Account-based marketing (ABM) has taken the marketing world by storm. There are now plenty of ABM solutions and products promising to boost your company’s leads and develop a solid account-based strategy.

Latane Conant is calling BS on them.

Latane is the CMO at San Francisco-based 6sense, one of the fastest-growing account-based marketing platforms on the market. On the latest episode of SaaS Half Full, she debunks ABM myths that keep companies from connecting with B2B customers, and what marketers should be doing to unlock ABM’s true potential.

The Modern B2B Buyer’s Journey with ABM

According to Latane, modern ABM solutions still use a lead-based approach rather than considering the account in total, missing the mark for today’s B2B buyers. The right data and approach to ABM help ensure that B2B customers have a top-notch buying journey — and also sets up your company’s sales and marketing teams for success.

“We have to be able to make sure that every seller has a great territory and an influx of accounts that are actually in-market to buy,” Latane says. “And it’s our job as marketers to make sure that those accounts are warmed up and that we’re aligned on what those accounts are.”

How about gating your owned content — good ABM strategy for the buyer journey? Myth. “The reality is, the currency of B2B now is engagement and getting buyers to engage with you,” she says. “So why would I put up any roadblocks to having them engage with me?”

Sales and Marketing Playing Together

For ABM to really take off at your company, Latane notes that marketing initiatives need a sales component, too. She sees ABM as a cross-channel approach in which marketing and sales have to be in sync and work together to accomplish the best results.

That’s where the ideal customer profile comes into play. “I really think that’s the secret sauce of alignment between sales and marketing because it ensures that at any given time, every seller and every marketer is working on the best accounts for them to sell to,” Latane says. “It’s the economics of winning.”

For more on Latane’s insights into ABM and how marketers can improve their buyers’ journeys, listen to Episode 102 of SaaS Half Full.