Report: Account-Based Marketing Adoption Drives Success for B2B Marketers

Account-based marketing (ABM) allows both marketing and sales teams to target accounts with the most value, and new research indicates that it’s paying off for B2B marketers.

A Demandbase and Demand Metric benchmark report titled, “Account-Based Marketing Adoption,” has found that 96 percent of B2B marketers consider ABM to be a key driver of marketing success. About 71 percent of B2B companies are already using ABM or show interest in adopting it. Nearly 60 percent that have already done so can attribute revenue increase to ABM marketing.

“ABM is more than just a marketing strategy; it has become the cornerstone of most B2B marketing plans,” said Peter Isaacson, chief marketing officer at Demandbase. “By marketing to the accounts your sales team wants to sell to and measuring the results at the account level, B2B companies are driving alignment across the organization, improving customer experiences and growing their bottom line.”

Seventy percent of ABM users also claim that their sales and marketing teams are now “mostly” or “completely” aligned. Companies with strong sales and marketing alignment typically have a 20 percent annual growth rate, according to Infor CRM.

Getting Sales and Marketing on the Same Page

Marketing and sales teams are commonly misaligned. The “2015 Sales and Marketing Sentiment” study published by CallidusCloud found that only 15 percent of organizations’ sales and marketing teams are aligned.

About 63 percent do not fully share data between sales and marketing, and 41 percent claim that they have separate applications for the two teams. Nearly one-quarter of all sales and marketing professionals have a negative view of their colleagues.

“It’s clear that sales and marketing departments need to be working in tandem, yet the processes are still fractured,” said Leslie Stretch, president and chief executive officer, CallidusCloud. “As this survey shows, sharing data and content between teams is key to bringing the two departments together, increasing communication and efficiencies.”