93: Why ABM is a Must Have for B2B Marketers

Aug 17, 2018

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Sometimes a marketer’s most renegade moment comes from a change in their career path. As it turns out, moving across the country and making a career change is no easy feat and requires a healthy amount of courage. But that’s exactly what Peter Isaacson did, and after a productive decade-plus working on the agency-side of advertising, he’s now nested in Silicon Valley and leading a charge of marketing innovation as the CMO of Demandbase, a targeting and personalization platform and the global leader in account-based marketing.

This podcast dives into the world of ABM and why it's no longer just optional for B2B marketers. As the CMO of Demandbase, the ABM market leader, Peter Isaacson offers an insider look at account-based marketing, serving up concrete advice on how to make the most of these programs. To achieve major results, Peter advises marketers that are new to ABM to take things slow and steady. It’s not something that you can just rush into, but with the help of Peter and this podcast, crafting an ABM strategy will start to feel like a piece of cake. In this episode, Peter and Drew discuss the three main mistakes marketers make when trying to implement an account-based marketing strategy and how you can use intent signals to identify better targets. Peter describes how companies can begin to adopt an ABM strategy, the future of ABM, and why ABM is not the death of storytelling and creative marketing.

Listen here for all the latest details on account-based marketing.

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What You’ll Learn These are the 3 biggest mistakes marketers make when considering an account-based marketing strategy

Account-based marketing is not something that can be ignored in the B2B marketing space. However, Peter has found that many people new to ABM strategies make 3 main mistakes that prevent them from fully succeeding. They are:

Not engaging the sales department teams in the new strategy
Not aligning with the right target accounts
Tackling too many areas of ABM all at once

He proposes that all marketers engage with the sales teams from the start, to eliminate confusion down the road. He also explains that your former strategies for finding the right target accounts may no longer be effective and that starting small with ABM is the best way to approach the new strategy.

How can marketers use intent signals in a new account-based marketing strategy?

Implementing an account-based marketing strategy is all about identifying the right target accounts. Then, you must uncover the right buying committees and decision makers within that account. Using specific intent signals can help you accomplish those goals. When done correctly, intent signals can help you and your team understand which companies are already researching account-based marketing firms. Intent signals are no longer limited to simply noticing when a company fills out a form on your website.

ABM is not the death of creative marketing - here’s why

Using an account-based marketing strategy does not mean you’ve given up on other creative marketing tactics. Creative marketing and genuine storytelling are still important, often overlooked, B2B marketing strategies. People are still looking for groundbreaking brand stories and engaging content. Peter explains how account-based marketing and creativity are uniquely paired, all on this episode.

Timeline

[1:09] Drew introduces Peter and why account-based marketing is so critical
[3:00] Peter’s Renegade Rapid Fire segment
[13:46] These are the 3 biggest mistakes made in ABM
[18:44] What does an ABM program look like?
[22:00] Using intent signals in account-based marketing
[24:54] The old way of demand generation is no longer functional
[27:40] ABM is not the death of brand and creativity
[30:48] Peter proposes the future of ABM

Connect With Peter:

Team webpage on Demandbase website
Connect with Peter on LinkedIn
Follow Peter on Twitter

Resources & People Mentioned

Connect with Drew