Delve into the main conclusion of Triblio’s latest ABM and Intent Benchmarking Study, based on research undertaken by our parent company Foundry, an IDG, Inc. company.  

After surveying 500 B2B technology marketers, this year’s annual study – the second in succession – finds that satisfaction with ABM continues to be high. While most organizations are still early in their adoption journey, the results to date indicate that ABM is on track to not only become a mainstream marketing discipline but even displace more traditional methods.

The study was conducted in September of 2022 to understand the workings of ABM, its evolution and adoption compared to traditional marketing approaches, as well as the success and challenges of intent data usage.

Some key insights:

• Levels of satisfaction with ABM remain remarkably high. Satisfaction levels rise within larger organisations. As a result, ABM continues to account for over half (53%) of all B2B tech marketing expenditure (2021: 57%).

• ABM investment intentions remain elevated across the board. After weaker performance during Covid lockdowns, European investment recovered and continues to grow rapidly. In both Europe and North America, 3 out of 10 organisations now qualify as super-spenders, planning to raise ABM investment by 50%+ in the coming year.

• European ABM teams tend to be larger than North American teams. However, there’s a trade-off involved here. In European teams, ABM experience levels are also likely to be lower, the number of practitioners with just 6-12 months experience (33%) is a good deal higher than in North America (18%). 2023 will be the right moment for European businesses to re-evaluate existing ABM platforms to bridge the skills gap and assist with their strategy.

• In Europe, nearly half (49%) of respondents say that prioritising accounts is a challenge. The second most frequently identified challenge in Europe is creating target account lists (a challenge for 35%). European marketers are also inclined to worry about gaining sales buy-in (31%).

• Improving new account acquisition ranks high in the list of business goals marketers set for ABM. In Europe, 80% of respondents identify this as one of their key business goals for ABM. However, only 35% of these marketers strongly agree with the proposition that they are adding more tactics to their programs as their ABM operations mature.

Given the backdrop of historic budget growth and economic uncertainty, 2023 is likely to be a year in which ABM teams in Europe need to demonstrate their value. Hiring freezes and workforce reductions mean that less experienced European ABM teams could find it challenging to add experienced headcount.  

View the sample slides below for additional insight and download the full report to better understand how this data can help as you build out your strategies for 2023 and beyond. Request a meeting with a Triblio sales executive to walk through the full study, including data cuts customized by company size and geographic region (NA, EMEA, APAC).