You probably see the term “account-based marketing” (ABM) pretty frequently of late. The hype has grown over the past 12 months, with hundreds of articles, blogs, webinars, podcasts, videos and events devoted to the topic. At least a few dozen new vendors have sprung up with solutions focused on ABM, adding to the noise.

Even with all that noise, most organizations are unclear about whether and how to implement these strategies. So this post will give you a high-level sense of what ABM is all about, give you concrete criteria on whether you should consider it for your organization, help you decide what type of ABM would be appropriate, and give you a couple of practical steps to get started.

By Candyce Edelen

This post originally appeared on the Propel Growth blog.

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It is universally understood in the marketing community that sales and marketing alignment is crucial to hitting revenue goals. Alignment around shared goals, technologies and processes allows you to monitor and optimize every stage of the buying cycle. Reports like this one from Marketing Advisory Network suggest that sales and marketing misalignment is not just a buzzword: companies are truly struggling with this reality.

But how aligned are sales and marketing teams at investment management firms, specifically?

We were curious. 

We hosted a private Marketing Roundtable discussion with sales and marketing leaders from top investment management firms. We wanted to learn more about the state of sales and marketing alignment at investment management firms. Here are a few notable takeaways we’d like to share:Read More

by Emilie Totten

A few weeks ago, my friend Susan Weiner published “Investment commentary numbers: How to get them right.” It’s an excellent blog post about how to prevent numerical errors from being published in investment commentary. Susan is a financial writer-editor at InvestmentWriting.com and author of the book, Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts that Attract Clients. As a former investment marketing professional turned financial writing consultant, she is no stranger to the intricacies involved in producing these important documents. Read More

By Emilie Totten

The criteria used to evaluate and select an automation solution vary from firm to firm, but there are some common trends. As part of our ongoing research to understand our customers, prospects, and target market, we make it a regular practice to interview current and potential clients as well as the lead sponsors of lost opportunities. Based on buyer persona research we’ve conducted over the past year, we’ve identified what marketers see as the most important criteria when evaluating and purchasing an automation solution for collateral production. Please note, while this research is largely qualitative and the sample size does not support true statistical measurement, it has shown us some clear and recognizable patterns of decision making and the value systems that drive these patterns.  We plan to dig deeper into this research over the next several months and provide a full report. In the meantime, I’m confident that these preliminary findings hold water for the vast majority of asset management marketers.Read More