VOLUME 05, ISSUE 04

Scaling A Hyper-Personalized Account Strategy In Cybersecurity ABM BY THE NUMBERS Personalization, Expert Content & Interactive Events

All Essential To Engage At The Executive Level

ABM Q&A Gartner’s Todd Berkowitz & Noah Elkin On Improving

Technology And Solution Provider ABM Programs

MARLOWE FENNE, FIREEYE

EDITOR’S LETTER

By Klaudia Tirico

ABM IN ACTION

Scaling A Hyper-Personalized

Account Strategy In

Cybersecurity

By Andrew Gaffney

5

6

ABM BY THE NUMBERS

Personalization, Expert

Content & Interactive Events

All Essential To Engage At The

Executive Level

By Michael Rodriguez

ABM Q&A

Gartner’s Todd Berkowitz

& Noah Elkin On Improving

Technology And Solution

Provider ABM Programs

By Michael Rodriguez

12

18

03ABM IN ACTION02 ABM IN ACTION

Greetings, marketers!

Another issue of ABM In Action is here and I am still — like many others, I’m sure — writing this letter from my home office. I hope everyone is hanging in there and perhaps already used to (and thriving in!) our

new reality by now.

ABM continues to be a key ingredient for success for many B2B organizations. Our sister publication

Demand Gen Report is about to drop its latest ABM benchmark study as this issue goes to press and the numbers simply don’t lie. Here’s an early look:

f 98% of respondents are using or plan to use ABM strategies, with 57% using a combination of demand generation tactics and ABM processes to streamline their marketing efforts;

f 74% who haven’t used ABM yet are planning to add an ABM strategy within the next six months to a year; and

f 73% of respondents said ABM has greatly exceeded their organization’s expectations.

This quarter’s issue is small but mighty! My team and I are constantly impressed with Marlowe Fenne’s

work and we’re so excited to share his story with our audience. Fenne has been an early pioneer of

account-based sales and marketing plays, with massive success in his previous role at Cisco and now

FireEye. In just nine months, Fenne’s ABM initiative has generated $8 million in pipeline — and we’ve got

the details on how he did it. Plus, you’ll also gain insights into:

f Brand-new research from ITSMA on how B2B executives engage. We spoke with the company’s SVP Rob Leavitt, who shared insights into executive account priorities, personalized outreach and

content consumption and creation, that are sure to help you improve account engagement at the

executive-level.

f The complexities of ABM for technology and service providers. Check out the Q&A with Gartner analysts Todd Berkowitz and Noah Elkin.

I hope you enjoy diving into these real-world stories and expert insights and gain the inspiration you need

to reach your target audiences. As always, my team and I look forward to your feedback. Share your

thoughts on Twitter by tagging us on @ABM_In_Action or reach out to me directly!

Stay safe, well and sane!

Sincerely,

Klaudia Tirico

Editor

ABM In Action @klaudiatirico 05ABM IN ACTION

EDITOR’S LETTER

https://twitter.com/klaudiatirico

Operating in the fast-growing but also highly

competitive cybersecurity space, FireEye made the decision to ramp up an account-based

marketing program in February of 2019.

Rather than taking small steps to pilot its account-

based program, FireEye went with an aggressive

approach to recruit a highly regarded ABM

practitioner and immediately invested in tools

and tactics that would help rapidly scale across

geographies and various go-to-market motions.

A key component of its ABM rollout was the

hiring of Marlowe Fenne, considered one of the

early pioneers of building personalized account-

based sales and marketing programs. Prior to

joining FireEye, Fenne spent a decade at Cisco

architecting campaigns that would eventually

support more than 5,000 account managers and

engage approximately 20,000 customers.

The success of the Cisco programs became

widely regarded as a blueprint for success in

ABM, not only because they drove 20% pipeline

for participating sales teams, but also because

they featured “personalized” touches that

could be easily scaled and pre-populated at the

account executive level.

