Hey ,

In today’s newsletter, I’ll share with you the 8 pillars of a successful ABM strategy.

But before we get down to brass tacks, let's look at 11 reasons why most B2B companies fail at ABM.

1. FOCUSING ON NET NEW REVENUE ONLY 

The easiest way to get results fast is to accelerate the pipeline, expand the business or run a contract renewal campaign.

2. CREATING A WISH LIST OF ACCOUNTS WITH NO INTENT TO BUY

Everybody wants to have Apple's logo on their website, but if Apple has 0 interest in your product, you're going to waste your budget.

3. SKIPPING WARM-UP CAMPAIGNS

Uploading a list of accounts to LinkedIn or 6sense isn't a warm-up campaign.

You can warm up accounts only when you have 1-1 interactions with them.

4. BUILDING ACCOUNT LIST WITHOUT INTENT DATA

Instead of building an account list based on firmographic data, identify accounts that are already "aware" of your product and engaged with your content.

5. DEVELOPING A CAMPAIGN WITHOUT A CLEAR ACTIVATION PLAYBOOK

To succeed with ABM, your sales team must know when they should follow up, what they should say/write, and who they should follow up with.

Sending an automated email follow-up is definitely not an activation playbook.

6. FOCUSING ON DECISION-MAKERS ONLY INSTEAD OF THE ENTIRE BUYING COMMITTEE

Everybody wants to have a meeting with decision-makers, but booking an appointment with a senior executive from a Fortune 500 company is almost impossible.

7. SKIPPING ACCOUNT RESEARCH TO PERSONALIZE CAMPAIGNS AND PITCHES

Nobody cares about your unique value proposition and how you can help the company. The buying committee members care about their own performance and KPIs.

So, optimize your pitch accordingly.

8. NOT SETTING DISQUALIFICATION CRITERIA

The fact that the account fits your firmographics criteria doesn’t mean it’s a good fit. The more disqualification «red flags» you’ll set up, the better your list will be.

9. MAKING DECISIONS FAST ABOUT WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN’T

If your sales cycle is above 6 months, don’t get caught up by making fast decisions about what works and what doesn’t.

To measure the success of your ABM campaign you need to set up leading indicators like:

• The number of engaged accounts

• The number of positive replies

• The number of SQOs (sales-qualified opportunities)

• The sales pipeline value

10.) BUYING AN EXPENSIVE TECH STACK INSTEAD OF DEVELOPING THE ABM PROCESS 

Software can’t replace the process, it only helps to refine it. Develop your ABM process first.

11.) LAUNCHING A MASS CAMPAIGN FROM THE BAT

The more accounts you’ll have in a pilot campaign, the harder it will be to launch the campaign properly and get the results.

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There is one thing I wish more B2B companies knew: ABM is not a magic wand that can easily convert any company into your customer. Instead, it is a strategic motion to identify companies that need your product, personalize your solution to them, and generate long-term customers.

That said, let’s jump to the 8 pillars of a successful ABM strategy. But before that, let me quickly announce our next live summit of this year.

Full-Funnel B2B Marketing Summit ‘23 

This year's lineup is incredible. 18 actionable keynotes. 3 tracks. Free to attend. 5 gifts👇

8 pillars of a successful ABM strategy

1. 𝐀𝐁𝐌 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬

There are 4 goals ABM helps to achieve:

• Net new revenue - generate sales opportunities

• Pipeline acceleration - win stalled opportunities

• Expansion - upselling or cross-selling to existing customers

• Renewal / Churn prevention - renewing contracts with key customers

Make sure to include all 4 campaigns in your marketing plan.

2. 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞 (𝐈𝐂𝐏)

ICP includes:

• Firmographics

• Buying committee

• Account qualification

• Account segmentation

• Account enrichment

3. 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠

• Engagement threshold to identify engaged accounts

• Sources of intent data

• Account-ICP fit

Make sure all accounts are qualified and fit ICP. Avoid broad targeting or creating a wish list.

4. 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠

• Account key initiatives, strategies, and goals.

• The role of every buying committee in the strategic initiatives, their KPIs, needs, and challenges

• Value proposition mapping: how exactly your product fits their needs and what value it brings.

5. 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤

• Warm-up: how marketing and sales will create awareness inside buying committee, connect and engage with them;

• Activation: how sales should activate accounts;

• Nurturing: how marketing and sales will stay in touch with target accounts

6. 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐭

Here is the lean ABM team setup and 5 core functions

- A Senior ABM manager

Somebody who has experience in marketing & selling to enterprises understands the role and goals of ABM and can be in charge of developing an ABM strategy, campaign planning & orchestration.

- A Researcher

A person who is in charge of intent data tracking, account qualification, and account and buying committee research.

- A Copywriter

- A Designer

- An SDR

7. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤

If you are building a pilot ABM motion, don't buy an expensive stack. Start with Sales Navigator and website traffic reveal software.

If you have robust processes and if you’re scaling ABM, you may want to consider more expensive software to enhance your processes.

8. 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠.

Define key metrics and leading indicators for all 4 campaigns.

Create simple dashboards to track campaign performance.

Align everybody on reporting.

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The success of account-based marketing lies not in your stack or budget, but in solid foundations.

Make sure you have a team and skillset that can dedicate enough time to developing ABM strategy and maintaining the motion.

Upcoming community events

How to create a brand strategy for a B2B Company?

Event Information

​Join Andrei, Stapho Thienpont, and Stef Hamerlinck (brand builder at Alan) tomorrow. They’ll be sharing:

• ​The step-by-step process to creating a B2B brand strategy

• ​How to make sure people recognize and connect with your brand at every stage of the funnel

• How to get media attention for your brand

Best shares from Trenches Community

• 3 simple and idiot-proof steps to make alignment happen

• Here is the role of marketing in a B2B Company

• Instead of replicating what your competitors are doing, and looking for growth hacks, you need to take a radically different approach

• Here is why and how to measure pipeline velocity

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Adechina ODJO