Elevating B2B engagement through strategic Account-Based Marketing at dscout

Precision is a bit of an understatement when it comes to dscout. As an advanced experience research platform, dscout is powered by data. To comfortably and effectively expand their account-based marketing (ABM) efforts, they built a strategic foundation, redefined their target market, and leveraged tech (specifically Outreach) to create a 42% year-over-year pipeline improvement.

Aparna, Senior Director of Revenue Operations at dscout, and Katie, dscout’s Director of Demand Generation, break down how they significantly enhanced their B2B engagement, streamlined operations, and drove substantial business growth.

Strategic foundation: RevOps and Demand Gen synergy

Our journey into ABM began with strategic alignment and expansion of our internal teams. Recognizing the need for specialized roles, we invested heavily in our Revenue Operations (RevOps) and Demand Generation teams. This foundational step was crucial for deploying targeted marketing strategies effectively.

This investment included tripling the size of our GTM team & RevOps team, alongside major investments in heavyweight tech tools like Outreach, Qualified, and Postal in 2023. In April 2023, we started our Pipeline Council – made of stakeholders from Sales, RevOps, Marketing, and Finance, to keep teams informed and moving in unison.

Implementing Account-Based Marketing (ABM) platforms coupled with data enrichment initiatives has allowed us to personalize engagement with target accounts effectively. Moreover, investments in Marketing Technology (Martech) have empowered our ABM efforts, boosting Sales productivity and enriching the customer lifecycle. Through collaborative efforts with Sales, we've developed tailored sales playbooks and coaching strategies, leveraging intent data and relational selling techniques to engage with target accounts strategically.

"Having a true RevOps team keeps the entire GTM team accountable across the funnel and makes our efforts more powerful." Katie explains, “We created a shared language and framework so ideas flow freely and strategies are aligned across the teams.”

We ensured that our strategies resonated with the broader company vision by pinpointing the core drivers of our business and understanding their financial implications. Through constant collaboration and buy-in from other stakeholders, we maintained alignment, allowing us to develop a task force and execute programs seamlessly, implementing the necessary process changes to drive success.

Redefining target markets and insights

With our teams aligned, we refined our Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and Total Addressable Market (TAM), essential for focusing our marketing efforts. Through targeted A/B testing and response analysis — facilitated by tools like Outreach — we gained valuable insights into our engagement dynamics, optimizing our Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy for better-targeted campaigns.

Aligning around Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) enabled our GTM team to concentrate efforts on accounts offering the greatest ROI, shorter sales cycles, and upsell potential. 

“To get here, our process included internal stakeholder interviews, historical data analysis, closed-lost reviews, external data analysis, and customer interviews,” Aparna explains. “At the end 2023 we aligned our leadership team, defined segments and tiers, updated CRM records, and even successfully rolled out new Outreach sequence and sales playbooks based on new ICP definitions.”

Leveraging technology for enhanced engagement

Incorporating Outreach into our ABM strategy was pivotal in transforming how we manage customer interactions. The integration of ABM platforms with data enrichment tools enabled us to automate and personalize outreach effectively. Outreach’s capabilities enhanced our ability to deliver tailored messaging, ensuring communications were highly relevant to each account's specific needs and behaviors.

Being deliberate about investing in a GTM-Tech with Multi-Channel Integrations not only aligned teams, but also guaranteed data unification and integrity, laying a strong foundation for effective operations. Assembling a dedicated team to spearhead operations, implementation, and maintenance ensures that the technology integration is seamless and optimally utilized. By identifying "Power Players" to test new technology, develop training resources, and champion its adoption, we ensured a smoother transition and widespread acceptance within the larger team.

Collaborative efforts and data-driven sales playbooks

Our sales team leveraged enhanced playbooks, crafted from insights gained through our use of Outreach.io and other ABM tools. This data-driven approach, combined with ongoing sales coaching and leveraging intent data, empowered our salespeople to practice relational selling effectively.

“We knew we had to have our messaging personalized, but more importantly that our tech was unified to boost rep productivity & efficiency.” Katie expands, “We launched new campaigns based on ICP type, used integrations to trigger personalization on dscout.com, and empowered reps to send gifts via our Postal & Outreach integration."

As a result, we saw a significant increase in engagement with our target accounts, contributing to a 42% year-over-year improvement in our pipeline.

Cohesive data strategy and continuous improvement

To maintain momentum and ensure ongoing improvement, we focused on robust data capture and transparency. Tools like Outreach provided critical visibility into effective messaging and marketing trends, enabling us to stay agile and responsive to market dynamics.

Intent data, enriched with firmographic and technographic insights, informs our account prioritization strategy by providing valuable signals about potential buyer interest.

We aligned these intent signals with tailored messaging across the customer journey, empowering sales to craft compelling messages and enhancing the relevance of our advertising campaigns. By leveraging intent data for web personalization, we deliver personalized page experiences that resonate with prospects' interests and stages of the buyer journey, maximizing engagement and conversion opportunities.

Sustained alignment and execution

Ensuring our strategies aligned with the broader company vision was imperative. Through continuous collaboration across all departments and securing buy-in from key stakeholders, we established a dedicated task force to execute our ABM strategies and implement new processes effectively.

“The success of the GTM organization depended upon effective collaboration between sales, marketing, and RevOps teams starting at the top. Early on, we knew by breaking down departmental silos would help build trust between teams, and the top-down approach helped drive adoption of our ABX tools, programs, and processes.”

Scalable, effective ABM

For effective ABM: Refine and define ICP, gather stakeholder alignment and feedback on strategic plan, and test and iterate based on early results.

Through strategic investments in technology and team synergy, and by leveraging the capabilities of tools like Outreach, our ABM initiatives have not only aligned with but also accelerated our company’s growth objectives. This journey has transformed our marketing efforts from a broad-spectrum approach to a focused, account-specific strategy, enabling us to enhance customer engagements and drive significant business outcomes.

“We have learned much from one another over this past year, although it is still safe to say that Aparna and I (and our teams) sometimes look at things differently. But, we have the same end goal — driving revenue together.” says Katie, ”But by incorporating these sophisticated tools into our core marketing processes, we have set a new standard for how targeted and personalized marketing can lead to measurable and scalable business success in the B2B sector.”