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Page 1: STATE OF ACCOUNT-BASED ABM-survey... · The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing 3 Introduction Account-based marketing has been spoken to, talked about, and presented on time and

STATE OF

ACCOUNT-BASED MARKETING

2018

in association with

Page 2: STATE OF ACCOUNT-BASED ABM-survey... · The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing 3 Introduction Account-based marketing has been spoken to, talked about, and presented on time and

2| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Methodology 5 Respondent Breakdown 5

Key Findings 9 Growing Adoption 10

Program Goals 11

Goals for Advanced ABM Programs 12

New Challenges 13

Last Year’s Challenges 14

Budget 15

Improvement Over Time 16

Diving into the Details 20 The Growing Importance of ABM 20

Target Account Selection 21

List Building 22

Frequency 22

Criteria 22

Technology 25 Building an ABM Tech Stack 26

Adding and Consolidating Technology 26

Improving Reporting and Measurement 27

Measuring Results 30 Reporting Performance 30

Key Performance Indicators 31

Ideal KPIs 32

Moving Towards Success 33

Conclusion 34

About Our Contributors 35

About Our Partners 36

Page 3: STATE OF ACCOUNT-BASED ABM-survey... · The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing 3 Introduction Account-based marketing has been spoken to, talked about, and presented on time and

3| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

IntroductionAccount-based marketing has been spoken to, talked about, and presented on time and time again, and as

B2B professionals see just how beneficial an account-based approach can be in other organizations, more are

beginning the journey to adopt ABM into their own.

As blog posts, videos, webinars, and the like continue to highlight ABM’s capabilities, the number of

organizations beginning to implement this kind of approach increases as well.

2019 is the first year that a significant percentage of companies surveyed — 14.7% — reported running ABM programs at their current companies for more than three years.

This signals that the market has matured, and for the first time a majority of B2B companies are either

experimenting with ABM, or ready to scale their ABM strategy as a major part of their overall demand

generation approach. What are the implications of increased ABM maturity on the challenges marketers can

expect to encounter when just getting started and as they begin to scale? How are marketers overcoming

specific challenges associated with converting their inbound/outbound programs to ABM? And - importantly -

where do ABM practitioners find the most success, and what steps are they taking to get there?

These are the questions we wanted to answer.

Once companies have seen the rewards of a mature, tightly aligned ABM program, it’s an approach that becomes as important as, if not more important than, any other marketing program in their repertoire.

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DIVING INTO THE DETAILS3METHODOLOGY1

Page 5: STATE OF ACCOUNT-BASED ABM-survey... · The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing 3 Introduction Account-based marketing has been spoken to, talked about, and presented on time and

5| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

MethodologyTo better understand the 2018 state of

account-based marketing, as well as how

successful B2B practitioners use ABM to

generate more qualified demand and drive

more reliable revenue for their business,

#FlipMyFunnel in collaboration with Heinz

Marketing conducted a survey over two weeks

in November – December 2018.

The following responses came from 211 sales

and marketing professionals from organizations

that range from SMB to large enterprise, across

a range of industries.

Respondents were pre-qualified for this survey

using the following criteria:

• A respondent’s role must be associated

with either “Sales” or “Marketing”.

• A respondent’s organization must currently

have an account-based marketing

program in place.

• A respondent is primarily focused in B2B.

Respondents who did not meet all of the

above criteria were excluded from the survey.

Marketing leadership

Account-based marketing

Digital marketing

Marketing operations

Demand generation /Field marketing

Product marketing

Other

Sales operations

Sales leadership - 2.8%

Sales / Business development - 2.8%

Marketing communications/ Corporate communications - 2.4%

Revenue operations - 0.9%

Sales / Account executive - 0.5%

RESPONDENT BREAKDOWN

Which function most closely matches your role?

29.9%

13.7%

13.3%

11.8%

10.9%

3.8%

3.8%

3.3%

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6| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

Do you currently have an account-based marketing program in place?

