Molly: You recently posted on LinkedIn asking people to fill in the blank on what would be the one thing that they refuse to compromise on in marketing. I’m curious how you would answer that question yourself. 

Corrina: Honestly, I had a lot of synergy around what I noticed was the consensus in the responses: integrity and empathy. Those two things have allowed me to build meaningful relationships and help brands build them, too. It’s really all about being authentic.

Speaking of being authentic, I think all of us have suffered from imposter syndrome at times in our careers. How has that presented itself in your career and how have you overcome it? 

It’s something that doesn’t ever really go away. When you care deeply about your performance, you’re always going to feel like there’s more to give. That’s where my imposter syndrome comes from: my constant drive to do my best work. I think that is something that has really plagued women for generations—the idea that we had to wait around until somebody else saw our value. Today, we know that we have to champion ourselves for different positions and opportunities. It’s why I absolutely love the younger generation… they don’t wait. They’re aware of their inherent value and they make no apologies for it. It’s something that inspires me to press down the gas a little harder in my career.

I’m also interested in how that kind of authenticity has followed you into your position as a leader.

In my career, nobody really championed anything for me. I found opportunities to get myself and my brand out there. That’s part of what I have taken with me in my positions and continue to focus on now: I challenge the conventional wisdom in every role that I step into. Just because things have always been done a certain way, it’s not something that we need to adhere to. I hope that I can encourage other women to do the same; to be disruptive.

I once had a mentor tell me that we, as women, need to end more sentences with periods and fewer with question marks. That’s really stuck with me. Your LinkedIn game is good. Like, really good. You’re fantastic at elevating your lane and using your personal presence to facilitate big conversations in the industry. Was that something that you intended to happen, or was it more organic? 

I didn’t adhere to a specific framework. I’ve always been active on LinkedIn, even pre-pandemic. I saw it as a way to connect and engage in lieu of waiting for the next trade show or webinar. Over time, I’ve made it much more personal and authentic (there’s that word again) to who I am, versus just being a voice for the brands I’ve represented.

Did you have any moments of hesitation when you started to get good traction?

Yes. It was intimidating to start to put my own thoughts out there. And those moments of insecurity would creep in where I would feel really fearful after posting. But what I learned to do was to take a step back and remind myself of who I am and that these moments of fear were small in comparison to some of the things that I’ve experienced in life. Comparing it to life experiences allowed me to really just be myself. And in the end, that’s what helps people stand out. 

I believe that your unique presence is really what ends up making a difference. I don’t focus on the algorithm. If I have something to say, I say it. It’s how I approach my in-person life as well. If I have something of value to add, I add it.

There’s a lot of talk in ABM right now about the alignment of the go-to-market strategy. From your perspective as a female leader, how are you seeing the alignment of sales, marketing and customer service in your business? How does that authenticity show itself in that endeavor?

It sounds so simple, but in reality it’s the opposite. It’s really challenging. One of the things that I always institute when I come into an organization is the charge to align on goals with different business units, particularly within the go-to-market function. I almost always find that the goals are siloed. In fact, they’re often so separate that they’re not even tied to company goals. Each quarter, I seek to reevaluate that. 

You have to make sure that everyone is aligned to business goals and constantly edit your team priorities and ask yourself, “What is this supporting?” If your tactics aren’t supporting the goals you’ve identified, things will be difficult.

I want to talk to you a little bit about balance and intentionality in your life. Especially as women, we don’t always show ourselves enough grace to calibrate what is (and what isn’t) working for us. As someone who is always grateful to have other women in similar life chapters as me, I admire those of us who are candid about our experiences.

I think that we don’t talk enough about burnout. It is something that I am aware of and constantly trying to manage. When I start to see that things are becoming overwhelming, I try to pay attention to the triggers that let me know that I’m vulnerable to burnout. When the fear of failure gets loud, or I start overly critiquing myself, I know that things are out of balance.

What do you find yourself doing to course correct that? 

I create intentional time away from work. I am an aerial circus artist and that works as a creative outlet that lets me recalibrate and step back into my job at 100%. As a woman in this industry, I try to encourage those around me to be mindful of the signals of burnout that show up in their worlds. I remind them that when those signals show up, it’s okay to make space for yourself and acknowledge that something has to give.

It’s hard to do that and not feel vulnerable. Do you agree?

Women aren’t always great about letting go of guilt and showing ourselves more grace. We need better internal talk tracks. We need to remind one another that we matter and intentional time for self care isn’t a weakness. It’s a strength. 

Like we talked about before, we need to stop waiting for others to tell us that it’s okay to take a break. It’s important to have a culture that supports that. On that note, talk a little bit about mentorship. I assume that’s something that you’re passionate about as it resonates as part of your narrative. 

My background originated in education, so teaching is what I was trained to do. Helping others be their best self is something that gives real meaning to my work. I always seek it out.

How can I be an example or a mentor for someone else on my team? At my company? I’m dialed into that because it was largely absent in my career as I was coming up. There were just not a lot of people like me from a socio-economic and gender perspective. I felt alone on an island and I am grateful that during those times, I didn’t try to be anyone other than myself. That’s what got me to where I am today and where I’ll be tomorrow.

It’s not always easy to own your unique attributes and qualities when you’re not necessarily coming from an empowered place. Helping other people find their lane is so critical.

You’re right. I’ve been very intentional about seeking out mentors in my career, and I had to really go outside of my environment. I had to go outside of my company, outside of my industry. I was deliberate in my needs with my mentors, and that’s where I found that I got the most value. I was direct about where I wanted to go and what I expected out of the relationship.

How has that played out for you at Gong?

