Three tips to help you build an ABM program

Setting up an account-based marketing (ABM) program has always been challenging, but the events of 2020 and the dispersed team structures that come with the wholesale switch to remote working has put even more of a premium on getting the fundamentals right.

One person who knows this better than most is Rachel Herz, who is Senior Manager of Account-Based Marketing at Cockroach Labs, one of the world’s leading commercial database systems specialist. 

A recent guest on Momentum’s ABM for 2021 webinar series, Rachel began her role with Cockroach Labs at approximately the same point in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns began in the US. That meant she was tasked with building an ABM program from scratch and without the option of building in-person relationships with her own team.

But as Rachel, who has also worked in demand generation, ABM, and content roles for the likes of VMware, ResMed, and DataStax, explained, there are some basic and fundamental steps that go into building any ABM program and the switch to remote teams has not changed that. “If anything,” she said, “the events of 2020 have made sticking to the fundamentals even more of an imperative.”

The three key steps she identified are:

Get executive buy in across the business

“The key starting point for any ABM program is to get exec-level buy in,” Rachel said. “Make sure you have the business leaders behind you and wanting to support ABM as a program. Setting expectations and showing the value of ABM to senior leaders is crucial. One exercise to do here is to work with senior leaders to establish the metrics of your success. Revenue figures, engagement numbers, or any data that can help validate what you do should be agreed with senior leaders to help establish the parameters of your success. No matter what size organization you are working in, this is always the first and most important step.” 

Click here to hear how Momentum helped CoreHR achieve internal alignment around their ABM program

Reach out to sales, and do it quickly

“A very close second is to reach out to sales, build relationships and win their trust,” Rachel said. “There are a number of ways to do this. First is to reach out on a human level, talk to them, get to know them and involve them in the process you are going through. The second is to offer them some value. For example, I have built simple dashboards and reports for sales teams to show them how much engagement is happening on their account, to show the impact we are making, and I have co-hosted virtual field events that have cemented crucial relationships within their account. The third is to create joint KPIs with them, this shows you are judged by the same criteria and will create a bond. These are a very easy ways to demonstrate value and in exchange you will find your sales teams will get behind what you do.”

Click here to discover Momentum’s sales enablement solutions

Define your customer

“The final basic step I would say is to define your ideal customer profiles (ICP),” Rachel continued. “Who is it you want to be talking to? You can use firmographics to define what size company you want to aim at and what industries you want to target, but there is more to it than that. What are the personas of people who will buy your product? What job title will have the authority to make a buying decision? Who are they and what is prompting them to need what it is you’re selling? What are the trigger events that will spark a new engagement? Getting these questions answered is fundamental to success and you need the data to do it. Looking at the last 12-months of deal cycles is a good place to start, and you can build look-a-like customers based on deals won, but if the data is not there you need to find it.” 

Click here to understand how Momentum’s rich research and insight can help you win more customers

There is more, of course, plenty that goes into creating an ABM program, but these three tips will get you off to a great start. 

As Rachel herself said: “It can be incredibly overwhelming when starting a new program from scratch, but by building these tips into what you want to achieve in your first 30-, 60- and 90-day targets you will at least be heading in the right direction.” 

You can watch the full interview with Rachel Herz here. For more tips and insight into getting your ABM program off the ground, email me at: chris.hooper@wearemomentum.com