Demandbase ABM Update Combines Targeting, Engagement And Conversion

Demandbase on Thursday added self-service capabilities and additional artificial intelligence tools to its account-based marketing platform, promising an easier way for companies to find the right people, set up and manage campaigns.

Focused on targeting, engagement and conversion, the latest Demandbase ABM will include integrations from more than 50 other martech tools and streamline the process of bringing in data from sources such as CRM, the company said. This includes the ability to automatically select the right display ads for a particular account, for example, ways to optimize web sites and forms and deliver relevant data to sales development reps.

“I think a lot of the other ABM providers really focus more on point solutions,” Chris Golec, CEO of Demandbase, told B2B News Network. “But if you’ve been running ABM programs, for all these enterprises it’s nearly impossible to stitch these things together.”

A few months ago Demandbase showed its interest in the AI space with Real-Time Intent, a mechanism for identifying accounts most likely to make a purchase. The new Demandbase ABM builds on that, Golec said, by making it easier to do things like personalizing content on a web site and reducing the time needed to A/B test via more manual processes.

Demandbase ABM users will be able to pull in data from CRM, an Excel spreadsheet or by tapping into Demandbase’s data sets by filling out a buyer profile to begin setting up a campaign, Golec said. The tool will then help them see how many people are coming to their site and offer ideas to improve the result. This is particularly important as account teams increase in size, with a mix of Baby Boomer and Millennial members who may have different needs and tastes in consuming content.

“It used to be in B2B that a customer would say, ‘We only sell to the CIO and only Fortune 500 companies.’ If you only want to target 500 people, you’re going to target your way out of business,” he said, adding that waiting for someone to fill out a form that shows their interest is not productive. “If you’re still doing that, go home, because they’re going to be on to looking at your competitors.”

As tools like Demandbase ABM becomes more common in the market, Golec said he’s seeing increased sophistication in how companies monitor results and calculate return on investment (ROI).

“What they’re doing is looking at success based on cohorts of accounts they apply it to and those they don’t,” he said. “They’re looking at how many convert into sales activity. That kind of measurement is now integrated into our platform.”