At Demandbase’s Marketing Innovation Summit for B2B, SiriusDecisions released the results of its State of Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Study. In the survey, it was revealed that ABM is essential to improving sales and marketing alignment, but many marketers believe they lack the support needed to be successful at ABM. Over 90% of companies recognize the value in ABM, only 20% have had full programs in place for more than one year. The study shows more widespread use of ABM with a majority planning to invest in ABM technology and continue to align sales and marketing.
The results are in – companies Surveyed on ABM
[fusion_counters_box columns=”3″ color=”” title_size=”” icon_size=”” icon_top=”” body_color=”” body_size=”” border_color=”” animation_offset=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=””][fusion_counter_box value=”92″ delimiter=”,” unit=”%” unit_pos=”suffix” direction=”up”]ABM is key to B2B Marketing [/fusion_counter_box][fusion_counter_box value=”52″ delimiter=”,” unit=”%” unit_pos=”suffix” direction=”up”]Have Pilot Programs[/fusion_counter_box][fusion_counter_box value=”47″ delimiter=”,” unit=”%” unit_pos=”suffix” direction=”up”]Major Skills Gap[/fusion_counter_box][/fusion_counters_box]“B2B marketers are realizing that marketing to large quantities of individuals doesn’t result in quality sales opportunities,” said Peter Isaacson, chief marketing officer at Demandbase. “ABM is fast becoming the B2B strategy of choice because it truly aligns sales and marketing while focusing their teams on the highest value accounts. I expect adoption to grow rapidly as companies that have made this switch have seen tremendous results by focusing their efforts on attracting, engaging, converting and measuring the accounts that are most likely to buy.”
Other related insights:
[fusion_checklist icon=”” iconcolor=”” circle=”” circlecolor=”#b05ffc” size=”13px” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=””][fusion_li_item]Strong sales and marketing alignment with ABM: All companies practicing ABM claim to be at least somewhat aligned with sales, with 34 percent saying they were tightly aligned.
[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item]High willingness of companies to try ABM: Companies in the study see the value of ABM, with 52 percent of respondents currently having pilot programs in place.
[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item]Sales involvement is high: 74 percent of respondents work with sales to define account goals and plans, and 67 percent get help from sales on account insights.
[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item]Where marketers have more alignment has to do with their peers: Respondents said just 46 percent are getting help with ABM from other marketing functions.
[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item]Major skills gap: 47 percent of companies surveyed say that they don’t feel their ABM teams have the skills needed for ABM and that marketing teams need more support to succeed at ABM.
[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item]“We’re in the early days of an important change in how B2B companies go about delivering on their revenue goals, and ABM is a critical aspect of this shift,” said Megan Heuer, vice president and group director at SiriusDecisions. “What makes ABM so attractive right now is the way it combines insights for strategy and technology for execution. Marketing teams who understand ABM are in a powerful position to better align to what sales needs, and to make smart choices about the right actions to take and the right time to take them to grow high-potential accounts. What we’ll see in the year ahead is whether marketers acquire the skills and resources they need to fully realize the promise of ABM.”
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Source: prnewswire