Be Memorable. Be Relevant. Be Remembered.
The COVID-19 pandemic and our new digital-only reality have served as a catalyst for companies to accelerate their digital transformation and double-down on account-based strategies. Without a doubt, ABM is the de facto growth strategy for B2B companies. That said, the past few months have exposed some limitations with today’s account-based programs. Why? Three primary reasons:
- For every B2B vendor, selling into a large enterprise is hard — sometimes bordering on maddening. Unfortunately, COVID-19 made this process exponentially harder. The buyer’s journey is non-linear, complex, long, and incorporates an endless cast of characters. Compounding this challenge is a noisy digital marketplace bombarding our target accounts with emails, digital and social media, and even some snail mail.
- Today’s account-based approaches don’t go deep enough. As part of any ABM program, most marketers have done the hard work of segmenting target accounts, partnering with their sales counterparts, and executing focused campaigns. Yet in our new reality, we need to do much, much more to remain memorable, relevant, and remembered in the eyes of our prospects and customers.
- We are still obsessed with acquisition. As marketers, we don’t live to see another day unless we fill the top of the funnel. Over the past two decades, much of our training and sleepless nights revolved around pipeline creation. Today, as we expand our growth focus across the entire customer journey, marketers are discovering that our skill sets are very top-heavy on executing demand generation and awareness campaigns.
What’s the solution? In our new reality, B2B vendors must rethink their approach to growth and prepare their sales and marketing teams for a future defined by personalization and digital experiences — otherwise known as an Account-Based Experience or ABX. While the ABX concept is not new, the events of the past six months have changed the scope, market landscape, and business requirements associated with ABX.
