Best of LinkedIn: Account-based Marketing CW 38/ 39

00:00:00: Provided by Thomas Allgaier and Frennis, based on the most relevant posts on LinkedIn about account-based marketing in CW-Thirty-Eight and Thirty-Nine.

00:00:07: Frennis is a B to B market research company working with enterprises to optimize their campaigns with account and executive insights far beyond AI.

00:00:15: This edition is brought to you by our partner B to B Marketing.

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00:00:37: Find the link in the description.

00:00:39: Welcome back to the deep dive today.

00:00:41: Uh, we're focusing squarely on strategic BDB marketing.

00:00:43: We've sifted through while a lot of LinkedIn posts about account based marketing from the last couple of weeks at CW, Our mission here is pretty simple.

00:00:51: Cut through the noise and give you the really actionable insights, you know, what B to B leaders are actually talking about and focusing on right now.

00:00:58: Exactly.

00:00:59: And what's really interesting is how the ABM conversation itself has, well, it's matured.

00:01:04: It's less about the why of ABM now.

00:01:06: The real focus we saw pop up again and again is on the how practical execution, using live signals, getting the orchestration right, and maybe most importantly, achieving that deep alignment between sales and marketing.

00:01:19: Yeah, that alignment piece never goes away, does it?

00:01:22: Never.

00:01:22: So today, we're going to unpack what people are actually doing, what signals they trust, and how they're making it work on the ground.

00:01:29: We wanted to distill what gives you that competitive edge.

00:01:31: Okay, let's dive in.

00:01:33: And it seems logical to start, well, at the start, the foundation, strategy before tactics.

00:01:38: Absolutely critical.

00:01:40: Devjeet Sen made a point that seems obvious, but often gets overlooked.

00:01:43: ABM isn't just another channel you add to the mix.

00:01:45: No, it's the overarching strategy that dictates what all your channel's social, paid email, whatever, should actually be focused on.

00:01:53: And Chovit Kana echoed that, didn't he?

00:01:55: Saying, if you jump straight into the tactics, the tools.

00:01:57: You're basically setting yourself up to fail.

00:01:59: It has to be strategy first.

00:02:01: Always.

00:02:02: I really like the analogy from Nancy Carlisle Harlan.

00:02:04: She put it quite nicely.

00:02:05: ABM is like hosting a talktail party.

00:02:08: Your ideal customer profile, your ICP, that's your guest list.

00:02:12: It's be really careful about who you invite.

00:02:14: Good analogy.

00:02:15: And then the tiering, well, that's your VIP section.

00:02:18: Who gets the special treatment, the high touch experience versus say a more general program.

00:02:24: And that guest list, the ICP, that's where we're seeing a significant shift to.

00:02:27: It's moving away from just broad firmographics, company size, industry.

00:02:32: The real focus now is on segmentation based on problem fit.

00:02:37: Does this account have a specific business pain that you can actually solve?

00:02:42: That's the key question.

00:02:43: Right.

00:02:43: And once you've got the account, the focus immediately snaps to the people inside it.

00:02:47: Tom

00:02:47: Slocum had some strong words about this.

00:02:49: He basically said legacy ABM was kind of a joke to sales teams.

00:02:52: They get these vague black box signals about account interest.

00:02:55: And they just didn't trust them because the account isn't buying anything.

00:02:59: A person is.

00:03:01: Sales needs precision.

00:03:02: They need to know who.

00:03:03: Exactly.

00:03:04: Not just that somebody at Company X is interested, but specifically who is showing intent, what's their role, what do they look at, that person first.

00:03:12: ABM approach.

00:03:13: It cuts out so much guesswork for the sales development team, makes the whole process way more effective.

00:03:19: And speaking of people, there was also this interesting community angle.

00:03:22: Renee Edwards mentioned an Adorium Club lunch.

00:03:25: Ah, yes, with Renato de Carvalho commenting too.

00:03:28: Where the real value came from these open unfiltered conversations between PE folks, investors, entrepreneurs.

00:03:35: It just reinforces that even with all the tech, ABM relies on genuine human connection.

00:03:40: That's a perfect segue, actually, because the tech stack, the data, the signals they need to enable that connection make it smarter.

00:03:46: Let's talk intelligence.

00:03:47: Okay,

00:03:48: so relying on just the standard off-the-shelf ABM platform.

00:03:53: That's not enough anymore.

00:03:54: It seems not, or at least it comes with risks.

