24 Account-based Marketing statistics you need know in 2023.
ABM, and the world around it, is ever-evolving. And looking back at 2022, businesses adapted to a newsworthy year!
Post-pandemic market trends, political upheavals, economic crises and more, created a challenging landscape for many businesses.
Yet ABM has flourished. What started as a new concept back in 2003 is now one of the hottest topics in B2B Marketing.
Account-based Marketing, Account-based Sales. Account-based Engagement. Account-based Experience... Account-based Everything.
ABM is everywhere! And its influence continues to spread, thanks to channels like LinkedIn that are helping to build an impressive ABM community as well as our very own podcast - Let’s talk ABM.
So with new technologies and new strategies constantly emerging – what ABM trends and changes can we expect to see in 2023 and beyond?
We’ve taken a look at what the market is saying and have put together 24 (yes...we added one more) Account-based Marketing statistics to help your 2023 thinking.
The current state of ABM
Before we look ahead to what’s next, let’s reflect on the past 12 months.
According to ITSMA, almost 50% of all ABM programs are in the ‘expanding’ or ‘embedded’ stage. So, what does this tell us?
Well, for starters it confirms that ABM is in a major growth stage right now.
More organizations are recognizing the benefits. In fact, one-third of marketers who’ve never used ABM told HubSpot they’re planning to invest in it for the first time this year.
And when a whopping 74% of Marketing and Sales professionals consider ABM a critical part of their mix (DemandGen), ABM has clearly taken flight!
Let’s see what this journey will look like over the coming year...
Top ABM trend predictions for 2023
1. A shift towards ABX
In an industry full of acronyms, there’s a question mark over whether ABM is truly the best term to encompass all things Account-based. After all, as Jennifer Leaver pointed out in one of our Let’s talk ABM episodes during her time at Bazaarvoice, “it's more than just Marketing.”
ABM is about Sales, Customer Success, Demand Generation, the C-Suite, and every other team that keeps your organization running.
After all, ‘Account-based’ means an entire journey for the account – moving from that tailored Marketing, all the way through to a closed deal with Sales.
Every step of this journey is centered around the account. It’s about landing new deals, but also retaining and growing existing accounts – a ‘land and expand’ approach.
And as economic climates globally face challenges at the start of 2023, it’s hardly surprising that more ABMers have been deploying strategies to grow existing accounts in 2022 (43%) than they were in 2021 (35%).
In fact, 65% of ABMers grew existing accounts through their Account-based strategies in 2022 (B2B Marketing).
With that in mind, the account experience has never been more central to ABM success, so the prominence of ABX is only likely to grow in the coming years.
2. The drive for personalization
56% of marketers say that personalized content is key to a successful ABM strategy (Forrester). So, it’s safe to predict that personalization will remain center stage in 2023 and beyond.
The beauty of ABM is its ability to understand an account, engage at a person-to-person level, and show a level of empathy that other B2B tactics can’t.
So, with 61% of marketers currently tailoring their content to specific industries – and a further 55% tailoring content to engage accounts in specific roles – it’s clear that personalization is a major driver for ABM success.
After all, your accounts face a noisy mix of online channels. They’re drowning in content. And, they don’t want to be marketed and sold to; they want to be understood.
ABM’s campaign personalization not only allows you to stand out against the noise – it shows your target accounts that you took the time to understand them.
And with 34% of ABMers now delivering bespoke content services founded on insights, hyper-personalization is likely to expand even further this year (B2B Marketing).
3. Leveraging the right data
Attempting ABM without access to the right data is like trying to drive with an empty fuel tank. You won’t get very far down the road!
And with the deprecation of third-party cookies still on the horizon, prioritizing your first-party data is, and will be, key to targeting your accounts.
Did you know, that in 2022, 41% of marketers cited the inability to track the right data as their biggest challenge?
And that matters!
Without the right insight and data fueling your campaigns, you have no hope of truly understanding your accounts or what drives them. Without data, any attempts at personalization will be a stab in the dark.
That’s why data is the foundation for ABM.
It informs which accounts you should be targeting, highlights intent signals, reveals customer pain points, and helps you to engage at a deeper level.
Yet, according to B2B Marketing’s 2022 ABM Census, 48% of marketers struggle with accessing deep account insight that programs need to resonate, connect with accounts, and stand out.
So, to thrive in 2023 and beyond, organizations should be looking to invest in their data. This means seeking out intent data platforms and leveraging first-party data stored in your CRM.
In 2020, 10% of businesses were using intent platforms for ABM. In 2021, that rose to 25%. And today? 38% (B2B Marketing).
The impact of intent data is expanding, and in 2023 we can expect intent platforms to take the spotlight.
4. Cross-team collaboration
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again - alignment is critical for ABM success! Every experienced ABMer will agree – without cross-team collaboration, your program is destined to fail.
And yet, 31% of ABMers report having weak Sales and Marketing alignment (B2B Marketing).
With that in mind, securing alignment and organization-wide buy-in should be high on your ABM priority list this year.