Scaling A Hyper- Personalized Account Strategy In Cybersecurity

ABM IN ACTION

06 ABM IN ACTION

Since joining FireEye in January 2019, Fenne has

built on the success of that model, adding in such

new elements as:

f Deep research and intelligence gathering on all priority accounts at the outset to

ensure contextual and relevant messaging;

f Investments in bespoke content tailored to the specific business initiatives of

individual accounts; and

f A scalable model that enables variations of adoption for high-touch, true 1:1 accounts,

as well as one-to-few or one-to-many.

The approach has drawn the attention and

respect of some of the top analysts in the

ABM category. For example, Rob Leavitt,

Senior VP of Consulting at ITSMA, has called

out elements of FireEye’s ABM program for its

executive-level focus.

“Marlowe is a real leader in the ABM space and

I’d highlight three lessons in particular about

the FireEye program: Deep collaboration with

account managers on customized plans and

engagement for each ABM account; deep insight

on the executives within each account to enable

personalized C-suite connections; and deep

commitment to providing thought leadership and

value with every connection,” Leavitt said.

In addition to recognition from industry analysts,

the FireEye program has also generated

impressive early returns in terms of pipeline

impact. Only nine months after the launch, the

ABM initiative has already been credited with

generating $8 million in pipeline and improving

engagement with key accounts by 5X.

ABM in Action recently sat down with Fenne to get a behind-the-scenes look at the tools and

tactics FireEye is using to combine a data-driven

approach to personalization with deep research

on accounts to tie conversations and messaging

back to business challenges.

07ABM IN ACTION FENNE, FIREEYE

“Approximately 40% of the engagements we are driving from an ABM perspective are with VP or C-level executives.”

MARLOWE FENNE, FIREEYE

HOW FIREEYE HAS DRIVEN A 5X INCREASE IN ENGAGEMENT BY SCALING CUSTOMIZED SALES & MARKETING MESSAGING

https://www.fireeye.com/

FireEye started with a true 1:1 ABM approach

and built from a base of only three accounts in

February 2019, which expanded to nine, and

then quickly grew to more than 100 based on the

early success.

While the initial accounts were selected by the

sales team based on their size and scope, Fenne

said FireEye has now expanded to use intelligence

from platforms like 6sense and Bombora to

identify additional target accounts based on fit,

intent, relevancy and engagement scores.

Because FireEye’s programs were targeting

C-level executives at some of the largest

companies in the world, Fenne and the FireEye

team committed early on to a disciplined approach

to building highly customized campaigns, content

and sales messaging. From the outset, FireEye

has taken a laser focus to content and offers that

included unique “careabouts” or business issues

that would be highly relevant to the specific

companies and executives.

Fenne explained that FireEye gathers “qualitative

and quantitative inputs” for all of its key

accounts. The research enables the marketing

and sales team to map a strategy and develop

messaging that aligns with a target account’s key

business initiatives.

To help with this account-level research, FireEye

has utilized a solution called PipelineIQ to build “profiles” for each target account, which includes

information on key stakeholders, news about

the company and suggestions on conversation

starters with insights into their top business and

technology initiatives. Fenne added that this

level of intelligence gathering is critical to driving

value-based conversations with the executive-

level buyer they engage with.

“Approximately 40% of the engagements we

are driving from an ABM perspective are with

VP or C-level executives,” Fenne said. “And

that’s across accounts that are typically Fortune

500 companies. So, our goal is to create highly

personalized experiences — from ads to events

to landing pages — which demonstrate our

understanding not only of the security space, but

also to deliver very specific value to each account.”

08 ABM IN ACTION

In addition to providing their internal account

managers with profiles on each account,

FireEye’s marketing team uses intelligence to

create customized “Solution Briefs,” which are

templated content assets that are shared directly

with key executives.

Fenne added that FireEye invests in building

highly relevant client portals and delivering

valuable content for all key accounts. “Once

we understand the business initiatives for

our customers, we understand where their

risks are from a security perspective,” he

said. “This helps us deliver very specific value

for them, that ultimately makes it easier for

them to understand how to better secure the

organization and take the next steps to be one

step ahead of the bad guys.”

