Best of LinkedIn: Account-based Marketing CW 02/ 03

00:00:00: provided by Thomas Allgaier and Frennus.

00:00:02: Based on the most relevant post on LinkedIn about account-based marketing in CWO two and O three, Frennus is a B to B market research company working with enterprises to optimize their campaigns with account and executive insights far beyond AI.

00:00:16: It is good to be back.

00:00:18: And, you know, looking at the stack of insights from the last couple of weeks, I'm feeling a genuine sense of relief.

00:00:23: Relief.

00:00:25: That's not a word I usually associate with January marketing planning.

00:00:28: Usually it's more like panic or exhaustion.

00:00:32: Why relief?

00:00:33: Because we are firmly in twenty twenty six.

00:00:36: And I think we can finally, finally say the conversation about is ABM just a hype cycle is dead.

00:00:43: It's buried.

00:00:44: The debate is over.

00:00:45: I see what you mean.

00:00:45: Looking at what people are posting, nobody is asking should we do account-based marketing anymore.

00:00:49: They've moved way past the why and are now like obsessing over the how.

00:00:53: Yes.

00:00:53: Specifically, how do we stop messing it up?

00:00:56: That is the shift.

00:00:57: The curated content from weeks two and three paints this really specific picture.

00:01:01: ABM isn't a marketing tactic.

00:01:03: You just, you know, turn on for a quarter.

00:01:04: Right.

00:01:05: It's not a quick fix for lead numbers.

00:01:06: Not at all.

00:01:07: And it's not a specific campaign you run.

00:01:10: No, the sources are screaming that it's a massive shift toward an operating system.

00:01:14: That phrase kept coming up.

00:01:16: It's the

00:01:16: perfect metaphor, isn't it?

00:01:17: An operating system just runs everything in the background and manages all the core functions.

00:01:22: Exactly.

00:01:22: It's about precision, alignment, and honestly revenue protection.

00:01:26: Yeah.

00:01:27: It's so far beyond just net new lead generation now.

00:01:31: OK, so to help you navigate this, we've organized this deep dive into four distinct clusters based on what we're seeing online.

00:01:38: First, we're going to look at ABM as that operating system, the big mindset shift.

00:01:43: Then the foundation.

00:01:44: Right, the foundation, which is sharper targeting, then the engine data and AI in twenty twenty six.

00:01:49: And finally, the fun part, the real world execution, the actual plays people are running right now.

00:01:56: Sounds like a solid plan.

00:01:57: Let's dig in.

00:01:58: Okay, so let's unpack this first theme, ABM as an operating system.

00:02:02: I think a lot of people get paralyzed thinking they have to, like, burn everything down to start ABM.

00:02:07: Oh,

00:02:07: absolutely.

00:02:07: There's this fear you have to stop everything else.

00:02:10: Yeah, but Mikayla Munitz had a great post that really counters that anxiety.

00:02:14: She did.

00:02:15: She argues you don't just flip a light switch and suddenly you do ABM.

00:02:18: It's not this binary state.

00:02:19: Right.

00:02:20: She makes the point that ABM isn't about throwing your entire go-to-market strategy overboard.

00:02:25: You don't just fire your demand-gen team.

00:02:27: You're still running campaigns.

00:02:29: You're still creating content, still supporting sales.

00:02:31: The difference, and this is the key part, is the lens.

00:02:35: As Michaela puts it, you finally know who you're doing it for.

00:02:39: It's a layer you add on top.

00:02:41: It makes things visible.

00:02:42: It adds structure to the chaos.

00:02:44: Oh.

00:02:44: Which I love.

00:02:45: It's not a replacement.

00:02:46: It's a refinement.

00:02:47: It's like putting on glasses.

00:02:48: The world is the same, but now you can actually see.

00:02:51: But Robert Buchitz took it a step further.

00:02:54: He's calling it a full... operating model.

00:02:57: And that's an important distinction from just a strategy.

00:02:59: An operating model implies it changes how the business functions.

00:03:03: Operationally.

00:03:03: Yeah,

00:03:03: exactly.

00:03:05: Robert notes that modern ABM is where precision beats volume.

