Marketing with Purpose: Anam Hilal on Strategy, Local Relevance, and ABM Impact

Anam Hilal, a marketing leader, shares her journey from B2B event sales to leading global account-based marketing (ABM) and audience experience strategies. She dives into the art of balancing global strategy with local relevance, the power of ABM, and the critical role of audience understanding and sales alignment in driving impact.

Welcome to the interview series, Anam. Could you share your journey to becoming a marketing leader?

I’m an electrical engineering graduate, but my career began in sales, specifically selling high-ticket sponsorship packages for B2B conferences. I genuinely enjoyed the experience and brought in €126,000 in revenue within my first year. However, I was always drawn to the creative and strategic aspects of event direction and marketing, which led me to make the switch. That transition marked the beginning of my journey into marketing. While leading B2B events, I had the opportunity to build strong relationships with clients, and two of them ended up hiring me, leading to my next two roles. These moves were pivotal, giving me the chance to broaden my scope beyond events and dive deeper into integrated marketing, campaign planning, and customer engagement.