09ABM IN ACTION

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A successful partnership FireEye Mandiant consultants have already successfully teamed-up with TD Bank staff to enhance their overall incident response program. Working at multiple levels of the TD Bank security operations center (SOC), Mandiant experts developed a common taxonomy classification and enhanced TD Bank’s SOC operating model.

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FireEye continues to enable TD Bank

to evaluate its cyber security posture and get expert recommendations and solutions to help improve capabilities, prioritize responses to mitigate risk and protect assets across the enterprise.

Learn more about cyber security solutions from FireEye and its Mandiant services. Schedule time with Rick Stewart, rick.stewart@ fireeye.com or Oomesh Patel, oomesh.patel@mandiant.com, your Account Executives dedicated to TD Bank.

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FIREEYE & TD BANK ASSETS

https://pipelineiq.com/

BOMBORA

6SENSE

PIPELINEIQ

FOLLOZE

MARKETO

SALESFORCE.COM

ABM TECH STACK The positive returns from FireEye’s ABM

programs have come from a variety of

directions. After generating more than

$8 million in pipeline in its first three

quarters, the ABM initiative has continued

to post impressive results even amid the

pandemic. As of early October, Fenne

reported that the ABM program was

already at 150% of its goal for the year, in

terms of pipeline and bookings.

Furthermore, the investment in creating

high-value experiences for executives is

also paying off, as Fenne reported that

65% of the team’s engagements are now

with VP or C-level execs, which is a 25X

increase over the year prior.

As the company looks to build on its

success, Fenne said another element

of the program’s success is to use the

Folloze platform to market their marketing

internally. “We market to our own execs

as well, and then we also get them

involved in peer-to-peer engagements

with executives at target accounts. Using

the platform to deliver this and track the

engagement is also really valuable.”

EXPANDING WITH AN EYE TOWARDS SCALABILITY

FUELING SALES ENGAGEMENT WITH CUSTOMIZED EXPERIENCES

11ABM IN ACTION

Since the marketing team supporting the ABM

rollout is limited to only three people, Fenne

understood from the outset that it would

be critical to use technology to scale the

program across their 50+ account managers

on a global basis.

One of the platforms Fenne highlighted as

critical to this expansion for FireEye is Folloze.

The platform enables marketing to build hyper-

personalized experiences for key accounts on

behalf of sellers, which can be built without code

and can include email, ads and website elements

drawing from data inside the company’s CRM and

MAP systems. Fenne pointed out that Folloze

also provides real-time visibility into the types of

offers that are resonating with other executive

buyers. It also gathers engagement analytics

on the audience’s interests and actions and can

integrate that data back to the CRM or MAP.

In addition to the ability to easily customize

experiences for key accounts, Fenne said an

equally important payoff has been its ability to

rapidly scale ABM across the sales organization

and fuel a hybrid model for ABM. “You really get

the best of both worlds with Folloze, because you

can personalize the experience for accounts, but

you can also add accounts very quickly. We can

now deliver ABM experiences at different levels

of personalization. So, for our top accounts, it

includes hyper-personalization, but at the mid-

tier it might just include customized emails, ads

and a portal. Then at the one-to-many level,

account managers can really self-service and

create account portals and rep-specific emails.”

The ability to personalize experiences for

accounts has paid off for FireEye, as Fenne said

email results have improved by 5-10X since

the company deployed the Folloze platform. In

addition, email open rates have typically climbed

to around 15%.

Andrew Gaffney, ABM In Action @agaffney

“We can now deliver ABM experiences at different levels of personalization. So, for our top accounts, it includes hyper personalization, but at the mid-tier it might just include customized emails, ads and a portal.”

MARLOWE FENNE, FIREEYE

10 ABM IN ACTION

https://twitter.com/agaffney

Amid the pandemic, marketers need to

understand how business and IT executives

within their target accounts have shifted

strategy, priorities and purchase behavior if they

want to engage and sell at that level.