It’s something that I deliberately try to facilitate everywhere I go. I’m part of our women’s group here Gong, which is a mentorship program that has provided some of  the most meaningful experiences I’ve had in my career. I also help run our Women In Revenue group at Gong, which is a monthly meet-up that we do with woman in revenue. I’m honored we can amplify and learn from voices like Demetria Elmore, VP of Care at GoDaddy, who will be sharing her story with us in our next meetup on September 30th. We get together and create a safe space to talk about a lot of the things we’ve talked about here: work/life balance, career advancement, finding your voice, and advocating for yourself.

This has all been so fantastic. What has been your north star as you navigate this space? A piece of best advice? A favorite practitioner?

Nilofer Merchants’ book, The Power of Onlyness: Make Your Wild Ideas Mighty Enough to Dent the World, is something that I quote all the time. It’s really empowered me to own the experiences that I’ve had. My life experiences—good and bad—have really shaped how I interact with the world. It reminds me to show up for myself and own my truth. Being yourself in every facet of life is one of the most freeing things that we can do. It’s such a gift and that authenticity is applicable to everything. Remembering that has really stuck with me and it hasn’t served me wrong yet.

You can connect with Corrina on LinkedIn and learn more about Gong’s Women In Revenue event here.

The post Women in ABM: Corrina Owens on being authentic and not being afraid to be disruptive appeared first on Terminus.

Every marketer is scrambling. We fought our way through a global pandemic for which there was no marketing playbook and we saw a good chunk of our pipeline erased as in-person events were canceled, the virtual market became flooded with content, and we seemed to be up against a new socio-economic crisis each week. 

After two years of turmoil, the game continues to change in 2022 in major ways:

• In-market buyers and decision makers are harder than ever to reach. They’re working from anywhere, they’re changing jobs at a more rapid and unpredictable pace.

• Our economy is struggling. We’re staring down a recession and every venture capitalist in the country is asking, “why does marketing spend so much money again?”

• Budgets are under scrutiny like we haven’t seen in more than a decade. And at the same time, costs (like ads on Google) are skyrocketing across industries.

On top of that, the near exit of third-party cookies is disrupting traditional digital advertising. We are feeling change in the very foundation of everything that B2B marketing and sales have known to be true for the last decade. 

And so we’ve found ourselves here. Marketing and the entire go-to-market function that drives and grows revenue in B2B companies like yours is actually at an inflection point.

 Is This an Opportunity? Heck Yeah. A Golden Opportunity.

Instead of talking about MQLS, web traffic, “top of funnel volume,” and even pipeline creation, we’re now in an environment primed for marketing, sales, and customer experience teams to have real business conversations about revenue impact, efficiency, and predictability. 

“We’ve been talking about marketing as a revenue driver for a long time,” says Terminus CMO Natalie Cunningham. “The rubber is finally meeting the road. In this economy, with changes in buying behavior, channel performance, and budget scrutiny, marketing has no option but to shift their primary KPI from pipeline creation to revenue generation. It’s time to put a padlock on our seats at the revenue table before we get relegated back to the kiddie table with vanity metrics and making things pretty.” 

One of the reasons this is becoming more and more critical is the sunset of the “growth at all costs” model.

• Marketing teams can no longer hit their numbers by brute force and an inflated media budget generating pipeline that we all know isn’t going to close. 

• Sales teams can no longer hit their numbers by hiring more reps and waiting for marketing to feed them. Rep efficiency is key. 

• Customer experience teams must have revenue accountability. Everyone touching a customer relationship, from first impression to advocacy must be focused on and incentivized by long-term customer success and, ultimately lifetime value.

It’s Time to Get Comfortable With Change

The interconnectivity of go-to-market and revenue performance is more critical than ever. How many times have you come up with a beautiful, strategic, perfectly orchestrated demand program only to have it fail because your audience was “anyone with a pulse,” your only differentiators were product features, and your CTA was “buy now?” Right. Far too many times.

“In the last year, I’ve seen more and more teams investing the time and energy into REAL focus, putting the ‘ideal’ in ICP,” says Cunningham. “A truly aligned GTM is absolutely table stakes now. It’s not even an advantage, it’s a requirement. It’s the price of entry in today’s changing market.”

“When I say True GTM Alignment here, what I mean is a full-fledged, top to bottom, C-suite to rep, priority and budget, strategy and activity-level alignment.” Terminus CMO, Natalie Cunningham

Obviously sales and marketing alignment is no new topic, but the addition of the Customer Experience team is key. True GTM alignment means that we’re focusing on those accounts that are not only most likely to close, but are most likely to be successful with us. In the SaaS universe, that means pulling product teams into your GTM alignment mix, too. 

Keeping a finger on the pulse of the external market conditions and understanding the entire customer journey is an all-in effort. Leaders must also be able to look internally within the organization, understanding and influencing the customer experience, and in turn the product roadmap. It’s all of us. The GTM team must be “rowing in the same direction” at all times.

Now Is the Time for ABM to Join the Party

“Demand generation programs have a place. People are still going to come to your website. They’re still going to find you on Google. Yes, do those things. Optimize your site. Drive SEO value. Create valuable content,” cautions Cunningham. “What I’m suggesting—in today’s world—is that it’s time to call that the bare minimum and shift our budgets, resources, and strategic focus to ABM.”

The new mandate in B2B is revenue impact, efficiency and predictability. It’s time for marketers to focus on leaning into their ICP, creating deeply focused alignment across the go-to-market team and commit to an account-centric approach to driving and maintaining revenue.

To read more from Natalie and her thoughts on the state of B2B marketing and GTM alignment, we’ve listed some resources below:

• If ABM’s at an inflection point, where to next? The way ahead according to Terminus CMO Natalie Cunningham, an article from Diginomica

• Economic Downturn Ahead: 4 Ways to Trim Your Martech Stack, an article from CMSWire

• B2BSMX Day 3 Recap: It’s Time For Real Conversations Around Revenue Generation, Efficiency & Predictability, an article from Demand Gen Report

Natalie’s LinkedIn profile can be found here.

