Is Your ABM Platform As Enterprise As You Are?

Existing account-based marketing (ABM) platforms have their roots in serving the needs of early-stage organizations. While this can be construed as a natural state of development for the VC backed, minimal viable product focused tech startup, the short-term decisions based upon speed to market, have resulted in the development of channel based, narrow silos of activity. For a startup to mid-tier company, this may serve marketers well however, the world of a global enterprise-class marketer is vastly different and their priorities need to be reflected in their selection of ABM technology and services. A scaled-up version of a mid-tier solution doesn’t recognize the different needs, resources and variability of enterprise organizations, nor does it consider the non-subscription service layer required to serve the enterprise.

In an enterprise environment, marketing organizations are not only divided by geography, line of business and industry but are required to coordinate activities to similar target accounts, report jointly or severally, operating without constraints. Early-stage tech startups often lack the global footprint, native language speakers and in-market expertise to offer each of your teams the right advice and solution. Can you say with confidence your current ABM platform has been built to manage multiple business units and geographies within a connected environment, sharing insights, supporting hierarchical reporting?

One-third of marketers find their marketing technology portfolio already too complex

Source: Forrester’s Q4 2017 Global Cross-Channel Campaign Management Forrester Wave™ Customer Reference Online Survey and Forrester’s Q4 2017 Global Enterprise Marketing Software Suites User Online Survey.

Unmanageable technology stack options

Within the typical startup ABM platform, enterprise-class marketers are discovering themselves using separate, disconnected instances of a platform or a combination of different platforms altogether, often compounding the cost and platform fees, while struggling with the implications of sharing a common interface without proper divisions of labor. Enterprise marketers are in a tough position due to sheer number of marketing technology accessible. With integration struggles across solutions, deficient user experience and blurred messaging by vendors, marketers have little choice but to purchase platforms with inconsistent depth of functionality, forced to fill gaps with additional tech investments. One-third of Forrester surveyed marketers stated their tech portfolio is already too complex and while that percentage has dropped since 2016, as has the percentage of marketers who say they have redundancies in their technologies. A further study also found 46% of the marketers surveyed wanted to reduce the number of vendors involved in their enterprise marketing technology.

Unbalanced buying criteria

The enterprise environment also requires an ABM platform built to operate in multiple delivery channels, with those channels operating in harmony with internal platforms and those of other vendors. In spite of billions of dollars spent every year on mergers and acquisitions fueled by a longing by marketers to significantly reduce the number of vendors they work with; enterprise ABM technology remains highly myopic. Nowhere is the battle to provide full functional exposure for cross-channel buyer journeys more fragmented than the divide between traditional Adtech and Martech solutions.

46% of marketers want to reduce the number of vendors involved in their enterprise marketing technology

Source: Forrester’s Q4 2017 Global Cross-Channel Campaign Management Forrester Wave™ Customer Reference Online Survey and Forrester’s Q4 2017 Global Enterprise Marketing Software Suites User Online Survey.

Contextualizing ABM campaigns into buyer journeys

Just as the enterprise environment challenges orchestration and execution, early-stage tech impedes the measurement of holistic customer insights. Existing ABM solutions are typically capable of strategic reporting on native functions, but obtaining cross-channel, actionable analytics that support optimization and attribution, requires immense data processing power, integrations and application support. Early-stage ABM technology is often “boxes” in end users, offering little flexibility to adapt features to advanced processes, existing systems, and teams.

When selecting an ABM platform you need to find a vendor that offers the adaptability to fit your needs and timing. Sophisticated program administration, capable of simplifying execution and measurement in complex marketing scenarios, across business units and verticals and geographies, are all minimum requirements for an enterprise class ABM platform.