00:03:57: Kimamaw Gokba's argued that just plugging in a basic tool can turn ABM into this expensive black box.

00:04:03: You don't really know why it's working or not working.

00:04:05: He says, So a

00:04:18: much richer multi-dimensional view of the account and the people in it.

00:04:22: Precisely.

00:04:23: And then you need specific reliable signals.

00:04:26: We saw some really interesting examples there.

00:04:28: Look what?

00:04:28: Well, for technical audiences, Dev Engineering security Harry Sims pointed out that GitHub data is an absolute goldmine.

00:04:36: And we're not talking broad strokes here.

00:04:37: This is about scoring accounts based on person level engagement with specific code repositories.

00:04:42: Are they looking at your stuff, your competitors, ecosystem tools?

00:04:45: That's incredibly specific intent.

00:04:47: Wow.

00:04:47: OK.

00:04:48: That's granular.

00:04:48: And Justin Rowe highlighted technographics using tools like Built With to see what tech stacks companies are using.

00:04:55: Why?

00:04:56: So you can hyper-target.

00:04:58: Imagine running a campaign only to known HubSpot users, offering something specific to that platform.

00:05:04: Your messaging gets instantly relevant.

00:05:06: That makes sense.

00:05:07: But you know, there's always the question of signal quality.

00:05:10: How reliable is all this data?

00:05:12: And that's a healthy skepticism to have.

00:05:14: Eve Chen definitely brought that perspective.

00:05:16: She warned leaders.

00:05:19: Don't just blindly trust AI-powered intent signals.

00:05:22: You need to really push the vendors.

00:05:24: Ask the hard questions.

00:05:26: Is this genuine predictive insight, or is it just noise?

00:05:30: Noise that could actually be hurting your GTM efforts.

00:05:32: Yeah, interrogate the vendors.

00:05:33: Yeah.

00:05:34: Like that phrasing is crucial.

00:05:35: And speaking of validating signals, Anareg Thompson had a great tip for LinkedIn ads.

00:05:39: He pointed out that the company's tab in the ads manager is seriously underutilized.

00:05:44: has this engagement level metric high, medium, low.

00:05:47: This is fantastic because it shows you which specific accounts are actually warming up based on their interaction with your ads.

00:05:52: So before you pour more money in, you can actually see which accounts are showing genuine interest at the company level.

00:05:58: Exactly.

00:05:59: It helps validate your targeting and informs where you should maybe double down or pull back.

00:06:04: Super practical.

00:06:05: OK,

00:06:05: that's a really actionable one.

00:06:07: Let's shift gears slightly from the intelligence gathering to, well, the doing.

00:06:12: Activation, orchestration, making it all happen.

00:06:15: Right.

00:06:15: The execution loop.

00:06:17: Zachariah Siridakis talked about why so many campaigns fizzle out.

00:06:21: Often it's because the lists are too broad and the outreach just feels like spam.

00:06:26: We've all been on the receiving end of that.

00:06:27: Definitely.

00:06:28: So his approach focuses on a really tight, closed loop built around proven engagement.

00:06:33: It goes like this.

00:06:34: Build a specific person level list, maybe using SalesNav.

00:06:39: Run targeted LinkedIn ads just to them.

00:06:41: Then use a tool, he mentioned Fibler, to see exactly who clicked or engaged.

00:06:46: Ah, okay, so you get the specific names.

00:06:48: Yes.

00:06:49: And then you launch your personalized outbound sequence using tools like Clay or Instantly, but only to those people who actually engaged.

00:06:56: So you're not wasting time or annoying people.

00:06:58: who ignored the ad.

00:06:59: You're focusing purely on the handraisers.

00:07:01: Precisely.

00:07:02: It makes the whole outbound motion much more targeted and, frankly, more welcomed by the prospect.

00:07:08: And keeping those target audiences fresh is key, too, right?

00:07:11: Yeah.

00:07:11: You can't just use the same list

00:07:12: forever.

00:07:13: No, absolutely not.

00:07:15: Mikhail Jekowski shared what he called a scrappy play for this.

00:07:18: They use GA-IV engagement data, run it through tools like ZenABM or clay to identify engaged visitors, and then refresh their matched LinkedIn audience's weekly.

00:07:28: That stops your campaigns from going stale and relying on a list you built months ago.

00:07:33: Much more dynamic.

00:07:34: Makes sense.

00:07:35: Now, we talked about tech and process, but none of it works without the people aligning.

00:07:38: Yeah.