The post How Today’s Changing Market Is a Golden Opportunity for Marketers appeared first on Terminus.

The high schoolers filed into the assembly and as the curtain on the stage opened, a quiet fell over the auditorium. “Today I’d like to talk to you about term life insurance,” said the man in the suit. It was a classic case of “right message, wrong medium.”

If you’re not being thoughtful and strategic about where your message is being shared, you might be setting yourself up for disappointment. It might not be as bad as trying to sell life insurance to a 15 year old, but it might not be much better.

This post is going to walk you through a different approach to B2B marketing and introduce you to some “premium” advertising channels, Connected TV and Audio. Don’t let the word “premium” throw you off, Connected TV and audio ads are highly accessible marketing channels that when activated, can boost your brand awareness and increase your pipeline velocity.

As viewing habits change, so too does the TV landscape. But too many advertisers see CTV advertising as a solution for tomorrow and not today. That’s just plain wrong — it is generating strong results for brands right this second, and anyone not advertising on CTV is missing out.

What is connected TV and audio advertising for B2B?

Today, over 150+ million households are currently available to reach through Connected TV. CTV is considered one of the fastest-growing channels in video advertising and is a great approach that diversifies your arsenals of creative assets and advertising channels. With CTV ads, you can reach customers while they’re watching Hulu or other ad supported streaming platforms, and boost brand awareness and revenue.

It’s not just Connected TV. Nowadays, two out of three people consume more Audio content monthly than any other channel. With Audio ads, you can easily drive search volume by generating interest across non-skippable content.

How to leverage connected TV and audio advertising alongside your ABM strategy

Connected TV and audio ad campaigns are best suited as part of strategies that include awareness and advocacy tactics. For example, always-on campaigns, brand or product awareness, and even retargeting are all ideal plays to include this highly engaging video and audio ad that will increase engagement across all-channels.

Connected TV and Audio advertising are predominantly Brand Awareness channels and the addition of display advertising and backend reporting can help draw a line from uninformed listeners to potential customers.

You can think about CTV and audio advertising as an opportunity to:

• Easily diversify both your arsenal of creative assets and advertising channels. Advertise at scale. Meaning you can reach customers within your target accounts while they’re watching Hulu or other ad supported streaming platforms.
• Drive engagement with visually stunning video in the right place and time, especially since this is non-skippable inventory.
• Maintain brand awareness, educate, or upsell/cross sell. CTV and Audio ads are the perfect complement to traditional display campaigns.

How to get started with connected TV and audio advertising

Connected TV ads run across streamed TV content on platforms like Hulu. CTV is available in both the US and International and providers include Hulu, DirectTV Now, Pluto, Sling, NBC, Fox, Fubo, and more.

Audio ads from Terminus run across audio streaming platforms like Pandora, iHeartMedia, Spotify and more. Audio is available for both US and International audiences (excluding EMEA).

Here are a few ways to get started (and insider’s secret: connected TV is a more affordable approach to TV advertising than what we know to be traditional. Terminus can help you with an iterative approach to get started).

1. Check your existing video and audio assets

Many brands don’t realize they already have the right video and audio assets to run CTV and audio ads. Not an expert? No problem, Terminus has in-house expertise to help you get up and running.

2. Be ready with 15 second and 30 second spots

Connected TV and audio ads typically run for 15 and 30 second durations, and depending on your brand or message, one runtime may drive better performance. Don’t have a 15 second ad? Edit down your 30 second version so you can test each length and determine which is best for you.

3. Follow creative best practices

You can try out different CTAs in your connected TV and audio ads. For example, play around with QR codes or super short vanity URLs that are easy to understand in a TV or audio ad format. CTV ads can use voice overs, so leverage that to quickly and succinctly communicate your key value propositions.

4. Work with Terminus to make this transition easier

Terminus is here to help. In fact, we run Connected TV and audio ads of our own! The CTV and audio landscape can be intimidating and confusing to navigate at first on your own. Terminus is here to ensure you have great placement, content, and support.

Ready to give it a try? If you are a Terminus customer, reach out to your account team today! We want you to experience the revenue-boosting benefits of CTV and Audio firsthand. Not a Terminus customer? Reach out today and help us help you take your B2B marketing from boring to boosted.

The post How to Break Out of the Box When Its Comes to Your B2B Marketing Strategy appeared first on Terminus.

One thing that has remained the same is our need to engage target accounts—both across the entire customer lifecycle and in the places where they are consuming messaging. But how you do it matters; and as the industry’s only TRUE ABM platform, we’ve set you up to succeed at scaling your efforts with all of the resources that you could possibly need.

The ability to scale your ABM efforts is more critical than ever. Whether your marketing team is just dipping their toes into the proverbial water for the first time or you’re an ABM ninja ready to take your game up a notch, we’ve got you covered with every resource you could need to surround your ideal customers with multi-channel experiences and drive revenue.

Getting Certified Is Just The Start

We understand that everyone has varying levels of experience with account-based marketing. For this reason, we designed a comprehensive, self-paced training course that focuses on the fundamental principles of an account-based strategy, and tactical, real-life recommendations and examples for running ABM campaigns.

The Account-Based Strategy: Fundamentals certification is a comprehensive, self-paced training course that focuses on the fundamental principles of an account-based marketing strategy, while also delivering tactical, real-life recommendations and examples for executing ABM.

In it, you’ll find five lessons led by seasoned professionals in the ABM industry. Once all lessons have been completed, learners will have the option to earn a certificate and digital badge by passing a timed, multiple choice exam.Best of all? The course is free to all existing Terminus customers and partners with their subscription, and can be accessed directly via Terminus Academy. The course is also free with registration to any non-customers / partners.