00:03:08: And that is a hard pivot for a lot of marketers who are, let's be honest, addicted to volume.

00:03:12: We love our big numbers.

00:03:14: It is hard to let go of that.

00:03:16: more is better mindset.

00:03:19: But Robert emphasizes focusing on binding groups.

00:03:23: not just individual leads.

00:03:24: I mean, if you're still chasing one person to raise their hand in twenty twenty six, you're not doing ABM.

00:03:29: You're just doing expensive lead gen.

00:03:31: That's it.

00:03:32: Because one person rarely signs the check anymore.

00:03:34: It's a committee.

00:03:36: And speaking of expensive, Davis Potter had this analogy about resources that I think is just going to stick with me.

00:03:41: He calls it an account investment strategy.

00:03:43: This was my favorite insight of the week.

00:03:45: Hands down.

00:03:47: He says, to treat your target account, list your TAL like a stock portfolio.

00:03:52: Which just makes so much sense.

00:03:54: You don't obsess over a penny stock.

00:03:55: the same way you watch a major holding.

00:03:57: Precisely.

00:03:58: Yeah.

00:03:58: In finance, you allocate resources to the highest yield assets.

00:04:02: You wouldn't put the same... But

00:04:03: with investment comes accountability.

00:04:05: You know, if I'm a portfolio manager, I have to show returns.

00:04:09: And this is where it gets a little scary.

00:04:11: Declan Mulkeen and Nancy Carlisle Harlan were talking about this.

00:04:15: This hard truth that ABM has to own revenue outcomes.

00:04:19: They were not mincing words.

00:04:21: If your ABM program doesn't have a quota, if it isn't tied to expansion or revenue protection or growth.

00:04:28: It's just marketing activity.

00:04:29: It's just

00:04:30: busy work.

00:04:30: Ouch.

00:04:31: Busy work.

00:04:32: That stings.

00:04:33: It's harsh, but look at the economy.

00:04:35: Nancy makes the point that ABM exists to protect and grow that top twenty percent of your accounts.

00:04:41: It's about revenue protection just as much as acquisition.

00:04:44: If you aren't signing up for a number, you weren't at the table.

00:04:47: You're just the arts and crafts department.

00:04:48: Pretty much.

00:04:49: But there's a trap here, isn't there?

00:04:50: Sarah Wicker pointed it out.

00:04:52: When that revenue pressure hits, when the CFO is breathing down your neck, strategy often flies out the window.

00:04:58: It's

00:04:58: the panic pivot.

00:04:59: We've all seen it.

00:05:00: Sarah warns that teams retreat to short-term tactics.

00:05:03: They go back to what converts fastest.

00:05:05: Which is usually low-quality volume, generic email blasts.

00:05:09: Exactly.

00:05:10: instead of sticking to the strategy that fuels long-term growth.

00:05:14: It's a discipline problem.

00:05:15: It's like breaking your diet the moment you get stressed.

00:05:18: It is exactly that.

00:05:19: If ABM is an operating system, you trust the system.

00:05:22: You don't reboot the computer mid-calculation just because it's taking a moment.

00:05:26: So

00:05:26: if the operating system is the mindset, we need a foundation.

00:05:30: You can't run a high-performance OS on broken hardware.

00:05:34: Which brings us to our second theme.

00:05:37: sharper targeting.

00:05:38: Or as I like to call it, the garbage in, garbage out problem.

00:05:42: Ivan Falco shared an absolute horror story about this.

00:05:45: It made me cringe just reading it.

00:05:47: He was reviewing a client's ABM program.

00:05:50: They were spending twenty thousand dollars a month by the way.

00:05:52: Okay.

00:05:52: And he asked to see their target account list.

00:05:54: Let me guess.

00:05:55: It wasn't pretty.

00:05:56: Not pretty.

00:05:57: It's generous.

00:05:57: He called it paid guessing.

00:05:58: It was just a giant database export.

00:06:00: No tiers.

00:06:02: Yeah.

00:06:02: No disqualifiers.

00:06:03: Oh no.

00:06:03: just a raw list of companies they uploaded to LinkedIn to spend money on.

00:06:08: That is painful, but it's so common.