Are you currently practicing ABM?

Yes

Not yet, but we plan to implement ABM in the next year (eliminated)

Not yet, but we know we need to (eliminated)

No plans to implement ABM (eliminated)

61%

7%

13%

19%

Yes

No

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2018 2017 2016

61%

39%

81%

19%

49% 51%

METHODOLOGY

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7| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

How many employees does your company have?

What industry do you operate in?

51-200

201-500501-1000

1001-5000

5001-10,000 - 1.9%

10,001+

1-10 - 3.8%

11-50

Business Services / Consulting

Manufacturing / Construction

Healthcare

Technology / Software

Financial Services

OtherMedia

0.9%

Telecommunications - 0.9%

36.5%

19.4%10.4%

10%

11.8%

6.2%

62.6%

15.2%

5.7%

5.7%

4.7%4.3%

METHODOLOGY

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DIVING INTO THE DETAILS3KEY FINDINGS2

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9| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

Key Findings

It seems there is a shift happening in how organizations are investing in account-based marketing. In previous years’

reports, a large percentage of

respondents indicated their ABM

budgets were increasing year

over year. In 2018, however, that

number dipped from 82% to 60%.

Companies are still increasing

their investment in ABM, but the

numbers indicate many may be

past the initial investment phase

and focusing instead on maturing

and optimizing their programs.

No matter how advanced your ABM program is

in its implementation,

respondents continue to

utilize industry/verticals or

annual revenue the most in

building their target account

lists. There is an opportunity

for companies to utilize

more advanced techniques

moving forward, like

predictive and intent signals

and engagement data.

Measuring and reporting the performance of their ABM program is the biggest challenge standing

in the way of success.

One year ago, in 2017,

organizations were most

concerned with the length

of time it took to see their

results and how to get

started with ABM in the

first place.

Revenue generation is still the top priority

of ABM practitioners,

followed by pipeline

acceleration and lead

generation.

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10| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

Growing AdoptionOver 45% of sales and marketing professionals who indicated they currently have an account-based marketing program in place report they’ve

practiced ABM for less than one year. And nearly 2 in 5 respondents classify their organization’s ABM program as still being in its early stages —

just beginning to implement tools or processes to support the larger program.

Only 9% of respondents classify their ABM program as advanced — meaning that sales and marketing functions are aligned and they are able to

measure results to gain a clear understanding of the impact ABM has in the greater organization.

How long has your organization been practicing ABM?

How would you classify your organization’s stage of ABM implementation?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

< 1 year 1-2 years 3+ years

Early-stage, just implementing tools or processes

Broadly implemented, focused on optimization and iteration

Pilot complete Advanced, full marketing and sales alignment has been achieved and we are able to measure our ABM results

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%45.5%

39.8%

14.7%

39.8%

30.3%

20.9%

9.0%

KEY FINDINGS

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11| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

Program GoalsEven though new ABM programs are lifting off, the goals remain the same year after year.

In 2018, the top three goals for ABM practitioners were:

• New business acquisition (73.5%)• Pipeline acceleration (62.1%) • Lead generation (52.1%)

What is your main goal for account-based marketing (ABM)?

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

New Business / Acquisition

Pipeline Acceleration

Lead Generation

Upsell / Cross-Sell of Existing Customers

Marketing and Sales Alignment

Brand Awareness

Customer Retention

Product Adoption

Early Stage

Pilot Complete

Broadly Implemented

Advanced

Total (Combined)

Stage of ABM Implementation

KEY FINDINGS

Other goals of ABM practitioners include

the ability to upsell or cross-sell to existing

customers, marketing and sales alignment,

and brand awareness.

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12| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

Goals for Advanced ABM Programs — 2017 vs. 2018

What is your main goal with ABM?

While 38% of organizations with early-stage ABM programs

identified sales and marketing alignment as a top goal, just 15.8% of

organizations with advanced ABM programs, chose this response.

