As B2B (business-to-business) marketers, our goal will always be the same: to create messages that connect with the right person at the right time in the right format to build awareness, educate, convince and convert. While that basic fact hasn’t changed, one thing that has in recent years is the growing emphasis on understanding all the stakeholders in an organization that contribute to a purchasing decision, how they all interact and how we can calibrate our marketing tactics with consideration for everyone’s needs.

The Importance of ABM in B2B Technology Marketing

A well-read Forbes^® article illustrates the particular importance of account-based marketing (ABM) in one’s marketing mix. The impact ABM can have on the enterprise technology buying cycle reveals that:

• 96% of all technology buying decisions involve more than one individual.
• 51% involve four or more individuals.
• 29% are made with more input from the business than IT.
• 71% of all final technology buying decisions are made by IT leadership and their staff.

These stats track pretty close to what other recent studies in the industry have shown. A typical scenario emerges: A need is identified by a line of business or a mid-level member of the IT team. All stakeholders collaborate to inventory requirements, but then IT takes more control to identify all technical and security requirements, and ultimately arrive at the final decision. Whether or not all technology purchases follow this model, we can assume that the vast majority involve multiple stakeholders each with their own set of priorities, opinions and content needs.

How to Get Started with ABM

So, given all of this, how does an IT marketer get started with ABM? The marketing technology space is abuzz with new ABM offerings. Vendors are rolling out solutions in account data and sales intelligence, predictive analytics, content creation and account-based ad targeting. But aside from the martech stack, Lauchlan has found that good old-fashioned sleuthing can be a great place to start an ABM strategy. We’ve seen strong results with client campaigns that incorporated:

• Cross-platform social media research
• IT, C-suite and line-of-business org chart mapping
• Multi-touch direct mail and digital messages targeted to each stakeholder within the account
• Segmented content tracks for each stakeholder
• Call to action for workshop-style meetings that bring together all stakeholders

Solve for Results-Driven ABM.

Lauchlan helps IT solution providers open the doors to key prospect accounts through multi-step, multi-touch campaigns. Get in touch with us to start a conversation about your marketing goals.