Scale Your ABM Program: Crawl, Walk, Run

Once you’re ABM certified and ready to rock and roll, we’ve put together a resource to help you start planning your ABM efforts. Our team of ABM experts brainstormed, tested, and ran 10 different multi-channel campaigns; and our ebook will show you exactly how to execute them for yourself. From beginner to enterprise-level strategic plays, we’re sharing a step-by-step formula for each proven to make your team show real wins.

The crawl campaigns that you’ll find in the ebook consist of simple SDR-run tactics for a small team of ABM practitioners. If you’re looking for long-term plays with a decent ABM team, our walk campaigns will serve you well. And if you’re crushing the ABM with highly strategic goals, we’ll help you create some more complex plays. Our ebook contains something for everyone on the ABM journey.

Other Resources That Will Set You Up To Succeed

We’ve put together an entire roster of resources to help you understand the best ways to scale your ABM program. 

Before you begin planning your first ABM campaign, you’ll need to assemble a core ABM team. Whether you’re ready to crawl, walk or run, we’re here to help arm your team with the right players. We’ve taken the same Crawl, Walk, Run approach we outlined above and did the heavy lifting to help you understand how to best assemble your crew. No matter the size of your team, we’ve laid out how to make big ABM magic happen.

In today’s B2B buying journey, there’s a massive shift in buyer behavior, driven by how buyers educate themselves and make purchasing decisions. Are you looking for new strategies and new tools to deliver consistent, connected experiences to your target accounts and their buying committees? The Identify, Reach and Engage Your Buyers ebook will help you know how to get started.

We know that evaluating ABM platforms can be overwhelming for marketers. As marketers ourselves, we get it. To help get you started, we’ve put together this ABM Buyer’s Guide to help you not only create a killer RFP, but also show what to look for and which questions to ask.

By attacking the evaluation process with clarity and purpose, you’ll be able to separate the contenders from the pretenders and find the best solution for your company’s goals and need.

A recap and reply of our recent ConnectedTV and Audio webinar digs in on how customers like Skai and Nuvolo are using these channels to follow the buyer and target them with precision where they are. With partners like The Trade Desk and Spotify, we’re helping marketers lean into the rise of these dynamic channels as part of their multi-channel marketing strategies.

TL;DR: We’ve Got You Covered

You’ve got this and we’re excited to be along for the ride. Visit our Resource Hub for even more resources, upcoming webinars and other great resources to help you crush your ABM efforts!

The post How to Scale ABM At Your Own Pace appeared first on Terminus.

If you’ve been thinking about adding Connected TV and Audio to your multi-channel marketing mix, you won’t want to miss the replay of a recent webinar with industry experts, rock star customers, partners and the Digital Media Manager team from Terminus.

Watch our Connected TV and Audio webinar

Adding these premium channels to your marketing mix lets you achieve greater scale and wow your pipeline with highly-engaging content. Simply put: there is no bigger way to reach your target audiences. 

Not only does Connected TV give you access to more than 150 million households that are streaming television, but works to deliver your ads across top news, lifestyle and live sports events with targeting and precise frequency. Leveraging our audio options lets you scale your message to over 200 million households with non-skippable content that can increase your search performance by up to 500%. 

Maribel Malit, Spotify’s Research Manager for Insights and Activation, says that three out of four Americans are listening to digital audio for more than 90 minutes per day. And with over 126 million podcasts being produced, one in three Americans spend 50 minutes a day consuming them. “Audio consumption overall is on the rise since the pandemic,” Maribel says. “Digital audio is now being relied on to combat screen fatigue.” And because Spotify listeners trust the advertisers that partner with them, they’ve seen 19% more brand breakthroughs than all other media.

Big wins from Connected TV and audio users

Terminus customer, Skai, has been using Connected TV to test and experiment to get more touch points with consistent messaging. “Our focus is to optimize and target prospects with highlighted personalized ads,” says Lily Rotter, Senior Director of Demand Generation.

Nuvolo, another Terminus Connected TV user, uses this platform to cut through the noise and target buying personas. “We follow the buyer,” says Nuvolo CMO, Ben Person. “What we’re doing is taking intent data and being able to prioritize target accounts and those target personas based on spiking intent.”

Tomas Rodriguez, Director of Emerging Channels with Terminus partner, The Trade Desk, points out that the internet allows everyone to participate and has changed the barrier to entry. “Connected advertising lets marketers focus on decision makers and influencers instead of casting wide nets like Super Bowl ads.” Tomas also points out that incorporating these connected experiences as part of a multi-channel marketing effort lets marketers avoid oversaturating and leverage cost efficiency to their advantage.

Grow your brand equity by humanizing your brand

Misconceptions tied to connected experiences being cost prohibitive and difficult to create can create hesitation for marketers, and while it’s traditionally been a B2C play, it’s actually a really strong B2B strategy. “Audio is an incredible way to develop brand equity,” says Terminus Senior Digital Media Manager, Riley Gilstrap. “It lets you humanize your brand.”

Whether via CTV or audio ads, Terminus customers can diversify their creative assets and advertising channels, reach customers watching and listening to ad-supported streaming platforms, and boost brand awareness and revenue.

Both Tomas and Riley agree that it’s important to get specific about KPIs, be intentional, and remember that it’s an iterative process. If marketers are prepared to pivot and use this data to make more informed decisions, Connected TV and audio can be a big, across-the-board win.

Connected TV ads run across streamed TV content on platforms like Hulu. CTV is available in both the US and International and providers include Hulu, DirectTV Now, Pluto, Sling, NBC, Fox, Fubo, and more. Audio ads from Terminus run across audio streaming platforms like Pandora, iHeartMedia, Spotify and more. Audio is available for both US and International audiences (excluding EMEA).