00:06:10: And Ivan's takeaway here is critical.

00:06:12: The TL has to be a RevOps asset.

00:06:15: Not a marketing spreadsheet lost in Google Drive.

00:06:18: It has to live in the CRM updated weekly.

00:06:21: And if you can't answer why an account is on the list, it shouldn't be there.

00:06:24: Right,

00:06:24: and it's not just about wasting ad spend.

00:06:26: Olivia Martin pointed out that this is a systemic problem.

00:06:29: She cited a stat that ninety-one percent of CRM data is incomplete.

00:06:35: I mean, just think about that.

00:06:35: If ninety one percent of your bricks were cracked, you wouldn't build a house with them.

00:06:39: It would

00:06:39: fall down.

00:06:40: It's

00:06:40: staggering.

00:06:41: She says hygiene isn't just admin work for an intern.

00:06:44: Without clean data, programmatic ABM is just spraying impressions into the void.

00:06:49: You're paying to show ads to people who left the company three years ago.

00:06:53: So how do we fix it?

00:06:55: Kevin Payne outlined a playbook that I think is incredibly practical.

00:06:58: What's the play?

00:06:59: He

00:06:59: says, stop guessing.

00:07:01: backtest your ideal customer profile.

00:07:04: So looking at who actually bought from you in the past.

00:07:06: Yes, look at the last twelve to twenty four months of close one deals.

00:07:11: But, and this is the part people miss.

00:07:13: look at the closed lost deals too.

00:07:15: Look for patterns in the failures.

00:07:17: Were they too small?

00:07:18: Wrong tech stack.

00:07:20: Wrong person.

00:07:21: That's a great point.

00:07:22: We usually only study success.

00:07:23: We rarely do an autopsy on the failures.

00:07:25: Right.

00:07:26: Don't just target who you want to sell to, target who actually converts.

00:07:30: And then Kevin says you have to tear ruthlessly.

00:07:32: Right.

00:07:32: Tier one gets the white glove, one point one treatment.

00:07:35: And tier three gets automation.

00:07:36: Match the effort to the potential yield.

00:07:39: And Tyler Plyce added another layer to this, which brings it all back to alignment.

00:07:43: He said most strategies fail before they even start because account selection isn't tied to what the business actually cares about this year.

00:07:50: the shiny object syndrome.

00:07:52: If the business goal is expanded to healthcare, and your ABM list is full of manufacturing clients because you're comfortable with them, you've already failed.

00:08:01: Your list has to mirror the corporate strategy, period.

00:08:04: So we have the mindset, we have a clean list, now we need the engine.

00:08:07: Right, let's talk.

00:08:08: theme three, data, AI, and measurement.

00:08:11: Because it's twenty twenty six, we can't talk marketing without talking AI.

00:08:15: But the conversation has, it's changed, hasn't it?

00:08:18: Drastically, it's matured.

00:08:20: Felsa Skari noted something really interesting.

00:08:23: He argues that while AI speeds everything up speed to market, insights, the fundamentals haven't changed.

00:08:30: In fact, he says the human touch matters more now.

00:08:33: Because of all the noise.

00:08:34: Exactly.

00:08:35: Because everyone can use AI to generate infinite emails, infinite content.

00:08:39: So things like handwritten notes, personal calls, they become premium assets.

00:08:44: Scarcity creates value.

00:08:46: When everyone is zinging with bots, zag with a human.

00:08:49: That's

00:08:49: it.

00:08:49: It's the uncanny valley of marketing.

00:08:52: When everything feels synthetic, the human element stands out.

00:08:55: And Jessica Fiel has had a similar warning about the AI will fix it.

00:08:59: mindset.

00:08:59: The

00:08:59: magical thinking.

00:09:00: Yes.

00:09:01: Marketers think they can just layer AI on top of that.

00:09:04: Ninety-one percent incomplete CRM data we talked about and that AI will somehow turn it into gold.

00:09:08: It won't.

00:09:09: I like your phrasing.

00:09:10: AI is an accelerator, not a janitor.

00:09:12: It won't clean up your mess.

00:09:13: It will just amplify it.

00:09:14: If your data is bad, AI just helps you make bad decisions faster.

