ABM Adoption Soars Among B2B Marketers

Published: April 26, 2016

Account-based marketing (ABM) adoption in B2B is soaring; more than 70% of B2B companies have staff fully or partially dedicated to managing ABM-specific programs, according to preliminary findings from SiriusDecisions’ 2016 State of Account-Based Marketing Study. The study results were announced at the Demandbase Marketing Innovation Summit for B2B in San Francisco.

In addition, 58% of B2B marketing respondents said they currently have a pilot or test program in place, and 41% said they have a full program in place.

“This year’s data shows ABM continues to gain rapid acceptance for B2B marketers,” said Megan Heuer, VP-research at SiriusDecisions, in a statement.

In addition, the study revealed that B2B marketers are building new skills for executing account-based marketing strategies. Sixty-two percent of those surveyed said they have the skills needed to succeed with ABM, compared with 53% in 2015.

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“What is most exciting is that marketers are rapidly building ABM skills so they can deliver on its promise,” Heuer said. “Marketing teams understand there are many ways ABM can deliver business impact and are reporting on a range of metrics focused on both demand creation and relationship improvement objectives.”

Heuer added that “in the coming year, we’ll see marketers continue to invest in ABM technologies to deliver on their goals.”

The study polled more than 200 respondents at B2B companies. Additional study findings include:

  • Sales alignment is high with companies that practice ABM: 60% of companies say they are somewhat aligned or tightly aligned with sales, compared with 34% last year. When companies are employing ABM strategies, 83% of the time sales helps determine target accounts.
  • Technology and service investment continue to grow: Marketers are using technology to deliver and scale ABM, with 58% of companies planning to invest in services or technology in 2016. The top planned investment for ABM this year is account-based advertising and retargeting; 68% of companies said they have earmarked budget for this technology.

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