You likely don’t need another reminder that the pandemic shook how marketers do business (there are enough headlines on that for you to manage), but the impact continues to shape the day-to-day and long-term decisions marketers are faced with. Prior to the pandemic, marketers were already challenged with personalization at scale and proving ROI. But with in-person events at a major halt, budgets re-evaluated, and channel mix-up for debate — marketers had to revisit their ABM strategy. Unbenounced to them, the next generation of ABM was also being created, hello ABX.
The Acronym Era: ABM, ABX, ABS, AB(?)
As we’ve been saying for years — it already isn’t just ABM, especially the ‘M.’ It’s account-based everything (sales, operations, success, marketing — all working together). And now with the ushering of another acronym, account-based experience (ABX) is the approach of taking intent and engagement signals to develop far more customized campaigns at the account and human level.
The goal? Creating emotional connections with your full buying committee through immersive engagement-boosting connections at every touchpoint. With this focus, marketers need to build dynamic audiences that respond in step with account behavior, versus one-size-fits-all approaches. This only proves what we’ve known to be true: the importance of leveraging intent and engagement data to identify relevant assets and create trigger-based campaigns. Once you break down the acronyms, it’s all about using the right data, at the right time, for the right accounts — generating pipeline, closing bigger deals, and driving revenue.
Growing marketer momentum for all things account-based
While the account-based acronyms grow, it’s undeniable that marketers who haven’t yet joined the club are quickly on their way... In fact, one-third of marketers who’ve never gotten started with ABM are planning to invest in it for the first time this year. Among the many needs for this investment, a big one is to reach buying committees more effectively (hello ABX). The number of decision-makers is only increasing, making the buyer journey an even more complex landscape. Here’s a look at how this investment will enable marketers to shape the industry even more in 2022.
1. A Stage-Specific Measurement Approach To Optimize Conversion
Out with the old and in with the new. Marketers will change how they measure accounts. The traditional approach of measuring leads through pre-defined stages has now shifted to measuring accounts as they move through custom-defined stages.
We are becoming more visual when it comes to viewing account progression from unaware all the way to post-sale. This ensures marketing and sales teams are now working off the same playbook and ultimately increases the quality of marketing hand-offs to sales reps.
2. Deepen The Effectiveness Of Inbound
By now, it's clear for most evolving marketers that inbound alone can’t support your revenue engine on its own. This is where ABM comes into play, helping you get laser-focused on high-value target accounts. This doesn't mean more work for marketers. This can be done by amplifying the use of 1:Many channels by targeting only best-fit accounts. Overall, marketers are grasping how inbound and ABM are a tag team to drive ROI. Make the most of those integration partnerships for faster (and improved) results!
3. Achieve Alignment With GTM Teams (Finally!)
35% of B2B marketing leaders “will prioritize improving marketing alignment and collaboration with other departments over the next two years.” It's important to note that alignment goes beyond just agreeing on goals because actions speak louder than words. Simply saying you 'want' to work toward the same things is not the same as taking action in the big shift. The big shift where teams understand that ABM is key to sales acceleration to automate faster sales cycles. Revenue teams can then focus on the higher quality opportunities that will drive the most revenue growth. We get it, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. It comes down to how you implement ABM into your own organization, the sophistication of your current marketing function and team.
Marketers will be challenged to use the right data to create meaningful, personal experiences for the entire account journey. At the end of the day, you don’t always have to use templates that are provided to you. It's all about what account-based approaches work best for your unique company — and despite current trends, always know that you have the power to create a strategy that works for YOU.
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