2018 2017 2016

Pipeline Acceleration

Lead Generation

Sales & Marketing Alignment

Other

Revenue Generation

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%53.1%

11.8%

20.9%

5.7%8.5%

45%

22%

17%

10%

6%

25%22%

20%17% 16%

KEY FINDINGS

It’s likely that at this stage, sales and marketing may already be

tightly aligned — in 2017, 57% of respondents reported this

alignment, causing more advanced practitioners to focus on other

top goals such as pipeline acceleration (73.7%).

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13| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

New ChallengesWhat challenges are ABM practitioners most concerned with this year? In the past, the

challenges facing ABM practitioners were largely organizational. How do I get sales and

marketing aligned? How do I get my leadership team bought in on ABM and focused on

the right KPIs? Do I have the right content to support an ABM program? How do I even

get started?

What we’re seeing now is that organizations are bought in on ABM and marketers are

rolling up their sleeves and facing more operational challenges—starting with how to

accurately measure and report on their ABM program success.

Over 41% of total respondents report that their biggest challenge is the difficulty in measuring and reporting on account-level results, indicating the market is maturing away from why ABM should be done in the first place to how to scale and optimize these programs effectively moving forward.

KEY FINDINGS

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14| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

Difficulty measuring and reporting on account-level results

Ensuring you have the right content for an account-based approach

Building out account and contact data

Using consistent data across systems

Moving away from lead-based volume metrics

Aligning sales and marketing on key accounts

Determining the target account list

Time to results is too long

Implementing the right technology

Getting internal buy-in from key stakeholders

Allocating budget to account-based initiatives

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Early Stage

Pilot Complete

Broadly Implemented

Advanced

Total (Combined)What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced when implementing ABM?

KEY FINDINGS

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15| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

Last Year’s ChallengesIn the 2017 report, “Length of time for results” was the highest-rated challenge when implementing ABM at 17%.• “How to start” followed with 12% of responses

• “Content” was third, with 11% of responses

• Showing results (8%) and understanding the account insights (5%) were much lower on the rank of challenges, indicating an advancement in

the concerns of today’s ABM programs.

Once programs mature and begin to generate results, ABM practitioners move to solve the next challenge — always moving their programs ahead.

What is your greatest challenge with implementing ABM?*

Length of time for results

How to start Content Alignment Budget Tech Showing results

Engaging key

stakeholders

Finding target

accounts

Selling internally

Understanding account insights

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%17%

12%11%

10% 10%

8% 8%7% 7%

6%5%

KEY FINDINGS

*Data from the #FlipMyFunnel 2017 State of ABM report

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16| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

BudgetTo combat new challenges and take

advantage of smarter tools, nearly 60%

of respondents reported that their ABM

budget will increase in the next year.

In the 2017 report, 82% of respondents

planned to increase their ABM budget

in the next year, so while ABM budgets

continue to increase, they are doing so

at a slower pace. These numbers may

indicate that many may be past the initial

investment phase and focusing instead on

maturing and optimizing their programs.

How do you think your ABM budget will change in the next year?

Decrease - 2.8%

Increase

Stay the same

59.2%

37.9%

KEY FINDINGS

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17| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

Improvement Over TimeWhat’s driving the success of ABM programs? Is it budgetary? A tactic or strategy? A specialized

tool? While all important, the most consistent factor in ABM success is related to time.

While less than 25% of total respondents are confident that their ABM programs are effective,

over half of the the most advanced ABM programs have found their footing to confidently

generate results. The more advanced a program is, the more confident ABM practitioners are

that what they’re doing is working—makes sense, right?

But it points to another important trend—ABM takes time to get right, whether it’s because of

organizational change, implementing the right technology stack to scale, or just figuring out how

to run a pilot and how to iterate on the program. Businesses have to be willing to test and revise

their ABM program over the length of a few sales cycles to get good data.

But what the trends indicate is that if you stick with it, ABM is likely to become a key component of your overall marketing strategy, spanning acquisition and customer marketing, and

multiple channels and tactics.

