Why ABM is Not a Strategy - Scott Vaughan - Hard Corps Marketing Show #150

B2B Marketers go crazy over the term account-based marketing (ABM). They treat it like it is a buzzword, a strategy that is going to advance their brand in the B2B marketplace, and one that is focused just on marketing with some sales alignment. What good is an ABM strategy though if it is not going to scale across your business? A Marketing Leader, Mentor, Growth Executive, Strategy Advisor, and the Chief Growth Officer at Integrate Inc., Scott Vaughan, delivers a call to action for companies to not just have an account-based marketing strategy, but to have an account-based approach across the entire buyer’s journey, involving sales and customer success, in addition to marketing.   Takeaways: Account-based marketing should not be a solo strategy of the marketing department, but be a tier that contributes to an overall account-based approach along with sales and customer success. What does the entire buyer to customer journey look like for one of your target accounts? Each department, marketing, sales, and customer success, needs to play a role in your account-based approach that is tied to your go-to-market strategy. Determine the roles that each department functions in to form the entire buyer’s journey. To build an account-based approach, a company must first answer, which markets are we going after, which buyers are we targeting within those markets, and what are our key differentiators to those markets? “You’re a business [person] first, marketer second.” - Scott Vaughan Identify the influencers who have a voice in your target markets, the leaders that people are listening to. Follow them on social media and engage with them in discussion, so your brand becomes a part of that network. “Marketing is about doing the research and the homework as much as it is about the execution.” - Scott Vaughan Technology on its own is not the answer to shifting from a sole account-based marketing strategy to a collective account-based approach. You need to have a strategy for how you will configure the technology first, before purchasing a new tool. Career Advice from Scott Vaughan - Trust your gut and take risks. Act on the opportunity to expand your responsibilities and learn something new.   Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottavaughan/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ScottAVaughan Integrate Inc.: https://www.integrate.com/   Busted Myths: Account-based marketing is not a strategy. - It is a mindset. Doing account-based marketing on its own may work for a time, but if your business is going to scale, then it needs to be an account-based approach. The approach needs to be tied to your go-to-market strategy that is mapped along the entire buyer’s journey from marketing to sales to customer success.   Ways to Tune In: iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hard-corps-marketing-show/id1338838763 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1vVLpNI1LssMTiL6Kdsamn Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-hard-corps-marketing-show YouTube - Full video (https://youtu.be/UsnAszGJPxQ)