Bev Burgess's Recent LinkedIn Posts

Great to be a part of this Marketing Week report - thanks for including me Emily. Do you think that AI means all marketing is going to be ABM-ed? Let me know!

Account research has always been one of ABM's biggest pain points — time-consuming, quickly outdated, and hard to scale. But is AI finally changing that? In our latest Ask the Expert, Inflexion Group's Megan Heuer breaks down what a scaled account research engine actually looks like in practice. Here are a few things worth knowing: It's not about gathering more data — it's about filtering noise and turning meaningful signals into orchestrated plays that engage buying groups at every stage of their journey. A scalable engine works across three layers: insight gathering (your always-on analyst monitoring trigger events), insight synthesis (combining external signals with first-party data), and workflow integration (pushing intelligence into the tools your teams already use). Technology alone won't cut it. Enablement, measurement and ongoing optimisation are just as critical — and our AI in ABM Benchmarking Study found that many teams still aren't tracking the ROI of their AI efforts. Want to know where to start — and what tools are worth considering? Megan's full article has the practical detail. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/extiaT2w #ABM #AccountBasedMarketing #AIinABM #B2BMarketing

Looking back to move forward In 2025, the conversation about AI in ABM moved on from "should we?" to "how do we make this actually work?" Dorothea Gosling and Megan Heuer spent the back half of last year unpacking exactly that, through six articles built around Inflexion Group's 2025 AI in ABM Benchmarking Study, conducted in partnership with B2B Marketing. Now that the full series is in the archive, it's worth revisiting. Because the questions it raises about data, skills, trust, ROI, and what it really means to redesign work with AI in the mix haven't gone away. If anything, they're more pressing heading into the rest of 2026. Here's the full series: The big picture on where AI in ABM really is: https://bit.ly/4bckO2b Why adoption foundations matter and why the future is unevenly distributed: https://bit.ly/4bnuZ2F Implementation approaches and why you should ask "why" before settling for today's returns: https://bit.ly/4soMwPa The barriers holding teams back and what they reveal about marketing more broadly: https://bit.ly/47PV61d The ROI problem and why 58% of ABM teams not tracking it is becoming the biggest risk of all: https://bit.ly/4rB8SvR What comes next and why ABM-ers need to be the agents of change, not just the recipients of it: https://bit.ly/3PkQKJ5 Getting excited about AI is easy. Understanding its full impact and building the foundations to make it work is the harder and more important part. #ABM #AIinABM #AccountBasedMarketing #B2BMarketing #MarketingStrategy #GenerativeAI #ABMStrategy #AIinABMBenchmarkingStudy2025 #AIinMarketing

It's exactly a year since I launched Account-Based Marketing: The Definitive Handbook for B2B Marketers at Salesforce Tower in London — and what a year it's been. In this month's edition of The ABM-er, I reflect on three predictions I made in the final chapter of that book about where ABM was heading, and how they're playing out. AI agents, ABM as a client experience, and the growing importance of social value in key account relationships — it's all in there, along with a brilliant case study from VodafoneThree UK. Plus: if you'd like to take part in our latest ABM benchmarking research, there's still time to get involved. Drop me a note or a comment. Thanks! #AccountBasedMarketing #B2BMarketing #TheABMer #AIinMarketing #CustomerExperience #SocialValue

This is for all the fabulous women I work with in ABM. Thank you!

What makes you look forward to the week ahead? For Naia Stier, Senior Manager, Global ABM Program Office, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, it was our Advanced ABM Practitioner course. When professional development becomes the highlight of your week rather than another calendar obligation, that's when real transformation happens. Our next Advanced ABM Practitioner course starts 12th March 2026, led by Louise Jefferson and Catherine Ahern. Eight live sessions. Expert practitioners. Real challenges solved in real time. Because the best learning doesn't feel like work. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/eqZZTF3v #ABM #AccountBasedMarketing #ProfessionalDevelopment #ABMacademy #MarketingEducation

So often I meet ABM-ers trying to do the job with limited time and little support in terms of tools and templates. In this new series from Inflexion Group, we’ll be sharing templates and guidance to help you make a fast start and get into market quicker. This first tool is for prioritising accounts, and can be done manually or with the help of sophisticated tech including AI agents. The process is the same. I hope you find it useful. We’ll be working through the ABM process in the coming weeks, from onboarding accounts, through clarifying ambition, building insight, crafting your marketing strategy, creating plans and executing campaigns. Let us know what else you would like to see in your toolkit!

