Steve Watt – Account Based Marketing – ConversionXL

Learn how to plan, build, test, measure, optimize, and scale Account-Based Marketing in any B2B company, and in any industry

ABM is strategy and execution, creativity and analytics, established best practices and continuous experimentation.

If ABM is already part of your job, this course will give you the frameworks, tools, and insights you need to perform at much higher levels. If your company isn’t there yet, or if you’re looking to join a new company, this course will position you to powerfully and credibly evangelize and lead what could be the most impactful growth strategy the company has ever employed.

Ideal for you if…

• You work in (or want to work in) a B2B organization with average deal sizes of $10k or greater.
• You want to elevate yourself above the masses of marketers vying for promotions and new opportunities to lead growth initiatives.
• You are a CEO, CMO, CRO, or sales leader seeking larger deals, shorter sales cycles, higher margins, and greater customer retention and upsell.

This course is probably not for you if…

• You firmly believe that activity metrics (dials etc.) drive sales performance, top of funnel metrics (leads etc.) drive marketing performance, and all you need is more of the same.
• You expect immediate results and will not invest in new ways of doing business that require planning, building, and iterating over many months (even years in some cases).
• You don’t work well with others. ABM is extremely collaborative and cannot be done “heads-down” in isolation.
• You are already an ABM expert. While this course will cover a lot of advanced material, those who are well versed in ABM strategy, tactics, metrics and tools will find some sections redundant.

Skills you should have before taking this course:

This course is appropriate for novice, beginner, and intermediate-level ABM leaders and practitioners, as well as for senior B2B leaders interested in building more strategic, collaborative sales & marketing alignment. Once foundational topics have been covered, we’ll quickly move into rather advanced concepts.

• Students should have a basic foundation in B2B sales and marketing strategies, processes, and metrics. As the saying goes, you’ve got to know the rules before you break them.

Your full course curriculum:

Account based marketing

Lesson 1

A little red Ferrari, problems with conventional demand gen, & laying solid ABM foundations

How a little (very little) red Ferrari cracked open a seemingly impenetrable market, unlocked game-changing growth, and changed the way a mid-sized tech company thinks about demand generation.

Topics covered:

• Learn what’s wrong with conventional sales, marketing, demand generation, and how it all slows growth and builds walls between the people who should be collaborating.
• Understand the three different types of ABM, how to best assess your company’s needs, and why a blended approach is very likely the best approach.
• Avoid three deadly ABM mistakes.

Lesson 2

Planning your pilot

Two of the most important steps of ABM are gaining executive and cross-functional alignment, and planning a solid pilot program. We’ll go deep into why these steps are crucial, and how to rally the team around doing them right.

Topics covered:

• How to gain (and maintain) executive sponsorship for ABM.
• How to bring in sales, customer success, and other vital stakeholders as enthusiastic co-owners of the program.
• How to plan the right size pilot: Big enough to be material; small enough to be manageable.

Lesson 3

Absolutely nailing the ideal customer profile, account selection, & tier strategy

People often think account selection is simple and obvious. They’re wrong. Mistakes made here will undermine your chances of success and waste your time and money for months. Maybe years. We’ll make sure you start on a strong footing.

Topics covered:

• Blending qualitative and quantitative approaches to develop a powerful Ideal Customer Profile
• Selecting the right accounts (and ensuring all stakeholders are fully on board with the decisions)
• Tiers and clusters. There’s much more to it than simple industry segments.

Lesson 4

Research, journey, & channels

Now that you’ve got your account list, and your tier and cluster strategy, you need to determine who, exactly, you need to engage and what approach and message are most likely to resonate with them.

Topics covered:

• Determining how many contacts you need in each account, and what roles they are in.
• Data sources and manual research approaches to capturing the right names and contact information.
• Insight research, buyer intent, social listening… how deep should we go?
• Channel and cadence planning.

Lesson 5

Optimizing & scaling

Once your pilot is in the market you’ve still got a lot of work ahead of you. No matter how well planned and built, it will still be inefficient and ineffective compared to what it will become. You’ve got to keep your foot on the gas in terms of testing, measuring, and communicating. So much communicating! We’ll also talk about the ABM Hype Cycle and how many companies have gotten off track in the early days of their ABM journey.

Topics covered:

• Maintain focus and momentum once your pilot is in-market.
• Build a predictable, repeatable cash machine.
• Ensure effective ongoing communication to lay the foundations for scaling ABM post-pilot.

Lesson 6

ABM tools & careers

There are hundreds of jobs available RIGHT NOW that require ABM experience, and not nearly enough skilled and experienced people to fill them. How do you get started in ABM? How do you hire experienced people in such a competitive market? Is ABM a separate career path or is it a core competency for any B2B marketing career?

Topics covered:

• Build a good understanding of the ABM technology landscape, and how and when tools can help you enhance your impact.
• Continue your learning with a wide range of ABM content from those shaping the industry.
• Explore some different approaches to building your team and enhancing your ability to accelerate and de-risk your ABM programs.
• Accelerate your career trajectory as an ABM practitioner and leader.