O2 Business A single account team ethos delivered 60:1 ROMI and £39m in revenue for O2

1:1, 1:few and 1:many ABM, delivered by a fully integrated sales and marketing team, produced a program recognized by O2’s board as one of the firm’s key business initiatives

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£260m

pipeline

£39m

closed deals

O2 needed to raise awareness of its products beyond mobile phones and generate more opportunities for the sales team.

We analyzed the account landscape and ran ABM programs tailored to verticals, clusters and individual accounts, generating £260m in pipeline and £39m in closed won revenue.

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The challenge

O2 Business had no problem securing meetings with prospects to talk about mobile phones but lacked awareness for other IT propositions.

The marketing and sales team needed to identify accounts with the highest propensity to buy and land the message with relevant, compelling communications.

Construction team

The strategy

High potential sectors and accounts were identified using sales team insights and propensity modelling, then tiered into three segments: ABM Vertical, for priority sectors; ABM 100, for the key accounts within those sectors; and ABM Lighthouse, for the eight most strategically important accounts.

Sales and marketing collaborated on a program which used a mixture of bespoke and templated content, depending on the segment, to acquire, retain and grow high priority accounts and increase market share.

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The results

The program was highly successful and cost-effective, returning £60 for every £1 invested. Opportunities worth £260m were generated for O2’s IT propositions, converting into £39m of revenue. It was crowned ‘Most Commercially Successful’ at the B2B Marketing awards.

Key deliverables

  • Account selection

    Account intelligence from the sales team was used alongside propensity modelling and data analysis to identify priority sectors and accounts.

  • Segmentation and targeting

    The campaign was divided into three tiers to ensure resource was directed effectively. Common objectives and challenges were identified for each group, account or segment, to inform the messaging.

  • Creative concepts

    Creative executions were standardized across the vertical groupings, personalized for the 1:few clusters, and fully bespoke for the 1:1 accounts.

  • Communications and outreach

    Assets and channels were chosen for impact and reach, including video, print adverts, reports, one-off direct mail pieces and sales materials.

  • Reporting and analysis

    Results were regularly tracked and reported on across the three segments, allowing for course correction and sharing of insights across the broader team.

The program in numbers

£260m

pipeline

£39m

closed deals

60:1

return on marketing investment

50%

increase in new opportunities

130%

increase in audience engagement

The O2 Business ABM program, especially since our ramp-up in 2018, has been noted by the Board as one of our key business programs – not just for marketing, but for the whole of O2 Business. That’s an outstanding success, and a testament to the hard work of the team delivering it.

Mark Larwood
Head of Marketing, Enterprise & ABM, O2 Business

There’s a lot of reasons why our ABM program delivers, but if I had to choose one it would be how we’ve aligned marketing and sales. Their priorities were baked into the program from the start and that’s meant that we’re delivering exactly what the business needs.

Zoe Hominick
Head of Business Marketing, O2 Business