The ABM Consortium recently released their predictions for the growth of ABM in 2019. The consortium, which is devoted to research and growth of Account-Based Marketing and Selling strategies, took part in DemandGen’s 2019 report.
ABM Consortium Founder Mark Ogne admits that the popularity of account-based growth has been a “roller coaster,” but that recent trends indicate that ABM is increasingly relevant as “the concept of defined audiences will remain and become pervasive across B2B marketing.”
In other words, even though ABM has been around for a while, the time has come for ABM to develop and triumph in 2019. The market conditions are primed for the highly-personalized and cohesive customer experience that ABM provides, and advances in technology have made adopting ABM easier than ever so that it will continue to gain momentum in 2019. It may very well pick up so much speed that any B2B Sales Practitioner won’t be able to keep up without it.
Market Conditions
Ogne explains that ABM provides vendor consolidation that will solve the plight of marketers “as their vendor selection becomes unstable over the next few years.”
He writes that this instability is the “natural response” to the rise of “venture-funded experiments” that are highly demanding in terms of generating content quickly at a reasonable price. These conditions have put marketers in a bind as “data and customer experiences are siloed, tech stacks bloated, and results impossible to measure.”
When Account-based marketing strategy is adopted, marketing and sales experts work together, consolidating not just vendors, but their data, technology, and resources. Thus, in such a market, ABM is not only convenient but necessary for marketers in 2019.
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Highly Personalized Experience
The buyer in the 21st century is hyper-aware and expects a highly personalized buying experience. CEO of Parchment, Inc. Jimmy Montchal notes that “more and more the focus of marketing is on the experience — not just that of a prospect, but also the complete customer experience.” Parchment, Inc. recently adopted an ABM strategy with customer experience at the forefront of their vision.
ABM caters to the 21st-century buyer by delivering highly focused and relevant content. Then, in the words of TimeTrade CMO Lauren Mead, ABM allows you to identify the right targets and “offers to reach those individuals in real-time.”
It’s also projected that as ABM grows, it will focus not only on accounts but the individuals behind the accounts. The drift away from measuring surface-level interactions has “been a huge driver in ABM-caused sales.”
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Technology & Intelligence
Technological advancements and help from AI make 2019 the opportune time to adopt ABM. A variety of software is becoming available that provides the interconnectivity and integration that ABM requires. Lauren Mead refers to this as “personalization at scale with tech and intelligence,” central to her own company’s implementation of ABM.
Meanwhile, technology is also making it more convenient to gather and analyze the wide variety of data a well-developed ABM approach requires, like intent data, firmographics, demographics, and engagement information. Ease of access to growing pools of data will provide the tools necessary to create the foundation of ABM–the ideal customer profile.
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Gaining Momentum
Ultimately, ABM is proving to be just plain effective. For example, in 2018 Forrester saw B2B marketers “enjoy significant results” from adopting ABM, so much so that they have allocated their resources to optimize their ABM efforts.
TOPO Analysts Craig Rosenberg and Eric Wittlake even go as far as to say that ABM will soon become synonymous with B2B marketing, explaining that marketing needs and trends are aligned with all that ABM has to offer.
ABM is moving fast, so don’t let it get away from you. Account-based strategies are bound to become necessary in 2019 as marketing and sales experts combine their efforts and customers continue to demand an increasingly personalized buying experience. The availability of a variety of technology makes the time ripe for the adoption of ABM, the strategy that is predicted to soon encompass B2B marketing entirely.
