Section 2:
ABM Budget Trends
The State of ABM Spending in 2023
Most marketers allocate 25-50% of their overall marketing budget to ABM, this is just a 1% increase compared to 2020. However there has been a 10% drop in marketers dedicating over half of the marketing budget to ABM.
This decrease is surprising given that two-thirds of B2B marketers report higher ROI from ABM than other activities and would therefore anticipate dedicated spend to increase YoY.
The UK is the most conservative, with 81% allocating under half their overall budget to ABM. In comparison, over a third of the US allocate over 50% towards supporting their ABM activities.
Looking ahead, there is a positive trend as 58% of marketers plan to increase their spending on ABM in the next 12 months, indicating that despite the uncertain economic climate, companies are still prioritizing ABM. Notably, the UK companies appear to be more proactive in increasing their ABM spend, with 61% planning to do so, compared to 55% in the US.
How much of your overall marketing budget is allocated to ABM? (2020 vs. 2023)
How much of your overall marketing budget is allocated to ABM? (2023)
How much are you planning to increase your ABM spend? (UK vs. US)
How much of your overall marketing budget is allocated to ABM? (UK vs. US)
How does ABM spending vary across different levels of maturity?
What are your ABM spending plans over the next 12 months?
If we examine spending intentions in relation to maturity levels, we can observe an increase in spending for all maturity levels except for those in the scaling-up stage.
Our research shows nearly half of those scaling their ABM programs are maintaining their budgets, while 16% are spending less or none at all. This could be a result of the 24% of respondents who report lower ROI on their ABM activities compared to other marketing activities.
Scaling an ABM program is often a challenging task for many companies, especially when it comes to accessing large volumes of data and the technological means necessary to reach and engage the right buying committee decision-makers while tracking performance. This is when access to economies of scale provided by strategic partnerships can drive significant improvement without heavy investment in tech.