When the Unexpected Opens a Door, Jodi Lebow Walks Right Through

Demandbase Champion Jodi Lebow, Director of Global Demand Center at Hexagon, has been blazing an account-based marketing trail for 15 years. She’s gathered wisdom and experience and is generous about sharing that with her colleagues. We sat down with Jodi to hear how to best get an ABM program off the ground, her experiences on both sides of the acquisition equation, and the importance of flexibility.

How did you get your start in ABM?

I started exploring account-based marketing in 2007. It might not have even been called ABM back then! I was doing some website personalization and analytics work but it wasn’t tied to a particular platform. When the concept of ABM took off it became really popular with marketers. But I think the fundamentals of ABM are what good B2B marketers were instinctively doing already — behaviors like deeply understanding and defining your target audience, and then actively engaging them with timely messaging. ABM platforms like Demandbase have helped us work more effectively and given us new ways to track activities and engage people.

What have you enjoyed most about your career?

It’s been interesting and fun to be part of many high-growth organizations, both large and small. Most of the companies I’ve worked for have engaged in acquisitions. I’ve been on both sides — working for companies that have been acquired and for those that do a lot of acquiring. It’s always interesting to see what change brings. Being flexible and open during an acquisition has led to growth opportunities and allowed me to take on new functions and try new things. You don’t plan for that, it’s serendipitous. The only thing we can count on is change. Acquisitions often shift priorities, but once you anticipate the shift, it feels less scary and can be seen as an opportunity.

How does Demandbase help you do your job?

We use Demandbase to keep a pulse on how things are going within our target accounts. We’re constantly tracking and measuring the journey stages and account engagement. Information drawn from Demandbase helps spark conversations with our SDR team about each account. Marketing and SDRs remain tightly aligned and focused on the same things at those accounts. We view Demandbase as the center point of our account-based activities and use it as mission control to have a single view of our accounts and to determine next steps.

How have you created a well-oiled ABM machine?

Hexagon is a global company and our division has multiple products that roll up into six different solution areas, so marketing and selling them can be complex. When I came to Hexagon, we were more product-centric and campaign focused. We were targeting people and accounts with campaigns in an uncoordinated way. Now we’ve pivoted to an account-centric approach and are using Demandbase to understand where we’re seeing engagement. We use that information to tailor the marketing content that we share with the SDRs so that they, in turn, can tailor their outreach. It’s really helped us elevate our programs because we’re actually reading the intent signals. Demandbase helps us understand what content each account is being targeted with so that we’re not competing with ourselves and blasting them with multiple messages. We didn’t have a way to figure that out before — we all just had a list and did our thing. That doesn’t work.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I love to travel internationally and domestically. I have been fortunate in my professional life to travel for work. When that happens, I maximize the time, plan side trips, and take advantage of my surroundings. I’m also passionate about sports and theater. My house has multiple sports allegiances. So, our weekends are packed as we try to track multiple games — college football (Wisconsin Badgers), NFL (Minnesota Vikings), and soccer too (Atlanta United & Tottenham Hotspurs). When I was younger I participated in a lot of theater productions. I’ve given that up to focus on my corporate career but I still love going to performances. It’s funny, because I often go on stage at work as an event speaker. People ask if I’m nervous, but I’m not. It takes me back to my theater days.

What is your superpower?

Getting sh*t done. I joke, but one of the most consistent compliments I’ve gotten throughout my  career from my leaders has been the acknowledgement that I am very action oriented. They’ve said, “Jodi, we know when we give you a challenge or a task, it’ll get done. We don’t have to worry about it. We know you’ve got it and will make it happen.” That really resonates for me, because I enjoy having a lot of things to work on and to drive to completion to add value to the business..

What is your advice for ABM newcomers?

Just get started! So many people have a bit of paralysis when they’re getting started with ABM. They feel like they must figure everything out and have everything built before even getting started. That is not a good approach because it will slow you down and you’re never going to actually begin. We’re all constantly evolving, changing, and building so you just need to take the first step.

Want to learn more about what Jodi and her team at Hexagon are accomplishing with Demandbase? Check out their case study.

About Hexagon

Hexagon is a global leader in digital reality solutions, combining sensor, software and autonomous technologies. We are putting data to work to boost efficiency, productivity, quality and safety across industrial, manufacturing, infrastructure, public sector, and mobility applications. Our technologies are shaping production and people-related ecosystems to become increasingly connected and autonomous – ensuring a scalable, sustainable future.