The Future of ABM – Driving Platforms With Purpose

About the Guest

Daniel Cafiero is an ABM Thought Leader, Strategist & Senior Program Manager at Seagate Technology. He started his career in marketing and advertising while enrolled at Franklin & Marshall College. He interned and worked at several startups and marketing agencies, including Grey Healthcare Group, part of renowned Grey Advertising Global, The Marketing Arm & Transmission. Daniel is currently building out a global ABM initiative across Seagate technology for Lyve Cloud (SaaS offering).

Connect with Daniel Cafiero

Key Takeaways

• ABM is still in its infancy, with around 80% of programs still being pilots. Companies are more comfortable investing, despite budgets dropping marginally.
• Digital advertising is on the rise and is now the highest area of program execution spending.
• Marketing teams need to adopt a shift in campaign strategy, targeting accounts based on where they are in the journey stage.
• There are challenges when implementing programs targeting accounts based on the journey stage, including being open to reviewing and revising the stages.

Quote

“You always have to be open to reviewing and revising your journey stages based on the information available, right? So we started with intent, then started looking at web page views, and then we consolidated all of that under engagement minutes.” – Daniel Cafiero

Highlights from the Episode

Could you throw some light on the state of ABM as it stands today and some of the major trends that are impacting it?

ABM is still in its infancy, with many smaller organizations implementing the technology. Digital advertising is on the rise, with ABM spending now allocated in this area. ABM is becoming more widespread, with newcomers entering the arena. Budgets have dropped as a result, but this has not resulted in a significant drop in ABM spending. One-to-one ABM is no longer the most favorite deployment type because of how reserve-intensive it is.

One of your biggest predictions for the future is the consolidation of services, platforms, and different types of campaigns. Could you share some more insight into this?

In the future, instead of multiple ad platforms, one platform will manage all of the ads for the business. Consolidation of services platforms and different types of campaigns is inevitable, as budgets are being reduced across all organizations.

You also predict that in the future, the focus will shift from campaigns to platforms. Could you elaborate on this thought?

In the future, there might be more organizations shifting their focus from traditional campaigns to platforms. With platforms, there is usually a lower barrier to entry, meaning that even smaller organizations can get involved and have a significant impact. There’s also no need for a large team – usually, just a few people are needed to execute the platform. Plus, platforms can be used to measure and track performance in real time, which can provide valuable insights that can be used to improve campaigns in the future.

How can marketing teams continue to deliver great work while facing conditions like reduced budgets or reduced staff? What are some of the ways to drive efficiencies through strategy?

The marketing team is finding ways to reduce costs by targeting different accounts based on their stage in the funnel and by developing efficiencies through strategy. They are also using an ICP to target accounts that are in high demand.

What are some of the key areas marketers should focus on when implementing a program of targeting accounts based on their journey stage? Any specific set of challenges that they could encounter?

Some key areas marketers should focus on when implementing a program of targeting accounts based on their journey stage are aggregating all different activities at the account and contact level to produce a simple scoring method and updating their information constantly.

Why is it necessary for one to be a polymath to be good at ABM?

Polymaths are masters of many things, and it is necessary to have a wide range of knowledge to be successful with ABM. Polymaths understand how everything works together and can help you strategize and create successful ABM campaigns. However, it is also important to be able to execute and drive campaigns, platform optimizations, and teams forward if you want to be successful with ABM.

Is there a book, blog, newsletter, website, or video that you would recommend to our listeners?

• The Tim Ferriss Show
• Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
• The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
• Economic War: Ukraine and the Global Conflict between Russia and the West

Shout-outs

Vasu Jakkal – CVP Microsoft Security, Compliance, Identity & Privacy

Shira Abel – CEO at Hunter & Bard 

Corrina Owens – Senior ABM Manager at Gong