00:07:38: Sales and marketing.

00:07:40: Yeah.

00:07:40: Perennial challenge.

00:07:41: It really is the bedrock.

00:07:42: Shobakana and Zohip K were both very clear on this.

00:07:45: ABM demands that sales and marketing operate as a single unified revenue team.

00:07:50: Period.

00:07:51: Easier said than done sometimes.

00:07:53: For sure.

00:07:53: But Tyler Place shared some concrete ways companies are actually fostering this.

00:07:58: Things like setting up an ABM advisory council with members from both teams.

00:08:02: Or running SDR campaign competitions where marketing and sales development collaborate closely on specific plays.

00:08:09: It builds that shared understanding and ownership.

00:08:11: Those sound like practical ways to bridge the gap.

00:08:14: And related to reaching prospects, Jason Shen made a great point about intelligent omnipresence.

00:08:19: Yeah, I like that term.

00:08:21: It's not just about being persistent, but being smartly visible across multiple channels.

00:08:26: LinkedIn, email, maybe getting introductions, building that trust layer by layer.

00:08:31: And a specific tactic for LinkedIn omnipresence came from Casey Hill.

00:08:35: This was really interesting.

00:08:36: He found that engaging actively in the comments section of relevant posts actually drove more profile views and better response rates than just posting content yourself.

00:08:45: Really?

00:08:46: More views from comments.

00:08:47: Apparently so.

00:08:48: The reach of comments can sometimes exceed the reach of the original post.

00:08:52: So being part of the conversation, adding value and comments, it's a huge, often overlooked lever for visibility and network growth.

00:08:58: That's a fascinating low-cost tactic.

00:09:01: anyone can try.

00:09:01: Totally.

00:09:03: And for more structured outreach, Shiv Narayan detailed specific re-engagement plays for deals marked as closed lost.

00:09:11: The key insight there was... Don't just send a generic checking-in email six months later.

00:09:17: You have to tailor the approach based on why you lost the deal.

00:09:20: Right.

00:09:20: Like, lost.

00:09:21: a competitor needs a different message than lost due to timing or no decision.

00:09:25: Exactly.

00:09:26: Each reason requires different content, different contexts, to have any chance of reigniting that conversation effectively.

00:09:32: Okay.

00:09:33: Let's look towards the future a bit.

00:09:35: AI, maturity, how we measure success.

00:09:38: What's the buzz there?

00:09:39: Well,

00:09:40: AI is obviously huge, but Declan Mulkein observed that, honestly, most teams are still stuck using it for fairly basic stuff.

00:09:47: You know, drafting emails, summarizing notes.

00:09:50: The real prize, he argues, is leveraging AI to seriously accelerate account research and fundamentally refine how you select interior accounts in the first place.

00:09:59: That's where the strategic value lies.

00:10:00: Okay, accelerate research sounds good, but what does that actually look like?

00:10:03: How does it work?

00:10:04: IDF gave some concrete examples.

00:10:06: They used tools like Clay, Lemlist, and Zapier to build workflows that automated parts of account qualification and tiering.

00:10:14: A key thing was setting up triggers.

00:10:16: So if AI detects a signal, say, a target company just raised a new funding round, it could instantly trigger a personalized outreach sequence.

00:10:24: Wow,

00:10:25: OK.

00:10:26: real-time activation based on signals.

00:10:28: Yeah,

00:10:28: and she mentioned this approach boosted their contact match rate from around forty percent up to eighty percent.

00:10:33: That's a massive improvement in efficiency and reach.

00:10:35: An eighty percent match rate that changes the game for campaign effectiveness.

00:10:40: And speaking of personalization, LinkedIn itself is evolving here.

00:10:44: It is.

00:10:44: Ganesh Chathambalam highlighted their new personalized sponsored content feature.

00:10:49: This allows advertisers to dynamically pull fields like first name, job title, company name directly into the ad.

00:10:55: creative.

00:10:56: So true, one point one personalization, but delivered at scale through paid ads.

00:11:00: That's the idea.

00:11:01: It brings that personalized touch right to the top of the funnel.

00:11:03: But there's a catch.

00:11:04: There's

00:11:04: always a catch.

00:11:05: Robbie Davis sounded a note of caution.

00:11:07: While that personalization is powerful, LinkedIn's data isn't always perfect.

00:11:12: It sometimes gets job titles wrong.

00:11:14: And if your fancy dynamic ad pulls in the wrong job title for a key prospect, well, you've instantly damaged credibility.

