𝗔𝗕𝗠 𝗜𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮 𝟵𝟬-𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀

ABM is a 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 for deciding where Marketing and Sales should invest time, resources and customer conversations.

The loudest account online isn’t always the one that will buy.

𝗔 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲
Imagine two leaders: 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀.

They both want to grow the business, but they don’t always agree on which accounts deserve focus.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘀:
• Account A — Strong engagement around a relevant problem
• Account B — Highest content engagement
• Account C — Limited digital engagement

At first glance, 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗕 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁.

But after bringing 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱.
𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗖 had less digital engagement.

Yet 𝙎𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙘 𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝘼𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝘾 was underway — and the problem we solve was becoming a business priority.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱.
And this is where I think ABM 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 — by focusing on 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗔 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗖 instead simply following the loudest signal from Account B.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗢𝗗𝗘 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄:
When Marketing and Sales disagree, don’t argue about who’s right.

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𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁.
• Marketing might see online interest Sales can’t.
• Sales might know about a real project Marketing can’t see.

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗲𝘀.

𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹 + 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 + 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 = 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀

How to use this in practice:
• 𝘽𝙚𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙖𝙡: What actions show interest? Downloads, page visits, repeat engagement.
• 𝘽𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮: Has Sales confirmed this is on the organization’s roadmap?
• 𝙍𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢: Does our solution solve a named, current problem?

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 → 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆.

So instead of asking:

“𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁?”

𝗔𝘀𝗸:

“𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚, is it a priority now, and do we have enough evidence to engage?”

That’s the difference between 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 and 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

Optimize ABM for the accounts where the 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲?

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.