This month's edition of The ABM-er is out now. We're living through one of the most turbulent periods most business leaders can remember — geopolitical fracture, economic pressure, the AI imperative, a shifting sustainability agenda, and a deepening trust deficit, all at once. For ABM-ers, I'd argue that turbulence is not just an issue, it is also a brief. In this edition I dig into five of the biggest headwinds facing our clients right now, and what each one means for how we should be showing up as ABM practitioners. From navigating complex AI buying groups, to equipping champions in a heavily scrutinised budget environment, to picking up the signals that a structural transformation is underway before conventional intent data does. The connecting thread across all five? The headwinds our clients are facing make the case for ABM. But only for practitioners who are reading the room. I'd love to hear what resonates with you, and what you're seeing in your own accounts. #ABM #AccountBasedMarketing #B2BMarketing #TheABMer #MarketingStrategy #MarketingLeadership #AIAdoption #ExecutiveEngagement

Your ABM programme might be working. Your measurement model just can’t see it. Executive Consultant, Dorothea Gosling, explains how Strategic ABM isn’t simply a campaign. It’s a commercial growth strategy. Yet it’s still being judged by attribution models built for lead generation. That mismatch is where good programmes get undervalued. Because the real impact of Strategic ABM isn’t isolated campaign pipeline. It’s the halo effect across the entire account: Executive relationship depth Buying group coverage Cross-functional alignment Faster, broader account growth If you’re operating as the CMO of the account, your influence extends far beyond what marketing can directly 'claim'. So the measurement model has to expand too. The most advanced programmes track total account health across three dimensions: Relationships. Reputation. Revenue. Not because it’s neat. Because that’s the true scope of the role. If ABM is being measured like a tactic in your organisation, it’s probably being constrained like one too. Read Dorothea's full article on our website here: https://bit.ly/3OAzU8W #StrategicABM #AccountBasedMarketing #B2BStrategy #RevenueLeadership #MarketingMeasurement #AccountGrowth #CMO

Course leader spotlight: Jacqueline Gummer What makes a great ABM teacher? According to Marty Wesley from Red Hat, it's someone who creates space for curiosity while keeping things grounded in the fundamentals. Executive Consultant, Jacqueline Gummer, applies expertise gained over 25 years to our ABM Practitioner course. Throughout her career she's helped teams move beyond transactional selling and tactical marketing to engaging better with their customers. But it's her teaching approach that really stands out – balancing exploration with solid foundations, and always making room for the challenging questions that drive real learning. Our next ABM Practitioner course starts on May 12, covering the complete five-step ABM process from ambition through to activation. You'll build an actionable campaign plan with mentoring support and earn a recognised Credly by Pearson certification. Learn the core principles of ABM from someone who's lived it. Find out more and enrol here: https://bit.ly/45Kh70D #ABM #AccountBasedMarketing #ABMAcademy #ProfessionalDevelopment #B2BMarketing

For anyone who needs to engage executives in a buying group, these are for you.

Love this, Anna. "Keep it simple, get started and communicate, communicate, communicate!" Thank you.

The ABM-er’s Toolkit: Using a qualification checklist to prioritise deals for pursuit marketing Inflexion Group's research shows companies invest an average of $50,000 in Pursuit Marketing against deals worth around $61m. That's just 0.08% of the deal value. Small investment, enormous stakes. Our latest ABM-er's Toolkit shares a qualification checklist to help ABM leaders decide which deals deserve Pursuit Marketing support — and how to align with sales on the criteria before the conversation starts. Because when everyone's agreed upfront, you have a clear rationale for every yes and every no. Read Bev Burgess' full article here: https://lnkd.in/eqKDtj6D #ABM #AccountBasedMarketing #PursuitMarketing #B2BMarketing #SalesAndMarketing

Thanks for sharing your perspectives, Ulrike.

The ABM-er's Toolkit: Using an account onboarding checklist in Strategic ABM If you’re doing Strategic ABM, your relationship with the account director and their team is everything; you have to deliver on your promises and earn their trust. This all starts with the way you onboard their account once it has been selected for ABM support. Our latest article introduces the account onboarding checklist: a simple but powerful way to make sure you're prepared, credible, and aligned from day one. The foundations you lay at the start shape everything that follows. Read the full article via the link below: https://bit.ly/4lDKQ1G #ABM #AccountBasedMarketing #B2BMarketing #StrategicABM #ABMerToolkit

We love hearing what you have to say about our ABM Academy courses — this is the kind of feedback that means everything. One of our alumni Natalie Nicole Wittmann, Teradyne Robotics Marketing Manager DACH at Universal Robots, compliments The ABM Practitioner — our intermediate live course designed to give B2B marketers the skills that needed to develop and execute ABM plans, and how to apply the principles to their own programmes and campaigns, driving real results. Over four interactive sessions, you'll work through a five-step process covering everything from clarifying your account ambition to activating campaigns that engage the buyers who matter most. Plus, explore how to use AI tools throughout the ABM process to boost creativity and productivity. Next cohort starts 12 May Sessions run 16:00–18:00 GMT Includes a Credly by Pearson digital badge on completion Ready to level up your ABM? https://bit.ly/4bmh0vv #ABM #AccountBasedMarketing #B2BMarketing #ABMAcademy #MarketingTraining #InflexionGroup

Some good advice here for pulling a meaningful cluster of accounts together (beyond industry sector) for segment ABM.