How do I learn more?

To book and demo and learn more about how connected experiences can make a big impact on your ROI, click here. To learn more about how Terminus is helping marketers do more big things with first-party data, intent and multi-channel experiences, our Resource Hub will help get you started.

The post Beyond Traditional Ad Strategies: Reaching Today’s Digital Buyer appeared first on Terminus.

As marketers, we’re always asking, “WHAT’S NEXT?” and we’ve got you covered. We’ve brainstormed, tested and executed your two next big moves. 

In this blog post, we’ll break down two complex, multi-channel campaigns that are featured in our Crawl, Walk, Run Multi-Channel ABM Playbook. We’ll show you how to use a new product to expand your relationship to connect with your key accounts and how to create an opportunity within a target account. But if you aren’t ready to run with ABM quite yet, check out our “crawl” and “walk” ideas campaigns that we’ve previously shared.

Campaign Strategy: Expand Into An Existing Key Account With A New Product

When it’s almost time for an account to renew—and you’ve been watching engagement spikes and intent surges—it’s also time to start thinking about expansion into new products. Because you know what’s working (and what’s not) for your key accounts, you’ll want to identify some pain points that you’re seeing and identify how additional products can save the day.

Step one: get the team together

• Rally your CMS team to understand who the decision makers are and give you a behind-the-curtains look at the history and trajectory of the account.
• Assign the task of getting fresh research from the company’s website and social media. Get smart about news, job openings and any other potential pain points that you might uncover.
• You might even have your legal and finance teams start the process of drafting an agreement in the event that your campaign turns this into a velocity situation.
• Leverage Terminus—along with our G2 and Bombora integrations—to dig into the behavioral data that you have access to. Intent alerts for researching pain points or competitors, coupled with intent-driven ads on multiple channels will get your team ready to roll.

• Dig into Engagement Spike and Account Insights to help you understand who is looking at the products you’re wanting to upsell and when they’re looking.
• Activate your content team designers to start telling the story you need: custom content, case studies, testimonials from other upsell product users, and more to reinforce how you’ll be helping with the pain point you’ve identified.

Step two: pull the trigger

• Launch a digital display campaign promoting the product line you’re trying to upsell and the pain point it solves.
• Launch email nurtures and chat playbooks that are stage-based and on theme with your display campaigns
• Launch a LinkedIn Sponsored Content Campaign to your account to ensure you’re hitting them from every angle.

Step three: have the conversation; close the deal

• After 2-3 weeks of running digital display campaigns, get to work to start the conversation. Whether it’s a CSM reaching out, scheduling a demo with Terminus Chat, sending a handwritten note, or having your executives reach out to theirs, it’s important to continue to warm up and engage as many people on the buying committee.
• Tip: If you have a customer newsletter, marketing can also suppress this account from the regular newsletter send and develop a well-designed email custom for this account with targeted language about the benefits of the new offering.
• If you’re still struggling to connect with your point of contact at your target account, try sending a custom swag or experience kit based on what you understand about the organization.

At this point, your entire buying committee should have seen your display campaign, custom content experience, and piece of direct mail solidifying your authority on the pain point.

• Once you have engaged in active communications with your target account and have reasonable certainty your offering is a viable solution for their pain points, send the new agreement to your internal champion.

Campaign Strategy: Create An Opportunity Within A Target Account

Sometimes you’ve just got to roll up your sleeves and CREATE an opportunity with an account you’re targeting. If you notice a target account spiking on your website, get creative and reach them with a killer direct mail piece or a personalized chatbox. Once they’ve seen what you’ve got, it’s time to spring into action.

Step one: devise a plan

• Use Terminus to set up an engagement spike alert to let you know when a target account has landed on your website.
• Leverage your marketing operations team to create a Salesforce report that pulls in Terminus Spike Data, including the account owners and visits in the last 30 days.
• Get your creative team together to build some fun creative and use it for display ads, email banners, chat pop ups, and more. Put together a custom landing page for the pads to point to. Use consistent creative and be sure to hit on the pain points that you can solve.

Step two: decide what’s next

Option one. Send the account a virtual or mailed item with a personalized note. Then, enroll them in a display ad campaign that’s personalized with relevant imagery, a tagline, and their account name or logo. Make sure your sales team is set up to receive delivery updates so they can begin email/phone outreach shortly after the item is delivered.

Option two. Launch the display ad campaign, but don’t send those accounts a gift yet. Instead, let the ads run for two weeks. You’ll be building brand awareness so that when the (intentionally delayed) item arrives, your prospects are more likely to quickly recognize your brand.

Once the gift or item has been delivered, it’s time to schedule a call with the target account.

If you use Email Experiences, create a Salesforce campaign with all of the accounts that received a gift or item. Set up a rule so that anytime an SDR emails someone within that account, the recipient will see a custom email signature. If your SDRs don’t receive a response within a few days, encourage them to follow up with more content, a phone call, or a handwritten note to help move the account through the pipeline.

For more ABM inspiration, how-tos, case studies, you name it… browse the Terminus Resource Hub for anything and everything ABM. And don’t forget to check out our full Crawl, Walk, Run ebook with more ways to execute campaigns no matter where you and your team are on your ABM journey.

The post Ready to “Run” With Multi-Channel ABM Plays? Let’s Go. appeared first on Terminus.

Terminus Products Used

United Airlines and ABM

United for Business is a division of United Airlines that focuses on driving B2B opportunities. They focus on business relationships and how organizations use business travel. That might be in the form of a business travel program where organizations pay up front for discounts or other benefits. 

United for Business uses ABM to target the small to midsize sector. They not only make this sector aware of product offerings and benefits of doing business with United, but also get them in front of their sales team, so they can convert them into opportunities.