New research from ITSMA, a B2B and ABM research and advisory firm, highlights how the

success of ABM plays at the executive level

hinges on the ability to engage executives with

truly personalized, timely, relevant and useful

connections.

The good news, according to the company’s

2020 How Executives Engage Survey, is that executives are looking for consultative help as

they continue to transform their companies for

the digital age while adapting to the pandemic.

Responding effectively to this opportunity,

however, requires high-touch campaigns,

personalized and informed content, and a focus

on interactive and collaborative events.

This presents a new challenge for marketers,

as they have to keep up with the fast-changing

needs and priorities of the executives they are

trying to reach.

Rob Leavitt, SVP of ITSMA, offered some

additional insights into executive priorities,

personalized outreach and content consumption

and creation, all important for marketers looking

to improve their account engagement at the

executive level.

Personalization, Expert Content & Interactive Events All Essential To Engage At The Executive Level

ABM BY THE NUMBERS

Executive priorities vary by company and

individual, as many have different visions for

how their companies need to adapt, operate

and grow. Leavitt explained that marketers must

understand what executives are working on

within their companies to better target them.

According to the ITSMA survey, for example, 47% of companies are relatively advanced in their digital transformation and they’re investing strategically to continue the process. Another 40% are at an earlier stage, focused on preparing their companies to adapt to the digital age.

“At the same time, many of the executives that

marketers are trying to reach have shifted

dramatically over the last few months from

what they were doing before to a new set of

priorities,” Leavitt explained. “Looking ahead,

they’ll mostly be interested only in vendors and

solution providers that can help them chart this

new course.”

When considering an executive’s expectations, a

marketer must also understand their role in their

company’s decision-making process, and how the

decision-making process itself has changed since

the pandemic. The ITSMA survey cites great

variance in recent changes. For example, 21% of companies have increased the number of people involved in the buying committee and 27% said they are spending more time before a decision is reached. These executives and companies are clearly being more cautious when

making purchase decisions.

But other companies are streamlining the buying

process, considering fewer vendors and moving

more quickly to decisions.

“You need to know, as a marketer, how the

accounts you are marketing to have changed with

their decision-making process,” Leavitt stated.

“We’ve always had to focus on ‘who are you

trying to reach?’ and ‘how can you reach them?’

It’s critical now to also look at, ‘what decisions are

they making and how are they making them?’”

BEING AWARE OF EXECUTIVE EXPECTATIONS

“Buyers at the executive level are going to respond better to a personal email from your CTO, or your CMO, than they are to a mass email. Writing a personal note to the CMO is going to be way more effective than a marketing team blasting out a personalized broadcast.”

ROB LEAVITT, ITSMALEAVITT12 ABM IN ACTION

https://www.itsma.com/ https://www.itsma.com/research/how-executives-engage-understanding-changing-buyer-behavior-in-response-to-the-covid-19-pandemic/

14 ABM IN ACTION

PERSONALIZING MULTICHANNEL STRATEGIES FOR EXECUTIVE ENGAGEMENT According to Leavitt, executives are expecting

marketers to engage them in a personalized way.

But with the sudden shift to digital-only, B2B

organizations have to think differently about

how best to give executives the personalized

engagement they are looking for. Before

the pandemic, face-to-face was typically the

most effective and preferred approach, with

executive meetings, briefings, small events and

peer networking.

“Buyers at the executive level still prefer more

intimate, small-scale, personalized types of

connection,” Leavitt stated. “They’re going to

respond better to a personal email from your

CTO, or your CMO, than they are to a mass

email. Writing a personal note to the CMO is

going to be way more effective than a marketing

team blasting out a personalized broadcast.”

The research showed that personal video calls,

email and phone calls are the most preferred

ways to engage for executives today, while less

personal approaches such as podcasts, direct

mail and social media are the least preferred.

Most important, though, is having a creative,

multichannel strategy.

