbreaking book that revolutionizes traditional sales and marketing approaches by introducing a forward-thinking strategy for account-based success. It delivers an enlightening and engaging guide for salespeople and marketers on how to use technology to identify prospects and place them at the center of all they do. Conant, an esteemed industry expert, reveals strategies for building a tech stack that prioritizes their customers and ways for chief marketing officers to stop playing defense and go on offense.
3. Innovative B2B Marketing: New Models, Processes and Theory
Author: Simon Hall
With extensive expertise and profound industry insights, Simon Hall introduces readers to avant-garde strategies, cutting-edge models, and transformative processes that challenge conventional B2B marketing practices in his book, Innovative B2B Marketing: New Models, Processes and Theory. The book goes beyond the ordinary, offering practical examples, real-world case studies, and theoretical frameworks that empower marketing professionals to embrace creativity, adaptability, and customer-centricity in their B2B endeavors. It is an indispensable resource for marketing practitioners, strategists, and visionary leaders seeking to redefine the boundaries of B2B marketing and take their organizations to new heights of success.
4. Revenue Operations: A New Way to Align Sales & Marketing, Monetize Data, and Ignite Growth
Author: Stephen G. Diorio and Chris K. Hummel
Authored by renowned experts Stephen G. Diorio and Chris K. Hummel, Revenue Operations: A New Way to Align Sales & Marketing, Monetize Data, and Ignite Growth introduces the concept of Revenue Operations (RevOps) as a transformative strategy for organizations. It explains in detail how to connect the dots across an increasingly complex technology ecosystem to simplify selling and accelerate revenue expansion. This essential read is a compass for executives, sales and marketing professionals, and business leaders aiming to unlock their organization's full potential and achieve sustained success in today's dynamic marketplace.
5. Account-Based Growth: Unlocking Sustainable Value Through Extraordinary Customer Focus
Author: Bev Burgess and Tim Shercliff
A groundbreaking guide, Account-Based Growth: Unlocking Sustainable Value Through Extraordinary Customer Focus, explores the transformative power of account-based growth strategies in the realm of business-to-business (B2B) marketing. Drawing on their extensive expertise and real-world experiences, Bev Burgess and Tim Shercliff provide a robust framework for businesses to align their marketing, sales, customer success and executives around the customers. Each element of the framework is brought to life through viewpoints from industry experts and case studies from leading organizations, including Accenture, Fujitsu, Infosys, SAP, Salesforce, ServiceNow and Telstra.
6. Customer Data Platforms: Use People Data to Transform the Future of Marketing Engagement
Author: Martin Kihn and Christopher B. O'Hara
Authored by industry experts, Martin Kihn and Christopher B. O'Hara, Customer Data Platforms: Use People Data to Transform the Future of Marketing Engagement delves into the transformative capabilities of customer data platforms (CDPs) and their profound impact on marketing strategies. The book offers a deep understanding of CDPs and explains how to use AI and machine learning to drive the future of personalization. With this knowledge, marketers can create a data-driven culture that puts customers at the center and craft personalized and targeted campaigns that resonate with their audience, fostering meaningful connections and driving long-term loyalty.
7. Transforming the B2B Buyer Journey: Maximize Brand Value, Improve Conversion Rates and Build Loyalty
Author: Antonia Wade
Transforming the B2B Buyer Journey: Maximize Brand Value, Improve Conversion Rates, And Build Loyalty is a compelling and insightful book that illuminates the path to revolutionizing the B2B buyer journey. Written by an award-winning Chief Marketing Officer, Antonia Wade, the book provides a step-by-step guide to mapping the buyer journey, metrics, aligning channels, and tactics according to their needs at each stage. With a keen focus on the buyer's journey, the book provides practical insights and real-world examples of how to reengineer marketing's relationship with sales and develop marketing as a real lever for business growth.
Conclusion
As marketing continues to evolve, mastering buyer intent data is crucial for marketers aiming to succeed in 2023 and beyond. The curated list of expert-level books provides valuable insights, strategies, and frameworks to help marketers effectively harness buyer intent data's power. Marketers can tailor their strategies, enhance customer experiences, and drive meaningful business outcomes by understanding the nuances of buyer intent.
Armed with this knowledge, they can create highly tailored and engaging campaigns that resonate with customers on a profound level, ultimately driving increased brand affinity, customer loyalty, and revenue growth. Immerse in these top books and unlock the potential of buyer intent data to propel your marketing expertise to new heights.
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Buyer Intent Data
Article | August 23, 2022
Gay Pride or LGBTQ+ Pride is the promotion of dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ+) people as a social group.
Pride, as opposed to shame and social stigma, is the predominant outlook that bolsters most LGBTQ+ rights movements. LGBTQ+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, while the '+' is an inclusive symbol meaning 'and others' to include people of all identities.
It's a celebration of people coming together in love and friendship to show how far LGBTQ+ rights have come and how there's still work to be done in some places. Pride events range from solemn to carnivalesque and are typically held during LGBTQ+ Pride Month or other periods that commemorate a turning point in a country's LGBTQ+ history. For example, Moscow Pride in May for the anniversary of Russia's 1993 decriminalization of homosexuality.
A short history of Pride
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) Pride Month is celebrated every year in June to honor the Stonewall Riots that took place on 28 June 1969 – a rebellion led by trans women of color that acted as a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States.
However, the Stonewall Riots weren’t the first time the LGBTQ+ community organized to stand up for their cause. The Society for Human Rights was founded by US Army soldier Henry Gerber in 1924 and produced the US’ first-ever gay rights newsletter, ‘Freedom & Friendship’ – inspired by the work of the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, an organization dedicated to overturning Germany’s anti-homosexual rulings at the time.
In the 1950s, Harry Hay founded The Mattachine Society in Southern California to provide a space for gays and lesbians to gather and discuss their experiences as homosexuals. While The Daughters of Bilitis was one of the first lesbian organizations ever established in the US, formed in 1955 by Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin.
And in the 1960s, riots at both Compton’s Cafeteria in San Francisco and Cooper Do-Nuts in Los Angeles represented the first time that LGBTQ+ people stood up against police harassment.
Take a journey through time to explore more of the obscure political history of Pride with them.'s video featuring Billy Porter on the subject below.
Pride in 2022
Today, celebrations include pride parades, picnics, parties, workshops, and concerts. LGBTQ+ Pride Month events attract millions of participants around the world. Memorials are also held throughout the month for those members of the community who have been lost to hate crimes or HIV/AIDS.
The purpose of the commemorative month is to recognize the impact that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals have had on history locally, nationally, and internationally.
Pride Month is about acceptance, equality, celebrating the work of LGBTQ+ people, education in LGBTQ+ history, and raising awareness of issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community. It also calls for people to remember how damaging homophobia was and still can be.
Did you know?
American bisexual rights activist Brenda Howard is known as 'The Mother of Pride' after organizing the first-ever Gay Pride March in Chicago – The Christopher Street Liberation Day March on 28 June 1970
Common symbols of pride include the rainbow flag and other pride flags. Today, the Progressive Pride flag is flown and celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community
The São Paulo LGBTQ Pride Parade is the largest in the world, welcoming three to five million attendants each year
The suggestion to call the movement 'Pride' came from L. Craig Schoonmaker, who in 2015 said: A lot of people were very repressed, they were conflicted internally, and didn't know how to come out and be proud. That's how the movement was most useful, because they thought, 'Maybe I should be proud.
Since 28 June 1970, Pride events have grown bigger, bolder, and well more proud!
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Core ABM
Article | September 30, 2021
Account-based marketing has gained momentum incredibly in the B2B industry. ABM promises a higher conversion rate than any other marketing strategy. It is the best personal approach to B2B marketing.
If you are new to ABM, here is a little introduction to the strategy. ABM is creating a funnel of your clients and filtering the ones who have higher chances of conversion. Once you have the required data, your sales and marketing team can collaborate to create marketing campaigns for these exclusive clients. This strategy can overcome many challenges faced by the marketing and sales team.
Generally, the challenges faced by your businesses can be to
Drive retention with the key accounts
Deliver relevant content to exclusive customers
Boost conversion percentage with the clients most likely to convert
Build a strategy for a personalized marketing approach
Once you know what ABM is and implement it correctly, your business can easily overcome these challenges. Thus, we have provided some insights on how to overcome hurdles and excel in your ABM campaign.
How to Excel in Your ABM Campaign
According to B2B data-driven companies, personalization is the biggest challenge to succeed in ABM. Nowadays, B2B clients demand personalization like B2C clients. Now, this is a difficult task as business clients have access to business profiles. Thus, the sales and marketing teams have to develop unique ideas and make extra efforts to personalize campaigns.
So basically, this means utilizing the available data in the best way possible. But sometimes, that takes up a massive investment in terms of time and resources.
Abhi Yadav, Founder & CTO of Zylotech, says,
“Drawing intelligence from data is like pushing a boulder uphill. In most cases, it takes a team of data engineers & scientists an enormous amount of time that comes with a hefty price tag.”
