“Strategy first, technology second” – How ABM leaders drive success at scale

Estimated reading time
3 minutes
30th March 2022
Author: Sabrina Stubbs
Posted in: Content Distribution & Promotion, Content Operations, Content Production, Strategy & Planning, Technology

Leading minds in ABM discussed all things strategy and technology in Turtl’s webinar, hosted on BrightTALK and inspired by our Advanced ABM Guide.

Defining ABM is challenging for many organizations. However, it can be one of the most effective business strategies out there. Let’s look at some of our favourite takeaways from the ABM leaders’ conversation.

Challenging modern ABM goals

As technology develops, the goals of marketing teams remain unchanged; prioritizing growth, reputation, and retention. In the webinar, there were many discussions surrounding goals in recruitment, budget, and digital modernization.

“It’s about expanding the execution so we are constantly growing.”
– Neil Berry | Atos

Atos explained that after starting with only three accounts, in the coming months they will approach 50 accounts. Atos has previously explored the latter, developing the NICE framework to establish a company’s strategy maturity and readiness for new technologies.

NICE stands for Novice, Involved, Competitive, and Established. Understanding what category your organization falls into is critical for guiding next steps and business goals.

NICE (Novice, Involved, Competitive, and Established) framework

New approaches and tactics

Whether focusing on full segmentation (one-to-one) or agile sectioning (one-to-many), there is no one right way to succeed in account-based marketing.

While strategy should vary from company to company, every team is aware that ABM is a journey. Declan Mulkeen, CMO at strategicabm confirms that, as on any journey, you need to be adaptable and prepared to face some roadblocks.

“I wear two hats. One helps people understand what good ABM looks like. The other involves testing before trialing a new process, software, technology, or new tactical strategy that goes live with our clients.”
– Declan Mulkeen | strategicabm

Marketers should remain flexible and informed. Then, they can examine the best strategy and technology for their business’s desirable outcomes, both the short-term and long-term.

Innovative ABM scaling

If ABM is scaled, is it even account-based marketing anymore? Does that not remove the personal and captivating selling points of ABM campaigns? These are common questions for ABM leaders, which were touched on in the webinar.

“A lot of our focus is on how do we stabilize and build on what we’ve achieved over the past few years, to embed ourselves in those major accounts.”
– Jamie King | Jabra

Ultimately, whether ABM is scaled or not scaled, deeply or lightly personalized, centered on a specific pain point or a distinct persona, ABM is only as successful as its definition within a business.

Establishing clear marketing goals and verifying the value of an account/lead/contact enables marketers to save time. As a result, automated yet individualized campaigns allow marketers to bring value to other areas. This can include greater sales alignment, event collaboration, or even customer success support.

Incorporating personalization and data

For a profession that utilizes so many automated technologies, from content creation to analysis, it’s odd that marketers still choose slow, manual processes to run ABM campaigns. Finding the right content automation platform and insightful analysis software is a challenge Turtl hopes to resolve, saving marketing teams time, money, and effort.

“It’s easier to do more of something than to do it better. If you scale up ABM without focusing on effective personalization, you’re just creating laser-targeted spam.”
– Quote from Turtl’s Advanced ABM Guide

ABM leaders agree that the value of audience attention and insights is vast when personalization is employed. Turtl’s Advanced ABM Guide (above), shows that when content is personal, it boosts engagement, increases leads-to-meetings conversion, and lifts revenue.

Furthermore, integrating this data with your tech stack makes ABM scaling easier and campaigns more effective. Insights such as what elements people interact with and what components a reader is more interested in are invaluable.