KEY FINDINGS

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18| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

How would you describe your level of confidence that your account-based marketing programs are effective, on a scale of 1-7, where 7 means very confident and 1 means not confident at all?

Early Stage

Pilot Complete

Broadly Implemented

Advanced

Total

Confident (6 - 7)

Mid(4 - 5)

Not Confident(1 - 3)

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

“We’re seeing engagement on our targeted accounts. We

have a solid account list and we still have room to mature in our

integrated campaigns. We’re also implementing additional technology

and process to close the gaps.”

“We can always do better but this is a much better approach than just traditional inbound funnel

optimization, especially as we move further upmarket.”

“We have surveyed our sales team and compared their confidence in our ABM program to our overall

performance, which is netting 96% close rates for firms in our

ABM program.”

“ ““

23.2%

11.9%20.5%

31.3%

54% 50% 52.3%62.5%

47.4%

19.4%

31%25%

6.3%0.0%

52.6%

KEY FINDINGS

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DIVING INTO THE DETAILS33 DIVING INTO

THE DETAILS

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20| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

Diving into the Details

The Growing Importance of ABMWhile nearly 40% of all respondents dedicate between 25-50% of their total marketing efforts

to ABM, 47% of those with advanced ABM programs dedicate between 51-75% to their account-based initiatives.

Once companies have seen the rewards of a mature,

tightly aligned ABM program, it’s an approach

that becomes as important as, if not more important

than, any other marketing program in their repertoire.

Now that we’ve seen the key trends in the state of account-based marketing, it’s important to

go a level deeper and understand what’s causing them.

How are today’s ABM practitioners targeting their accounts? What technologies do they

utilize? How do they measure performance of their program?

Early Stage

Pilot Complete

Broadly Implemented

Advanced

< 25% 25 - 50% 51 - 75% > 75% 100%

What percentage of your marketing efforts are directed toward target accounts versus general outbound efforts?

51 - 75%

< 25%

100%

> 75%

25 - 50%

Totals

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

38.9%28.9%

12.3%14.7%5.2%

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21| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

Target Account SelectionOver 84% of respondents with an advanced

ABM program report that target account

selection is a joint effort conducted by both

sales and marketing.

And this is true for ABM programs of all ages

— no matter how long a program has been

running, though marketing and sales are

always collaborating, marketing tends to lead

the charge in identifying target accounts.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

How do marketing and sales work toidentify and select target accounts?

Early Stage

Pilot Complete

Broadly Implemented

Advanced

It’s a joint effort led by marketing

It’s a joint effort led by sales

It’s a marketing driven effort

It‘s a sales driven effort

It’s a joint effort led by marketing

It’s a joint effort led by sales

It’s a marketing driven effort

It‘s a sales driven effort

Totals

44.1%12.8%

25.6%

14.7%

32.1%

59.1%

48.4% 47.4%

26.2%

15.9%

28.1%

36.8%

19%15.9%

10.9%

5.3%

17.9%

9.1% 10.9%

5.3%

DIVING INTO THE DETAILS

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22| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

List Building

Frequency

Criteria

With the collaboration of sales and marketing in the selection of

target accounts, how and when do today’s ABM practitioners continue

to expand their target account lists beyond their own database?

While 39.3% of organizations update and add-to their target account

lists quarterly, 22.3% of organizations lack a systematic approach,

iterating more on an ad-hoc basis.

When the time does come to find more accounts to target, what

criteria do ABM practitioners utilize?

Nearly 75% of respondents build their target account lists with traditional marketing segmentations based on firmographics like geography,

industry verticals, annual revenue, and number of employees.

In contrast, many ABM technologies entering the market are focused on artificial and predictive intelligence, and delivering dynamic behavioral

data to aid account targeting.

Marketers are defaulting to the firmographics that they know and love first, perhaps indicating adoption difficulties in behavioral or AI-driven data.

