• by Ray Schultz , December 9, 2022

Account-based marketing (ABM) should be getting a boost in 2023 -- with 70% of B2B digital marketing leaders planning to invest in it, according to a survey from Stirista, conducted by Thrive Analytics. 

Overall, 63% of the firms polled use ABM methods and practices. And almost 50% of firms overall plan to invest $100,000 to $300,000 on ABM tools in the coming year. 

Of those who use ABM, 67% say they are somewhat or highly mature in their use of it, while the remainder see themselves as having limited experience. 

The poll results seem to indicate that many non-ABM users will be investing in the discipline.

Key elements of ABM technology include executing and measurement of advertising programs (54%) and account engagement metrics (50%). But over 90% of firms say that determining the perfect customer profile is the most crucial technology feature. 

The main channels being used are display and native advertising (75%), search (67%), social media (67%), and email marketing (44%). Connected TV (CTV) is utilized by more than one-third of businesses.

Email addresses are the top audience identifier, cited by 47% of B2B businesses and 44% of their customers -- followed by  third-party cookies (36%) and mobile IDs (33%). In general, 70% say identity data is critical when building target account lists.

The survey shows that while “the space is experiencing unprecedented growth, full adoption of advanced technology solutions is still lagging as platforms are often overly complex with a myriad of features that go un-utilized,” says Vincent Pietrafesa, vice president of B2B Products, AccessB2B Stirista.

Thrive Analytics surveyed 200+ B2B marketing executives from September 27–October 12, 2022.