Today we're outlining essential ABM strategies that will allow you to market and sell like a category leader. Sangram Vajre, delves into the topic of Account Based Marketing to help CMOs capture and implement this emerging best practice.

 

Our guest today is Sangram Vajre, Chief Evangelist and Co-Founder of Terminus. Sangram is one of the 21 B2B influencers to watch by the B2B News Network.  And many in the audience know Sangram as the founder of the #flipmyfunnel community.

 

Sangram answers questions out of SBI’s How to Make Your Number in 2018 PDF Workbook to detail essential methods of marketing and selling that will allow you to lead your industry in innovation and revenue growth.

 

Why is this important? Account-based marketing (ABM) has flipped the marketing funnel on its head, enabling today’s marketers to proactively target best-fit customers and turn them into lasting resources, fueling both new prospects and long-term business. While 90% of B2B Marketers value ABM as very or extremely important, only 20% currently have ABM strategies in place.

 

In today’s show, Sangram outlines essential ABM strategies and tactics. Detailing how to radically accelerate your pipeline and drive more revenue, by successfully building, executing, and measuring your own account-based marketing campaigns.

 

Each of the questions below is timestamped for your viewing convenience.

 

Successfully Building, Executing, and Measuring Your Own ABM Campaigns:

 

  • Far too often ABM is executed only as targeted banner to target accounts. ABM is so much more – where does Account Based Marketing stop and start? 6:25 
  • Marketing leaders have bought into the concept of ABM, but are struggling to implement in a meaningful way. What blind-spots do CMO’s have that need to be overcome? 9:36
  • How should Marketing work with Sales to identify the best-fit customers? What does that process look like, and how do you remain interlocked? 13:33 

     

“Here is something we’ve realized… when we use ABM one-to-one, we oftentimes use the exact same message for the CMO, CEO, CPO, etc. But what we’re realizing is that that doesn’t work, because all of those category leaders are concerned with very different things. So, you need to create messages that resonate with the exact buyer persona you’re pursuing…”

 

Making the Transition to ABM… Where to Start:

 

  • How do CMOs transition from demand generation to more targeted and customized approaches with targeted accounts? 17:25
  • How are the roles and skills different for this new approach, and how do you develop the skills necessary for great Account Based Marketing? 20:02 
  • How can companies think through the content maze? What are the impacts on the type of marketing org structure required for success in this new arena of Account Based Marketing. 22:17

     

“The most important role in ABM is the role of the Enabler. It’s crucial because the Marketing team doesn’t have a lead number, so how do you measure their influence and hold them accountable? The way to do that is to have an Enabler, sitting with the Sales team and reporting to Marketing, who works on Engagement. Figuring out how to engage with every one of these accounts that the Sales team is focused on. Their job is dependent on their ability to penetrate the accounts on which Sales and Marketing are aligned…”

 

Solving the Biggest Challenges Facing Revenue Generation Leaders:

 

  • Should marketing leaders champion CX for their company, and how do they take action in a meaningful way? 25:12 
  • There are so few CMOs who become CEOs in the B2B world— with CX becoming front and center, is the ideal CEO of the future someone who has made their way through the marketing ranks? 27:06 
  • You are the poster example of how to evangelize a brand. What are the impacts of your efforts to genuinely engage in social dialogue compared to traditional 1-way campaign efforts? 29:15

     

“Marketers have so much intelligence and data on customers now that they have the ability to create an incredible experience for customers. The challenge is that Marketers are put into a box.. or they put themselves into a box. And the biggest challenge for Marketers today is to jump out of that box…”

 

For more content dedicated to helping you Make Your Number, check out SBI TV. And download the SBI Mobile App to make your commute, travel, and workout routines that much easier, and to watch and listen to all of our new content as soon as it airs.

 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matt Sharrers

Leads the firm's focus on the CEO’s role in accelerating revenue growth by embracing emerging best practices to grow revenue faster than the industry and competitors. 
BIO
ALL PEOPLE

Matt Sharrers is the CEO of SBI, a management consulting firm specialized in sales and marketing that is dedicated to helping you Make Your Number. Forbes recognizes SBI as one of The Best Management Consulting Firms in 2017.

 

Over the course of nearly a decade at SBI, Matt Sharrers was an instrumental early partner guiding SBI as the Senior Partner. Matt’s functional responsibilities included acting as the head of sales where he led SBI’s double-digit revenue growth, and was responsible for the hiring function to build SBI’s team of revenue generation experts.

 

Prior to joining SBI in 2009, Matt spent eleven years leading sales and marketing teams as a Vice President of Sales. Matt has “lived in the field.” As a result, he is the foremost expert in the art of separating fact from fiction as it relates to revenue growth best practices. CEOs and Private equity investors turn to Matt’s team at SBI when they need to unlock trapped growth inside of their companies.

 

 

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