Many say that “ABM takes a village.” And while some key industry leaders have shown us that ABM is possible as a team of one – leaders including 360Learning’s Justin Fordham and Hitachi Vantara’s Amy Hall – they all have one thing in common.
They weren’t alone.
90% of ABM top performers reported close, cross-functional collaboration between Marketing and Sales to create successful ABM strategies.
That’s no coincidence.
Even without a fully-fledged ABM function, you need the insight, experience, and input from multiple departments in order to succeed. You cannot do ABM in a silo.
That’s precisely why 35% of B2B marketing leaders “will prioritize improving marketing alignment and collaboration with other departments over the next two years”.
“I think it's important to remember that this isn't a Marketing-centric journey. You really want to make sure that Sales is there by your side.” – Alessandra Possamai, ABM Manager at Shutterstock
5. Harnessing creative
Think of creative as the headlining act of the ABM show. Why? Because creative is one of the only parts of your ABM program that accounts will actually see!
The strategy, the data, the research, the insights – all of this stays behind closed doors.
So, it’s not exactly surprising that ABMers are looking to invest in creative, now more than ever.
According to HubSpot, funny, interactive and authentic content performs best on social media, with 59% of marketers citing video as their most used media format.
And now, with platforms such as TikTok taking the world of marketing by storm, B2B marketers are having to adapt to new content consumption trends and the drive for more human, empathetic marketing.
With 44% of marketers citing social media as the top marketing channel in 2022, ensuring the content you roll out is not only engaging, but scroll-stopping, is the key to capturing your target audiences.
So, how do you do that?
The answer is simple. Use insights and empathy to drive your creative. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box. And find ways to make B2B less about the business, and more about the people.
“Learning a little bit more about what makes them tick, what are they trying to achieve, personally and professionally, and how you could better communicate with them, I think is a really key standpoint.” – Elise Miller, Head of ABM, EMEA at ServiceNow
6. Entering the Metaverse
Everyone’s talking about it. But what does it actually mean for the future of ABM?
The Metaverse is not an entirely new concept. In fact, with the evolution of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, virtual experiences of one form or another have been around for at least 30 years... if not more!
Yet, as Web 3.0 technology advances, Bloomberg analysts predict that the Metaverse market will be worth nearly $800 billion by 2024.
That surge in popularity hinges on realizing potential. As Web 3.0 advances, the Metaverse promises a whole new phase of the internet. One where users can interact with digital content in an immersive environment.
With one third of consumers interested in shopping for real or virtual products in Metaverse environments created by brands, and 4 in 10 of the Gen Z and Millennial generations reporting interest – it’s clear there’s a market for this evolution.
What does that mean for ABM? The potential for personalization and customization are almost limitless.
Where ABM is all about creating meaningful, personalized experiences for high-value accounts – a Metaverse experience allows you to build immersive, personalized virtual environments, custom to a prospect’s individual interests.
The Metaverse also opens up opportunities for brand collaborations, NFTs, immersive VIP experiences and hybrid events that make the most of both virtual and physical elements.
It is important to note, however, that we’re not there yet!
While the Metaverse as a concept has been on the radar for years now, the technology to truly support a fully immersive experience is in early stages.
But that said, it’s safe to say the Metaverse will remain a hot topic for B2B marketers in the coming years, and more and more ABMers will be experimenting with this new phase of online marketing in 2023 and beyond.
7. The rise of AI
By now, we’ve all heard the buzz around the latest AI trailblazer, ChatGPT, and what it could mean for the future of B2B marketing.
Will it help improve our research processes? Will it put writers out of business? Is this the beginning of an AI-pocalypse?!
Chances are, we’ve all had thoughts along a similar vein over the past few months.
And while the skeptical side of you that was brought up on sci-fi films and Terminator-esque fables may dread the idea of an AI-ruled future, the emergence of ChatGPT holds a lot of promise in the world of B2B – and it’s likely to only get bigger!
So, don’t panic – it’s safe to say we are a way off ChatGPT plotting our demise (we would hope!)
That said, with more than 57 million monthly users within the first month of its launch, it’s clear that the influence of this tool will have a seismic impact on the marketing world.
From researching account insights to aiding the curation of content – ChatGPT and other generative AI could completely transform the ways in which we approach Account-based Marketing.
Think faster content production for ad and web copy, SDR-generated messages for outbound prospecting, new levels of knowledge and insight into your target accounts, and so much more.
However – as exciting as this AI-influenced future may sound – it’s important we keep our feet on the ground.
At its core, ABM is a human-centered, relationship-based approach. And as impressive as these generative AI tools may be, nothing can replace the value of out-of-the-box creative thinking, and authentic, human interactions.
Look to use artificial intelligence tools to enhance and add to your existing program – not as a replacement for real strategy and creative talent!
Another year of ABM...
As we look forward to yet another successful year for the ABM strategy, it’s clear that we are at a major turning point as a community.
With new technologies on the horizon, shifts in how accounts consume content, a drive for empathetic marketing and an ever-increasing need for data-driven campaigns – 2023 could be a defining point in the evolution of all things Account-based.
We can’t wait to see what’s in store!
