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You may have heard about the results companies are getting with account-based marketing ( ) and you want to know what it will take to make it work for you. In particular, will it fit in your budget?

Like any digital marketing campaign, the cost of running ABM campaigns consists of multiple components with multiple line items within each component. ABM components include your tech stack, assets, channels and the expertise to execute and orchestrate everything. What can you expect to spend on each? What variables come into play? What kind of return can you expect from your investment?

Let's break it all down.

You may have seen the Forrester report that found the average annual ABM budget is around $350,000 (excluding headcount costs) and pilot campaigns around $200,000. It found more mature programs with proven value have budgets around $600,000, and budgets for established programs at large enterprises can run into the millions.

While these averages are a good jumping-off point, smaller organizations shouldn't be put off by the price tag before learning more, and corporations of any size should keep in mind these findings may have already changed. Forrester found that 70% of organizations expected the average cost to rise between 2020 and today.

The best way to think about ABM budgets is to understand its components, your ICP priorities and the right budgeting Marketing is the Magic Wand of B2B Marketing

While the actual dollar costs of targeting specific accounts and individuals are too variable to cover here, we can quantify the cost of technology and Marketing Isn't Going Away. Here's Why.

While the bottom-line number for an ABM program deserves thoughtful consideration, keep revenue generation in mind as you deliberate. To realize the promise of ABM, look at all of your options and allow the strategy to play out once you start.

The new B2B buying journey takes many months or even a year or more to move a buying committee from awareness through decision. The first ROI benchmark for ABM is usually around month six — by then, if you’ve invested wisely and your sales team is leveraging campaign data correctly, you should be seeing a return of three times your investment. Patience is a must.

The most sophisticated ABM agencies run full-funnel ABM campaigns that include sales enablement as part of their services. These agencies earn their clients up to nine times annual return on investment for 1:few and 1:1 campaigns starting with the first campaign, because they already have the teams, technology and orchestration expertise.

Source: Entrepreneur

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