Maximizing ABM and Dynamic Ad Efforts without Cookies with Jon Miller, CMO of Demandbase

Jon swears by “account-based marketing and dynamic advertising” as an alternative to cookies. He also doesn’t believe in marketing-generated pipelines.

He says every sale, no matter the origin, has been touched by marketing. Jon’s perspective on modern B2B marketing demands an impressive stack, and today, he joins us to share what that stack is and how it works together.

Key Takeaways

• Account-based marketing and demand advertising are result-backed alternatives to advertising cookies. 
• Measuring marketing results using marketing-generated pipelines is flawed. 
• B2B advertising and marketing will be OK when cookies eventually go away.
• IP tracking, first and zero-party data collection, and contextual advertising are good alternative methods to cookies.
• A blurring of the line between application and data vendors is happening because of AI models.

Demandbase’s Marketing Stack

• Demandbase: Go to the market platform for account-based-marketing
• Marketo:  Marketing automation tool that can help you activate ABM data
• Outreach: Sales enablement platform
• Salesforce: CRM platform 
• Tableau: Predictive and prescriptive analytics tool
• Gong: Revenue intelligence platform
• WordPress: Website and content management system
• Sendoso: Gifting and direct mail platform 
• Qualified: Conversational Marketing Software 
• Stencil: Marketing automation tool
• Crayon: Competitive intelligence platform
• Asana: Project workflow and management 
• Influitive: Customer advocacy platform 
• G2: Community and advocacy tool
• Trustradius: Community and advocacy tool
• Pendo: Product analytics tool
• Bizible now Adobe Marketo Measure: Campaign management software 
• FullStory: Digital experience intelligence platform 

How Jon Maximizes Ad Efforts Using Dynamic Advertising

The B2B buyer’s journey is no longer linear, and Jon has seen this play out constantly across multiple companies. Both the sales and marketing team measures the ‘Total Pipeline Number’ – because whether it’s the sales or marketing team that creates an engagement opportunity or closes the lead, they both play parts in growing the lead’s score and getting that lead to a close.

Marketing can’t take all the credit for a closed deal, as the SDR who created the opportunity should also be given the credit. Therefore, we focus on the total pipeline number to avoid errors in marketing coverage.

Using the stack mentioned above, Jon synchronizes audiences to Facebook, Twitter, and Google for their pay-per-click advertising. Additionally, they constantly adjust their advertising strategies on these channels to create a seamless and cohesive marketing plan. They refer to this as orchestration – the art of harmonizing all of their marketing efforts to achieve the best possible results.

Here are some ways Jon engineers dynamic advertising to work for Demandbase —

1. Accounts target audiences showing zero intent or engagement and get emotional ads to build awareness.
2. Accounts showing little intent and engagement get leadership ads to nudge them further.
3. Accounts already in the market get aggressive ads to drive buy-in. 
4. Open opportunities get validation ads like ‘We’re the number one vendor on the Gartner Magic Quadrant, check it out!’
5. Customers get expansion adoption ads. 

What Is Dynamic Advertising? 

Dynamic Advertising involves using real-time data to create (or curate) personalized ads for users based on factors like their location, browsing behavior, weather, — or even time of the day. This contrasts static ads that display the same content to all users. 

The main advantage of dynamic ads is that they increase the ad content’s relevance for each user, improving engagement and conversion rates. Because the ad content is customized, it is more likely to resonate with the individual viewer, making them more likely to click through and make a purchase.

Take this scenario as an example — imagine a retail clothing brand using dynamic advertising to market its brand. 

• User browsing behavior. This is commonly known as “retargeting,” a tactic in dynamic advertising. See how you can use Segment Personas to build these audiences.
• Location-based advertising. If another user is in a colder region, the brand might show them an ad featuring winter jackets or boots instead of summer dresses like the previous customer. This is simply tailoring their content to the user’s needs.
• Time-sensitive offers. The brand could also use dynamic advertising to offer a flash sale by adjusting the content based on the time of the day. For example, “Lunchtime flash sale! 20% off summer dresses for the next hour.”

As you can see, the underlying idea behind dynamic advertising is based on customizing ad content based on data about the user or their environment, making it more relevant and increasing the chances of conversion. 

Demandbase’ Clever Advertising Approach: The ‘Lift’ Method

An account’s engagement before and after advertising is measured using a metric called Lift. This is done by analyzing the increase in engagement of previously unengaged accounts and the increase in engagement of accounts that were already engaging but to a greater extent. This comprehensive approach helps to determine the success of advertising efforts, which may result in increased web traffic and email opening rates.

But what we really measure is called Lift, where we look at the engagement that we get from an account in, say, a 30-day window, before advertising started… that I think is a much better measure of advertising success

The Impact of the “Death of Third-Party Cookies”

In our recent podcast with Jon Miller from Demandbase, we discussed the future of the B2B ad and marketing industry in a privacy-focused world without third-party cookies. Jon shared three key predictions on how the industry might adapt:

• IP Tracking Resurgence: With the slow return to office work and improved identification of home IPs tied to companies, IP tracking is set to regain importance.
• Rise of First and Zero Party Data: As cookies phase out, data that customers willingly share (Zero party data) and data collected directly from customers (First party data) will become vital for targeted marketing.
• Contextual Advertising Comeback: This strategy involves placing ads on websites within the same industry or web pages that resonate with your target audience, offering a valuable alternative to cookie-based targeting.

For the B2C sector, Jon highlighted Google’s “Topics” as a new advertising method to replace cookies. Instead of tracking your browsing history, your devices will note broad topics you’re interested in based on the websites you visit, allowing advertisers to target these topics without compromising your privacy.

Read more on these topics in our article on the end of third-party cookies.

Join us every week as we journey to the bleeding edge of the modern tech stack. You’ll hear from real experts how to nail your strategy, build a revenue machine, and take your sales to the next level.