Account Based Beverages · 2025-09-10 · 7 min
Key moments - from our scoring
Substance score
26 / 100
Five dimensions, 20 points each
ABM failures typically stem from poor execution rather than flawed strategy, and Nakul Shetty walks through the costly mistakes he made when implementing account-based marketing without proper groundwork. The core issue is launching programs without alignment across marketing, sales, and revenue teams - marketing can't execute ABM in a vacuum. Shetty cautions against immediately investing in expensive platforms like Terminus or Demandbase when you haven't validated your approach, noting these tools operate like a black box and may not deliver measurable ROI if foundational alignment is missing. On LinkedIn specifically, he argues the industry has moved past form fills and downloadable assets, which are expensive and low-value; instead, LinkedIn functions as a billboard for precise company positioning with high-intent targeting options. Display ads cost significantly less and allow experimentation. Finally, website traffic from anonymization tools shouldn't trigger one-to-one campaigns - instead, define a specific ICP and beachhead market using frameworks like Crossing the Chasm. This focused approach ensures you understand why campaigns succeed or fail, rather than spinning wheels on scattered efforts that waste time and resources across landing pages, copywriting, and ad spend.
Lack of alignment across marketing, sales, and other revenue teams is the primary cause; marketing cannot execute ABM successfully in isolation, and the entire program collapses without cross-functional buy-in.
No - Shetty advises against spending heavily on these platforms until you've validated your strategy and achieved team alignment, as they cost significantly and often deliver unclear ROI with black-box mechanics.
Use low-cost display ads to position your company to specific target audiences with LinkedIn's precise targeting options, rather than expensive form-fill and downloadable asset campaigns that no longer drive value.
Define a specific ICP and beachhead market using frameworks like Crossing the Chasm, then target those segments where your product genuinely solves a problem - not just any company visiting your website.
A focused approach lets you understand why campaigns succeed or fail within that segment; without it, you're running scattered campaigns with no logical justification for spend or effort, similar to random Google Ads bidding.
Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.
The episode is only 7 minutes and the four 'learnings' (get alignment, don't rush into platforms, use LinkedIn as a billboard, focus your ICP) are well-worn ABM basics. There are no novel mechanisms, no counter-intuitive claims, and significant padding between points.
the marketing team can decide to want to start an ABM program, but if the rest of the teams aren't aligned on it, it's not going to work
it's not about writing some nice copy and a few emails and a landing page and you're good to go
Every point made is recycled ABM conventional wisdom: alignment first, strategy before tech, ICP focus. The 'LinkedIn as a billboard' framing is mildly interesting but not developed. The guest leans on 'Crossing the Chasm' as a reference, which is a decades-old framework invoked as if new.
I think that's the original sort of product marketing bible that's there
I see LinkedIn as being more of a billboard where you can put up your company's face
The guest self-identifies as a 'complete noob' when starting ABM, offers no evidence of running programs at meaningful scale, and is not identified with any recognisable company or measurable outcome. The host even repeatedly misnames him, suggesting minimal pre-interview research into his background.
my advice comes from basically being a complete noob at ABM when I first started off
I also post a bunch of interesting automotive related content on Instagram
The guest names Terminus and DemandBase as specific platforms and cites 'Crossing the Chasm', which is the only concrete specificity in the episode. There are no dollar figures, no campaign metrics, no named accounts, and key claims are left vague.
don't directly jump into buying or paying for platforms like terminus, demand based etc
I couldn't really tell what we were getting out of it
The host asks exactly one open question and then lets the guest monologue uninterrupted for nearly the entire episode, with zero follow-up or challenge on any of the four points. The closing segment is entirely a sponsor advertisement, and the host repeatedly uses the wrong name for the guest.
Nicole, what piece of ABM advice do you have for us today?
I definitely recommend checking out our show sponsor, Scrappy abm
Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.
What not to do when launching an ABM program? Jim Gilkey sits down with Nakul Shetty , a self-described wannabe motorcycle racer turned accidental marketer, to share hard-won lessons from doing ABM the wrong way. From chasing alignment across teams to questioning expensive platforms, Nakul reveals the pitfalls that drain time, budget, and focus. He explains why LinkedIn should be treated like a billboard - not a form-fill machine - and why website visits don’t always equal interest. If you’re running in circles with tools, tactics, and campaigns, Nakul’s advice is clear: slow down, get your ICP right, and build a strategy before pouring money into tech. This episode is a candid look at the ABM missteps you can avoid to save budget and accelerate future success. Guest Bio Nakul Shetty calls himself a wannabe motorcycle racer turned accidental marketer. With experience in growth and product marketing, Nakul has learned ABM through trial, error, and persistence. He shares practical lessons on alignment, ICP focus, and strategic discipline that help teams avoid costly missteps.
Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.