Maybe they have found it’s difficult to integrate the data into their existing CRM or marketing automation systems. Maybe it’s difficult to manage

audiences dynamically based on that data, or it’s more difficult to keep sales and marketing aligned on behavioral data - which changes.

Even those with advanced ABM programs build their account lists with this foundational data, though of all the groups represented, those more

mature ABM programs are embracing the more advanced techniques like predictive and intent signals and engagement data.

How often do you iterate your target account lists?

Quarterly

Ad-hocMonthly

We haven’t updated our target account lists

Yearly

39.3%

22.3%18%

9.5%

5.7%

DIVING INTO THE DETAILS

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23| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

Which factors are you using to build your target account lists?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%Early Stage

Pilot Complete

Broadly Implemented

Advanced

Total

Industry / Vertical

Engagement data

Number of employees

Public lists (e.g. Fortune

500)

Annual Revenue

Intent Signals

Geography Predictive Signals

Technographics

DIVING INTO THE DETAILS

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DIVING INTO THE DETAILS34 TECHNOLOGY

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25| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

TechnologyMarketing technology provides the core infrastructure for a successful ABM program, and organizations utilize a mix of tools to support their efforts.

No matter how advanced an organization’s ABM program is, there’s a strong reliance on one’s core CRM system and marketing automation

platform over more advanced account-based marketing technologies and website visitor intelligence platforms.

What categories of martech tools do you utilize in your organization? Select all that apply:

Early Stage

Pilot Complete

Broadly Implemented

Advanced

Total

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

CRM Website visitor

intelligence

Paid social

ABM platform

Data mining (Predictive

/Intent data)

Marketing automation

platform

Sales outreach automation

Ad retargeting Marketing attribution

Website personalization

Content syndication

Other

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26| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

Building an ABM Tech Stack

Adding and Consolidating Technology

The following are the tools most commonly used in an ABM practitioner’s tech stack.

As new technology emerges and the ABM technology landscape continues to mature,

ABM practitioners are keen to try new solutions to improve their ABM programs.

When marketers were just trying out ABM, they were hacking together many different

point solutions. Now that their programs are running, they’re looking for an opportunity

to consolidate and optimize their toolset, and looking for vendors that can cover more of

their program needs with a single product.

Over 50% of respondents intend to add additional technology in 2019. This number

has decreased dramatically since 2017, where 83% of respondents planned to add

new technology. Again, these numbers may indicate that many may be past the initial

investment phase and focusing instead on utilizing and optimizing the technology they

already have. 2018 2017 2016

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

If you are using account-based marketing solutions, which of the following solutions are part of your tech stack? Select all that apply:

Planned to add to ABM tech stack in the next year?

No

Yes

52.1%

83%

17%

71%

29%

47.8%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Terminus DemandbaseOther 6SenseMarketo RollWorksEngagio

53.8%

31.7%27.9%

23.1% 23.1%

4.8% 2.9%

TECHNOLOGY

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27| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

But that still leaves 47.8% of respondents who don’t plan to add any additional tech. When asked more specifically about their approach to

technology within their ABM program, 34.1% of respondents would add technology to fill their current gaps.

A significant 52.6% of advanced program practitioners responded they intend to consolidate their stacks into fewer, more robust solutions.

This is likely caused by being around enough time to understand what they need, where they need it, and why they need it in order to continue

driving success.

Improving Reporting and MeasurementAmong the new technologies ABM practitioners hope to purchase, 44% of respondents plan to implement an account-based analytics or

measurement tool in the next year.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50% Early Stage

Pilot Complete

Broadly Implemented

Advanced

Total

As you plan for 2019, which of the following best describes your approach to technology you plan to use for account-based marketing?

