What do you think?
Rate this book
A Practitioner's Guide to Account-Based Marketing: Accelerating Growth in Strategic Accounts
Account-based marketing, also known as client-centric marketing, is in the process of transforming modern marketing practice. It involves taking a strategic approach to business to business marketing, whereby important individual accounts are treated as markets in their own right. After all, many of the world's leading companies have annual revenues the size of some countries' GDP, so for the businesses that provide services and solutions to these companies, such key accounts truly do represent a global market. A Practitioner's Guide to Account-Based Marketing explores the development of account-based marketing (ABM) as a business practice, and outlines a clear, step-by-step process for readers who wish to set up an ABM programme to accelerate growth.
Rich with fascinating case studies and personal stories, A Practitioner's Guide to Account-Based Marketing offers readers privileged access to lessons learned by pioneering companies in the field, including BT, Fujitsu, IBM, Juniper Networks, Microsoft, SAP, and many more. The text is fully endorsed by the Information Technology Services Marketing Association (ITSMA), who run the only formally recognized qualification in the the Account-Based Marketing Certification Programme. Meticulously researched and highly practical, A Practitioner's Guide to Account-Based Marketing will help all marketers strengthen relationships, build reputation, and increase revenues in their most important accounts.
Rich with fascinating case studies and personal stories, A Practitioner's Guide to Account-Based Marketing offers readers privileged access to lessons learned by pioneering companies in the field, including BT, Fujitsu, IBM, Juniper Networks, Microsoft, SAP, and many more. The text is fully endorsed by the Information Technology Services Marketing Association (ITSMA), who run the only formally recognized qualification in the the Account-Based Marketing Certification Programme. Meticulously researched and highly practical, A Practitioner's Guide to Account-Based Marketing will help all marketers strengthen relationships, build reputation, and increase revenues in their most important accounts.
- GenresBusiness
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2017
44 people are currently reading
149 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 20, 2017
I've read a number of books on Account Based Marketing (ABM) and this for me is the best. Other books seemed to be more focused on product (how ABM works with Salesforce). This gets to grips with the concepts, the "why" as well as the "how". Bev and Dave also provide case studies, so you have a good balance between theory and practice. I'll be honest this isn't a romcom and probably not beach reading but I felt I knew what ABM was and how to implement an ABM program after reading this. I need to declare an interest that I got this book as we share publishers, just so you know, I'm not just saying this is a good book on ABM as we share publishers, it really is.
May 28, 2017
I searched Amazon and Goodreads recently for a book that provides the A to Z on Account Based Marketing. Talk about timing as this book had recently been released in April and was written by two practitioners with deep expertise and experience in ABM. For those looking to learn about the virtues of ABM this book is definitely one to pick up. It is broken into three major areas: getting your organisation ready for ABM, ABM step by step and developing an ABM career. What I found the most useful is that you can take this book and establish an ABM methodology within your organisation without any background knowledge. In saying that, execution of ABM comes with risks and must have executive buy-in from the top; especially considering the investment and return which can take time. These risks and more is detailed in the book along with in-depth case studies. It truly is a thorough book on ABM and worth a read!
Three key takeaways from the book:
1. Strategic ABM (aka 1:1 ABM) can cost anywhere from 25k - 100k per account per year. The investment is worth it; as mentioned above can take some time to bear fruit. Furthermore, most organisations leverage ABM on existing accounts versus net new accounts which to me makes a lot of sense.
2. 84% of companies surveyed have seen ABM delivery a higher ROI than any other type of marketing.
3. Stakeholders MUST agree on a realistic timeline for ABM to deliver results given the time it takes to achieve ROI.
Three key takeaways from the book:
1. Strategic ABM (aka 1:1 ABM) can cost anywhere from 25k - 100k per account per year. The investment is worth it; as mentioned above can take some time to bear fruit. Furthermore, most organisations leverage ABM on existing accounts versus net new accounts which to me makes a lot of sense.
2. 84% of companies surveyed have seen ABM delivery a higher ROI than any other type of marketing.
3. Stakeholders MUST agree on a realistic timeline for ABM to deliver results given the time it takes to achieve ROI.
July 13, 2017
For many this book could or should be a game-changer; getting you to think about not only marketing as an entire being but also to focus different resources and approaches to different strategic account types. Further focussing an already (hopefully) directed marketing beam, you could say, through account-based or key account marketing, a strategic means of marketing.
