Three Reasons Why Data Is The Foundation Of A Successful ABM Strategy

Man checking cell phone among rushing crowd

Account-based marketing (ABM) continues to gain popularity among business-to-business (B2B) organisations looking to deepen engagement with specific accounts; In this opinion piece, Bill Binch, Marketo Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand discusses building a successful ABM strategy with data as the foundation.

In its 2016 State of ABM study, SiriusDecisions found that 92 per cent of companies recognise ABM as a valuable solution to B2B marketing challenges.

However, for some of these organisations, their efforts are falling short. It’s no coincidence many of these same organisations struggle to get a grasp on their data. In fact, SiriusDecisions found 60 per cent of marketers consider the overall health of their data unreliable. What does data have to do with ABM success? In one word: everything.

B2B organisations have access to massive amounts of data from their internal marketing and sales activities, prospect and customer behaviours, and customer service information. Many also purchase data from external sources to augment existing data sets. But not all data is equal, and more often than not, a company’s data is polluted and incomplete.

In Avention’s recent survey of B2B sales and marketing practitioners, just 31 per cent of respondents felt that their organisations have the right data for sales and just 24 per cent felt that they have the right data for marketing.

Data is the basis of successful account-based marketing, so before you implement your ABM strategy, take a good look at your data.

1. Data + Content = Personalisation

At its core, ABM is about engaging key stakeholders from target accounts with strategic, personalised marketing and sales messages. This content may come in a number of different formats–ebooks, whitepapers, reports, to name a few–but it all must feel personalised to the individual target and account, and that requires sound data. Without this intelligence, your marketing and sales teams can’t understand each target prospect’s needs and challenges, and identify timely opportunities to respond with relevant content. They are essentially operating in the dark. Data-driven marketing provides the insights that enable your teams to deliver the right messages to the right targets at the right times to get from first click to final signature.

2. Sales and Marketing Need to Operate in Lockstep

Sales and marketing alignment has long been a challenge for B2B organisations, but with customer experience initiatives gaining ground, it’s now a priority. SiriusDecisions’ survey data shows all organisations engaging in an ABM strategy are at least somewhat aligned with sales, with 34% citing tight alignment.

ABM requires marketers to operate with the mindset of sales—identifying accounts and how to target them, bringing them to the table, and generating revenue from them. Marketers and sales need to be aligned to identify the right accounts and how to pursue them, but this is impossible without accurate data on your prospects and customers. You need to use data to score and segment accounts that have a high propensity to buy or fit the right parameters for your target market.

3. Segment to Find the Best Targets

Segmentation is mission-critical for successful ABM. You need to segment your target accounts based on data such as industry type, company size, revenue, number of employees and annual spend to identify the best targets. Paired with predictive analytics or sales intelligence, you can then look for specific behaviours that signal a prospect’s readiness to buy or your team can seek out prospects’ characteristics exhibited by your best customers. This data enables your teams to do a deep dive into each account and create targeted campaigns that engage your target accounts.

When it comes to successful account-based marketing, the importance of clean, accurate data cannot be overstated. Such data provides the foundation on which your sales and marketing teams can align their goals, inform effective segmentation strategy, and support the creation of personalised content and campaigns that influence decision-makers. In short, data is the bedrock of successful account-based marketing, and it must be among an organisation’s top priorities when considering an ABM program.

 




Latest News

MOO Premium Foods Have Admitted “100% ocean plastics” Claims Misled Consumers
  • Advertising

MOO Premium Foods Have Admitted “100% ocean plastics” Claims Misled Consumers

South Australian yoghurt manufacturer MOO Premium Foods has agreed to stop using the term “100% ocean plastics” after an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found the company’s use of the term was misleading. The ACCC announced today that MOO had entered into a court-enforceable undertaking to remove the false or misleading “100% […]

young man holding pen with bills working for calculate business data, taxes, bills payment, Start up counting finance. accounting, statistics, and analytic research concept
  • Advertising

IAB Study: Online Advertising Expenditure Hits $3.732bn For September Quarter

The IAB Australia Online Advertising Expenditure Report (OAER) has found that online advertising has continued to grow despite the challenging economic conditions, reaching $3.732 billion for the September 2023 quarter. The data prepared by PwC shows online advertising increased 7.8 per cent year on year and 2.1 per cent over the preceding quarter. Total expenditure […]

More Than 15,000 Watch On YouTube As An Emotional Brittany Higgins Takes The Stand
  • Media

More Than 15,000 Watch On YouTube As An Emotional Brittany Higgins Takes The Stand

