AMA: Google Group marketing manager, Steve Armenti on Account Based Marketing

October 26 @ 10:00AM PT

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In your experience, who are the most critical internal partners during the course of creating an Account Based Marketing strategy?

Steve Armenti

Google founder @ twelfth ⚡️ data-driven ABM ⚡️ | Formerly Google, DigitalOcean • 2y

Sales and operations. I recently talked about this on LinkedIn and here's the strategy I like for aligning GTM teams on ABM. ask sales "who matches our 𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗙𝗜𝗟𝗘?" to ensure marketing's hypothesis matches the people that sales regularly encounters as leads of contacts get sales' feedback on your 𝗕𝗨𝗬𝗘𝗥 𝗝𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗬 - agree on the way customers actually want to learn about and purchase your product share your 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗤𝗨𝗘 𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗨𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 with sales to determine if this is the way they actually t ...Read More

1,778 Views

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How would you define the difference between metrics, analytics, and insights in the context of Account Based Marketing strategy?

Steve Armenti

Google founder @ twelfth ⚡️ data-driven ABM ⚡️ | Formerly Google, DigitalOcean • 2y

Metrics are the quantitative measures of ABM performance. They provide a snapshot of what is happening at a certain point in time, such as website visits, leads/ MQLs, engagement rates, and conversion rates. Analytics is the process of organizing, interpreting, and displaying ABM metrics to identify trends and patterns--often in a dashboard. It involves understanding the data for trends into why things are happening the way they are. Insights are the conclusions drawn from the ABM analytics proc ...Read More

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Do you use intent data in your ABM model?
Steve Armenti

Google founder @ twelfth ⚡️ data-driven ABM ⚡️ | Formerly Google, DigitalOcean • 2y
Yes. Intent data plays an important role in three areas:

Developing your ICP

Building a target account list

Feeding insights into the funnel to trigger marketing or sales activities

If you're going to use intent, think about what else you can use those intent signals for besides at the point of acquisition. A lot of intent vendors want to sell you leads with intent, ask if you can get just the intent and then think about where that intent can drive marketing or sales activity.
1,326 Views
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How do you recommend companies adjust their KPIs as they move to an ABM-centric marketing approach?

Steve Armenti

Google founder @ twelfth ⚡️ data-driven ABM ⚡️ | Formerly Google, DigitalOcean • 2y

You'll need to adjust the way you measure account vs lead activity: Instead of measuring leads generated, measure account engagement and influence Instead of measuring marketing qualified leads MQLs, measure account qualified opportunities Instead of measuring pipeline creation, measure pipeline and account progression Instead of measuring customer acquisition cost only, measure account lifetime value and develop ROI of CAC <> LTV Then align those KPIs with sales goals Work with sales to d ...Read More

955 Views

2 requests
What is your methodology for identifying the right company targets in an ABM strategy?
Steve Armenti

Google founder @ twelfth ⚡️ data-driven ABM ⚡️ | Formerly Google, DigitalOcean • 2y
I like to build target accounts lists WITH sales. It's a shared activity. I've used this framework often as a starting point.

Figure out your data sources

Develop your ICP

Scrub the data

Segment the list

Launch it

Depending on the size of your TAM, you may want to establish a hierarchy of accounts. Something like this:

Account universe: every account in your TAM

Target account list: every account in your SAM

Segmented account lists (usually many): the accounts that receive your marketing
1,048 Views
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What is the best way to educate internal stakeholders on Account Based Marketing in order to accurately highlight the potential benefits to the organization as a whole and to their individual teams’ functions?

Steve Armenti

Google founder @ twelfth ⚡️ data-driven ABM ⚡️ | Formerly Google, DigitalOcean • 2y

Host a lunch and learn. Give people free lunch or a snack or something to attend. Then tell a story. Don't present facts and figures. If you're new to storytelling, try using ChatGPT or Bard. Here's a sample prompt: "Using the classic story structure, write me an outline to explain why account based marketing is a strategic benefit to a B2B company. Give me an explanation, with no fluff or extra words, for each of the seven main parts of the story including the exposition, rising action, climax, ...Read More

828 Views

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What are the best questions to keep top of mind when conducting a content audit?

Steve Armenti

Google founder @ twelfth ⚡️ data-driven ABM ⚡️ | Formerly Google, DigitalOcean • 2y

How well does the content align with the organization's overall business goals? Is it helping to achieve key objectives such as generating leads, increasing brand awareness, or driving sales? Can we measure it? Is the content relevant to our ICP? Does it address their pain points, interests, and needs? Would they consume it and take action? How well is the content performing? What are the traffic, engagement, and conversion rates? How does it compare to other content on the website, against indu ...Read More

811 Views

2 requests
In addition to buy-in and budget, what support is needed from other internal teams to set up an organization for success with a new Martech solution?

