B2B Marketers Now Devote 28% Of Marketing Budgets To ABM, Study Shows

Most B2B marketers believe in account-based marketing (ABM). But it’s still a relatively new practice, according to the 2018 ABM Benchmark study, a report by ITSMA, the marketing community that pioneered the idea in early 2002; Demandbase; and the ABM Leadership Alliance.  Of those surveyed, 52% have been implementing ABM for less than one year. In contrast, 32% have had a program for one to two years, and 17% have had a program for three years or more.  Still, ABM now takes up 28% of the average B2B marketing budget, versus the 15% that it comprised five years ago. And 77% say ABM is important. The survey sample includes 207 marketers at 190 B2B technology and service companies. Most respondents are based in North America.  What is ABM? The report provides this definition: It is a “strategic approach to designing and executing highly-targeted, personalized marketing programs and initiatives to drive business growth and impact with specific, named accounts.”