Dr Sarah Thomas and Rhiannon Blackwell, Accenture
Account-based marketing must not be positioned as ‘just another fad’ in your organisation – it must be sold as a strategic programme that will bring strategic benefits to the business, according to Dr Sarah Thomas, CMO at Accenture Operations.
Alongside her colleague, client marketing manager and UK ABM programme leader Rhiannon Blackwell, they presented four common stakeholder personas and provided their advice on how best to get them on-board and engaged with ABM activity.
‘Kevin Keeno’: These stakeholders are raring to go, but that means they jump straight into tactics without the necessary strategy. Take a step backwards, determine the client and business’ objectives and develop the necessary insights. Don’t forget the quick wins, as these are vital for these stakeholders.
‘Debbie Downer’: This stakeholder always takes the negative view of anything you do. At Accenture, one of these claimed not to ‘do’ social. Rhiannon said they did a full audit of all their priority clients, to prove its importance.
‘Busy Ben’: This persona is enthusiastic, but never has enough time or is always looking for a shortcut. Accenture developed a messaging playbook for these clients to prevent the need to use ‘generic’ copy.
‘Olivia Over-analyser’: Such stakeholders are gripped by analysis paralysis, questioning every suggestion – with none deemed quite right for their client. This is often driven by fear, of something that hasn’t worked previously. Work our what’s driving that fear, and overcome it.