Introduction: Why ABM is taking over

67% of brands are leveraging account-based marketing in 2020

The new kid on the B2B block

fname, if you're reading this guide, we're guessing you're not completely new to ABM. You might be testing the waters right now or you might have a fully functioning ABM program up and running. But either way, you've probably not been doing this for long. Don't worry, you're not alone.

Account-based marketing has undoubtedly taken the B2B world by storm. 67 percent of brands are currently doing it and 40 percent of the average marketing team is entirely dedicated to ABM. This collaborative targeted approach has been described as the "natural evolution of B2B marketing". But despite its widespread adoption, only 23 percent of ABM teams have been implementing account-based strategies for more than two years. It might be popular, but the relative novelty of it all has left some businesses struggling to execute ABM effectively or at scale. Take a look at how ABM maturity breaks down here:

Source: TOPO's 2019 Account-Based Benchmark Report

What's standing in the way of success?

ABM is known as being this ultimate cure for the aches and pains of inbound marketing, but it's not without its own set of challenges.

"What are the biggest challenges to starting, continuing, or scaling your account-based initiatives?"

% of respondents who identified this as a top 3 challenge

Source: TOPO's 2019 Account-Based Benchmark Report

Learn how to do ABM at scale

Account-based marketing in itself has been proven to be very successful. This is reported pretty much across the board, despite the limited number of years it's been practiced:

87% of account-based marketers say that ABM initiatives outperform other marketing investments

80% of marketers say ABM improves customer lifetime value

86% of marketers say it improves win rates

But, as we've seen, the biggest challenge facing ABMers is taking those results seen from individual cases and scaling them across a broad range of accounts. Without being able to do that, ABM's ability to consistently drive revenue remains stunted.This guide will take you through the four phases of ABM that must be managed correctly to allow you to scale your account-based program, including aligning people internally, choosing accounts with high growth potential, personalizing content en masse, and measuring and actioning your account engagement data to refine your activities and prove ABM's value.

B2B marketers who successfully launch and sustain formal ABM programs can improve their firms’ revenue growth and profit margins, strengthen connections between marketing and sales colleagues, and enhance interactions with customers and prospects

Account-Based Marketing Brings Marketing And Sales Into The
Same Orbit, Forrester, 2016

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Phase 1: People
Phase 2: Accounts
Phase 3: Content
Phase 4: Data