On October 22, we held a fireside chat with Sangram Vajre, co-founder of Terminus, author, and #FlipMyFunnel Podcast Host. Cybersecurity Marketing Society co-founder Maria Velasquez and Vajre discussed the myths behind account-based marketing and what makes an ABM strategy successful.
The Rise of ABM
As a staunch proponent of ABM, Vajre initially realized that marketing needed to change. He said, “There has to be a better way to recognize that your role as a marketer is to drive business outcomes, and I wanted to find a way to get closer to the revenue, not by all these vanity metrics that can be easily put on a spreadsheet, but talking about the accounts that salespeople focus on.”
Because the value of marketing is defined by sales, the marketer’s job is to produce business results. Traditionally, marketers have focused on leads and metrics such as website traffic. However, “Focusing on leads gives us a false sense of security that we’re driving business.”
ABM shifts the conversation away from focusing on leads to attracting better accounts and generating quality conversations. Most salespeople have an existing understanding of accounts—titles such as “account executives” clearly show this.
Vajre argues that marketers should work on accounts rather than leads. He stresses that “your job as a marketer should be to help salespeople prioritize what accounts to go after on a daily or weekly basis. If you can do that, you’re actually way ahead of the game.” If you’re not aiding in prioritizing accounts, you’re probably not doing your job efficiently.
When marketers know what accounts salespeople are working on, they can better engage those accounts through webinars, podcasts, and industry-specific content. Not only does this benefit the marketer and the salesperson, but it provides a personalized experience for the account. The ABM approach also helps sales close accounts to meet revenue goals.
Who Should Develop an ABM Strategy?
There are many questions surrounding what types of companies should develop an ABM strategy and how large a company’s ACV be. Vajre noted that it doesn’t depend on the size of your own company but rather the types of customers you’re serving and what value you are trying to create.
Companies with ACVs that are $25,000 and less tend to struggle to make a return in the short-term because ROI needs to be shown really quickly. Because that ROI is marked by a fast-paced model that includes leads and engagement, the value of ABM isn’t readily shown because it demands extensive time, effort, and planning.
In addition, companies should consider how long their sales cycles are. A shorter sales cycle, such as 3-6 months, isn’t conducive to ABM. Furthermore, ABM needs around 4-5 people in the decision-making process because everyone needs to be fully on board for a successful strategy,
Side Effects of ABM
With any strategy, there are positive and negative outcomes. For ABM, Vajre outlined two benefits: customer retention and marketing and sales alignment.
He said, “Your customer retention rate goes up because you took the time to figure out who the customers are, and now you’re dialed into that.” Because you’re targeting the right customers, you avoid a leaky bucket, boosting retention. This is a benefit that not many companies discuss.
The tension between sales and marketing is always a constant issue. But with ABM, “sales and marketing will have a common language.” This common language derives from both teams working on the same account, fostering more understanding and an environment where “you’re not justifying your existence all the time.”
A solid ABM strategy isn’t achieved on the first try. The first few times Terminus tried to implement ABM, the company failed because the marketing and sales teams weren’t aligned. Vajre learned that both departments have to buy into which accounts they want to go after.
He said, “The big telltale sign that it isn’t working is that no one is following up on those accounts.” This effect is indicative of a disconnect between marketing and sales because the sales follow up is key to an ABM strategy.
Furthermore, a constant concern that arises is the expense of ABM. But from experience, Vajre discussed how people were spending less money with ABM for more results. ABM takes more time and planning, but doesn’t necessarily cost more money.
ABM During COVID
COVID has changed every field, and ABM is no exception. Webinar fatigue is prevalent, but if you create webinars that are relevant, people will be interested.
Vajre learned from a successful past webinar that you need to make it industry-specific, provide an intimate conversation with a few speakers, have no slides, and discuss a few questions.
The key takeaway is to build relationships instead of creating one-way conversations. Do the work to bring people together, and they build relationships without you trying to sell them anything. Successful companies have created communities that have allowed them to grow on a larger scale.
As he summed up: “Help build a community around the problem not the product.”
How to Start an ABM Strategy Now
ABM is 100% strategy. Not a technology. ABM may seem daunting because it appears to require several types of technology. However, you actually need less tech because you need to do less.
Varje emphasized that “No one is going to become an ABM expert using one tool.” Companies that combine high tech and high touch will be able to reach their customers on a comprehensive level.
Almost any company can start developing an ABM strategy right now with a list of contacts, a marketing automation or email platform, and a TEAM strategy. TEAM includes targeting, engaging, activating, and measuring: Figure out who to target, how to engage with them (ads, direct mail, webinar, etc.), how to activate the sales team, and how to measure success.
If you’re interested in learning more about building out a holistic ABM strategy, you can watch the fireside chat here! For upcoming cybersecurity marketing speaker events, follow Cybersecurity Marketing Society on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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