Demandbase launches ABM Stack Evaluator to help marketers match the right ABM technologies to their ABM strategy

San Francisco – Nov. 4, 2019 – Demandbase, the leader in Account-Based Marketing (ABM), today announced the results from a new report titled State of the ABM Tech Stack, which found that despite strong adoption and widespread awareness of ABM, most marketers believe that their ABM tech stacks are “immature.” Additionally, those companies rating themselves as immature adopters are also the companies that are struggling to find ABM technology to support their needs. The report findings, conducted in collaboration with research firm Demand Metric, shows that an ABM tech stack configuration can generate significant lift or drag for ABM programs, as companies that self identify as having an immature tech stack were almost four times more likely to indicate that their current technology doesn’t support their ABM needs. 

To address these challenges, and help account-based marketers choose the right technologies for their stack, Demandbase has launched its ABM Stack Evaluator, a seven question survey that generates a customized report of recommendations for matching the right ABM technologies to their ABM strategy.

ABM is no longer a novel approach to marketing. 81 percent of respondents reported that their organization has deployed, or is considering deploying, an ABM strategy. While just 30 percent categorized their program as “median” (complete or near complete implementation and/or moderate usage) or “mature” (complete implementation with regular or full usage), respondents in this group were almost three times more likely to report their ABM technology stack supported their programs “well” or “very well.” 

“Account-based marketers face many challenges when building and scaling their ABM strategy, including choosing the right technologies,” said Peter Isaacson, chief marketing officer at Demandbase. “This is even harder due to the explosion of ABM technologies out there. By partnering with the top 20 marketing technology vendors, the ABM Stack Evaluator helps match ABM technology to a company’s specific marketing challenges. It’s a great starting point for any company jumping into, or scaling, their ABM strategy.”

According to this survey, 36 percent of B2B marketers say that adopting the right technology tools is a key challenge. Marketers must leverage their entire marketing tech stack to realize the full revenue and ROI benefits of ABM. The ABM Stack Evaluator audits marketers’ ABM strategy and recommends the right technology mix to be successful. This tool allows marketers to choose specific challenges they’re facing in seven different areas, including identifying a target list, identifying the buying team, measuring engagement for target accounts, and reporting ABM performance. Once marketers evaluate how technology can support their ABM strategy, this tool is designed to empower their next stack move to make that process easier. 

Additional study findings include:

• Marketing with personalized content tops the list of strategy areas in need of a technology assist, with 60 percent of respondents listing this as the most in need of a boost.
• Measuring account engagement (52 percent) and developing a target account list (50 percent) rounded out the top three areas in need of a tech assist.
• Tracking content engagement by target accounts was the number one challenge for respondents struggling with content marketing, (63 percent) followed by producing quality content fast enough or in sufficient quantity (57 percent).
• 61 percent of respondents citing challenges with measuring account engagement reported improving website engagement and conversions for target accounts was an area of improvement, followed by not knowing what channels to prioritize for driving engagement (57 percent).
• Top challenges in developing target account lists included not knowing the quality of a list (46 percent), not having the right technology tools (36 percent) and not knowing which targeted accounts to focus on (30 percent)

“These results show how strongly adoption maturity drives satisfaction with ABM results,” said Jerry Rackley, chief analyst at Demand Metric. “It’s important for users to leverage the entire ABM technology stack in order to realize the revenue, benefits and ROI of the approach.”

For more information on the ABM Tech Stack survey created with Demand Metric, please register for the “State of the ABM Tech Stack” webinar on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 10 a.m. PST / 1 p.m. EST, which will discuss the full survey report, or read more on our blog. The executive summary version of the report can be downloaded here.