Calling BS on ABM—It's Just Good Marketing

August 30, 2019

Presented by: Latane Conant, CMO, 6Sense

B2B buying has evolved. Buyers are in control of the information flow, pace, and preferred channels of communication, often resistant to engage until they have completed their own research and product comparison. As marketers, we're still fumbling around in the dark, relying on the same old bag of tricks for prospecting: forms, spam, and cold calls. Account-Based Marketing has emerged as the cure-all, yet marketing and sales teams are struggling to scale their ABM efforts. This presentation discusses how using the power of AI to orchestrate timely, personalized messages to take on the heavy lifting of scaling your ABM program can get marketers back to doing what they love—being great marketers.

Session Notes

Latane Conant was a detailed presenter with a calm energy and professional manner. She came across as well informed and approachable and made the audience giggle at times when she shared personal experiences.

Latane opened by pointing out how, at its core, ABM is just good marketing. However, in order to fully reap the benefits of ABM at scale, revenue teams must understand how B2B buying has changed, and how to leverage the power of AI-driven insights.

About 6Sense: Putting the power of AI behind B2B sales and marketing teams so they can identify and close more opportunities.

It’s a platform for sales and marketing
It’s an industry leader
It produces customer results

There is a shift in how B2B Buyers Buy:

Anonymous: 10% of buyers who visit your website raise their hand
Fragmented: 9.6 people are involved in a buying decision
Resistant: 12+ highly personalized touches
Buyers are in control of the information flow: type, timing, and frequency

Digital Marketing:

The dark funnel of websites and event invites: You gather the information and send it out, the recipient unsubscribes and they end up on the stuck leads dashboard
293,000,000,000 emails are sent and received, per day, in 2019

Account Based Marketing to the Rescue:

A strategic approach that aligns demand creation programs and messaging against a set of defined accounts and goals in a way that is relevant and valuable to those accounts, and to sales.
Select the best account > know about them > engage the right way > collaborate with sales > track real stuff
It’s impossible to execute ABM with any kind of scale without AI, Big Data, and Machine Learning: limited customer insights, no orchestration
When 6Sense used this approach they saw better results, especially when collaborating with Uberflip
Content should be specifically provided to your lead based on their account, persona, interest, and timing