Lessons Learned in an Account-Based Approach (ABA)

In our industry conversations and experiences with over 100+ Account based deployments, we find that many marketers, particularly SaaS companies or large enterprises, believe they’re “already doing account-based marketing.” When we dig a little deeper to uncover what that means, we find it means their progress is very different for a lot of companies.

CUSTOMER DATA PLATFORM (CDP) BUYERS’ GUIDE 2019

Welcome to the 2019 edition of CDP Buyers’ Guide. As customer data platforms are becoming increasingly necessary for enterprise marketers, it is also becoming more complex to choose the best fit CDP platform amongst the pool of new and old vendors.

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In particular, companies that have purchased an ABM technology solution at times feel they’re “doing” Account-Based Marketing. Similar to purchasing an individual gym membership, they’ve bought the gym membership, but haven’t put in the proper work to get in revenue shape or in ABM shape. Consequently, they are very early in adopting a true ABM approach.

Here are 4 lessons learned in achieving the right ABA approach. 

1. Define your ideal customer profile (ICP)

Surprisingly, many companies do not have a shared understanding across sales, xDR and marketing what that profile is or is not.This can be an intensive process to really do correctly and coordinate across the organization, a 3 month process involving external interviews of customers and prospects.In cases where time is at a premium, a ‘hasty’ ICP could be developed as an option.

2. Tightly define the account universe.

A great example of this is one of our clients, who won an award in ABM performance. By starting with tight segmentation around a specific industry vertical, the client was then able to focus sales and marketing efforts toward this vertical. 

3. Develop a data strategy.

This impacts sales and marketing productivity the most of any one factor. At a broad brush approach, there are two elements to develop, inspect, and maintain: accounts and contacts.At the account level, it’s really important to get the right hierarchical relationships identified in your buying process and within your data as well as understanding any key segmentation data to operate from.Understanding the gaps between internal data (data that is owned), and external data (data that could be purchased), helps complete a picture of target market coverage.

4. Fit a MarTech stack to the defined strategy.

We’ve all lived this lesson before with Marketing Automation; when strategy leads, the chances of successful automation deployment grows exponentially.

There are also a variety of technologies that can target users with personalized information – vendors like Spiderbook/Demandbase, Big Willow, Kwanzoo, Terminus, LinkedIn, Tribilio, and Adroll to name a few.Intent providers like Bombora and Big Willow are also critical as a leading indicator of purchase or interest at the account level. Be aware that asking for new budget in MarTech spend may be a challenging ask.

5. Synthesizing Outbound xDR efforts. There are so many new technologies on the markets that usually the least experienced selling resource, the xDR, has ultimate control over the frequency and communication cadence with the client. Leveraging technologies like Salesloft, Outreach, or ZenProspects should be done in concert with an overall touch strategy to the client and not in a silo. 

6. Define reporting. Needs for ABA  vendors like Engagio, Full Circle, Tableau, & Lean Data can help measure your account-based approach.

When all is working in totality, in orchestrated approach, your conversion at ABM level should improve significantly.