Video Player is loading.
Loaded: 0%
0:00
Current Time 0:00
/
Duration 1:25
Remaining Time -1:25
1x
- Chapters
- descriptions off, selected
- default, selected
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
End of dialog window.
CONNECTING EVENT AND ABM STRATEGIES:
How B2B Brands Are Building A Perfect High-Touch Union
A Demand Gen Report primer on turning events into relationship and revenue acceleration opportunities for high-value accounts.
PRESENTED BY
The phrase “high touch” is ingrained in the vernacular of account-based marketing strategies. Companies that employ account-based approaches refer to “high touch” as they engage key targets frequently and across multiple channels with relevant outreach. However, equally important to the “high touch” approach is the strategy to invest more time and budget to be physically in front of key accounts.
Therefore, it’s no surprise that investing in in-person events — including local field events, as well as larger industry conferences and trade shows — is a core part of most ABM budgets and strategies.
What percentage of B2B companies believe events are the top engagement tactic for generating qualified leads?
What percentage of ABM practitioners include targeted event invitations as part of their account programs?
In addition to the obvious benefits of creating face time with high-value accounts, industry leaders point out that events are also becoming increasingly strategic for ABM because of the negative effect batch-and-blast email and mass-market digital tactics have had on B2B buyers.
We can’t just use generic email. Everything has to be really relevant and really personal. It must have the human touch. So, despite the rise in digital marketing I think you see the rise of events because of that urgent need to connect with that right person at the right
— Jon Miller, President and Founder, Engagio
In the following iPaper, we will highlight how successful B2B brands are taking their ABM strategies to the next level by thinking of events as more than meetings at a booth or discussions over cocktails.
We will spotlight how these companies are marrying events into their ABM strategies pre-, at- and post-event. We will also provide expert commentary and use case examples of how B2B brands are utilizing events as springboards for:
We will spotlight how these companies are marrying events into their ABM strategies pre-, at- and post-event. We will also provide expert commentary and use case examples of how B2B brands are utilizing events as springboards for:
Identifying the right target accounts
Defining an engagement plan for those accounts at event
BRIDGING ANALOG & DIGITAL:
Why Events Are The Perfect Match For ABM
Events are increasingly viewed as a core way to bridge the gap between the digital and analog worlds. They provide a platform to physically engage multiple stakeholders within an account, as well as provide practical intelligence on topics of interest for the account and its key influencers. Event engagement can also signal if interest within an account may be spiking or declining.
This is especially true when it comes to ABM, because enterprise accounts typically have buying teams with multiple stakeholders, and the relationship with an account is usually measured over a long period of time.
ITSMA, a leading marketing association for tech and related industries, which helped to pioneer the concept of ABM back in the early 2000s, has defined ABM simply as “treating individuals as markets in their own right.”
Because B2B purchases are often high-consideration decisions with multiple stakeholders, ITSMA has defined the following four core principles of
This is especially true when it comes to ABM, because enterprise accounts typically have buying teams with multiple stakeholders, and the relationship with an account is usually measured over a long period of time.
ITSMA, a leading marketing association for tech and related industries, which helped to pioneer the concept of ABM back in the early 2000s, has defined ABM simply as “treating individuals as markets in their own right.”
Because B2B purchases are often high-consideration decisions with multiple stakeholders, ITSMA has defined the following four core principles of
Client centricity and insight
Partnership between sales and marketing
And B2B leaders stress that events should now be viewed as integral in the key phases of an ABM strategy:
IdentifyAttractEngageConvertMeasure
“You have to look at events and your key accounts as a campaign,” said Julian Archer, Senior Research Director of Marketing Operations Strategies at SiriusDecisions. “If you only go by leads, you’re missing the opportunity. It’s a massive sign that events are not as much about leads as they are about an amazing in-person opportunity.”
Archer added that events represent an ideal opportunity for companies to apply SiriusDecisions’ Demand Unit Waterfall model, which helps link individual leads within the buying group to opportunities, business needs and specific solutions. “You get right to buying decision makers and buying decisions. You turn an event into real-person opportunities,” said
Archer added that events represent an ideal opportunity for companies to apply SiriusDecisions’ Demand Unit Waterfall model, which helps link individual leads within the buying group to opportunities, business needs and specific solutions. “You get right to buying decision makers and buying decisions. You turn an event into real-person opportunities,” said
TAKING ABM TOTHE NEXT LEVEL:
New Metrics, Meaningful Engagement
Because ABM plays are often measured based on different goals and outcomes than traditional digital marketing or lead gen programs, industry experts point out that events present a great opportunity to gather meaningful data and metrics that align with ABM goals.
“Events are a great channel for branding, making in-person connections, and obtaining new contacts. We often look at cost per lead or cost per channel, but what about cost per account or cost per acquisition?” said Cristal Foster, Principal Consultant at Oracle Expert Services. “Those questions can only be answered by taking an ABM approach to event planning and execution. Having the ability to roll that to the account level and tie it back to an event only solidifies Marketing’s seat at the revenue generation table.”
Rather than simply measuring events based on the number of booth scans or seminar attendees, advanced ABM practitioners are integrating the insights from their ongoing ABM programs to build more relevant outreach prior to the event, and then drive more meaningful interactions with key accounts at the event, as well as relevant follow-up conversations post event.
“Events are a great channel for branding, making in-person connections, and obtaining new contacts. We often look at cost per lead or cost per channel, but what about cost per account or cost per acquisition?” said Cristal Foster, Principal Consultant at Oracle Expert Services. “Those questions can only be answered by taking an ABM approach to event planning and execution. Having the ability to roll that to the account level and tie it back to an event only solidifies Marketing’s seat at the revenue generation table.”