Terminus helped United for Business evolve, post COVID 

At the beginning of 2020, United went through a B2B transformation, focused on how they can drive and win new opportunities. As part of that transition, they knew they needed to implement marketing automation and focus on account-based marketing. 

Then, like other organizations, things shifted after COVID. For United, though, the shift was even more dramatic. Airlines were hit hard. Business travel became non-existent. They had to change their strategy. 

They were accustomed to having a ton of opportunities in the funnel. So, they had to change what they were doing, because it was now important to identify companies traveling again. Intent was a big part of that. Coming into the beginning of 2021, United saw that some small to mid-sized businesses were starting to travel again. That’s where they started with their ABM pilot. They focused on specific United hub areas and identified a target list of accounts.

While it was a bare bones strategy of testing and learning, they started to see results. ABM was making a difference. That’s when they implemented Terminus. Terminus helped fill the gaps in better targeting and reaching accounts in ways that they couldn’t previously. Before, United sent a lot of cold emails. Now, they advertise directly to their target accounts. Before they had no sense of interest. Now, they have data that highlights businesses searching for topics related to business travel. And, they filled the time and resource gaps they had.

Now, United better understands the accounts they are targeting and use intent to better prioritize the ones they hand off to their sales team. Intent is extremely important to their industry, especially now because the landscape has changed so much. Today, there are a lot of companies that don’t plan to travel as much for business. So, knowing what companies are interested in traveling is incredibly valuable. It also expands their ability to market their product differently. There are some companies going completely remote but convening their workforce from time to time from all over the country and even the world. They still need an airline partner, and that’s a fit for United’s travel offering.

The Terminus and United Airlines partnership

Terminus’ knowledge of ABM is one reason why United marketers are very comfortable working with our team. They also appreciate how customers get much more than just a platform. United has a dedicated customer success team that works with them and their unique scenarios while understanding what they are trying to achieve. Our support team works with United to generate ideas, while always providing support. We work together to form a true partnership.

The starting point with Terminus: Email Experiences

United started with Email Experiences. They rolled it out to their sales team, and there’s been nothing but great feedback. It has made things a lot easier, as Sales team members no longer have to update the banners themselves or even think about them. It’s all automated.

Sales team members at United have incredibly tough jobs, which include keeping customers up to date. With Email Experiences, they reduce their need to focus on this task and can still relay useful information to their accounts. Being able to build off of Email Experiences and connect it to their overall ABM strategy is a big factor to their ongoing and future success.

Terminus also helps United with their cold emails. They use Email Experiences in their direct outreach to personalize different messages to their targeted accounts.  

They are now implementing the rest of the platform and look forward to expanding their ABM program with Terminus.

ABM and Terminus will help United scale

ABM is going to help United scale by increasing awareness and better targeting the small to midsize sector. These organizations don’t realize they can have a business relationship with United. They assume that’s just for enterprise level or consulting organizations. The reality is that they have product offerings for business of any size. So, to use more targeted marketing efforts, build awareness, and drive leads in a new segment … that’s going to be the future of B2B United.

The post Customer Rock Star Spotlight: United Airlines Uses Terminus Email to Take Flight with ABM appeared first on Terminus.

Ummmm. OMG. *exhales and sharpens pencil*

Spoiler alert: I took the course, crushed it, and had a good time learning from some of the best in the business. Whether you’re ABM curious—or a total wizard across all of your engagement channels—I’m here to tell you that you’re missing out if you don’t get yourself ABM certified.

As an industry leader in account-based marketing, it only made sense for Terminus to educate the B2B marketing community. And since Terminus isn’t short on subject-matter experts, the wheels started turning on how to put together a killer course that was designed to help you understand how to get started, grow your efforts, or level up in big ways.

Do any of these sound like you?

I’m new to my team and want to understand and evaluate the benefits of ABM.

We’ve got your back. This course will be everything you dreamt of and more. Did you know that 94% of today’s revenue teams have an ABM strategy in place or are planning to implement one? That’s good company.

I’m working hard to be my team’s hero—help me bring a new ABM program to life.

Your executive team might be interested to know that 85% of marketers that are measuring ROI say that ABM outperforms other marketing investments, while 72% have reported an uplift in revenue growth. That’ll put a smile on everyone’s faces.

I’m ready to launch a new ABM program and I’m overwhelmed by how to start.

You’re not alone. And it’s no secret that aligning sales and marketing can be a challenge. But it’s hard to argue that teams with sales and marketing reading from the same playbook see 36% higher retention rates and 38% higher sales win rates. We’ve done the heavy lifting to help you get your ducks (and strategy) in a row.

I want to up my company’s ABM strategy game and watch it continue to grow.

It’s all about connection. We know that B2B marketers need new tools and strategies to deliver connected experiences to target accounts. It’s what we think about all day. We’ll help you identify, reach and engage your ideal accounts—across multiple channels—with the right messaging at the right time.

I’m up and running, but I’m ready to fire on all cylinders and blow my company away.

Whether you want to grow your brand awareness, create more opportunities, accelerate your pipeline, increase customer retention, or expand what you’re currently doing, we’ve broken it down how to put your plans into action.

Not only does this certification course focus on the principles of an account-based strategy, but it also hooks you up with tactical, real-life recommendations and examples for running ABM campaigns wherever you are in your marketing journey. This course has done so much of the heavy lifting for you, that you’ll finish it with marching orders and the outline of a strategy for next steps.

Full disclosure: I am new to the industry and I have never run a real ABM campaign. However, I was sure that this course would be the path of least resistance to get myself up to speed on just what Terminus can do to turn clients into rockstars. And it blew me away.

