More Than 95 Percent of B2B Marketers Report that Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Drives Marketing Success

SAN FRANCISCO – Sept. 30, 2015 – Demandbase, the leader in Account-Based Marketing (ABM), announced today, in collaboration with research firm Demand Metric, results from a new benchmark report titled “Account-Based Marketing Adoption.” In addition to detailing the impact of ABM, the new findings show that ABM has moved swiftly up the adoption curve. This is in large part because B2B marketers using ABM are seeing increased revenue, with 96 percent reporting that ABM is a key driver of marketing success.

ABM as a concept isn’t new: it allows marketing and sales to target and market to the accounts they value most. However, new technology is making it possible to scale ABM efforts from 50 accounts to 500 or even 5,000. This precise approach to targeting brings the right accounts into the sales cycle, making the marketing and sales process more efficient, while significantly growing revenue. In fact, the study validates that ABM increases engagement with target accounts; 83 percent of respondents agree this is the number one benefit of ABM.

“ABM is more than just a marketing strategy; it has become the cornerstone of most B2B marketing plans,” said Peter Isaacson, chief marketing officer at Demandbase. “By marketing to the accounts your sales team wants to sell to and measuring the results at the account level, B2B companies are driving alignment across the organization, improving customer experiences and growing their bottom line. As awareness of its benefits continue to grow, ABM is trending toward mass adoption.”

Additional study findings include:

• 71 percent of B2B organizations are using ABM, interested in adopting the strategy or are testing it.
• 60 percent of those who have employed ABM for at least a year attribute revenue increases to its use.
• The longer ABM is in use, the more its full-funnel impact is experienced: 43 percent of those using ABM for three or more years report that it impacts the entire funnel, compared to just 12 percent for those who have used ABM for two years or less.
• ABM boosts sales and marketing alignment: 70 percent of ABM users report that their sales and marketing organizations are mostly or completely aligned, compared to 51 percent for non-ABM users.
• More marketers are relying on ABM: 83 percent of ABM testers and 72 percent of ABM users have plans to increase their usage of ABM in the coming 12 months; none have plans to decrease ABM usage.
• Organizations of all sizes are adopting ABM: large companies are currently the heaviest users of ABM at 41 percent, but small companies are the most aggressive testers at 23 percent.

“This study confirms that the impact of ABM is real,” said Jerry Rackley, chief analyst at Demand Metric. “The approach is critical for marketers who are constantly striving to produce better quality leads and engagement with those leads. More B2B marketers are recognizing what ABM is and what it can do for their business.”