“We need to be much more creative about

different kinds of virtual interaction,” said

Leavitt. “We need to give the people we’re

trying to reach a multiplicity of options for how

they connect with us. Different executives have

different personal preferences. Social media may

be low on the list but can still be effective for

building reputation and individual connections,

especially if it’s personal and focused on the

executives that you know are already active on

social. So, in addition to a LinkedIn ad campaign,

for example, make sure your salespeople and

your own executives also reach out personally

on LinkedIn.”

CONTENT & CONVERSATION FOR EXECUTIVE CONNECTION Executives are constantly searching for content

that provides solutions to their needs and pain

points. But content is typically only a door

opener. The real engagement comes through

interactive events and meetings with peers and

other experts. Interactive events focused on

innovation are an especially effective way to

reach target executive accounts; they allow the

executive to build on new ideas in content with

conversation and brainstorming to go deeper

with problem solving.

According to the survey, content consumption during the pandemic has actually increased a bit from an average of 3.8 hours of reading to 4.1 hours, suggesting that executives are taking more time to research. But there has been a shift in focus, from longer term visionary

content to nearer-term practical content.

As Leavitt notes, “many executives today have

had to put off long-term strategy in favor of

making sure they manage the immediate shifts in

direction and still hit their numbers, or minimize

the negative impacts of the current disruption.”

Marketers are also turning more to technology

providers and third-party vendors than they

did before the pandemic, vs. other information

sources such as analysts and consulting firms.

The study showed that 35% of executives cited technology providers and professional services as their most trusted sources for content information, and 33% turned to industry professionals in social networks to consult with. Leavitt explained that the shift to near-term priorities correlates to greater

interest in solutions that can be implemented

here and now vs. the broader frameworks and

commentary that analysts and other third-party

experts often provide.

Interestingly, executives overall show little

preference for different types of content

formats. Quality and relevance are much

more important, and there is little evidence

that executives “have no time for long papers

or videos,” as some have suggested. In fact,

executives are just as interested in long-form

content as shorter, bite-sized pieces.

Most important, though, is the acknowledgement

that bringing executives together for virtual

conversation and collaboration is ultimately

the most effective format for engagement.

Interactive programs are best suited to foster

“collaborative innovation,” allowing executives

to share their needs, knowledge and ideas

with peers, working together to identify new

approaches and solutions.

15ABM IN ACTION

SINCE THE PANDEMIC, WHICH SOURCES OF INFORMATION DO YOU TRUST THE MOST?

Technology providers (e.g., Adobe, SAP, Cisco, Fujitsu)

Professional services/systems integrators (e.g., Capgemini, Accenture, TCS, Cognizant, IBM)

Industry/professional online communities/social networks

Academic institutions (e.g., Harvard, Wharton, London School of Economics, MIT Sloan School)

Management consultants (e.g., McKinsey, Bain, Boston Consulting Group, boutique firms)

Industry analysts (e.g., Forrester, Gartner, IDC)

Media outlets (e.g., Wired, Fast Company, Forbes)

35%

35%

33%

25%

25%

25%

18%

The collaborative approach is critical, said Leavitt. “The executives we’re trying to reach are the experts

on their own business, and they know way more about their business than we do. But we have a

broader view. If we can bring that insight, experience and learning together as a vendor or a solution

provider, we may find a lot of the questions that [executives] should be asking, even if we don’t have all

the answers for them.”

Yet again, however, you can’t assume one size fits all.

“Executives have different motivations for participating in events or programs with us,” Leavitt said.

“We need to understand when we’re inviting people, what their motivations are and how we respond.

How are we serving them?”

Engaging accounts at the executive level presents its own challenges, but marketers are slowly

adapting their ABM strategies to create thriving relationships with executives. By focusing on

personalized engagement, executive goals and specialized content, marketers can target those

accounts more effectively.

For additional insights into executive account trends, check out the full ITSMA Survey report.

Michael Rodriguez, ABM In Action @Michael27575782

16 ABM IN ACTION

AT THIS POINT IN TIME, HOW DO YOU PREFER TO ENGAGE WITH SOLUTION PROVIDERS (INCLUDING BOTH TECHNOLOGY PROVIDERS AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FIRMS/ SYSTEMS INTEGRATORS)?

