Mike Burton, Co-Founder and SVP Data Sales, bombora,
Changing economic conditions have affected marketing budgets across the board. It seems that no strategy is safe from consequences, and account-based marketing (ABM) is not immune. Strategy is now a core part of B2B marketing and advertising strategy because it delivers results. While some businesses may struggle to maintain their ABM budget this year, the reality is that almost every business will have to operate with less, while some will need to rethink their approach.
Fortunately, ABM can survive the downturn and continue to deliver revenue and performance for businesses. The key is to ensure that ABM strategies are implemented effectively and efficiently.
To understand what may need to change this year, it helps to understand how many brands approach ABM. My company, Bombora, teamed up with B2B Fusion to develop the 2022 State of ABM report, where we asked ABM practitioners 20 questions to set a benchmark on ABM strategy.
The findings point to the state of ABM at the end of last year and may help identify key areas that need attention through 2023. Let’s look at some key data points to better understand how to use ABM effectively amid a potential downturn.
Prioritize 1:1 ABM efforts amid budget cuts
In the midst of budget cuts that took place earlier this year, and are still taking place, what is likely to happen to ABM?
According to John Russo, CEO and founder of B2B Fusion, the budget cut will require fewer accounts to focus on. “Less means more relevancy, or a better chance of relevancy, and a better chance of conversion,” he said.
Research shows that when marketers spend between $3,000 and $15,000 per ABM account, 50% of their efforts are targeted one-to-one. This is because these are efforts that add to the sales pipeline and contribute to ROI. This should be a priority for marketing departments throughout the year.
Meanwhile, there are components that are likely to see less investment as they cannot drive as much attributed revenue. ABM efforts that take a one-to-many approach are potentially designed to build demand rather than drag it down the funnel. Those types of ABMs should see lower expenses, while one-to-one efforts to keep revenue flowing continue to get reasonable investments.
Marketing and Sales Should Meet Often
While “marketing” is fine in name, ABM is most successful when done in collaboration with a sales team. This is especially true when there is a low budget or customers are expected to spend less. They Deal with a low budget.
The research revealed that ABM teams meet with sales teams weekly, on average. Meanwhile, 30% of one-to-one ABM practitioners collaborate with sales in real time.
What really stands out, however, is that at least 17% of ABM practitioners do not meet with their sales teams, which means they are not doing even the bare minimum when it comes to coordinating activity. This may be because ABM is not the focus of its marketing strategy, but there is a lot of room for improvement.
Successful ABM requires constant interaction between sales teams, field marketing, SDRs and account executives to effectively execute the strategy. An ABM strategy during a difficult economic period requires the sales and marketing teams to collaborate at least once a week, if not more often. These meetings are opportunities to review results, make adjustments to the shared strategy, and talk about changing business needs.
It’s the only way these businesses can react to the constant changes of an uncertain economy, and move to capitalize whenever the market changes.
Requires more cross-team collaboration
As to validate the above point, the survey found that businesses have an average of five different teams contributing to their ABM strategy, with 17% of respondents actually contributing to nine or more teams. The most common teams supporting an ABM strategy are sales, demand generation, and content marketing.
In times of recession, we should expect the same number of teams to take part in the process. One team whose importance will increase amid this economic downturn is the sales development and business development representative.
“They are the Achilles heel between marketing and sales,” Russo said, underscoring how this team is responsible for interpreting insights to determine which accounts to pursue and which sales processes. are eligible for. “They’re really critical.”
Meanwhile, only 5% of respondents said the C-suite was involved in ABM strategy. It really is less, and for ABM to flourish in 2023, the C-suite needs to contribute to the broader strategy by defining company goals and participating in account selection and prioritization.
status monitoring
The results of this survey point to a very specific point in time, and the most difficult thing about economic uncertainty is that it often feels like change is a daily occurrence. As the B2B marketing industry navigates the current economy, ABM best practices will change internally, causing these benchmarks to change as well.
The new Marketing Pulse report provides detailed insight into what marketers are researching and what technologies they are investing in as 2023 progresses. Marketers are exploring new (and old) channels to increase awareness and connect with prospects more efficiently, with sales for marketing resource management increasing 1035% earlier this year.
Regardless of the rate of change, focusing one-to-one efforts, collaborating more closely with sales, and getting SDRs and C-suite involved in ABM strategy will pay off now and in the future.
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