Remember last year when we told you that the number of decision-makers in a B2B deal was on the rise?
That truth still holds true. There are a lot of cooks in the kitchen when it comes to B2B purchasing decisions. A lot of opinions to influence. Questions to answer. Unique needs to meet. And that can mean a lot of work for your marketing and sales teams.
And the answer to that ballooning number of decision-makers? It’s still account-based marketing (ABM): a tactic we like to describe as a collaboration between sales and marketing to target accounts—rather than individuals.
As usual, you don’t have to take our word for it. We aren’t saying ABM is the answer because our guts tell us so. We’re saying it because the stats back it up. In fact:
Sales and marketing teams that collaborate closely on ABM are 6% more likely to exceed revenue goals than their counterparts.
62% of teams say they have seen measurable improvement since implementing ABM.
And 80% of marketers say ABM improves customer lifetime values (while a whopping 86% say it improves win rates).
Which is probably why more and more companies are embracing account-based marketing—with 67% saying they are already on board and some estimates indicating ABM budgets have increased as much as 41% in the last year.
The bottom line? Account-based marketing is still vital for B2B companies—and if you aren’t on board, we’re sorry to tell you that the competition is getting ready to leave you in the dust.
So, what’s a B2B company to do?
The answer starts with wrapping your head around ABM. What will you need to change within your organization? How will you align your sales and marketing teams around a common strategy? How will you open up lines of communication between those teams? How will you track and manage data on your accounts?
A good place to start answering those questions might be Hubspot’s ultimate guide to ABM.
And if you need to get up to speed even faster than a guide can promise? You need a partner who gets it. (Oh, hey there, like us.) And, as always, we’d love to talk.