What you’ll get is five lessons taught by the best there is, a timed multiple-choice test, a certificate of completion and a shiny new badge for your LinkedIn profile. And it’s free! Whether you’re a customer, partner or just somehow who has big B2B strategies on your radar, this course will help you level up.

TL;DR: Take the course. Be an ABM rockstar. Thank us later.

Related resources:

• ABM Courses and Certifications
• Account Based Marketing Basics
• Account Based Marketing Class
• ABM Expert
• Account Based Marketing Basics

The post The TL;DR of the Terminus ABM Certification Course appeared first on Terminus.

He is also a Terminus Rock Star customer.

Terminus Products Used:

What’s the difference between lead gen and ABM?

There are so many ways to answer that. I always go to the analogy of the trade show. If you’ve been a marketer for more than a year, you have experienced a trade show or a virtual event. If you think about that event, using the lens of traditional demand generation, everybody in the trade show hall is in your market. Everybody who comes by your booth is a target. Everybody who gets scanned is somebody you want to talk to. And some of those leads become legitimate opportunities. So, you spend a year planning and a third of your budget on the event. You get thousands of people there. You get a hundred scans. And you get five leads. That’s traditional demand generation. 

It’s very different from ABM. With ABM, you already know the five leads. So, let’s spend that time and money targeting those five people. 

I think the biggest difference goes back to that famous quote from John Wanamaker “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” That’s a huge point with ABM. It ensures you’re not wasting money on things that don’t move the needle and focused on what will make an impact.

Fundamentals don’t change

The fundamentals of a good ABM program are not unlike the fundamentals of good marketing, and one of the least forgiving aspects of ABM is that there is nowhere to hide. If you have poor demand generation, it might take a while for that to come to light. Maybe you’re tracking form fills, site visits, or impressions. Those numbers can look good for a while. But with a long sales cycle, it could take years to figure out that your inbound strategy is garbage because you’re getting the wrong kinds of prospects. 

People often want to rush to success. They are driven. Maybe they have a startup mentality or are trying to hit performance metrics. That will drive them to take shortcuts like sending a piece of content without thinking about who they’re targeting, or focusing on the 500 trade show leads that just came in, regardless of who they are. It sounds like it’s a good idea initially, but is it really a good idea ultimately? The answer in short is ‘No’. 

You should be targeting your ideal customer profile. 

You should be speaking to your personas. 

You should be doing so in a language they understand. 

And, you should be speaking to them when and where they are. These are the fundamentals, and they don’t change. The difference is in how you go about doing it, how you allocate resources, and what channels you’re using.

ABM is a war of attrition

I think of ABM as a war of attrition. 

You’ve got different points of attrition in the process: 

1. How many accounts are you trying to target? 
2. How many can you reach? 
3. How many did you reach? 
4. How many responded to your message? 
5. How many entered a sales sequence? 
6. How many became an opportunity?

If you know all the accounts you want to win, and you know all the people who you want to convert, you start there, and it really is a war of attrition. 

So, the metrics you track help you track progress and find the problems that you didn’t know you had. If you think of it like points of attrition in the funnel, you can find where you have a data problem, a targeting problem, a messaging problem, or a BDR problem.

You can also use the data to reverse engineer the process to see how many accounts you need to target to hit your revenue goals. It’s often referred to as a reverse waterfall.

One of the most avoidable mistakes is bad data 

As an agency owner, I see 25+ different ABM programs at the same time. One might be for an enterprise. One might be for a startup. One might be in life sciences. One might be in software. When you look at ABM across the lens of 25, it is surprising how much damage bad data can do to a program. 

Let’s say you’re targeting a thousand accounts. If 10% of them have bad account information, and 10% of them have bad contacts, and 10% of those contacts are the wrong personna, 30% of your list is useless before you even start. I think people glaze over data problems because it’s only 5% here and 5% there, but it adds up. And it adds up six months later. You don’t see it until you’re there. So, one of the best things you can do is put energy into your data. It should be a third of the focus of your program. And your data must be good. So, don’t skimp on this critical piece of the process.

The importance of internal alignment

Another critical part of the process is alignment within Marketing and with Sales. Lack of alignment drives a lot of problems. Full alignment drives a lot of success. If you’re not aligned, it might be subtle within your own Marketing Team, but it’s obvious and painful with Sales.

If you’re not aligned with your Brand, PR, Content, or Product teams, you can have Brand hosting one event over here and Content executing an unrelated editorial calendar over there. If you were working together, thinking holistically about initiatives, you could leverage the ABM framework and the infrastructure you’ve built around ABM to do better marketing. 

If you’re not aligned with Sales, you could be targeting the wrong accounts, the wrong personas, and in a language that doesn’t resonate. Consider Sales your ‘in the trenches’ expert. Further, when properly aligned, Sales can surface marketing ideas you hadn’t considered. 

Bottom line, ABM is the lever to drive efficiency in what you’re doing. If you’re not applying the ABM lens to the rest of your marketing, you’re missing out on the opportunity to save yourself a lot of time, energy, and money.

Don’t be afraid to get started with ABM 

I’ve often seen people paralyzed by the need to get ABM perfect … the perfect list, the perfect tactic, the perfect play, the perfect content. That can take months to do. So, one of the biggest pieces of advice I would give is don’t be afraid to get started. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of getting started. Remember, the fundamentals don’t change. So, start with identifying your ideal customer profile and work your way down the process. 

The more ABM I do, the more I see that there is usually a champion or multiple champions like you who want to initiate or advance ABM. They have usually spent a lot of time learning about ABM and how to do it. I also find that the rest of the organization typically doesn’t understand ABM. If you find yourself in this situation, there’s a ton of value in simplifying how you talk about ABM and how you share that internally. Sort out how to communicate ABM in as simple of terms as possible when describing what you’re doing and why you’re doing it to keep people engaged. The power of being clear and succinct with what you’re trying to do is really valuable.

