ABM Vendor Guide: Differentiators for Result Analysis

...and we wrap up our review of sub-functions from the Raab Guide to ABM Vendors with a look at Result Analysis.

ABM Process	System Function	Sub-Function	Number of Vendors
Identify Target Accounts	Assemble Data	External Data	28
	Select Targets	Target Scoring	15
Plan Interactions	Assemble Messages	Customized Messages	6
	Select Messages	State-Based Flows	10
Execute Interactions	Deliver Messages	Execution	19
Analyze Results	Reporting	Result Analysis	16

As the Guide points out, this category focuses on measurements unique to account-based programs:

Nearly every system will have some form of result reporting. ABM specialists provide account-based result metrics such as percentage of target accounts reached, amount of time target accounts are spending with company messages, and distribution of messages by department within target accounts.

Not surprisingly, most of vendors who do ABM Result Analysis also do some sort of Execution (12 out of 16, to be exact). Another two (Everstring and ZenIQ) didn't fall into the Execution group but came close.  Of the final two, one supports measurement with advanced lead-to-account mapping (LeanData) and one attribution specialist (Bizible). It's important to recognize that many of the Execution vendors will report only results of their own messages.  This is certainly helpful but you'll want to see reports that combine data from all messages to get a meaningful picture of your ABM program results. 

Differenatiators for this group include:

• lead-to-account mapping to unify data
• corporate hierarchy mapping (headquarters/branch, parent/subsidiary, etc.) to unify data
• marketing campaign to opportunity mapping to support attribution
• combine data from marketing automation, Web analytics, and CRM
• track offline channels such as conferences, direct mail, outbound hone calls
• capture detailed interaction history for each Web visit (mouse clicks, scrolling, active time spent, etc.)
• capture mobile app behaviors with SDK as well as Web site behaviors with Javascript tag
• use device ID to link display ads, Web site visits, and form fills to revenue, even when visitors don’t click on ad or Web page
• report within Salesforce CRM on combined information about leads, contacts, accounts, opportunities, campaigns, and owners
• apply multiple attribution methods including first touch, last touch, fractional, etc.
• show account-level descriptive metrics including coverage, contact frequency, visitors, contacts by job title
• show account-level result metrics including reach, engagement, influence, velocity
• show reach, engagement, influence, velocity by campaign, content, persona, segment, etc.
• identify gaps in coverage, reach, or engagement by account and recommend corrective actions

One final reminder: the just-published Guide to ABM Vendors helps marketers understand what tools they need to complete their ABM stack.  It provides detailed profiles of 40 ABM vendors, with contents including:

• introduction to Account Based Marketing
• description of ABM functions
• key subfunctions that differentiate ABM vendors
• vendor summary chart that shows who does what
• explanations of information provided in the report
• vendor profiles including a summary description, list of key features, and detailed information covering  37 categories including data sources, data storage, data outputs, target selection, planning, execution, analytics, operations, pricing, and vendor background.

For more information or to order, click here.