What does successful Account Based Marketing look like?

In my previous article, “What ABM is, versus what ABM is not”, I shared my experiences and really wanted to help manage expectations when it comes to Account Based Marketing (ABM) technology. Just to reiterate, technology is not ABM, it’s not the process and it’s not the strategy. Technology is there to help you refine the process and accelerate it.

So, “what does success look like when It comes to ABM, Sudhir?”, I hear you ask. 

Well, to me, this can be defined by the level of ABM maturity you have. If you are focused on technology and acquiring the latest ABM tech stack, then I would say your level of maturity is low.

If, however, you are focused on defining an evergreen ABM process over time then I would say you are working towards a high level of ABM maturity. And this is the journey you want to be on.

Defining evergreen ABM

An evergreen ABM process for me is where a business has a very well-defined team and roles in place, where all the following elements are clear:

• Everyone knows what they are doing
• They know the ideal customer profile
• They know the segment
• They understand the marketing messages
• They know who the targeted accounts are
• Sales knows when to join the conversation and what sales book/play to use
• There is a clear process when targets are engaged and qualified
• They know what to do when there is a certain engagement threshold
• And the process is documented

And the above should be integrated into a business' operation. So, it's not a one-off campaign. It's an evergreen, ongoing process for finding new accounts, understanding demand and keeping those accounts warm for sales to activate. This goes for both existing and newly targeted accounts.

Just take this in for a moment. Yes, it’s a lot, but it allows you to have a solid foundation, a proof of concept and some validation to build upon.  

Why going large on tech isn’t the answer

I’ve seen it too many times where businesses dive in at the deep end, invest heavy and go “large” when it comes to ABM and technology, expecting results within six months. An approach and mindset like this are not viable. You need to be able to learn as you grow and to do that you need to start off small, extract insight from your learnings, refine, repeat and document the process. This approach and mindset take time, but it also allows you to build that solid foundation and start off your ABM maturity journey.

This outline approach is the reason why you should be focusing on running ABM pilot campaigns as your building blocks. As you continue to run pilots and refine as you learn, over time, you will naturally develop not only a process but also create a culture and mindset.

Once you have this in place, only then should you look to expand and scale. As you do this, you can look to incorporate more elements such as tactics and technology.

So, my question to you is, do you understand where you are on your ABM maturity journey?

If you’re not sure, I’m happy to help. Just drop me a message and we can arrange a time to talk through the ABM Maturity model and identify where your business sits on the path to maturity.