Are we using our hearts and minds enough in ABM?

October 09, 2024

James O'Flaherty

Just Global's EVP of Growth

Breaking the Cycle of “OK” to Achieve Greatness

Are technology, Centers of Excellence, and resource pressures driving marketers to settle for “ok” standards of ABM?

And are we simply “doing” instead of putting the thinking in place that leads to greatness?

I’m not going to introduce what ABM is and why it works well. I want to get more into the issues we’re having right now globally.

Here’s what I think. While common challenges in ABM are well-documented, they should serve as a platform for creative thinking rather than leading to sameness.

When I talk to ABM leaders, I hear how these common challenges are causing issues with marketing execution. But where I think it’s not working right now is how solutions to these challenges are applied.

People say: “We work to the <INSERT ABM MODEL> and we need to solve this challenge in this specific way”. But you need to understand the issue before concentrating on the solution. You’ve got to use the muscles in your brain – or your wider team’s creative minds – when it comes to:

Breaking Silos and Building Bridges

Business alignment is STILL not happening consistently. More thought and value need to be put on the entire buyer experience, and sometimes thinking tactically is perfect for capturing near-team opportunities. You just need everyone travelling together.

Unearthing Actionable Insights

There remains significant difficulty in gaining comprehensive, account-centric data, which is inhibiting creativity. Having the right data to plan with, the best research on audiences, and the ability to scale those insights is still lacking – and without that, you end up with more generic and less impactful marketing.

Connecting on Human Terms

71% of B2B ads lead to zero attention and zero sales. Saying “we need to be more human” is one of those lines you see in every conference itinerary. But imagine if we actually started DOING that and thinking more like B2C agencies when creating ABM programs.

Driving Efficiencies

Scale, scale, scale. We think about doing something 15 times, rather than doing it really f*cking well once. Quality should come first. If it’s good, it’ll work more. And guess what? It’ll be more efficient too.

Decoding ABM Impact

We need a more holistic approach to measurement, one that includes not just traditional conversion metrics but also insights across the entire customer lifecycle. Account based scoring needs to be able to tell the full story of where an account is.

So, while the challenges of ABM are significant, they also provide a unique opportunity to push for greater creativity and differentiation. We just need to break the codes we have programmed ourselves into using more.

While technology and established models are crucial, hearts and minds – creativity and strategic thinking – are what truly drive exceptional ABM results. It’s also high time we started really challenging the accepted wisdom. Nothing only has to work one way, which is as true for ABM as it is for any area of industry where innovation occurs.

Structure allows you to address the challenges and opportunities within ABM, but aiming high and thinking creatively to overcome common hurdles feels like it needs to make a comeback.

This thinking forms the basis for a number of initiatives we are running as a business – from our sponsorship of the Global ABM Conference in London through to our partnership with the wonderfully independent thinkers at ForgeX. You can sign up for their next event in San Francisco here – we recommend anyone in ABM looking to improve their skills joins this community.

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Are we using our hearts and minds enough in ABM?

James O'Flaherty

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