• by Ray Schultz , October 27, 2022

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is on the rise, and 94% of marketers say it is important to their objectives -- with 53% rating ABM as extremely critical, according to a study by Foundry titled As ABM adoption spreads, marketers find new value in data-driven insights.

In addition, 84% feel their ABM efforts have been very or extremely successful over the last 12 months. 

HubSpot reports that 70% of marketers now use ABM, up from 15% a year ago, the study notes. 

Of those polled by Foundry, 87% have increased their investments in the last 12 months, and 90% plan to do so in the next 12. 

The goals driving ABM use include:

• Improve new account acquisition — 69%
• Better win rates — 69%
• Creating wider engagement within ICP — 65%
• Upsell & cross-sell to existing customers — 64%
• Accelerate pipeline — 60%

But there are challenges when using ABM: 

• Prioritizing accounts — 46%
• Gaining C-level involvement — 34%
• Engaging target accounts — 32%
• Acquiring opt-in contacts — 31%
• Creating a target account list — 30%

Meanwhile, data use is improving, with 94% of marketers using more than one intent data source. 

Intent data helps these firms:

• Align sales and marketing — 58%
• Prioritize accounts for prospecting — 54%
• Identify new accounts to target — 53%
• Monitoring potential customer churn — 51%
• Tailoring messages based on intent topics — 47%

On a regional basis, 15% of North American firms have more than three years of experience with AMB, versus 10% in EMEA. The biggest hurdle in North America is converting data to insights efficiently. 

In EMEA, 48% rated AMB as extremely important. And 70% have a dedicated ABM team with three or more people, versus 63% globally.  

Foundry surveyed 500 marketers in North America (60%), EMEA. (20%) and APAC (20%) in September 2022.