The tide is turning. As more organizations consider the Pareto Principle —the idea that just 20 percent of their efforts produce 80 percent of their returns — they are re-evaluating how they spend their time on sales and marketing.
To better harness the power of that 20 percent, many are investing in account-based marketing. The idea of identifying your most desirable prospects and developing a strategy to target them is hardly new, but marketers are approaching it differently—and with new vigor—in the digital age.
If your team hasn't invested in account-based marketing yet as part of your overall strategy, here are 12 powerful statistics that will convince you to start.
1. Email overload is real. 74% of Americans admit to feeling overwhelmed by the number of emails they receive. (Media Post)
2. People are doing something about it. 78% of consumers have unsubscribed from emails because a brand was sending too many. (HubSpot, State of Inbound, 2016)
3. Hello...is there anybody out there? 38% of salespeople say getting a response from prospects is getting harder. (HubSpot, State of Inbound, 2017)
4. Old tactics aren’t working. Only 22% of businesses are satisfied with their conversion rates.(Econsultancy, 2017)
5. Marketers are spinning their wheels. 80% report their lead generation efforts are only slightly effective. (BrightTALK, 2015)
6. Marketers need to convince committees, not just individuals. The average B2B sale involves 7-12 decision-makers. (Terminus 2017 State of ABM Survey)
7. They need to reach the C-Suite. 92% of marketing leaders are more focused on selling to executives than they were two years ago. (ITSMA, 2017)
8. The pressure is on. 45% of CMOs were responsible for revenue generation in 2017, compared to just 25 percent the previous year. (Terminus 2017 State of ABM Survey)
9. The ROI is real. 97% of marketers said ABM had higher ROI than other marketing activities. (Alterra Group)
10. It makes relationships more profitable. Companies that implemented account-based marketing saw a 171% increase in annual contract value. (ABM Benchmark Study, 2017)
11. Your competitors are already doing it. 90% of marketers said they were using ABM in 2017, compared to just 50% the year before. (2017 State of ABM Survey)
12. They’re betting money on it. 82% B2B marketers plan to increase their budget allocation of ABM in the next year. (Terminus 2017 State of ABM Survey)
Account-based marketing is an ideal fit for B2B industries that have a longer sales cycle with more decision-makers involved. Any account-based marketing strategy should be a collaboration between your sales and marketing teams, starting with a conversation about the ideal companies you want to target. Once you've identified those companies, you'll need to determine the best channels to reach them and develop strong messages that will resonate with them. To save yourself time, start with the content you already have and determine what you can repurpose to fit your more narrow focus.
Developing an ABM strategy might seem overwhelming, but it will save you a lot of time and effort in the long run. Account-based marketing shortens your sales cycle, allowing you to more easily reach high-value accounts rather than spinning your wheels nurturing a lot of people who ultimately aren't the best fit.
If you aren’t doing account-based marketing yet, you're missing an opportunity to work smarter and be more profitable. Ready to get started? Here are four things you need to do before you begin any account-based marketing initiative.
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