Account-based marketing (ABM) has been the "holy grail" of high-ticket sales for years. But what is ABM, exactly? The account-based marketing system is a hyper-targeted approach to contact our "dream" clients. Traditional account-based marketing was all about going broad in an organization to build champions, but extremely narrow and focused regarding the target accounts. This ABM marketing strategy has been a cornerstone of B2B account-based marketing for years.

The problem?

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ABM has become expensive, disjointed, and unfocused. We need ABM 2.0.

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Why ABM is so Screwed Up

The old school way of account-based marketing looked something like the list below, but with a fun reality-check on each. This outdated account-based marketing strategy often failed to deliver the promised results and achieve the desired ROI:

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1. Buy an ABM platform ->Spend multiple 6-figures on monolithic tech
2. Intent research ->Find 1,000's of companies supposedly looking for your tool
3. Account planning ->Pick reps to take on 10-100 target accounts
4. Org chart building ->Scrape together data on "decision-makers" and key stakeholders
5. Campaign building ->Spend hours writing ads, emails, and LinkedIn messages
6. Launch ->Start spamming "dream" companies
7. Optimize Messaging ->When it doesn't work, try something new

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Sarcasm aside, you SHOULD be focused on key target accounts and hyper-focus your attention. However, it shouldn't come at the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars and ridiculous research hours. A more effective ABM strategy is needed to address these issues and drive revenue growth.

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ABM done right should reduce CAC, increase deal velocity, and fill the pipeline quicker.

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Introducing ABM 2.0

Account-based marketing doesn't just mean targeting high-value accounts. Yes, that's part of it. However, sales teams need a better way of knowing:

• What companies
• Who to target
• When to reach out
• How to reach them
• Why they're in-market

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With these elementary questions answered, your marketing efforts prove faster ROI and your sales teams love you for a full funnel. This is where ABM 2.0 comes into play, revolutionizing traditional account-based marketing tactics and improving lead generation.

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What is Person-Level ABM?

The entire concept of ABM 2.0 is based on person-level account-based marketing. Yes, it sounds like an oxymoron, but it's easily explained. This approach combines the best of inbound marketing with the targeted focus of ABM, creating a powerful ABM marketing strategy.

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Intent signals are buzzing these days, but knowing ABC Enterprise is looking for XYZ solution is useless.

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If you start by identifying high-intent, in-market leads then work backgrounds to high-value target accounts, you end up with a list of companies you should be targeting. Person-level intent is the key to an effective ABM strategy.

If you do this right, you start targeting the right leads at the right companies at the right time. The entire concept is still account-based marketing - you build out champions, but you're starting with the right person to begin with, then building out champions around that specific person. This approach allows for more personalized messaging, enhancing the overall customer experience and improving your account-based marketing campaigns.

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ABM 2.0 Process

Unlike the legacy ABM process, this entire system is drastically simplified, more cost-effective, and enables your team to speed up deal velocity. This new account-based marketing strategy includes:

1. Identify In-Market Leads: See who is on your website, use offsite intent data at a person-level, etc.
2. Scrape Contact Info: Limit this to only the key, high-intent lead and those right around them in the organization chart. Scraping tools are extremely cheap.
3. Retarget: Use digital ads to be everywhere at all times for this small, target group. This reduces ad spend drastically.
4. Nurture: Use marketing emails that are content-driven to boost engagement with leads.
5. Warm Outreach: Use lead scoring to identify the most engaged leads. Use warm outreach to get these low-hanging-fruit conversations started.

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The catch? There isn't one. Spend less, generate more, and close faster.

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Legacy ABM has been the king of mid-market and enterprise sales for decades. However, like all growth tactics, it's being replaced by creative, data-driven marketers that aren't satisfied with the status quo.

We demand that there's a better way to close target accounts than trying to spend more while conversion rates drop. This is where strategic ABM and programmatic ABM come into play, offering more efficient ways to reach and engage the buying committee.

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Person-Level ABM Tech Stack

Our team uses ABM 2.0 every single day. Here's exactly what our tech stack looks like:

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1) Identity Matrix:

De-anonymize 70% of US web visitors at a person-level to see who is already researching you and your competitors.

The average person visits a site 7-10 times before opting in. Catch them on visit one, score them by behavior and ICP, then influence the entire buyer journey.

Identity Matrix enables you to identify, segment, score, and store leads in your CRM or marketing automation system of choice. It also integrates with ad platforms so you can segment and target leads directly from the system, just like you could with 6Sense or Demandbase, but at the person-level.

Lastly, get predictive AI analytics, insights, and recommendations on how to optimize your traffic quality, outreach, and marketing mix. This tool is crucial for implementing effective account-based advertising and creating personalized campaigns.

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2) Clay:

We send our leads from Identity Matrix to Clay for additional AI capabilities. Clay helps us write hyper-personalized emails by doing research on the account, individual, and more. It's incredible for additional enrichment and AI copywriting.

While there are other AI copy tools, Clay seems to combine the most amount of data through 100+ integrations they aggregate together for you. Pay for Clay and get access to all of their integrations without spending thousands on random tools in your stack.

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3) Salesforce:

This system works just as well in any CRM or marketing system, but at Identity Matrix, we specifically use Salesforce with the Clay integration. Using Pardot (Account Engagement) by Salesforce, we immediately send visitors that meet our ICP a string of emails.