LEAST PREFERRED NEUTRAL MOST PREFERRED

Video call (Zoom, Webex, Skype, Google Hangout, etc.)

Email Phone conversation/

conference call

Online event

Solution provider’s website

Solution provider’s

online community

Video Podcast Physical mail, package, or

meal delivery

Social Media

39%42% 359% 30% 28% 24% 21% 21% 18% 16%

9%11% 14% 14% 14% 20% 15% 27% 25% 37%

52%46% 52% 56% 59%

56% 64% 52% 57%

48%

CREATIVE FUEL For New Revenue Realities

50+ SESSIONS Across three days! All of which can be viewed live during the show days or on-demand immediately after they air!

CONNECT WITH EXPERTS Through any of the programs we have including B2B Mentors, #B2BSMXperts, Workshops & Intimate Roundtables.

SIX CONTENT TRACKS Targeted sessions for marketing and sales teams on channel marketing, demand gen, revenue ops, ABM and more!

OCTOBER 26-28

https://www.itsma.com/research/how-executives-engage-understanding-changing-buyer-behavior-in-response-to-the-covid-19-pandemic/ https://twitter.com/michael27575782

As more technology and service providers

(TSPs) attempt to leverage ABM

programs, they find themselves making

many mistakes that lead to ultimately

disappointing results. ABM programs are

more complex than TSPs and their leaders

realize, and haphazardly rushing to launch

these programs has led to confusion and

disagreements within those organizations.

We spoke with Gartner’s Todd Berkowitz, Practice VP of Tech Product Marketing,

and Noah Elkin, VP Analyst, to gain some

insights into how TSPs can leverage

effective ABM programs while avoiding

their previous years’ pitfalls.

Gartner’s Todd Berkowitz & Noah Elkin On Improving Technology And Solution Provider ABM Programs

ABM Q&A

18 ABM IN ACTION

ABM IN ACTION: What are some challenges facing Technology and Service Providers looking to move towards an ABM program?

Todd Berkowitz: There are quite a few challenges. While on the surface, ABM looks like

just a more-focused demand generation program

that is targeted at defined set of accounts. When

done right, it’s more of a new go-to-market

model. You are going after the buying team

on the account rather than just an individual,

and you are making a bet that putting focus/

resources/time/money on reaching the buying

team for some set of accounts will ultimately pay

off in higher conversion rates, bigger pipelines,

shorter sales cycles, etc.

This whole approach is new for a lot of tech

companies. They don’t always have experience in

selecting accounts beyond whether they fit into

an ICP. They aren’t used to thinking about how to

engage the audience throughout the entirety of

the buying cycle, rather than just to the point of

an MQL. The ways they measure effectiveness,

especially account-level engagement, aren’t

common to them, nor easy to do inside of a

marketing automation or SFA system. Sales

may be used to only engaging at the point of

an MQL rather than engaging at the beginning

(continuous and synchronized outreach across

sales and marketing channels is a hallmark of a

good ABM program). The relationship between

19ABM IN ACTION

BERKOWITZ, GARTNER ELKIN, GARTNER

https://www.gartner.com/en

sales and marketing may be problematic. There

may not be enough resources to run a program

at scale. The list of challenges goes on and on.

ABMIA: How can these organizations better plan the launch of an ABM program without biting off more than they can chew?

Berkowitz: If you are new to ABM, the best advice is to start narrow and small. By narrow I

mean pick a single use case and then further limit

the number of plays. You ideally want to build an

audience of accounts that looks like each other.

That also means getting accounts at the same

point in the buying cycle. Accounts that are pure

top-of-the-funnel differ from those that are

showing first-party web engagement or third-

party intent, which are different from those that

attended a webinar or some sort of event, which

are different than a pursuit play.

Then you think about what you are selling. If

you have three products, the play should be

around a given product, “Like top-of-the-funnel

for product A” or “Selling product C to those

clients that have product B.” It’s honestly easier

to target 50 companies that look like each

other than target five accounts that have totally

different use cases and plays. You may also want

to start with a segment of sales reps.

