What Skills do You Need to be Successful in ABM?

At the ITSMA Account-Based Marketing Forum on June 16, 2021, part of the discussion centered around how to build, grow, and scale a successful ABM program that works for your organization. Specifically, we discussed the different ways that ABM program leads are looking to develop their teams, by adding new skills, hiring new people, and partnering with the right agencies.

Each lead is taking their own approach, and while those skills, people, and agencies may differ from business to business, ABM leaders agreed that there are some universal talents that are necessary for all ABMers to be successful:

Market and account intelligence. ABMers need to know how to get insight about an account and then use that insight to develop a strategy, working closely with sales teams and different business units to implement and expand that strategy.
Understanding of messaging and value propositions. ABMers must have good marcomm skills. When you look at ABM, you realized that it’s ultimately personalizing everything you do, both at the individual and the account level.
Business acumen. ABMers need a good understanding of what’s driving the businesses as well as what is capturing the attention of their target accounts and the C-level executives they’re connecting with. Then, internally, you need to be able to shape ABM program activities to those specific business drivers and individual goals.
Leadership. Running an ABM program can often be time-consuming, complex, and difficult. But the results are worth the effort. The strong ABMer has the confidence and ability to work with different people in the organization, collaborate internally, and stand up for what’s right for the client.

ITSMA’s ABM Competency Model offers a framework for hiring and training B2B marketers with the skillset to succeed in ABM:

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What Skills do You Need to be Successful in ABM?

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