So how do you minimize efforts and still excel in your ABM campaign strategy?
Well, we have six lessons that organizations have learned while implementing ABM in their marketing strategy. Some of these lessons are answers to why a particular strategy failed.
Put Yourself in Your Customer’s Shoes
If you have limited access to personal data but have plenty of professional data, put it to the correct use. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and look at the challenges they are facing at present. You can also think about their future problems and provide solutions to avoid them. Once you think like your customers, strategies and solutions become a simple task.
For example, if your targeted client is the MD or CFO of a healthcare sector. Determine how the pandemic has impacted their revenues or how they need to manage personal and government financing in these challenging times. Also, you can provide visionary solutions about future implementations for the healthcare sector.
Flip the Funnel
The traditional funnel of awareness, interest, consideration, and purchase needs to change. The implementation may work even today, but the conversion process takes time. Thus, it’s time to flip the funnel.
Flipping the funnel is the new strategy that is uprooting the traditional funnel. This method implies putting targeted organizations on the top of the funnel and then broadening it. First, it means to target the people of the organizations, then ways to connect them, and then the broadest part is to provide them with appropriate solutions.
This funnel strategy has proved to work wonders in the ABM strategy.
Personify is the leading constituent management and engagement (CME) platform. Their challenge was to create a funnel for better insights into their target market.
Their solution was to partner with product marketing and sales for an ideal customer profile (ICP). Thus the top of the funnel was sorted. Then they researched and set up personalized digital ad campaigns and sales strategies. Thus, these creative campaigns increased their brand awareness, engagement, and conversions.
They increased their on-site visitors by 39 times by implementing this strategy.
Make the Best Use of Technology
There are a plethora of tools available to strategize and implement ABM. But organizations do not make full use of these tools, leading to wastage of time, resources, and resources.
Survey the market and know there are tools developed to optimize ABM strategy and keep track of account-based metrics. Implement these tools, and you will notice that your work gets executed faster and in an intelligent way.
P.S. Human-assisted AI technologies help organizations to build compelling campaigns and optimize revenue operations.
Streamline Your Processes
Sometimes organizations do not realize that ABM requires streamlining processes with the regular ones. ABM strategies require experimentation. You have to select the strategy that suits you and your organization in the best way. Thus, ensure that your teams do not get overwhelmed by the process.
Thus, define roles, responsibilities, and the entire execution plan when the target accounts are shortlisted.
VersionOne, a cloud-based agile application life-cycle management (ALM) software provider, simplified the process by implementing data-driven approaches. Thus, VersionOne gave both teams access to monitor the ABM strategy and the success of the targeted accounts. Thus both the teams worked in collaboration and focused on segmentation. This helped in building a proper pipeline between the sales and marketing teams.
This doubled VersionOne’s sales by streamlining the processes between the sales and marketing teams.
Focus On Retention
ABM is not only targeting exclusive clients and converting them. But you have to track and retain them. Many a time clients convert and the organization forgets to follow up. Thus, it creates a void for current and future clients, as the success rate is incredibly defined by retention.
For example, small gestures like regular surveys, emails regarding workflow, and more can play an essential role for the clients to know that you care.
Do Not Refrain from Outsourcing
Outsourcing is a great way to ease out tasks and get a filtered list of high-value clients. Also, companies that specialize in data-driven technologies can provide you with more relevant information about the clients than your in-house team.
So, avail services from experienced companies and industry leaders in providing you with the best list of relevant clients. These professional organizations know the pain-point of the clients, which helps you in planning your ABM strategy.
That’s All Folks
We hope we have provided you with solutions to the hurdles that you face while strategizing ABM. Remember, ABM strategy cannot be mastered overnight. So set goals, implement ABM, learn from the results and repeat- it is that simple!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the best way to succeed in ABM?
The key idea is to focus on the personalization and retention of the clients. Your ABM strategy is likely to succeed if you provide personalized solutions to your exclusive clients. Success in your ABM strategy depends on your team, your account-based marketing campaigns, and the level of experimentation you do.
Is it okay to outsource for account-based marketing?
If your organization does not want to invest the time, resources, and technology required for ABM, it is good to outsource it. These third-party organizations can help you provide you with a list of the best clients and their information.
How important is ABM strategy?
ABM is an essential strategy as it helps to shorten the sales process and increases the conversion rate. In addition, it helps an organization concentrate on the most exclusive clients and retain them, thus generating better revenue and ROI.
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