Ep. 507 | Buying Groups: The Next Seismic Shift in ABM

OnBase: Smashing Sales and Marketing Misalignments

Episode Summary

In this episode of the OnBase podcast, Chris Moody hosts Jeremy Schwartz, who shares insights on the seismic shift from MQL-based approaches to buying groups in Account-Based Marketing (ABM). Jeremy discusses his extensive background in marketing and the challenges of traditional lead-based systems, emphasizing inefficiencies like low conversion rates and misaligned metrics. He highlights the transformative potential of buying groups, explaining how they enable better targeting and personalized engagement across accounts. Jeremy delves into the importance of leveraging data science, marketing automation, and RevOps collaboration to identify and activate high-value opportunities, while sharing practical examples from his experience at Palo Alto Networks. This engaging conversation offers actionable strategies for aligning sales and marketing teams to drive opportunity creation and improve pipeline outcomes.

About the guest

Jeremy Schwartz is the Sr. Manager of Global Lead Management & Strategy at Palo Alto Networks. He is a seasoned Global RevOps Marketing Leader with over 25 years of experience driving growth and innovation for B2B organizations. Renowned for pioneering strategic buying group models, Jeremy specializes in optimizing demand generation and lead management to deliver measurable results. His expertise lies in architecting large-scale, integrated campaigns that enhance visibility, engagement, and revenue. Committed to fostering collaboration, Jeremy aligns marketing and sales to achieve operational harmony and shared objectives. By leveraging data-driven insights, he transforms complex challenges into strategic growth opportunities, creating long-term business impact and scalable success.

Connect with Jeremy

Key takeaways

- Traditional MQL models lead to inefficiencies like low conversion rates, wasted resources, and engagement with low-priority contacts. Jeremy explains how these models fail to identify real opportunities within accounts.

- Jeremy describes buying groups as the next evolution in ABM, focusing on identifying multiple stakeholders within an account and targeting them collectively to improve opportunity creation.

- First-, second- and third-party intent signals are critical to identifying active buying groups within accounts. Understanding these signals allows for better allocation of resources and more targeted marketing and sales efforts.

- Jeremy outlines how buying groups allow both marketing and sales to work together by using personalized tactics for different stakeholders, creating a seamless activation process.

- By analyzing historical data, companies can identify key personas involved in successful deals and tailor their outreach to align with the needs of similar stakeholders in the future.

- Jeremy highlights the importance of tools like Demandbase, LeanData, Marketo, and custom-built applications for implementing and scaling buying group strategies effectively.

- Jeremy predicts that buying group adoption will accelerate, and technology will evolve to better support this motion, offering enhanced tools for targeting and collaboration.

- The successful adoption of buying groups requires an iterative approach that starts with manual processes, develops clear workflows, and eventually integrates technology to scale.

Quotes

On Identifying Buying Groups:

“Being able to see who's in a buying group and understanding their personas is the first step to transforming your account-based strategy.”

On Optimizing Resources Based on Signals:

“Don’t spend money where you see low or no engagement. When you see a high signal account, throw everything, including the kitchen sink, at it.”

Communities:

- Buying group members (LinkedIn community): A community dedicated to discussions and insights on buying group models in B2B marketing. He recommends this group for professionals seeking to deepen their understanding of buying groups and to engage with industry experts.