Reading Time: 3 minutes

 

What is ABX? Account-based experience (ABX) is a buzzword, or phrase, nowadays. Some are even decrying the demise of account-based marketing (ABM) in favor of an ABX approach. “Move over, ABM—ABX is the way to go” and other online content sometimes sounds like an obituary for account-based marketing.

Such hyperboles are reminiscent of Mark Twain’s famous quote. In 1897, an English journalist from the New York Journal contacted Twain to inquire whether the rumors that he was critically ill or already dead were true. His response parallels some of the misgivings about ABM: “The report of my death was an exaggeration.”

Those who have exaggerated the death of ABM are missing the point entirely. ABX doesn’t replace account-based marketing or expedite its demise…

ABX is what successful ABM looks like.

What is ABX?

Like ABM, ABX is not a technology, but a strategy. (However, it is, of course, supported and enabled by technology and data analytics.) 

At a simple, high level, ABX is a go-to-market strategy focused on orchestrating and delivering relevant and trusted marketing and sales action through the entire B2B customer lifecycle. 

Another way to look at ABX is as a shift in thinking from the value of accounts to the value of customer relationships. It’s a more comprehensive, long-term, and holistic approach that ensures a buyer’s journey isn’t just seamless across touchpoints and channels, but also flows with maximum impact. ABX doesn’t just connect the dots for the customer; it builds upon each successive dot (touchpoint) so that it is meaningful to them at that moment.

Some other key characteristics of ABX to note:

• All aspects of account engagement should be part of an ABX strategy, including sales and customer success teams.
• ABX is a strong collaboration between sales and marketing, bringing both teams together with a unifying strategy, which helps avoid any random and disconnected customer interactions.
• ABX is also beneficial to your internal organization, strengthening teamwork, promoting coordination, enhancing clarity of customer relationships, and offering new buyers’ insights.
• With teams working closely with one another, an ABX strategy can help ensure all brand interactions are centered on customers
• A solid ABX approach is never-ending, providing continuity of resonating messages for the customer that nurtures the relationship and turns them into long-term, loyal B2B buyers.

How Does ABX Compare to ABM?

In a nutshell, whenever you put the customer experience at the center of your ABM, you’re also practicing ABX.  And, if your current efforts have focused more on accounts than “real” account-based marketing that integrates ABX, you’re not unlocking the untapped potential of your ABM program.

In one sense, comparing ABX to ABM is more about semantics than it is substance. Those who infuse the customer-focused collaboration, coordination, and continuity of ABX into an ABM program are essentially blending the two strategies and fulfilling the promise of account-based marketing overall. 

ABX is like the secret sauce, the accelerant, the catalyst that helps you generate more revenue faster and easier than ever from your ABM program.

However, if your ABM program has been one-dimensional, there are a few questions that may help you understand the contrast and the value of blending in an ABX strategy.

• Is your ABM program focused almost entirely on the marketing side of the engagement with little collaboration with sales?
• Is your ABM strategy centered exclusively on identifying specific accounts that are a good fit for your products and services, but little effort on identifying the buyer’s journey?
• Are your ABM efforts fragmented or siloed, with no shared strategy or an action plan to pursue accounts together with coordinated efforts?
• Is your ABM short-term without a sustained and continuous timeline that engages customers for the long haul?

Key Components of ABX

If you’re sold on the essential value of integrating an ABX strategy with your ABM program, there are some key components that should be part of your hybrid ABM mix:

• Personalized customer experiences
• Role-based and user-generated content
• Delivery of only the most relevant data to prospects
• Targeting potential customer within their network
• Leveraging existing data and tool with new ABX efforts

ABX in Action — Mentality Shift Required

For many organizations, ABX is a mindset shift from a sales orientation to focusing more on the customer—not always an easy working culture change in some organizations with legacy thinking and an “old guard” sales team or an entrenched marketing group. 

To put ABX into action, there must be a mentality shift…

Yes, ABM is not DOA. And, whatever acronym you use, when ABM data and technology are aligned with your ABX strategy, and when people and processes are unified and coordinated, your account-based marketing will wow customers and boost revenues while achieving great teamwork.