Noah Elkin: Limit the initial number of accounts you include in your ABM program. Do this by

starting off with a pilot program that you can

use to optimize fit, engagement plans, internal

processes and messaging to key decision makers

within the buying committee. If you plan to target

large, complex accounts or experiment with

different kinds of account-level personalization,

these activities are far easier to manage on a

smaller scale.

20 ABM IN ACTION

ABMIA: What tips/best practices can you offer an organization that is looking to do a blend of traditional demand gen and ABM?

Berkowitz: There are few, if any TSPs, that are all ABM, all the time. You will likely run

both approaches simultaneously. Then you

need to think about prioritization, especially

with the SDRs/BDRs. Maybe priority #1 will

be responding to inbound leads from “Contact

Us” or demo requests, but they need to work

through the ABM accounts on the outbound side

before going to the broader list.

Then there is also budget, especially for

advertising. You may have to pull from some of

the AdWords (which is broader-based) budget to

pay for say LinkedIn Ads for the ABM account,

unless you see the program as being additive on

the cost side. ABM is going to be more resource-

intensive, especially at first. Don’t assume there

is no opportunity cost to doing it.

Elkin: Look to leverage the marketing-sales alignment you develop for your ABM program

and the insights you uncover about buyer

personas across your demand gen efforts.

Be sure to come up with some internal

orchestration and engagement protocols so

that individual leads that may be part of a target

account are not subject to overcommunication

or inconsistent messaging.

ABMIA: Why do you suggest reducing reliance on MQLs as a primary marketing goal?

Berkowitz: We’ve long believed that MQLs should only be one of many things to use to

measure marketing success. More and more tech

marketers are being measured on contribution

to revenue than MQLs anyway. But the question

has important context in the case of ABM. If you

are shifting existing marketing spend/resources

from traditional demand gen to ABM, you are

likely to see fewer MQLs. The narrower targeting

will lead to fewer MQLs, but you hope to make it

up down the funnel.

Elkin: Adding to Todd’s point, ABM is ultimately about emphasizing the quality of leads over

quantity, and coming up with prioritization

mechanisms that may naturally limit the volume

of MQLs. What’s more, ABM measurement

entails a shift from measuring lead volume to an

emphasis on the quality and level of engagement

of buyers within target accounts.

21ABM IN ACTION

“If you are new to ABM, the best advice is to start narrow and small. By narrow I mean pick a single use case and then further limit the number of plays.”

TODD BERKOWITZ, GARTNER

22 ABM IN ACTION

ABMIA: What can marketers do better to enhance their ABM strategies?

Berkowitz: Educate themselves on what ABM means. Get clear alignment with sales and the

executive team about what ABM means and what

they are trying to accomplish. Don’t rush into a

program without starting with a pilot. Recognize

there will be a learning curve and opportunity

cost. Focus on getting the right accounts selected

and prioritized and not just using sales’ wish list.

Leverage help and advice from others (agencies,

analyst firms, consultants, peers).

Elkin: Emphasize the people, process and workflow components of ABM before

throwing (more) technology at the challenge

or opportunity. At its core, think of successful

ABM as a function of effective segmentation

and personalization, including coordinated

engagement and nurturing of selected accounts.

ABMIA: What are some tactics marketers can use to achieve executive buy-in for an ABM program?

Berkowitz: This is why the pilots are key. If you start small and prove the value from the pilot,

it’s easier to get the money, resources and tech

to scale it later. But if that initial buy-in is the

issue, there is an awful lot of data showing the

effectiveness of ABM programs. Present that as

part of the business case.

Elkin: Emphasize the resource maximization benefits of ABM – rather than dispersing

marketing and sales resources and efforts by

treating all leads equally, ABM enforces a focus

on the best-fit opportunities. The need to

more closely align marketing and sales to make

ABM work effectively can yield broader

positive impacts in the overall marketing and

sales process.

Michael Rodriguez, ABM In Action @Michael27575782

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