00:09:18: But when we do use AI correctly with clean data, Nancy Carlisle Harlan, she seems to be everywhere this week, talks about agentic AI.

00:09:26: Agentic AI.

00:09:27: is a term we're hearing a lot.

00:09:30: For anyone catching up, how is this different from the generative AI we were all using a few years ago?

00:09:35: So generative AI creates things.

00:09:37: Text, images, agentic AI does things, it makes decisions.

00:09:41: And Nazi's point is that this is the real shift.

00:09:44: It's not just about efficiency, like writing an email faster.

00:09:47: It's

00:09:48: about strategy.

00:09:49: Exactly.

00:09:50: AI agents should be used to surface risks, flag a stalling buying group,

00:09:54: or

00:09:55: suggest the next best play.

00:09:57: It's an orchestration layer.

00:09:58: It tells you what to do next.

00:10:00: So it's like having an analyst whispering in your ear saying, hey, the CIO at this account.

00:10:04: downloaded a white paper, but the CFO hasn't engaged in three months.

00:10:08: Send this case study to the CFO right now.

00:10:10: That is a game changer.

00:10:12: It takes the guesswork out.

00:10:13: But if we're using all this sophisticated tech, we can't just measure clicks anymore.

00:10:16: Please,

00:10:16: no more click counting.

00:10:18: Nikki Blouse suggests we stop the endless attribution debate, who gets credit for what, and just start measuring account progression.

00:10:24: So what does that look like on a dashboard?

00:10:26: It's tracking movement.

00:10:28: An account moves from target to MQA to sales, accepted to opportunity.

00:10:33: Or we move the needle.

00:10:34: Is the account closer to buying today than it was yesterday?

00:10:37: That's what matters.

00:10:38: Bruno Estrella at Clay introduced a metric I found really interesting called qualified engagements.

00:10:43: This is a great example of precision.

00:10:45: It's not about getting a hundred likes on a post.

00:10:47: It's about cross-referencing.

00:10:49: who engaged with your named account list.

00:10:51: So if

00:10:51: the CIO of a tier one account likes your post, that's a qualified engagement.

00:10:55: Right.

00:10:56: But if my mom likes your post, it's sweet, she's supportive.

00:11:00: But it doesn't count toward the goal.

00:11:01: Sorry to your mom.

00:11:02: She understands.

00:11:03: She wants us to hit quote it too.

00:11:04: Okay, let's move to the final cluster.

00:11:06: We've got strategy, targeting, tech.

00:11:08: Now for theme four.

00:11:09: Execution and real world plays.

00:11:12: This is where the rubber meets the road.

00:11:14: And where we see the shift from volume to signals.

00:11:17: We aren't just blasting emails.

00:11:19: Elmer Lopez shared a story that Honestly blew my mind.

00:11:23: He closed a thirty thousand dollar deal in seven days.

00:11:26: Seven days in B to B enterprise.

00:11:29: That's that's unheard of.

00:11:30: It is.

00:11:31: And he didn't do it with a six month nurture campaign.

00:11:34: He tracked one specific signal.

00:11:37: A new hire.

00:11:37: Walk us through it.

00:11:39: A VP of marketing joined one of his target accounts.

00:11:42: Elmer didn't just send a connection request.

00:11:45: He looked at the job description for the role she just filled.

00:11:48: Okay.

00:11:49: It's specifically mentioned implementing event tools.

00:11:52: That's the smoking gun.

00:11:53: He knew her mandate before she even unpacked her desk.

00:11:57: Exactly.

00:11:57: He called immediately, not a generic congrats email.

00:12:01: He called and said, I see you're here to fix events.

00:12:03: Let's talk.

00:12:05: Timing beat nurturing.

00:12:06: That is signal-based selling at its absolute finest.

00:12:09: It's relevant, timely, helpful, but sometimes you can't get them on the phone.

00:12:13: Tom Ogenthaler shared a great story about the access strategy.

00:12:16: This was the radio show example, right?

00:12:17: Yes.

00:12:18: The sales team was trying to get into a PE-backed account for six months.

00:12:23: Total silence.

00:12:24: So they decided to change the geometry of the relationship.

