ABM events [case study & playbook]
We interviewed our client to break down the entire program: from why it wasn't working to how we fixed it.
In Q1, we pivoted an underperforming ABM program for Testrail to generate:
4 enterprise sales opportunities (1closed won)
22 Sales-Accepted Leads
in under 90 days (the interview with the detailed breakdown is at the bottom).
Today I want to share:
5 things we did that most ABM teams never do
Why most ABM events fail
Our post-event playbook
Interview with Joao Crisostomo, ABM lead from Testrail, who worked with us on the program
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12 modules covering step-by-step ABM strategy development: goal decomposition, ICP, account list building, ABM team, warm-up and activation playbooks, reporting, scaling ABM and building a cohesive ABM & demand gen function.
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Planning & Presenting a Pilot ABM Program to Execs and Sales Framework
Minimal viable stack recommendation and guidelines on how to use it to avoid ramping up budget and being pressured to show ROI for the purchased $50k software
First, let’s start with a fundamental isssue with ABM events (both webinars and in-person).
Webinar sign-ups ≠ buying intent.
This playbook is broken:
- Mark event sign ups as MQLs in Hubspot/Salesforce
- Starting 5-emails nurturing sequence pushing attendee to book a demo
- Assigning MQLs to sales and asking to call
*We chatted with Justin Norris about why ABM programs fail and how to fix them. Tune in below.
If you want to read a summary, check this post:
Here are 5 things we did that most ABM teams never do.
1. We didn't target verticals, but targeted clusters.
Clusters = companies that fit your ICP and have a similar challenge. We interviewed our solution architect (SME) and defined a cluster where we had a competitive advantage.
Then, we looked at the verticals where this challenge is more vivid and painful (in our case, regulated industries).
We did together challenge decomposition by reviewing:
- the broken workflows our target buyers might have
- the root reasons behind them
- jobs-to-be-done and how they might be improved
That helped us to define content topics and messaging that are relevant to these buyers.
2. We didn't target every account that fits ICP, but focused on those who know us and demonstrate product-need evidence.
Instead of targeting a wish list of accounts, we looked at accounts that:
- hit our engagement threshold
- meet one of the qualification criteria that might tell us they are likely to have a challenge our product solves
Our list decreased from 1000+ accounts to 72.
3. We didn't run ads and send outbound emails, we engaged with the buyers the way they prefer to engage.
We defined one community where the power users and the champions of the existing clients were hanging out and started to engage with the discussions. Then, connected to the most engaged people suggesting contributing to our cluster thought leadership.
That led us to create several viral posts on LinkedIn and connect with strategic buyers.
4. We didn't run a product-pitching event, but invited our solution architect to host an education webinar on solving the most painful challenge.
We promoted the event through:
- Email blasts to existing customers asking to invite their colleagues (for expansion goals)
- 1-1 invites in the community and email (+ LinkedIn for those who were engaged here)
When people were signing up or replying to our outreach, we asked what's the #1 thing they'd like to learn.
5. We didn't pitch anybody after the webinar, instead based on the previous engagement, we created personalized journeys:
- New accounts without prior engagement - checking the product academy where they can learn about the best practices
- Active Focus accounts -> Suggesting 1-1s with our solution architect to audit and improve their workflows.
This past I’m going to share in more detail.
pipeline.
Drive pipeline THIS quarter with full-funnel ABM programs.
If any of these challenges sound familiar:
You are aligned in theory with sales but don’t do anything in practice aside from receiving wish lists from sales and sharing with them your marketing plan. In reality, you work in silos and miss the revenue targets and are being pressured by your executives.
You understand that your marketing and sales playbook is broken (mqls, gated content) but despite many attempts you don’t know how to fix it
Your outbound, paid ads and organic pipeline drastically decreased while CAC increased mostly because most of your market is problem unaware and not buying.
You lack brand awareness among target accounts and sales can’t get even a reply.
You clearly see that you're already behind your revenue targets
We can help.
We'll develop a custom full-funnel ABM strategy aligned with your resources, budget and stack and execute it together to drive results THIS quarter.
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OUR POST EVENT PLAYBOOK.
Here is how we refined event follow-up playbook to align it with the level of demand of the sign-ups and their buyer journey stage.
1/ MARKETING:
- Upload a recording and slides to a relevant content hub
- Download and qualify sign ups by ICP criteria
- Segment all qualified contacts by tiers
- Match tier 1 and tier 2 accounts with the pipeline status and buyer journey stage
- Add all accounts to the demand gen retargeting group aligned with the buyer journey
2/ SALES
- Connect & engage with net new tier 1 and tier 2 accounts who consumed content in the content hub
- When connected, ask for feedback and do progressive profiling to understand better where they are in the buying journey and what their needs
- Suggest "bridge" activities (e.g. strategy sessions) to create logical bridge between current buyer needs and your product
3/ MARKETING AND SALES
- Discuss collected insights and move accounts to a relevant ABM playbook matched with the accounts' journey stage.
Nobody is signing up for the webinar to listen to the blatant product promotion or high-level stuff that ChatGPT can provide.
B2B buyers come for practical learnings, connections and entertainment.
Educate ->
Engage ->
Create demand ->
Research and understand the buyer journey stage and current needs of your prospects ->
Create "bridge" activities / buyer enablement →
This is how you influence the buying process with webinars and generate pipeline.
As I mentioned in the beginning, we’ve interviewed ABM lead from Testrail, Joao Crisostomo, who worked with us on program execution. We covered all the aspects of the program, pitfalls, bottlenecks and what worked.
Tune in below.