Now that we’re all embracing account-based marketing, does that mean we stop doing demand generation?

Bob Peterson’s answer in a recent episode of the #FlipMyFunnel podcast was an emphatic “no.” Demand generation is alive and well. The magic is in the balance.

It was my pleasure to sit down with Bob, Vice President and Principal Analyst for ABM at SiriusDecisions (now part of Forrester), shortly after he stepped off stage at #B2BMX 2020 in Scottsdale.

Some podcast highlights:

• We find the right balance by starting with the company’s overarching goals. They drive the Sales GTM strategy, and Marketing needs to map their ABM and demand gen strategies accordingly. Too often marketers start with marketing strategy in isolation from broader corporate objectives.
• “Insights are the rocket fuel of ABM,” what distinguishes account-based marketing from more traditional, broad-based marketing. And shortcutting insights is “the number one pitfall when ABM programs go sideways,” Bob explains.
• A “three bucket approach” to thinking about data and insights for ABM: 1) profile data – firmographics, technographics, etc.; 2) activity insight – content consumed, intent data, leadership changes and other actions taken by the firm and by people within the firm; and 3) derived data – ideal customer profiles, predictive analytics, etc. Think of the three buckets as nouns, verbs and adjectives/adverbs, respectively.
• A common problem with how we tend to understand adoption/maturity models, and why being “up and to the right” on the SiriusDecisions Demand Spectrum model isn’t necessarily right for your company.
• How “marketing to accounts” differs from account-based marketing and why a failure to appreciate this difference can lead you astray.

Bob also shares some insights and best practices for starting ABM the right way, hiring ABM leaders and practitioners, building an organizational structure to support ABM excellence at scale, and much more.

Check out the full conversation with Bob Peterson below.