We’re sure every marketer has dreamt of delivering hyper-personalized marketing experiences to their existing customers. The hope is always to craft a tailored message that stands out in a crowded inbox full of generic sales pitches and offers. We all aim to target the key stakeholders of a major enterprise and dazzle them with super-relevant content.

We bet some of the top B2B marketers have achieved all this using none other than Account-based Marketing. After all, an ABM campaign not only provides personalized B2B experiences to high-value accounts but also leads to improved customer experiences, better revenue attribution, quicker sales cycles and a lot more.

Naturally, running an Account-Based Marketing pilot campaign seems like a low-risk, high-reward proposition – on paper. However, the reality is a bit different. An ABM pilot requires a long-term mindset and commitment in terms of time, energy, resources and marketing bandwidth – and even then, you may not see success.
 
Running an ABM pilot campaign is like test-driving a car for a few miles — the insights and observations might work for a short time but may not translate to long-term success. So, in this blog, we'll explore the top five reasons why an ABM pilot might hinder rather than help your marketing objectives. Read on!

5 Reasons Not To Run An ABM Pilot Campaign

Although Account-Based Marketing is one of the smartest approaches to B2B marketing, it has some drawbacks that are often swept under the carpet. So, if you’re considering adopting or even scaling up your ABM efforts, here are five things you need to know about why an ABM pilot campaign might backfire.

Reason 1: ABM Campaigns Require Robust Data Management

We know you know this but data is the lifeblood of every successful ABM campaign – whether it's a pilot or the hundredth iteration. Advanced ABM approaches, especially programmatic ABM that leverage data-driven insights to personalize at scale, need robust data collection, analytics and management.

If your organization is unable to effectively collect accurate and up-to-date data, your personalization strategies driven by this data will not hit the mark. You will need to invest in upgrading your data management practices to include routine data cleansing, enrichment and segmentation, which adds to the cost of doing Account-based Marketing.

For example, the integration of data from a sophisticated customer relationship management (CRM) system can help in quickly centralizing and organizing customer data. This will further simplify the process of tracking, analyzing and managing customer interactions using data-driven metrics. Without a pre-existing customer data repository, your ABM pilot will fail to generate the desired impact.

Hence, it is advisable to onboard third-party data providers to improve the quality of data and acquire a more comprehensive understanding of your target accounts before you execute an ABM campaign.

Reason 2: ABM Pilot Campaigns Carry Inherent Risks

Account-based Marketing is a strategic initiative that needs a significant monetary investment, great amounts of planning and willingness to fundamentally change how you qualify and convert leads. Most marketers would think that pilot campaigns have a limited scope – much like a trial run – and hence do not need the above investment.

However, companies that engage in ABM pilot campaigns without the necessary investments in technology, account research, market data, personalization tactics and strategic planning are simply burning a hole in their pockets.

The initial phase of a pilot campaign involves selecting a small number of top accounts, conducting an ABM campaign, evaluating the results and finally determining whether Account-based Marketing is "worth the investment" if deployed on a larger scale. However, every ABM pilot campaign is inherently risky and unpredictable, meaning even with the right planning and investments, it may not scale successfully. Hence, it is advisable to conduct multiple pilot campaigns before adopting or dismissing ABM as a viable marketing strategy. 

Reason 3: ABM Needs A Long-term Commitment

Patience is the name of the game, folks!

While it’s not impossible to see quick results from ABM approaches, it’s unrealistic to expect your pilot campaign to be successful. After all, Account-based Marketing strategies show the highest return on investment with longer sales cycles where you address the changing preferences, pain points, challenges and needs of the target account to convert them. Additionally, the transition from marketing to sales may not happen during the pilot campaign, taking much longer to see actual results.

If you're planning to deploy a pilot campaign and expect results in 3-6 months, stop right there! Most experts agree that a pilot ABM campaign should last at least 6 months, giving it enough time to mature and start generating meaningful returns on the initial investment.

Furthermore, if it is your first foray into ABM, you should devote a few months to properly prepare and evaluate the readiness of your campaign. This means ABM is often a year-long commitment which may not always be a suitable timeline for marketers.

Reason 4: ABM Pilots Offers Muddy Insights

Account-based Marketing has become somewhat of a magical term – swish a wand and marketing magic happens. This often means that marketers and sales agents working on the ABM pilot campaign are under pressure to quickly generate results to validate the activity and justify its expenses.

This results in marketers implementing costly, tech-driven, content-intensive strategies to scale the level of personalization. However, these strategies are generally more effective when applied to accounts that have already shown interest, engagement or intent as they are more likely to yield returns. However, using these tactics on newly identified leads may not show the same level of success, offering you muddy insights into what caused a certain prospective account to convert.

Moreover, the lead time required to identify which accounts are suitable for a more personalized, high-impact ABM approach in the future is rarely gleaned from a pilot campaign. Add to that the obscure insights gained from the one-off activity and you're left with unreliable insights that do not contribute to improving your future ABM campaigns.

Reason 5: ABM Focuses On Metrics, Not The People

Account-based Marketing doesn’t try to hide the fact that marketers are focusing on converting accounts – it’s in the name, after all!

However, B2B marketing remains a person-to-person interaction and ABM often loses focus of the individuals handling an account over its size, revenue potential and reputation. Marketers understand how critical it is to understand their target audiences, even drilling down to the level of distinct individuals. This ensures that the campaigns are curated and personalized to elicit a positive response from the individual prospect. Yet, ABM incentivizes marketers to boost metrics that convert a prospective account rather than build a relationship with the stakeholders of the account.

Thinking of ABM as a strategic approach to B2B marketing that’s based on “account awareness" might actually be detrimental to your marketing outcomes. Any marketing tactic, even ABM, should be used to communicate, bond and convert the decision-makers within an account. In-depth knowledge of the account is needed but only to improve the positioning and personalization of the messaging and interaction with the individual. Starting with the word "Account" means individuals are an afterthought at best and forgotten at worst in ABM campaigns.

To Sum Up

So, there you have it – running an ABM pilot campaign can sometimes lead to underwhelming results and unjustifiable expenses. From the lack of robust data management, unwillingness to commit to longer timelines, insufficient strategic investments, unusable and unreliable insights to reduced focus on the account’s individual stakeholders, ABM has several drawbacks that might make you reconsider running a pilot campaign.

Although ABM can help you nurture relationships more effectively, drive higher revenue and maximize the return on investment, it works best when approached with patience, planning and commitment!