How ABM is Leading Companies to Better Sales and Marketing Alignment

Staying ahead of the latest B2B trends is how MOI solves our clients’ business problems in new and creative ways. Here, our Client Services Director in the US, Lisa Hannigan explains why she’s excited by how account-based marketing drives growth by helping Sales and Marketing teams work better together. 

Whenever I’m asked which B2B trends excite me, I always talk about Account Based Marketing (ABM) and how it’s leading to greater alignment between Sales and Marketing teams.

It’s no secret, that in many organizations, there is always a tension between Sales and Marketing teams; and most consultative B2B marketers would agree that it’s not healthy.

A model that needs fixing

Marketing drives the leads and Sales drives the revenue. It’s a model which often results in head-to-head battles over lead definition, attribution, and responsibility. A lot of blaming and not a lot of collaboration.

Marketing claims that Sales doesn’t properly follow up on (or close) the quality leads they deliver, while Sales asserts that Marketing doesn’t provide quality leads, or even create enablement materials that can do a job. And this devolves into a perpetual cycle of wasted effort and frustration, which can have a serious impact on the bottom line, in the form of inefficiencies and opportunity costs.

It’s time for change

ABM is fast becoming a catalyst for change. It’s an approach that can effectively address shifting buyer behaviors, by delivering personalized and relevant content that’s tailored to resonate at every stage of their journey―across multiple channels―while leveraging technology to deliver deeper insights and drive optimizations.

Organizations that use ABM can address some of the inefficiencies those interdepartmental challenges cause. It’s a structured framework, requiring a high degree of collaboration that re-focuses the attention of Sales and Marketing, to engage with valued accounts. Both teams must

buy in, contribute to, and inform the strategy with a shared purpose. And share in the results too.

How ABM is paying off

A well-thought-out strategy and effective execution build trust while increasing engagement and average deal size―as well as ROI. The benefits are both clear and significant. In a recent SiriusDecisions survey, 91% of ABM marketers reported their ABM accounts had a bigger deal size, while a quarter of respondents reported deal sizes at least 50% larger for ABM accounts. And MarketingProfs research indicates that companies with aligned account-based marketing strategies have seen 208% growth in their marketing revenue.

As Client Services Director, I’m excited by these reports. Increased marketing ROI contributes to revenue growth, and greater cross-team collaboration is always a good thing. It leads to mutual respect between Sales and Marketing, and even a new level of understanding of what’s important and unique about each role that exists within an organization.

How MOI is approaching ABM

Whether you call it account-based marketing, account-based experience, or account-based everything, the principles of ABM are the same. Personalisation across every touch point. Prioritisation of accounts based on intelligence at every stage. Dialling up time and budget to convert accounts as they emerge or reach a critical lifecycle stage.

In the future, these principles won’t be siloed within ABM but will be applied across an organisation’s entire go-to-market strategy. This is what MOI calls – Account Based Applied – built on the belief that treating ABM as an individual discipline only reinforces the silos it should be breaking down.

Get in touch to discover how ABM applies to your business   

If you want to learn more about how ABM can create greater harmony in your organization and drive revenue growth, get in touch with MOIs Global ABM Lead, Aldona Limani. Aldona and the team would welcome an exploratory chat to get to know you, identify your business challenges, and offer fresh perspectives.