Hello everyone,
I regularly get asked for advice on how to best use Account-Based Marketing (ABM) to drive sustainable growth from marketers across the world. So, this year I’ve decided to create a newsletter for anyone already involved in, or exploring, ABM — so whether you’re just starting out, or an ABM practitioner or programme leader, I hope you find something of interest to you.
In each edition, I will share research, insights, trends, and advice to help you keep up with the evolution of ABM best practices. Here’s what to expect in future editions:
- Excerpts from my new book Account-Based Marketing: The definitive handbook for B2B marketers, due for publication in March 2025
- Actionable tips: ABM how-to guides, frameworks, and checklists
- Real world examples and perspectives from global companies successfully using ABM
- Industry research, insights and trends and my take on their implications for ABM-ers
In this edition…
A new year, a new newsletter — where better to start than thinking ahead to the opportunities and challenges that 2025 will bring. Here I share my thoughts and predictions to help you plan for success.
I’m excited to announce my new book Account-Based Marketing: The definitive handbook for B2B marketers, due to be published in March by Kogan Page. This first newsletter includes a sneak preview of the book.
Also, I’m looking forward to participating in a couple of events. A B2B Marketing webinar later today, sponsored by Salesforce, on AI Tips and Tricks, plus the first Frenus ABM Community meeting, hosted by Thomas Allgeyer on 22 January. I’d be delighted if you could join me on either of these — you can find details below.
If you enjoy this newsletter, please subscribe to receive future editions: https://bit.ly/43FJ3Cb
Wishing you a successful year,
Bev.
2025: The opportunities and challenges ahead
As we enter this year, we face a raft of environmental, economic and geo-political uncertainties that will inevitably affect both our companies and its customers. Here are five things to think about as you look ahead into 2025.
1. Being that trusted partner: Widespread uncertainty typically means that we look to brands and people that we trust to keep us both up to date and safe. It’s likely that customers will increasingly rely on their trusted partners and advisors in 2025, making it hard for new suppliers to break in. Account-based growth strategies that focus on growing with existing customers are ideal in this environment, and ABM is the natural marketing approach to support them.
2. Collaboration with wider purpose: Some of the challenges we face as a society can’t be tackled by governments alone. Businesses will need to step up to help marshal innovation and resources to help solve them. This is a great opportunity for ABM-ers to support initiatives that involve collaboration with top accounts and executives.
3. Doing more with less: Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) will continue to be asked to do more with less, balancing brand building with demand generation activities. They have many levers to pull to achieve this feat, including leveraging AI to deliver some form of personalization (or ABM) at scale. I recommend adopting the ‘frequent flyer’ approach to designing the experience you offer different tiers of customer, moving up from largely digital and self-service to high-touch, proactive and immersive experiences. For ABM-ers, this means working up from Programmatic ABM, through Segment and Scenario ABM to full Strategic ABM.
4. Effective, safe use of AI: Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) will continue to change the way we work as marketers, helping us be more productive and creative. While many AI tools will shortcut both analytical and creative processes for us, AI Agents will be able to take action on our behalf, too, integrating and leveraging other AI tools. You will need to balance the opportunities these tools offer with the ethical and security challenges they present.
5. Remember to be kind: All of the above will mean that our teams and colleagues need extra support this year. Everyone is facing change, and we know that people will respond in different ways. Recognise the unique blend of skills and attributes your colleagues bring to the team, and the nature of their specific circumstances throughout the year. A little bit of kindness and compassion goes a long way with your colleagues, customers and even perfect strangers.
Account-Based Marketing: The definitive handbook for B2B marketers (Kogan Page, March 2025)
Whether you’re a B2B marketer learning about Account-Based Marketing (ABM) for the first time, or an experienced ABM-er who wants to keep up to date with the latest advances in the field, I’ve written this book to help you use ABM effectively in your business.
From explaining how to design the right ABM strategy, to exploring the five types of ABM and advising which type to use with which customers, this guide will help you build your company’s ABM capability to deliver sustainable growth with your top customers. I hope it will also help you prepare for the future of ABM as the world of marketing evolves with the introduction of generative AI, helping you to stay at the forefront of your profession.
With real-world examples and perspectives from business leaders and ABM-ers across 25 companies, including Accenture, NTT, PwC, Salesforce and Vodafone, the book gives an up-to-date view of best practices in ABM globally and takes a look at how these practices are evolving.
One of my personal career highlights is that the Foreword to my new book is written by the father of modern marketing, Philip Kotler. Like many of you, I’m sure, I studied Philip’s seminal book, Marketing Management (now in its 16th edition), during both my first degree and my MBA, and I’ve always admired his work.
In his Foreword, he was kind enough to say:
Bev Burgess has already proved that she is at the top of her game when it comes to ABM, both through her previous books and her professional career. Her name has become synonymous with best practice in the field and she offers marketers the clearest, most practical guidance for their own programmes.
Since publishing the first version of Marketing Management in 1967, he has gone on to broaden his work into the field of social marketing, because he saw how marketing had the ability to create, communicate and deliver value whether in commercial markets, nonprofit markets or even government markets. This has been inspiring, and is arguably more important now than ever.
Join me at an event
AI Tips & Tricks to Supercharge Your ABM Journey (for members of B2B Marketing’s Propolis community)
16 January 2025 at 3:00 pm GMT
In association with Salesforce, I’ll be hosting this interactive webinar with fellow guests Joanna Moss Marketing Director, Top Accounts & ABM, Salesforce, Rhiannon Blackwell , ABM Leader, Global Marketing Organisation at PwC, and Dorothea Gosling , Executive Consultant, Inflexion Group.
You can register here: https://bit.ly/3PBvT12.
Frenus ABM Online Community Meeting
22 January 2025 at 11:00 am CET
Thomas Allgeyer will be hosting this first community session and I will be speaking alongside Ingrid Archer-van den Berg, Joanna Moss, Christian Weiss and Sascha Steiner.
If you have a burning question about Account-Based Marketing, you can submit your questions during registration for this event for the expert panel of speakers. Then, after the expert Q&A, you will have the chance to connect directly with fellow ABM-ers in a dedicated networking area.
You can register here:http://abm.frenus.com