These emails are value-driven and show we understand their problems. We focus on resonating with the true pains of sales and marketing leaders. We're GTM experts ourselves, so we speak in their language, leading to free trials and demos booked on auto-pilot. This approach aligns perfectly with the account-based marketing framework, ensuring sales and marketing alignment.

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4) Smartlead:

Our team saw a massive increase in deliverability when we switched to Smartlead for warm outreach emails. We bought domains from Maildoso, integrate them with Smartlead, and send the AI personalized emails from Clay directly to prospects.

Not only is our ICP getting content-driven nurturing emails, they're also getting warm, 1-1 emails sent directly from our sales team. We see massive increases in outbound efforts from this.

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5) Cell Phone:

You can use any VOIP system you'd like, but we personally use our cell phones to call the most engaged leads that fit our ICP. We use a mix of Identity Matrix scoring and Salesforce Einstein scoring to aggregate the lead's behavior across marketing emails, warm emails, ads, and more.

With this, we take the highest intent leads and call them directly. Since we have their cell phones from Identity Matrix and Clay, our connect rate is about 7x higher than when we used Apollo data and VOIP.

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Account Expansion:

From here, we start to expand past just the key prospect that is engaged and showing intent. We start reaching out to others around them in the org chart. This means warm outreach to peers, superiors, and team members.

What often happens is that the rest of the team will point us directly back to the person we started with. That's amazing. The best warm email outreach starts with the subject line: "Referred by John Doe". You'll get a response nearly every single time.

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The Cost of ABM 2.0

Instead of paying $100k to $750k for expensive tools like 6Sense and Demandbase, plus your CRM, marketing tools, enrichment data, and email systems, you're consolidating your platforms that simply cost less.

Plus, you're receiving more value for every dollar spent:

• AI Analytics
• AI Personalization
• AI Insights
• Person-Level Intent

At Identity Matrix, being a MarTech company, we use more tools than others. You don't need every single tool in our stack. However, if you do, it costs us a whopping $3,500 per month. Larger teams, of course, will see that increase a bit, but not equally to the number of employees.

These tools get cheaper as you grow, unlike legacy ABM tools that get more expensive as you scale. We don't buy into that BS.

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Compare the Data

We aim to be as helpful to you as possible when it comes to trying out ABM 2.0 and helping you see 3-5x higher ROI, faster deal velocity, and more closed-won deals.

To do that, we put some comparisons together between legacy ABM and person-level ABM platforms. You can see them here:

• 6Sense
• Demandbase
• Warmly
• RB2B
• Koala

Let us know what you think! Our CEO loves hearing feedback on what you see working and not working in the market. Don't hesitate to reach out to Stephen directly at [email protected].

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Frequently Asked Questions

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What is ABM 2.0?

ABM 2.0 is the next evolution of Account Based Marketing. It improves traditional the traditional ABM campaign by focusing on person-level intent data, enabling you to target the right person within high-value accounts. Instead of wasting resources on blanket campaigns, ABM 2.0 drives faster ROI, increases deal velocity, and reduces costs by putting precision and efficiency at the core of its process.

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How does person-level intent work?

Person-level intent identifies specific individuals within a company who are showing interest in your product or services. It de-anonymizes website visitors, analyzes off-site data, and highlights high-value leads actively searching for solutions like yours. Unlike vague intent signals tied to companies, this approach allows you to make direct, timely, and relevant outreach to specific decision-makers.

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What are the benefits of ABM 2.0 over traditional ABM?

ABM 2.0 offers several competitive advantages:

• Precise targeting at the person level, leading to higher conversion rates.
• Reduced ad spend by focusing on smaller, high-value audiences.
• Faster deal velocity with targeted nurturing and warm outreach.
• Consolidated tools and lower costs compared to traditional ABM platforms.
• Improved ROI through data-driven insights, AI analytics, and real-time lead scoring.

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What tools are recommended for ABM 2.0?

A lean, high-performing ABM 2.0 tech stack includes:

1. Identity Matrix: For de-anonymizing web traffic, capturing person-level intent data, and scoring leads.
2. Clay: For enhancing leads with personalized insights and AI-driven email writing.
3. Salesforce (or any CRM): For automating value-packed email outreach and nurturing campaigns.
4. Smartlead: For warm outreach emails with high deliverability rates.
5. VOIP or cell phones: For direct engagement with high-intent leads.
   These tools provide everything you need to identify, target, and convert high-value leads with precision.

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How does ABM 2.0 reduce costs?

ABM 2.0 slashes costs by:

• Eliminating the need for expensive legacy platforms like Demandbase or 6Sense.
• Leveraging affordable tools like Identity Matrix and Clay, which cost less and deliver more value.
• Focusing on smaller, highly-intent audiences, reducing wasteful ad spend and operational overhead.
• Streamlining processes with AI-powered insights and automations, saving time and money.

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Can small teams use ABM 2.0?

Absolutely. Unlike traditional ABM strategies that demand massive budgets and resources, ABM 2.0 is designed for efficiency. Small teams can adopt this strategy using affordable tools, making it accessible without sacrificing performance.

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Why should I switch to ABM 2.0?

Traditional ABM methods are expensive, broad, and often yield diminishing returns. ABM 2.0 enables you to:

• Spend less while getting more precise data and better outcomes.
• Shorten sales cycles by targeting decision-makers at the right time.
• Increase your ROI by engaging prospects who are already in-market.
  If you’re ready to transform your sales and marketing efforts, ABM 2.0 is the smarter choice.

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