00:11:20: So human oversight is still absolutely essential.

00:11:22: Right.

00:11:22: Don't just set it and forget it.

00:11:24: You need those guardrails.

00:11:26: This brings us back to the idea of maturity, doesn't it?

00:11:28: ABM isn't a quick fix.

00:11:30: Not at all.

00:11:31: Jessica Campo had a brilliant comparison.

00:11:33: She likened mature ABM to making Parmesan cheese.

00:11:37: Parmesan cheese, okay, explain.

00:11:38: Well, it requires precision, high quality ingredients or data, in this case focusing on quality over sheer quantity.

00:11:45: And crucially, it requires immense patience.

00:11:48: She warned that seeing the full, tangible ROI from a sophisticated ABM program, it can genuinely take up to months.

00:11:55: Thirty-six months?

00:11:56: Wow.

00:11:57: In marketing terms, that's an eternity.

00:12:00: How do leaders possibly justify that investment and keep the faith when results take that long?

00:12:05: That's the million-dollar question, and it forces a shift in measurement.

00:12:08: Forget vanity and metrics like MQLs.

00:12:11: Andrei Zinkovich shared his dashboard approach, which focuses entirely on progression and movement.

00:12:17: He tracks accounts systematically moving through defined stages, maybe starting as cluster ICP, then progressing to future pipeline, then becoming active focus.

00:12:27: So the focus is on the value moving through the pipeline, not just the volume of leads.

00:12:32: Exactly.

00:12:32: It shifts the conversation with leadership.

00:12:34: You're not talking about clicks or form fills.

00:12:36: You're showing them say, one point six million dollars in qualified pipeline generated from these focused accounts.

00:12:43: That's a language leadership understands.

00:12:44: That

00:12:44: makes sense.

00:12:45: Proving value.

00:12:46: through pipeline progression.

00:12:47: And measuring the right things is critical because the cost of not doing so, the cost of misalignment is huge.

00:12:53: Carolyn Healy shared findings from an audit.

00:12:56: It suggested around thirty percent of typical marketing budgets are just wasted, squandered on things that don't demonstrably drive revenue.

00:13:03: Thirty percent?

00:13:03: Like what kind of things?

00:13:04: Things like what she called conference booth theater, just showing up without clear goals, or creating content nobody reads, or running brand awareness campaigns targeting people who are already customers.

00:13:16: Oh, OK.

00:13:17: So what's the fix?

00:13:19: Her solution was simple, really.

00:13:20: Apply the revenue test to every single activity and dollar spent.

00:13:25: Can you draw a reasonably direct line from this investment to closed one business?

00:13:30: If the answer is no, well, maybe indirectly, sort of, then you need to seriously question that spend.

00:13:37: Cut it or fix it.

00:13:38: The

00:13:38: revenue test.

00:13:39: Okay.

00:13:39: That's a clear mandate.

00:13:41: So wrapping this all up, reflecting on these posts from the last two weeks, what's the big takeaway?

00:13:46: I think the overwhelming theme is that true ABM success isn't really about picking the perfect tool or technology anymore.

00:13:51: It's much more fundamental.

00:13:52: It's about a cultural shift, an organizational commitment.

00:13:55: Moving beyond ABM as just a marketing campaign.

00:13:58: Right.

00:13:59: Elizabeth R talked about successful companies thinking in terms of dynamic pipelines that show account movement, not static, linear funnels.

00:14:07: And Davis Potter really nailed it by saying mature organizations see account-based principles as the underlying strategy for the entire go-to-market

00:14:15: team.

00:14:16: So ABM isn't something marketing does to sales or for sales.

00:14:20: It's how the whole revenue engine operates.

00:14:22: Precisely.

00:14:23: If ABM is truly the engine of growth, like the B to B marketing conference theme suggests, then what we're seeing on LinkedIn tells us the fuel is alignment and the odometer that matters.

00:14:34: Well, that's qualified pipeline progression.

00:14:36: So maybe the final thought for you to consider is, are your current metrics measuring real movement and progression towards revenue, or are they just tracking activity?

00:14:43: That seems to be the critical question leaders are grappling with.

00:14:46: A very important question indeed.

00:14:48: If you enjoyed this deep dive, new episodes drop every two weeks.

00:14:51: Also, check out our other editions on field marketing, channel and partner marketing, AI and B to B, Martek go to market and social selling.

00:14:59: Thank you for joining this deep dive.