More than 15,000 Australians have been watching Brittany Higgins take the stand live on YouTube for the Bruce Lehrmann v Network Ten trial. Warning: GRAPHIC The case is currently being streamed on the Federal Court of Australia’s channel page. Lehrmann is suing both Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson after The Project aired an interview with […]

oOh! Media Fuses People & Performance At National Annual Revenue & Growth Conference
  • Advertising

oOh! Media Fuses People & Performance At National Annual Revenue & Growth Conference

oOh!media brought together more than 260 of its sales, operations, commercial, marketing, finance and leadership teams last week for its national annual revenue and growth conference. Held over two days at the picturesque Rydges Resort in Hunter Valley, the event ‘Fusing people and performance’ focussed on how to build a high-performance mindset and how it […]

Free TV Welcomes Government’s Prominence & Anti-Siphoning Framework
  • Media

Free TV Welcomes Government’s Prominence & Anti-Siphoning Framework

Free TV has welcomed the federal government’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that all Australians can access their local free television services on connected TVs through the introduction of legislation to implement a prominence framework in coming days. Free TV CEO Bridget Fair (lead image) said: “Right now, Australian viewers are being steered in the direction […]

A close-up on an abstract design of a display, which is warning about a cyber attack. Multiple rows of hexadecimal code are interrupted by red glowing warnings and single character exclamation marks. The image can represent a variety of threats in the digital world: data theft, data leak, security breach, intrusion, etc...
  • Marketing

Study: Invest In Customer Experience After A Data Breach To Future-Proof Your Brand

New research has revealed that businesses are not acting quickly enough to preserve customer trust following a data breach, and that failure to effectively engage customers in a way that matches their expectations will result in irreparable long-term damage to brand reputation. Porter Novelli Australia, in partnership with Quantum Market Research, has conducted research to […]

Tyreright Appoints 27 Degrees Media
  • Marketing

Tyreright Appoints 27 Degrees Media

New-generation media agency 27 Degrees Media has been appointed to manage digital media for national tyre retailer Tyreright in one of its first Australian client signings. Lead Image: Loan Morris – 27 Degrees Media CEO Under the partnership, 27 Degrees Media will be responsible for all digital media strategy, planning and buying, along with influencer […]

The Works Distills “Question Everything” For Archie Rose Distilling Co.
  • Campaigns

The Works Distills “Question Everything” For Archie Rose Distilling Co.

The Works has announced the launch of ‘Question Everything’ a new brand platform and campaign for their newest client, Archie Rose. As a nine-year-old independently owned and operated Australian multi-spirit distillery, Archie Rose has garnered a devoted following among existing customers, with a reputation primarily built on white spirits – particularly gin. However in line […]

farsiight Unveils New Market Positioning Putting Growth for Good Over Growth At All Costs
  • Marketing

farsiight Unveils New Market Positioning Putting Growth for Good Over Growth At All Costs

Brisbane performance agency farsiight has announced the launch of its new market positioning, Growth for Good, in response to a changing business landscape, marking a departure from a “growth at all costs” mentality that has defined the industry in recent years. Agency founders and brother duo, Josh and Ben Somerville, envision Growth for Good as […]

By Land Or By Sea: GoTransit Offers Options Galore For Transit Advertisers In Newcastle
  • Advertising

By Land Or By Sea: GoTransit Offers Options Galore For Transit Advertisers In Newcastle

Australia’s largest privately owned transit media supplier, GoTransit Media Group, now offers unprecedented options for transit advertising in Newcastle – on both land and sea following their successful tender to supply interior advertising inside the popular Stockton Ferries. The national transit media company is already well acquainted with the thriving NSW market, having successfully operated […]

‘People First Bank’ Heritage & People’s Choice Bank Unified
  • Marketing

‘People First Bank’ Heritage & People’s Choice Bank Unified

Heritage and People’s Choice have launched People First Bank, the new name for positive change in banking Australia’s largest customer-owned bank has unveiled its new brand, announcing that Heritage and People’s Choice will be unified under the new name of People First Bank. Chairman Michael Cameron said the highly anticipated new brand offered a compelling […]

L’Oréal Aus & NZ Partner With Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Announcing Large Investments
  • Marketing

L’Oréal Aus & NZ Partner With Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Announcing Large Investments

L’Oréal Groupe Australia and New Zealand have announced one of the largest investments to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to pioneer new coral restoration efforts in the region. L’Oréal Groupe Australia and New Zealand have announced today a new partnership with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation (GBRF), to help coral reefs withstand the devastating impacts […]

Media.Monks Names Matthew Godfrey EVP, Head Of Content In APAC
  • Marketing

Media.Monks Names Matthew Godfrey EVP, Head Of Content In APAC

Effective immediately, S4Capital’s operating brand Media.Monks, a digital-first marketing and advertising services company, has appointed Matthew Godfrey to lead its APAC Content practice. With over 15 years of experience leading innovative businesses in the Asia-Pacific region, Godfrey will support a best-in-class senior leadership team across the region as EVP, head of content, APAC. He joins […]