Simple marketing math: the ABM pitfall

In the last couple of months, I have learned a lot about the perception and magic around the acronym ABM (account-based marketing). In many conversations, it was considered the holy grail to many questions we asked ourselves. I have seen this in conversations we have had within marketing but also with our peers in sales. But is this the case? Is ABM the answer to all we are looking for in enterprise b2b software aiming for opening doors and having full access to the C-suite for the accounts we go after? If you don't go deep enough you end up concluding that ABM was an answer but led to nothing other than marketing and salespeople waiting and pointing at each other. Some simple marketing math shows that ABM only solves a small part of the challenge.

Simple marketing math

Marketing and sales professionals in the b2b enterprise software arena will most likely recognize the conversations and discussions about ABM. Working closely together in order to get access to the C-suite of target accounts (identified based on an ideal customer profile), determine a point of view, create personalized assets, and approach the target audience in a highly tailored manner. When done right this approach can be highly effective but at the same time, all of us realize that the number of accounts we can give this level of attention is fairly limited. An enormous labor-intensive way of working. There are some nice articles about how to engage with C-level executives. Not rocket science but good to realize what it takes to get there.

In general, sales will ask marketing to help them to get access to the C-suite. In genuine enterprise b2b software sales cycles, they are involved and should be influenced. Most of us understand that engaging with these executives out of the blue doesn't work. They and their circle of influence should be exposed to your brand way in advance in order to increase the success rate of your attempt to engage. Let's do some simple math to show the type of challenge we have in front of us to make this happen. I consider my world of digital banking software as true enterprise. Although there are tens of thousands of banks worldwide, our serviceable market is around 3.000 banks worldwide. That is not a lot and sounds like doable in terms of our ability to engage with all of them. Every bank has about 50-100 professionals that are relevant to us. From C-suite to VP, director and manager level. This means an audience of about 150-300k people spread all over the world. We all know the benchmark: 5% of the accounts and contacts we look after are 'in-market'. This means that 150 banks have initiatives and projects which are relevant to us with about 7,500 - 15,000 people related to these projects.

We all know the benchmark: 5% of the accounts and contacts we look after are 'in-market'

When you know your net new ARR sales targets, the average deal sizes you immediately realize the market share you have to gain and how realistic your goals are. Here we need to make sure that we are top-of-mind once the target audience starts to compile their long and short lists of potential vendors and suppliers. And that's the main challenge: how to make sure that once banks are in-market and we activate our ABM campaigns to the C-suite, they will most likely respond and start to engage with you. ABM is the last mile but who took care of the other 9,999 miles in advance to make sure their circle of influence was influenced by your brand? When doing ABM right marketing and sales professionals can cover 5-10 accounts annually. The readers who do have experience in this field already realize this feels like a stretch. So if you have well-streamlined marketing and sales operations, who takes care of the other 2,900 accounts we are looking after?

May the best-balanced win

The simple math in the previous section demonstrates that ABM is not the answer to all our questions and needs however it IS the last mile that can make or break your deal. So how to set yourself up for success as a marketing- and sales professional? As with many things in life, it is all about balance. When talking about the marketing balance it is about the top, the middle and the bottom of the funnel. Others call it touch, tell and sell. Most important is that you acknowledge the different stages in the customer buying journey and tailor your messages based on personas, their challenges etc. but also the stage of the buying journey they are in.

ABM is the last mile but who took care of the other 10,000 miles in advance to make sure their circle of influence was influenced by your brand?

Here a marketing engine comes into play that should take care of the right balance between a variety of campaigns to generate touchpoints, insights and intent data to help sales identify new opportunities. The right balance between brand building (top/touch), demand generation (middle/tell) and ABM (bottom/sell). The right balance between global and regional campaigns. The right balance between the different types of personas, lines of businesses and solutions you serve. The right balance between new business and customer marketing initiatives and the right balance between direct and indirect partner marketing initiatives. All in all a complex set of activities through an extensive number of media channels that work towards the insights and intent signals to get access to the C-suite when the timing is right.

No silver bullet

The beauty of ABM at the same time is the pitfall. Your span of control is limited and especially in enterprise environments with a fairly low number of target accounts it can feel like the ultimate strategy you are looking for. But don't lose sight of those 95% of accounts and contacts which are NOT in-market. Also, pay attention to them so that if in the future they ARE in-market they already know who you are and how you can contribute to helping them achieve their goals.