Mary-Anne Baldwin and Andy Bacon, B2B Marketing
The biggest challenge faced by ABM practitioners is sourcing information on their accounts, a survey of over 300 B2B marketers. Some 86% of B2B marketers find sourcing data and insight on their accounts either a challenge or a big challenge, results from our free ABM report show.
Mary-Anne Baldwin, head of content at B2B Marketing, showed marketers how they could overcome this challenge by focusing on the main elements of ABM delivery.
More than half, 51%, of B2B marketers are using ABM to win new business, versus 34% using it to grow existing accounts. This means starting from scratch with your data and insight as marketers. Selecting existing accounts under a one-to-one approach is the easiest place to start ABM.
The CRM system is the backbone of your ABM programme so ensure it’s used effectively. Think about how upgrades, training or incentives could help improve its use. It’s crucial marketing uses the CRM system just as effectively as sales so it can be equally informed on their accounts.
Don’t mistake friendliness with alignment. Just because you can have a pint with the guys in sales doesn’t mean you’re aligned. True alignment means crystal clear objectives and shared responsibility. Sales need to be equally involved as marketing.
You can use ABM campaigns and content to source more intel on your customers. Maersk used bespoke content to engage key stakeholders on LinkedIn, then moved them to a live chat facility where they asked the customers all about their business challenges. For more insights take a look at our premium report, Early stage ABM: Plotting your route to success.