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Is It Time to Ditch Lead-Based KPIs for Account Based Metrics?

GTM strategies have traditionally relied on lead-based KPIs to measure success. The classic approach is simple: convert anonymous prospects into leads, pass them to sales, and close deals. But is this method still relevant? Today’s buyers are doing the majority of their research before ever engaging with sales, raising the question: are traditional lead-based KPIs still effective, or is it time to adopt a new approach that reflects evolving buyer behaviors?

2024 Data Signals the End of the Traditional Lead-Gen Playbook

6sense 2024 Buyer Experience Report shows that B2B buyers now dominate the purchasing process, leaving SDRs on the sidelines:

  • 69% of the purchase process happens before B2B buyers engage with sellers
  • 85% of buyers establish purchase requirements before contacting sales

Our own analysis of 2024 buyer journeys unveils even deeper shifts. There has been a 16% decrease in known contacts within identified accounts, highlighting the growing trend of buyer anonymity. We’ve also seen a 33% decline in website engagement of buying groups, pointing to shorter, more selective interactions.

The conclusion is that buyers are increasingly reluctant to leave their contact information or engage with sales early on. Instead, they prefer to conduct independent research, educate themselves, and only reach out when they are ready to purchase. 

Traditional lead-gen playbooks focus on turning anonymous prospects into leads and pushing them to sales, but this approach no longer works and simply can’t keep pace with evolving buyer behaviors…

Account-Based metrics are the New Standard for GTM Success

As lead-based KPIs are becoming increasingly irrelevant, the focus needs to shift toward tracking engagement early in the buyer journey. Account-based signals are emerging as the new leading indicators—measuring how buying groups are engaging with content, and highlighting accounts have the potential to turn into pipeline opportunities.

So… how can you track account-based KPIs and what exactly should be measured? 

There are 3 core questions you need to ask in order to assess your GTM efforts:

  • Is our ICP aware of us? How many ICPs are visiting our website?
  • Does our content engage our ICP? Do target accounts consistently engage with our content? Are we successfully capturing attention?
  • Do they understand our value? At what rates are engaged accounts converting into high-intent and pipeline? 

See our latest benchmarks regarding that last question:

Introducing GTM Explorer

We’ve recently launched a powerful new feature designed to help you track website engagement of target accounts. Our GTM Explorer provides details on accounts in different stages of the buying funnel, and tracks their conversions all the way to closed-won deals. You can also gain a clear view of how these accounts interact with your content and channels, and get access to personalized content recommendations per segment. Each target account has its own standalone engagement page with metrics like amount of visitors, sessions, read% and more. We automatically track and display full website journeys of each visitor form the account – from landing page until conversion. You can also review an AI-powered summary for each account, describing his unique topics of interest based on the content consumed.  

Click here to interact with a demo example of our GTM Explorer.