We intend to add additional

technology to fill gaps in what we currently have

We intend to do both of the

aforementioned

Not sureWe intend to consolidate point

solutions/capabilities into fewer, more robust solutions

We do not intend to add any additional

technology

TECHNOLOGY

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28| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

Which of the following capabilities do you plan to add to your technology stack this year? (Select all that apply)

Account-based

analytics or measurement

Account-based activity orchestration (coordination

of activity across

channels)

Account-level web

engagement insights for

sales activation

NoneWeb/content personalization

to support account-based

initiatives

Intelligent predictive modeling

for account targeting

Intent and behavioral

insights tracking

Firmographic or contact

data cleansing/normalization/augmentation

Account-based advertising

(digital display)

Other

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50% 44.1%

33.6%30.8%

24.6% 23.2% 23.2%19.9% 18.5% 15.6%

4.3%

TECHNOLOGY

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DIVING INTO THE DETAILS35 MEASURING

RESULTS

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30| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

Measuring ResultsThe ability to measure and report on results allows successful ABM practitioners to make data-driven decisions to improve their program.

Understanding how campaigns are performing, what content leads are engaging with, and the qualification of those leads as they move from

marketing to sales are just a few of the many aspects to driving success.

Reporting PerformanceIt’s clear that no matter where you are in your ABM efforts, there is still a reliance on CRM systems for reporting on the success of ABM efforts.

However, over half of respondents continue to do some reporting manually.

What tools do you currently use to report on the success of your ABM efforts?

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

CRM Google AnalyticsMarketing automation

platform

Manual/Spreadsheets

Account-based marketing platform

Other Analytics/ Attribution software

But what do ABM practitioners find valuable to measure? What goals are they working towards on their journey to account-based success?

80.6%

59.7%

46.9%

34.1%25.6%

55.9%

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31| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

Key Performance IndicatorsThe most important KPIs tracked specifically for ABM programs when looking at combined choices are revenue generated (53.6%) and pipeline

generated (46%).

In the early stages of ABM implementation, account engagement rate, sales demos and calls, lead generation and account penetration are more

highly valued KPIs. However, as programs grow more advanced, the KPIs they care about become based more on the results being generated

rather than the inputs that lead to those results.

But unfortunately, not everything can be measured, and there are still some KPIs that even the most advanced ABM programs wish they could track.

What are the most important key performance indicators (KPIs) you track specifically for your account-based programs?

Early Stage

Pilot Complete

Broadly Implemented

Advanced

Total

Revenue generated

Overall pipeline

conversion rate

Lead-to-opportunity conversion

rate

Leads generated

Deal size (LTV/ACV)

Pipeline generated

Sales demos /

initial calls set

Account engagement

rate (% of target accounts engaged online

or offline)

Account penetration

(number of people

engaged within an account)

Website traffic

Sales cycle length / deal

velocity

Other0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

MEASURING RESULTS

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32| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

Yet even without a perfect set of KPIs, by clearly defining the goals of an ABM program, ABM practitioners can work to ensure that everyone

involved has the same objectives in mind.

Ideal KPIsNearly 38% of respondents indicated that

sales cycle length and deal velocity is a KPI

that they would like to report on specifically

but are currently unable to, and this is true

no matter how mature an ABM program is.

Sales cycle length / deal

velocity

Revenue generated

Account penetration

(number of people engaged within an account)

Pipeline generated

Deal size (LTV/ACV)

Account engagement

rate (% of target accounts engaged online

or offline)

Overall pipeline

conversion rate

Lead-to-opportunity conversion

rate

Sales demos/initial calls

set

Website traffic

Leads generated

OtherNone

Which key performance indicators (KPIs) would you like to report on specifically for your account-based programs but are currently unable to?

Early Stage

Pilot Complete

Broadly Implemented

Advanced

Total

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Among this, other ideal KPIs include:

• Account engagement rate (% of target accounts engaged online or offline) - 34.6%• Account penetration (number of people engaged within an account) - 33.6%• Lead-to-opportunity conversion rate - 26.1%

However, 26.3% of those with an advanced ABM program report that they’re able to report

on all KPIs they want to report on.