The gap between knowing and doing is where most training falls short. Arthi Singh, Account Based Marketing Leader for Strategic Accounts, Capgemini, valued the way that our Advanced ABM Practitioner course didn't just teach concepts, it explained how to apply them in real scenarios through mentoring. Theory alone doesn't change outcomes. Guided application does. Our next Advanced ABM Practitioner course starts 12th March 2026, led by Louise Jefferson and Catherine Ahern. Eight live sessions plus group mentoring to build your ABM plan as you learn. You'll leave with more than knowledge — you'll leave with a plan ready to activate. Because the best professional development bridges the gap between learning and doing. Find out more: https://bit.ly/46v7djy #ABM #AccountBasedMarketing #ProfessionalDevelopment #ABMacademy #MarketingEducation

The ABM-er’s toolkit: using an ABM readiness assessment Before you invest a single hour of marketing time into an account, it's worth asking: is this account actually ready for ABM? Prioritisation models are brilliant for identifying which accounts are most attractive and where you're strongest against the competition — but they don't tell you whether your account director is willing to collaborate, or whether the internal conditions are in place to make ABM work. That's where an ABM readiness assessment comes in. In our latest toolkit article, Bev Burgess walks through how to build a simple scoring framework to sense-check your shortlisted accounts before you commit resources — and how, over time, this can shift the dynamic so that account directors are actively seeking ABM support rather than the other way around. Read more in Bev's book 'Account-Based Marketing' (Kogan Page Publishing, 2025), or if you're building your ABM programme and want to go further, our ABM Practitioner course covers this and much more: https://lnkd.in/eB9devmW Read the full article on our website here: https://lnkd.in/ecFKn4Et #ABM #AccountBasedMarketing #B2BMarketing #ABMersToolkit #ABMToolkit #InflexionGroup

A very well deserved win! Huge congratulations to everyone at Manasian&Co and Institute of Directors (IoD)!

Our advanced courses can (re)ignite your passion for ABM! That’s for sharing your feedback, Helen.

What does it take to deliver a learning experience that genuinely resonates? For Elena T., Senior Account Based Marketing Manager, Enterprise APAC at Autodesk, it came down to the people behind the course. Our wonderful course leaders Bev Burgess, Tim Shercliff, and Louise Jefferson. The Expert ABM Practitioner is designed for senior ABM-ers who are ready to go deeper, exploring best practices in blended ABM strategies, the implications of agentic AI for the role, and how to design and lead a full ABM programme. Delivered through twelve hours of interactive virtual sessions plus mentoring, it's a programme built around real application, not just theory. If you're looking to develop your advanced ABM practitioners, we'd love to hear from you: https://bit.ly/3PoZrCg Read the full spotlight on our website: https://bit.ly/47htNg9 #ABM #AccountBasedMarketing #ABMAcademy #B2BMarketing #ProfessionalDevelopment

From Practitioner to Advanced Practitioner The journey from ABM Practitioner to Advanced ABM Practitioner isn't just about learning more — it's about transforming how you operate within your organisation. Here's what sets our Advanced course apart: Twice the depth: 16 hours delivered across 8 interactive sessions (versus 8 hours over 4 sessions in the ABM Practitioner course). Build a real plan: Work collaboratively in groups to build a best-in-class ABM plan during the course. Expert mentoring: Receive dedicated mentoring from an experienced practitioner to complete your plan outside the class sessions. Blended ABM mastery: Learn the AI-enabled, proven processes for Strategic ABM, Scenario ABM, and Segment ABM. You'll shift from designing campaigns to creating best-practice marketing plans that deliver real impact, becoming a strategic partner to the business. Ready to advance your ABM expertise? Advanced ABM Practitioner course starts 12 March ABM Practitioner course starts 12 May Both courses include recognised Credly certifications and access to our growing alumni network. Find out more about our courses here: https://lnkd.in/eCJi5XbU #AccountBasedMarketing #ABM #MarketingLeadership #ProfessionalDevelopment #ABMAcademy #InflexionGroup

The ABM Academy's Advanced ABM Practitioner course starts 12 March from Inflexion Group. Details here for anyone who wants to progress their skills...

A timely reminder from Inflexion Group Chairman, Tim Shercliff, on why you might be losing more than your fair share of complex deals. (Hint: A lack of intent data isn’t the answer!)