Rather than simply measuring events based on the number of booth scans or seminar attendees, advanced ABM practitioners are integrating the insights from their ongoing ABM programs to build more relevant outreach prior to the event, and then drive more meaningful interactions with key accounts at the event, as well as relevant follow-up conversations post event.
Demand Gen Report’s 2018 ABM Benchmark Survey found the top three metrics for ABM success were:
Contribution to pipeline
61%
Win rate
Net-new targeted accounts engaged
52%
51%
ABM practitioners point out that integrating account strategies into events enables more meaningful, relevant conversations with key stakeholders, which leads to an even deeper understanding of account needs.
“When you have an ABM strategy, it can absolutely make your event planning and execution more powerful by leveraging data at an account level,” said Kim Roman, Senior Principal Consultant at Oracle Expert Services. “It allows you to promote an event and engage with potential attendees in a more meaningful way by looking at account engagement overall.”
We look at different metrics now. We don’t just look at the number of meetings, but things like target account engagement. We play the long game for our ABM strategies at events.
— Jessica Fewless, VP of ABM Strategy, Demandbase
EVENT & ABM ALIGNMENT PRIMER:
4 Key Steps To Integrating Events in your ABM Strategy
Maybe you are in the early days of your ABM rollout, or maybe you just haven’t gotten around to integrating your events into your account-based strategy.
Here are four key steps on how to position events as the catalyst to fuel your account-based initiatives moving
Here are four key steps on how to position events as the catalyst to fuel your account-based initiatives moving
CLICK TO EXPLORE
Align People, Process And Technology
The first step is to assess your martech stack to make sure you have the necessary tools, and that they are set up and ready to share data and talk to each other. Research has shown that the expansion of ABM programs is having a positive impact on the working relationship between sales and marketing.
For advanced companies looking to unify their ABM and event strategies, this should include tying event lead management — the ability to capture leads across events in a standardized manner and track account engagement across events — into your marketing automation, CRM and ABM orchestration platforms, so campaign and sales outreach can take advantage of automation for timely and relevant engagement at all stages.
Then, once your tech stack is prepared, make sure your processes and key stakeholders are aligned with handoffs, data flows and key metrics. Ideally, your event management tools can help automate next best actions by integrating with key functions such as data enrichment functions, lead scoring and lead routing.
Then, once your tech stack is prepared, make sure your processes and key stakeholders are aligned with handoffs, data flows and key metrics. Ideally, your event management tools can help automate next best actions by integrating with key functions such as data enrichment functions, lead scoring and lead routing.
with SiriusDecisions
56% of respondents to Demand Gen Report’s ABM Benchmark Survey ranking improved alignment as the top payoff of an account-based strategy.
56%
CASE IN POINT:
Cognizant Converts Event Strategy From Analog To Digital
Global tech services leader Cognizant has an expansive event portfolio, running approximately 70-75 events in North America alone, and between 600-700 globally.
70-75events
600-700events
Subhayan Deb, Global Martech Lead at Cognizant, explained that a lot of Cognizant’s focus at large events such as Dreamforce has been on working with their sales team on key accounts to convert what had traditionally been an analog approach to a more digital strategy.
“We do a better job than we used to at involving our sales community and we get their input on determining the best accounts to reach out for depending on the event, Deb said. “We’ve created a community of our most influential salespeople. For example, at Dreamforce, our goal was to create one-to-one relationships between our key sales influencers and key accounts.”
He explained how Cognizant utilizes the atEvent platform pre-, at- and post-event to fuel engagement and accelerate revenue
“We do a better job than we used to at involving our sales community and we get their input on determining the best accounts to reach out for depending on the event, Deb said. “We’ve created a community of our most influential salespeople. For example, at Dreamforce, our goal was to create one-to-one relationships between our key sales influencers and key accounts.”
He explained how Cognizant utilizes the atEvent platform pre-, at- and post-event to fuel engagement and accelerate revenue
PRE-EVENT
Leading up to events, Deb said Cognizant concentrates on attracting attendees via social media, targeting key accounts via email campaigns and creating microsites to have a digital mechanism for them to interact. He added that utilizing data collected via atEvent has been extremely beneficial in helping build target account lists and prioritizing accounts to focus on with targeted invites to upcoming events and other marketing programs.
CONCLUSION:
Account-based event strategy is emerging at the intersection of human touch and automation. By connecting analog and digital customer experiences for a holistic view of target account engagement and sentiment, successful B2B brands are taking their ABM programs to the next level and driving more meaningful interactions with decision makers and influencers.
By marrying people, process and technology around their ABM and event strategies, companies such as Cognizant are eliminating inefficiencies of paper-based note collection, and also providing more relevant experiences
for buying groups at key accounts.
“To do ABM effectively, events are a key ingredient,” says Uzair Dada, CEO of atEvent. “If you’re not thinking about events as an opportunity to build relationships with targeted accounts, and planning for that like you do with your digital marketing efforts, you are missing out in a big way.”
By marrying people, process and technology around their ABM and event strategies, companies such as Cognizant are eliminating inefficiencies of paper-based note collection, and also providing more relevant experiences
for buying groups at key accounts.
“To do ABM effectively, events are a key ingredient,” says Uzair Dada, CEO of atEvent. “If you’re not thinking about events as an opportunity to build relationships with targeted accounts, and planning for that like you do with your digital marketing efforts, you are missing out in a big way.”
sales@at-event.com
info@demandgenreport.com
833.283.8368
201.257.8528