An enduring factor or a passing fad? We asked some honored laborers in the marketing tech trenches to give us their thoughts on some of the buzzwords (and phrases) of 2016. Let’s play Holiday Buzz or Bust: Account Based Marketing.
Peter Isaacson (CMO at Demandbase): ABM has allowed marketers to get away from only tracking CTRs, MQLs and website clicks and instead focus on how much marketing contributes in pipeline and bookings. In 2016 we saw explosive growth in ABM acceleration and adoption, with more than 70 percent of B2B companies focused on driving ABM programs. In 2017 continued advances in data quality will only make ABM stronger and more explosive.
Justin Shriber (head of marketing at LinkedIn Sales Solutions): ABM will continue to gain prominence in 2017 for two main reasons. First, companies are becoming more sophisticated at determining the long term value of customers and are therefore more willing to invest at an account level in targeted sales and marketing efforts. Secondly, as companies delegate decision making to a broader set of stakeholders who are dispersed over a wider geographic area, marketing and sales organizations will need to more effectively canvas accounts in order to influence everyone involved in purchase decisions and long term relationships.
Verdict: On balance, it’s a buzz going forwards.
