Well, it does — but stick with me as I tell you a story... We all love a good story…
ABM — Account-based Marketing — is more than 20 years old.
The story goes that Bev Burgess was talking to Marketers from two well-known companies — Accenture and Unisys, back in 2002-2003.
They had a dilemma.
They were complex service companies selling complex solutions to complex organizations.
They had dedicated Account teams for each major customer. You know — Key Account Directors and the like — but they did not have dedicated Marketers.
They did not have a CMO for each of their most important customers. Customers who were worth millions of dollars each year in revenue to them.
So…they came up with ‘Client-centric Marketing — CCM’.
This was their response to dedicate Marketing resources, people, and money to each of their most important accounts.
The goal?
To collaborate with their Key Account teams to intimately understand their customers’ challenges, goals, and agenda to build customers for life.
CCM over time became ABM.
It was codified by Bev Burgess and the team at ITSMA.
And the rest is history.
One-to-one Account-based Marketing was born.
One-to-few ABM soon followed.
And in time, and with new automation and technology solutions, One-to-many ABM arose.
The ‘M’ of ABM was inherited from CCM — Customer-centric Marketing.
In hindsight, the ‘mother’ of ABM, Bev Burgess, recognized that perhaps ‘Marketing’ was not the most appropriate word.
Why? Well, several reasons:
ABM is much more than Marketing — it’s a company-wide initiative and calling it AB-Marketing may not help this view
The term ABM can be exclusive — rather than inclusive. Many Sales people think “Oh no — not another Marketing initiative!”
While Marketing is often in the driving seat of any AB-Marketing strategy — it is much more of a team effort, where other teams — Sales, Customer Success, Account teams, etc. play a pivotal role.
What if we could go back in time 20 years or so and change the name of ABM? Wouldn’t that be fun?
Here are some alternatives for what that final ‘M’ of A-B-M could stand for.
This reflects the importance of managing and coordinating efforts across different parts of your organization.
This reflects the action of galvanizing your whole organization towards an account-centric approach.
This reflects the detailed models/profiles of target accounts needed to create an impactful strategy.
This reflects ABM’s broader impact as an overall approach/ method. It's not just marketing.
This reflects the uniqueness of ABM and the need to become a master in understanding, serving, and creating value for your customers.
It's more than a strategy. It's a movement, a mind-shift, a new way of thinking and doing account engagement.
It's about maximizing the opportunities that your customers represent. Opportunities to build stronger relationships, a more robust brand, and customers for life.
It's no good telling. You've got to show it. ABM is all about the impact and a new set of metrics.
ABM is a commitment. A declaration. A proclamation. A pronouncement.
ABM is all about attracting, engaging, and keeping your most important accounts in a powerful and magnetic way.
Management
Mobilization
Modelling
Methodology
Mastery
Movement
Maximization
Measures
Manifesto
Magnetism
The obvious answer is no.
What’s more important is what Account-based Marketing means to you and your organization.
We always recommend every customer define ABM in the context of its organization, its Go-to-Market strategy, its people, its culture, its values, etc.
A definition. A charter. A bill of ABM, if you like.
With this definition, you can now educate your entire company on this strategy.
If you want to call it something else — go ahead.
I’ve heard many terms for it: Account-based Engagement, Account-based Experience, Account-based Management, Strategic Account Marketing, Strategic Account Management, etc…
What they all have in common is an obsession.
An obsession to place your customers (current and future) at the heart of everything you do and become a client-centric organization.
If you achieve that, calling it ABM — fantastic.
If you achieve that, calling it ‘Anything but Marketing’ - fantastic.
Good luck on your ABM journey.
We’ll be watching you and supporting you.