00:12:27: I love that phrase, change the geometry.

00:12:29: It implies moving from a vendor buyer dynamic to something else.

00:12:33: It is.

00:12:34: They invited the target executive onto a radio show to discuss AI.

00:12:38: It wasn't a sales pitch, it was a thought leadership moment.

00:12:41: And that cracked the door open.

00:12:43: Why

00:12:43: it open?

00:12:44: Because it influences access.

00:12:46: Once they were peers on a show discussing industry trends, the sales conversation just happened naturally afterwards.

00:12:52: It proves that sometimes the best sales play isn't a sales play at all.

00:12:56: It's a media play.

00:12:57: But... Execution also requires adaptability.

00:13:01: I mean, things go wrong.

00:13:02: Do you see the story from Emily Grizdovich at freckle.io?

00:13:06: The boxes.

00:13:06: This is my favorite story of the week.

00:13:08: It's such a nightmare scenario.

00:13:09: It

00:13:09: really is.

00:13:10: It's a master class in pivoting.

00:13:11: So set the scene.

00:13:13: They targeted about sixty operators in San Francisco.

00:13:15: They sent these beautiful physical boxes and then the boxes got stuck in customs.

00:13:21: Absolute panic.

00:13:22: The campaign launch is looming and your main asset is being held hostage.

00:13:26: Most people would just pause the campaign and cried.

00:13:29: Emily didn't.

00:13:29: She used AI to generate images of what the boxes looked like.

00:13:33: And she used those images to start conversations on LinkedIn.

00:13:36: She basically said, look at this amazing thing we made for you.

00:13:39: It is coming, but customs hates us right now.

00:13:42: That's brilliant because it created a story.

00:13:44: It wasn't, here's a gift.

00:13:45: It was, we're in this struggle together.

00:13:48: It humanized the brand.

00:13:49: And she said the engagement was actually higher because people sympathized.

00:13:52: The constraint forced creativity.

00:13:55: The

00:13:55: ops system of handling the crisis probably earned them more attention than the box itself would have.

00:13:59: Absolutely.

00:14:00: Finally, we have Matteo Foix, who described a massive like fourteen million dollar pipeline engine.

00:14:07: And what struck me was how systematic it was.

00:14:09: Right.

00:14:09: It wasn't random acts of marketing.

00:14:11: It was a chain reaction.

00:14:12: He laid it out.

00:14:14: Define ICP.

00:14:15: Use clay for centralization.

00:14:17: Layer on signals like hiring or funding.

00:14:19: Use AI agents to draft messaging.

00:14:22: Then notify sales on Slack.

00:14:24: Every single step was intentional.

00:14:26: That's the operating system concept in action.

00:14:28: It's not, let's send some emails today.

00:14:30: It's an engineered flow of data in action.

00:14:33: It's repeatable.

00:14:34: And that means it's scalable.

00:14:35: So looking at all of this from the high level strategy to... you know, faking box photos.

00:14:42: What's the one thing you need to take away?

00:14:44: It means that in twenty twenty six, ABM isn't about buying a platform.

00:14:48: You can't just buy six cents or demand base and say we do ABM.

00:14:52: It's about building a discipline.

00:14:53: A discipline.

00:14:54: Yes, it's an operating system that requires clean data.

00:14:58: No more paid guessing.

00:14:59: It requires human insight to interpret that data.

00:15:02: And it requires the agility to act on signals, not just spamming contacts.

00:15:07: And if you aren't tied to revenue, if you aren't protecting that top twenty percent,

00:15:11: then you're just doing arts and crafts.

00:15:13: Harsh, but accurate.

00:15:15: Well, that is a lot to digest.

00:15:16: I feel much better equipped for twenty twenty six now.

00:15:18: Me too.

00:15:19: It's going to be an interesting year.

00:15:20: If you enjoyed this deep dive, new episodes drop every two weeks.

00:15:24: Also check out our other editions on Field Marketing Channel and Partner Marketing, AI and B to B, MarTech, Go To Market and Social Selling.

00:15:31: Thanks for listening.

00:15:32: Make sure you hit that subscribe button so you don't miss the next one.

00:15:34: See you next time.