Steve Armenti

Google founder @ twelfth ⚡️ data-driven ABM ⚡️ | Formerly Google, DigitalOcean • 2y

I would make sure your leadership team is built into the vision for what the MarTech is going to unlock. Even after their approval, keep them in the loop on your implementation progress. Then when you're live, socialize your successes and failures with leadership and xfnl teams. Bring people along for the ride and get them excited about what you're doing. Specifically, I'd build relationships with teams in marketing, sales, operations, product, and anyone else that is part of go to market. You m ...Read More

869 Views

2 requests
How do you update stakeholders with information that helps them efficiently communicate the importance of your Account Based Marketing strategy to their own teams?

Steve Armenti

Google founder @ twelfth ⚡️ data-driven ABM ⚡️ | Formerly Google, DigitalOcean • 2y

There's some great tips here. Ultimately, you own the story that others are going to tell about your work. You should be communicating it vs letting it go through the echo chamber.

I would institute an email or internal comms strategy that brings people along your journey from start to finish. Excite and entertain people. Make it interesting. Talk about wins and losses. Invite others to get involved and participate.

973 Views

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How is Account Based Marketing different for landing vs expanding/ cross-sell/ upsell?

Steve Armenti

Google founder @ twelfth ⚡️ data-driven ABM ⚡️ | Formerly Google, DigitalOcean • 2y

ABM for new customer acquisition is focused on identifying, engaging, and converting high-value accounts (your ICP). The goal is to acquire and build relationships with key decision-makers at your top accounts and demonstrate the value of your solution via marketing campaigns. ABM for expanding / cross-sell / upsell is focused on deepening relationships with existing customers. Your account list is smaller and more defined. The goal is to understand data and signals that will help your team iden ...Read More

894 Views

2 requests
Have you been in a position to suggest implementation of updated Martech solutions and what indicated to you that a new (or additional solution) was necessary for success?

Steve Armenti

Google founder @ twelfth ⚡️ data-driven ABM ⚡️ | Formerly Google, DigitalOcean • 2y

Yes. With any internal pitch I've made for resources or investment in technology, I've always focused on three simple things: Tell a story around the pain caused by the problem Present a world where that pain is gone and the business growth we could be achieving Offer the solution for how we get to that pain free world The problem could be a leaky funnel. The leaky funnel causes lost revenue but it also burns out the team and wastes resources. Make that problem personal and explain that every ho ...Read More

811 Views

2 requests
What is your tried and true method of assessing an organization’s goals to determine the customized proportion of inbound to outbound leads needed for success?

Steve Armenti

Google founder @ twelfth ⚡️ data-driven ABM ⚡️ | Formerly Google, DigitalOcean • 2y

Start with the business targets to understand what the goals of the business are. Slice those business targets by available segments such as: region, country, solution, etc. Then look at the historical conversion rates within each segment to understand what's worked in the past. Build your model off the historical data to find out where you should be investing. Now, put together a recommendation that invests in the highest performing channels in the regions with the best win rates.

911 Views

2 requests
When taking inventory of all content assets, what percentage of content should be for the top, middle, and bottom portions of the funnel?
Steve Armenti

Google founder @ twelfth ⚡️ data-driven ABM ⚡️ | Formerly Google, DigitalOcean • 2y
The ideal percentage depends a lot on the industry, ICP, and your goals. I'd say a general guideline is:

Top of funnel (TOFU): 60-70%

Middle of funnel (MOFU): 20-30%

Bottom of funnel (BOFU): 10-20%
780 Views
2 requests

AMA: Google Group marketing manager, Steve Armenti on Account Based Marketing

View AMA Answers

In your experience, who are the most critical internal partners during the course of creating an Account Based Marketing strategy?

How would you define the difference between metrics, analytics, and insights in the context of Account Based Marketing strategy?

Do you use intent data in your ABM model?

How do you recommend companies adjust their KPIs as they move to an ABM-centric marketing approach?

What is your methodology for identifying the right company targets in an ABM strategy?

What is the best way to educate internal stakeholders on Account Based Marketing in order to accurately highlight the potential benefits to the organization as a whole and to their individual teams’ functions?

What are the best questions to keep top of mind when conducting a content audit?

In addition to buy-in and budget, what support is needed from other internal teams to set up an organization for success with a new Martech solution?

How do you update stakeholders with information that helps them efficiently communicate the importance of your Account Based Marketing strategy to their own teams?

How is Account Based Marketing different for landing vs expanding/ cross-sell/ upsell?

Have you been in a position to suggest implementation of updated Martech solutions and what indicated to you that a new (or additional solution) was necessary for success?

What is your tried and true method of assessing an organization’s goals to determine the customized proportion of inbound to outbound leads needed for success?

When taking inventory of all content assets, what percentage of content should be for the top, middle, and bottom portions of the funnel?