MEASURING RESULTS

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33| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

Moving Towards SuccessHow long does it take to get there? Most organizations have seen progress toward their most important KPI within 4-6 months after implementation.

What does this tell us? It reiterates that account-based marketing takes time. It’s not an initiative that one will see instant results from, but with the

right patience and willingness to iterate and improve, the results generated by an ABM program can be invaluable to an organization.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Less than 30 days

10 - 12 months

4 - 6 months

1 - 3 months

More than one year

We’re still waiting

7 - 9 months

From first implementation of account-based marketing, how long did it take your organization to see progress toward your most important KPI?

6.2%

25.1%26.5%

13.3%

6.2%5.2%

17.5%

MEASURING RESULTS

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34| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

ConclusionIf there’s one takeaway from this report, it’s that account-based marketing isn’t a magic bullet for everything facing marketing and sales teams. But it is an approach that, when implemented thoughtfully and with commitment, can become a company’s core growth strategy and drive significant results.

What separates successful ABM programs from the rest? Dedication, patience, and time. While the strategy and tactics one implements will,

of course, heavily dictate the outcomes of an account-based approach, one’s capacity to thoughtfully measure and analyze the outputs while

simultaneously iterating the inputs gives a big advantage over those who expect to see results in 30, 60, even 90 days.

Account-based marketing success comes with time. As does the ability to see the gaps in your program, the willingness to make adjustments as

needed, and the strategic lens to tie it all together.

Account-based marketing is not a passing fad. In fact, quite the opposite. Because as organizations, leaders, and practitioners continue to grow

their ABM programs, new solutions arise to meet new challenges. New voices rise to the surface. New technology emerges to facilitate and

measure success.

Where does your organization stand on the account-based marketing scale?

5.

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35| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

About Our Contributors

Founded in 2014, #FlipMyFunnel is a community of brave B2B professionals who challenge the status quo in their organizations to drive better

business results. Our annual event, engagement platforms, and tactical content serve to empower you to do this in the best way possible.

We believe the best definition of a thriving community is one where you, the practitioner, are in the driver’s seat. Your pain points are our pain

points, and we are here to help you become a hero in your organization.

Terminus passionately hosts the #FlipMyFunnel community. We’re honored to provide a platform where you master your craft and make lasting

connections with your peers.

Please join the #FlipMyFunnel community: subscribe to the #FlipMyFunnel podcast, LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube and join us at a Meetup

near you.

Heinz Marketing is a B2B marketing and sales acceleration firm that delivers measurable revenue results. At Heinz Marketing, we believe every

strategy, tactic and action has a specific, measured purpose. Instead of focusing on the activities, we focus on the outcomes. What really matters is

sales pipeline, closing business, and accelerating revenue.

Visit Heinz Marketing on the web at heinzmarketing.com and follow us on Twitter @HeinzMarketing.

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36| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

About Our Partners

Founded in 2014, Terminus is

the leader of the account-based

movement. We help our customers

transform B2B marketing by focusing

sales and marketing resources on the

best-fit, most likely to buy segments

of their addressable market. Our

platform empowers marketing teams

to easily build, operate, and measure

scalable account-based initiatives

that drive quality growth.

Founded in 1996, PFL, a marketing

technology company, provides

sales enablement and marketing

automation solutions, as well as

printing, mailing, and fulfillment

services. We directly connect B2B

and B2C organizations to cutting

edge solutions that accelerate

productivity and drives the

business forward.

Founded in 2006, Marketo,

an Adobe company, offers the

leading Engagement Platform that

empowers marketers to build brand

value, grow revenue, and prove

impact. Consistently recognized as

the industry’s innovation pioneer,

Marketo is the trusted platform for

thousands of CMOs thanks to its

scalability, reliability, and openness.

Founded in 2003, LinkedIn

connects the world’s professionals

to make them more productive and

successful. Whatever motivates and

inspires you, we’re a community that

can help you realize your definition

of success. #InItTogether

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37| The 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing

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