This concept is not new, but it is less common than it should be in many cases, since it treats each individual prospect or customer account as a market of one. Obviously, you are not going to sell a 20-euro widget this way, but for larger “enterprise” prospects this can be a different matter. That said, even a large prospect company may have different departments that have different needs and they could even be viewed as different markets. This approach for marketing may not only increase sales but it can change the dynamic between supplier and supplied, leading to a closer, stronger and lengthier relationship. It requires more work, of course, but at this level the rewards can be worth it. Even if you have attracted a customer with your marketing, it does not mean that your marketing efforts end there – sustaining and informing the relationship then may take over the nature of your marketing activity.
The reader is therefore educated and guided through the entire process in this accessible, easy-to-follow and very engaging book. The enlightened company following this process would be advised to really leverage the gathered data and insights and share them internally, as it can yield great additional knowledge to benefit the company-at-large. Don’t throw anything away, even if you are going to make a personalised approach to each prospect.
This book is more than well-written theory and advice, it is backed up with many case studies shedding light on how the approach is used in many account-based marketing situations. Of course, not everything is sweetness and light, but you can learn by mistakes made and problems received and hopefully avoid them or handle them within your own implementations. It can also help challenge other possibly outdated elements of thought about marketing, communications and even business too if you let it!
It does a great job at imparting information and enthusing the reader, it manages to balance well the needs of different types of reader too. It certainly feels to be a book that you may want to keep close-at-hand and revisit from time-to-time as additional perspectives may emerge as your experience grows within this subject.
If you are marketing or selling to larger enterprises, you will want to consider a book like this if you are not already doing account-based marketing. Even if you are, this book will not break the bank and you only need to find one little tweak to your approach to get your investment back in spades!
This concept is not new, but it is less common than it should be in many cases, since it treats each individual prospect or customer account as a market of one. Obviously, you are not going to sell a 20-euro widget this way, but for larger “enterprise” prospects this can be a different matter. That said, even a large prospect company may have different departments that have different needs and they could even be viewed as different markets. This approach for marketing may not only increase sales but it can change the dynamic between supplier and supplied, leading to a closer, stronger and lengthier relationship. It requires more work, of course, but at this level the rewards can be worth it. Even if you have attracted a customer with your marketing, it does not mean that your marketing efforts end there – sustaining and informing the relationship then may take over the nature of your marketing activity.
The reader is therefore educated and guided through the entire process in this accessible, easy-to-follow and very engaging book. The enlightened company following this process would be advised to really leverage the gathered data and insights and share them internally, as it can yield great additional knowledge to benefit the company-at-large. Don’t throw anything away, even if you are going to make a personalised approach to each prospect.
This book is more than well-written theory and advice, it is backed up with many case studies shedding light on how the approach is used in many account-based marketing situations. Of course, not everything is sweetness and light, but you can learn by mistakes made and problems received and hopefully avoid them or handle them within your own implementations. It can also help challenge other possibly outdated elements of thought about marketing, communications and even business too if you let it!
It does a great job at imparting information and enthusing the reader, it manages to balance well the needs of different types of reader too. It certainly feels to be a book that you may want to keep close-at-hand and revisit from time-to-time as additional perspectives may emerge as your experience grows within this subject.
If you are marketing or selling to larger enterprises, you will want to consider a book like this if you are not already doing account-based marketing. Even if you are, this book will not break the bank and you only need to find one little tweak to your approach to get your investment back in spades!
December 21, 2024
I read this book as part of my crash course on figuring out the best direction for a company that’s taking its first big steps into the B2B market. And it was worth it. The book is excellent and has earned a permanent spot as a go-to guide on my virtual desktop. It’s packed with everything you need – a clear and structured presentation of ideas, checklists in every chapter, and straightforward, actionable instructions.
The only part that felt a little off was the case studies – they didn’t add much value for me.
But while reading, I couldn’t help but see myself not just as the hunter, but also as the prey. After all, I’m someone’s Decision-Making Unit too, or so I’d like to think. It’s possible no vendor has set up a personal profile card on me just yet, but give it time – I’m confident that soon enough, I’ll be important enough for that. And when it happens, trust me, I’ll be ready for it. Huge thanks to the authors of this book!
The only part that felt a little off was the case studies – they didn’t add much value for me.
But while reading, I couldn’t help but see myself not just as the hunter, but also as the prey. After all, I’m someone’s Decision-Making Unit too, or so I’d like to think. It’s possible no vendor has set up a personal profile card on me just yet, but give it time – I’m confident that soon enough, I’ll be important enough for that. And when it happens, trust me, I’ll be ready for it. Huge thanks to the authors of this book!
January 23, 2023
Super helpful frameworks but I felt it really drove the focus on strategic (one to one) abm. I would have appreciated a little more emphasis on one to many as well as some practical tools that I should be considering into my tech stack.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews