In a dynamic and ever-evolving B2B marketing landscape, account-based marketing (ABM) has emerged as a key strategy for targeting specific accounts and aligning marketing and sales efforts. During a recent "Revenue HUG" event on October 10, 2024, Galen Dow, an expert in account-based strategies, shared insights on ABR and how his platform, BrandGen.io, integrates with HubSpot to make ABM more accessible, particularly for smaller and mid-market businesses. The following blog post recaps this presentation, offering a comprehensive look at how to use account-based strategies to drive revenue growth.
Introduction: The Role of ABR in Modern Marketing
Galen began the session by discussing the evolution of ABM and how it has traditionally been limited to enterprise-level businesses due to the complexity and high costs of tools like Terminus, Demandbase, and Sixth Sense. His presentation focused on making account-based revenue (ABR) strategies accessible to B2B agencies, HubSpot users, and mid-market companies through BrandGen.io, a platform that simplifies programmatic advertising and expands targeting capabilities.
ABR differs from ABM by extending beyond marketing to align with sales and customer success. It takes into account the entire customer lifecycle, from lead generation to ongoing customer engagement, using agile marketing and sales alignment to maximize opportunities.
The Genesis of Account-Based Revenue
Galen shared a pivotal story from his early consulting days. While onboarding a medical imaging software company in Chicago, the CEO revealed that the company was spending $100,000 a month on trade publication display ads. This was an eye-opener for Galen, leading him to realize the importance of brand perception in a competitive industry where the company needed to be seen on par with giants like Philips and Siemens. This scenario planted the seed for developing more accessible account-based strategies that could help businesses of all sizes create brand awareness and achieve marketing and sales alignment.
What is ABR and How Does It Differ from ABM?
Many businesses are familiar with the concept of account-based marketing. However, Galen explained that ABR takes a more holistic approach by involving the entire revenue team—sales, marketing, and customer success. This approach is designed to maximize the lifetime value of customers through cross-functional collaboration and agile methods. While ABM focuses primarily on marketing efforts to engage target accounts, ABR includes post-sale engagement, such as customer retention and upselling, making it a comprehensive strategy.
In ABR, the goal is not just to acquire new logos but also to expand existing accounts. Galen emphasized the importance of aligning marketing and sales efforts across the entire customer journey, using HubSpot and tools like BrandGen.io to orchestrate and automate the process.
Leveraging HubSpot for Account-Based Revenue
Galen's experience with HubSpot dates back to the platform's early days when it had only 7,000 customers. He explained how HubSpot has evolved into a comprehensive tool for B2B companies, offering CRM capabilities, email sequences, automation, and ad integrations with social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook.
BrandGen.io builds on HubSpot's capabilities by integrating programmatic advertising directly into the CRM. This integration allows businesses to target accounts and individuals across multiple channels—email, social media, and the open web—based on their behavior and intent signals.
HubSpot users, particularly those in sales and marketing roles, can now activate ABR strategies seamlessly. The platform's automation capabilities help create an agile marketing and sales approach that allows businesses to reach target accounts at the right time with the right message.
The Benefits of an Agile Model for ABR
One of the key points Galen stressed was the importance of an agile model in ABR. Unlike traditional marketing, where campaigns are static and follow a linear path, an agile approach allows teams to adjust tactics in real-time based on engagement metrics and customer behavior.
The agility of HubSpot’s toolset allows for the automation of tasks such as lead scoring, email sequences, and targeted advertising. This ensures that marketing and sales teams are aligned in their efforts to reach key accounts. Additionally, by integrating with BrandGen.io, HubSpot users can automate complex advertising workflows that activate based on account-level triggers.
Programmatic Advertising: Demystifying the Open Web
A significant portion of Galen's presentation focused on programmatic advertising—a key component of ABR. He explained that traditional ABM platforms often limit users to walled gardens like LinkedIn and Facebook for ad targeting. However, with programmatic advertising, businesses can reach their target accounts across the open web.
Programmatic advertising allows businesses to serve ads to specific individuals or companies based on their online behavior, such as visiting a particular website or engaging with content related to their industry. BrandGen.io simplifies this process by connecting HubSpot's CRM data to 27 different supply-side platforms (SSPs), including Google DoubleClick, OpenX, and Rubicon. This makes it easier for businesses to target niche B2B publications and high-quality ad inventory, ensuring that their ads reach the right audience.
Account-Based RevOps: Closing the Sales and Marketing Gap
One of the recurring themes of the presentation was the alignment of sales and marketing teams through an account-based RevOps (revenue operations) model. Galen described RevOps as the future of B2B marketing, where the entire customer lifecycle is considered—from lead generation to post-sale engagement.
In this model, marketing and sales teams work together to identify high-value target accounts, create personalized engagement strategies, and track account progress through the funnel. Galen highlighted that with tools like HubSpot and BrandGen.io, businesses can create an omni-channel approach that includes email, social media, and programmatic ads to ensure consistent engagement with key accounts.
RevOps also allows for better reporting and analytics, making it easier to measure the success of account-based strategies and make data-driven decisions. This approach is especially useful for companies looking to expand existing accounts or move leads through the sales funnel more efficiently.
Key Takeaways: Building an Account-Based Strategy
Galen concluded the presentation with actionable steps for businesses looking to implement an ABR strategy. Here are some of the key takeaways:
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Start with Your ICP: Identify your ideal customer profile (ICP) based on firmographics, technographics, and intent signals. Use tools like HubSpot to build and segment your target account list.
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Leverage Multiple Channels: Don’t rely solely on email or social media. Use programmatic advertising, social ads, and email sequences in an omni-channel approach to reach target accounts.
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Automate for Agility: Use automation tools like HubSpot’s CRM to create agile workflows that trigger based on account activity. Automate ad sequences, email campaigns, and sales tasks to keep accounts engaged throughout the customer journey.
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Sales and Marketing Alignment: Focus on aligning your sales and marketing efforts. Account-based RevOps ensures that teams work together to identify high-value accounts and create personalized engagement strategies.
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Expand Existing Accounts: Don’t just focus on acquiring new customers. Use ABR strategies to expand existing accounts through upselling and cross-selling.
Final Thoughts
Account-based revenue strategies represent a powerful way for B2B companies to engage high-value accounts and align their sales and marketing efforts. By leveraging tools like HubSpot and BrandGen.io, businesses of all sizes can implement ABR strategies that were previously only accessible to enterprise-level companies.
If you're interested in exploring how ABR can work for your business, start by identifying your ICP and taking advantage of automation tools to create agile marketing and sales workflows. Programmatic advertising across the open web, combined with omni-channel marketing efforts, will ensure that you're reaching the right audience at the right time.
As Galen emphasized in his presentation, account-based strategies are no longer just for the enterprise. With the right tools and approach, any business can implement ABR and start seeing results.
For those interested in learning more, you can find BrandGen.io in the HubSpot App Marketplace or reach out directly to schedule a demo. ABR could be the key to unlocking your next phase of growth.