Use the data from Terminus to guide your ABM program

If you’ve never used technology like Terminus before, it can be hard to know what you’re getting into, what you’re going to see, and how it’s different. 

From my experience, data you receive from the Terminus platform can speed the evolution of your ABM program and help you iterate quickly. 

Terminus’ Data Studio helps you identify custom audience segments, leverage firmographic data on 70 million businesses, and create precise and relevant audiences from first- and third-party data sources. Terminus’ Intent Data shows Sales and Marketing teams exactly who their next best opportunities are – and how likely they are to become a new customer – by combining first- and third-party intent data allows teams to see exactly where they should be focusing their efforts. Finally, Terminus’ Measurement Studio lets you measure your ABM program to show how your team is impacting pipeline and revenue, from board-level dashboards all the way down to campaign-specific reporting.

You just can’t get that kind of data from other technology. Terminus is the best addition to your MarTech that you can make, and I’ve spent over $10 million on MarTech in my career. I launched an ABM agency two years ago, and all I do is Terminus ABM today.

My first, second, and third exposure to Terminus 

I’ve been around Terminus for a while now. Technically, I’m a third time customer.

Working with Terminus fundamentally changed how I viewed demand gen programs. I’ve been in demand generation my whole career, and I remember in 2016 or so when the term ‘ABM’ hit mainstream, and technology providers were trying to define their ABM play. Most were focused on the challenges that traditional demand gen is trying to solve, like How do I get better leads? How do I make the sales team happier?  

So, when I first bumped into Terminus, it was a light bulb moment for me. I saw the technology and met the people who were building it. It was really cool. And it was different. It focused on what ABM is truly about: focusing on ideal customer profile accounts. So, I bought Terminus. Then I did it again, and again.  

The biggest thing I learned from Terminus, aside from the technology, is the value of collaboration when you’re innovating, and I’ve found the Terminus team to be very collaborative. Much of my professional success has been built on collaborating with the team at Terminus. 

That’s my experience starting an ABM program from the ground up. It’s one of those things that seems really easy until you do it, and then it’s not so easy. With Terminus, you collaborate with a technology partner to drive success and innovation. And, just like ABM, working with the Terminus platform is an iterative thing. You learn. You apply. You learn. You apply.I am Daniel Englebretson, and I am a Terminus Rock Star.

The post Customer Rock Star Spotlight: Daniel Englebretson from Khronos appeared first on Terminus.

Talk to a sales veteran and something you’ll learn is that buyers want the sales process to be about them. Yes, they need to know about your features and pricing, but they really want to know how you’re going to solve insurmountable problems that they feel are unique to them.

So in the age of IP tracking and “is my phone listening to me?!” fears, how do we provide a personalized pre-sales marketing experience that clearly conveys your value? There’s no need to play dumb; the modern digital buyer knows that the marketer is armed with a depth of knowledge that some remain uncomfortable with. How that data is used can make the difference between a prospect feeling known versus feeling creeped out. Let’s dive into how personalization can boost engagement. As always, if you want more, check out our new ebook, How To Identify, Reach, and Engage Your Buyers.

Chapter 1: Finding Future Customers That Are Looking For You: How to Identify Buyers

Chapter 2: Multi-Channel Messaging: Reaching Your Buyers Where They Are

Chapter 3: Engaging Buyers

Dale Carnegie said, “A person’s name is to that person, the sweetest, most important sound in any language.”

And yet, something Dale wasn’t thinking about was how uncomfortable the sound of your name can be from someone who has no business knowing it..

Technology allows marketers to wield a pretty enormous double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s really odd that all of us have this hidden digital profile full of our purchase histories, last-known whereabouts, and Internet searches. But on the other hand, it’s really handy when we’re served marketing messages that are relevant and timely.

Digital buyers are growing more and more comfortable with the level of personalization in the ads they’re served. Who among us hasn’t “fallen for” an Instagram ad only to find ourselves delighted with the product? “It’s like they knew I’d love this bar of artisan soap,” we say to ourselves. “But how?”

Buyers are leaving digital footprints that marketers can use to show up in their buying process at just the right time. You officially have permission to use the data available to be a better, more thoughtful marketer. And you can do it way easier than you think is possible with Terminus.

Here are the ways you can personalize marketing messages inside Terminus:

Targeted Display Ads: You can quickly create multiple ad sets that will display personalized messages. Using data from your CRM, you can display the name of the company, or refer to a piece of content you know they’ve visited multiple times.

Web Experiences: When prospects visit your site, you can serve them fly-ins, banners, and modals that promote a piece of content they need to see. Pairing paid advertising tactics with a personalized onsite experience targeting the same audience increases conversion by 450%.

Chat Experiences: Chatbots are a spot where we recommend personalizing with account owners’ names. Since they’ve been to your site before, welcoming them back and using intent data to suggest content to them is well within bounds.

Email Experiences: One of the simplest ways to reach prospects is by placing messaging banners inside your outgoing email signature. These are great ways to promote “nice-to-know” pieces of content as a way to establish yourself as an authority. They’re also useful for time-sensitive offers.

Clever creative and a value-first approach to messaging may get you far. We believe that by targeting the right audience on the right channels and with engaging and personalized content, you can go farther.

Where would your business be in six months if you could fill your pipeline with more of your ideal customers just as they were reaching their moment of need? Could you move up-market? Could you boost revenue? You won’t know what’s possible until you try. The ebook below can give you some of the tools you’ll need to put an ABM strategy in place. And if you’re ready to see a demo or talk to an expert, reach out today.

The post The Red Carpet Treatment: Engaging Buyers With Personalized Messaging appeared first on Terminus.