Speaker A: Today we're talking about what not to do when launching an ABM program. Jim Gilke back with another episode of Account Based Beverages, a show that is actionable to the point and quenches your ABM thirst. Today I'm talking to Nicole Shetty. Nicole describes himself as a wannabe motorcycle racer turned accidental marketer and checking out his LinkedIn. I'm um, even more interested in the background story to that. But Nicole, what piece of ABM advice do you have for us today?
Speaker B: Hey Jim, thanks a lot for having me on. So my advice comes from basically being a complete noob at ABM when I first started off. So the first thing obviously I think is alignment amongst all the teams because the marketing team can decide to want to start an ABM program, but if the rest of the teams aren't aligned on it, it's not going to work. And we found out the hard way when we did that. And also I see ABM as almost as a form of uh, gtm. It's a different GTM altogether. So it's not about writing some nice copy and a few emails and a landing page and you're good to go. It just doesn't work that way. So that was the first big learning uh, when it came to abm. Then the next thing is, let's say you do have the alignment when it comes to everyone wants is in, is bought in on the APM program, don't directly jump into buying or paying for platforms like terminus, demand based etc. Etc. So they cost a lot of money. You're not necessarily going to get any particular outcome and this is my personal opinion, but the way they work is a bit of a black box to me because they try to explain to you a lot of how it works but the outcomes for me were a bit. I couldn't really tell what we were getting out of it but again that was starting from a base where not everyone was bought in. So not saying you shouldn't, but you should really think hard about paying that much money for platforms like that. And the third thing, LinkedIn is a great platform to do APM, right? But the old way of doing things was let's say having form fills, having ebooks, downloadable assets, etc, etc. I think we've moved on from that form of uh, advertising on LinkedIn because I don't think people really find value in that anymore. So I see LinkedIn as being more of a billboard where you can put up your company's face and it's, and you can be very specific about how you want to position the company or who you're positioning because LinkedIn has a lot of targeting options when you are running the advertisements so you can be very specific about what you want to put in front of your audience. So yeah, and another sort of tidbit there is form fills, downloads, they cost a lot of money. You can run display ads for a lot lesser. So you can actually experiment a little bit and figure out what's actually working, what's not working and then take a call on it accordingly. And the final thing is, okay, you have let's say a ah, website be anonymization tool of some sort. You have huge companies visiting your website. Great. And you're like, okay, I'm going to start running a one to one campaign to all of these huge companies because oh my God, everyone's visiting our site. But a uh, visit doesn't necessarily mean they're actually interested. So I think I will go back to the first point I made about one is alignment. And the second thing is, is there a specific ICP that you want to really sell to and um, your product can really solve for? Because otherwise you're sort of trying to throw everything at the problem and hoping something will stick. And at the end of the day you're going to feel like you're spinning your wheels a lot because you're not being focused in terms of what you're doing. So figure out that niche that you want to target. I mean if I had to take an example, there is this great book called Crossing the Chasm. I think that's the original sort of product marketing bible that's there. So figure out that beach head that you want to attack and then figure out what you want to do for the companies in that particular segment. So in that way if you do fail, you know why you failed, right? You're not trying to figure out why did all of our uh, campaigns not work. But if you do it the other way, you're just running a bunch of ad campaigns. So you might as well spend that money on bidding on a few keywords on Google instead. So there's no real alignment, there's no real way of justifying that kind of spend, especially spend and I would say also the amount of effort that goes into building out uh, assets, right? Landing pages, copies, all of those things take a lot of time. So yeah, I would say these are my four sort of big learnings that I had from doing ABM the wrong way and then sort of figuring my way through it. So yeah, that's my sort of take on this gym.
Speaker A: Yeah, I love how the underlying theme of all of this is you need the strategy first before jumping into any technology or quick win hype that you've heard about online and that is really a huge long term cost savings to you and it's definition of slowing down to be able to speed up in the future. So if you're trying to figure out what the right strategy is, I definitely recommend checking out our show sponsor, Scrappy abm. Scrappy abm what they do is ABM enablement so they will build some repeatable account based plays and then they will teach you how to how they did that and how to own them so that you can bring ABM in house when you're ready. So if you're interested in learning more, check out scrappyabm.com bev you can book time to chat with me. I'll even send you your drink of choice as a thank you. Now speaking of drinks of choice, Nicole, what is your account based beverage of choice?
Speaker B: Where I am right now it's 9:30 in the night so it's a tall glass of milk at this point.
Speaker A: So yeah, that is great. And I have a almond milk here. I don't do super uh well with
Speaker B: dairy but definitely uh yeah.
Speaker A: You shared some really great advice today. If people want to learn more, where can they find you online?
Speaker B: Uh, you can Find me on LinkedIn. I also post a bunch of interesting automotive related content on Instagram so you can also find me there. So that's Knuckle Shetty 2 on Instagram. So yeah, that's where you can find me.
Speaker A: Awesome. I will make sure I link all of that in the comments. Thank you so much for joining me on episode.
Speaker B: Thanks for having me. Cheers. Cheers.
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