When Efficiency Becomes the Strategy: Inside Check Point’s Hybrid ABM Pivot

Efficiency is not just a performance metric anymore, but the foundation of a modern growth strategy.

In a time of declining buyer attention and rising acquisition costs, marketing teams are being forced to reimagine what performance looks like.

One such team at Check Point Software , which specializes in AI-powered cybersecurity, needed to pivot quickly to meet changing organizational objections.

Check Point SEO & GEO Lead and ABM Strategist, Hillel Zvi , discussed this pivot in a recent INFUSE webcast, alongside Avishai Sharon , CEO at Trendemon , and Greg Campbell , Head of Strategic Growth EMEA at INFUSE .

Together, they unpacked how Check Point shifted from a traditional, full-funnel ABM model to a hybrid, efficiency-driven approach. This approach was designed to perform under pressure and is powered by data-led adaptability.

The shift also allowed the marketing team to adjust strategies quickly to adapt to factors such as market shifts and buyer behavioral changes.

Re-engineering ABM for the Gen AI era

As Zvi puts it, “We are seeing a decline in traffic to websites. A lot of users are now using generative AI as their default way to search for information, not their classic search engines anymore.”

This change in the way buyers research made his team think differently about discovery.

“The classic SEO approach involved three or four main things you needed to take care of,” he explained. “We are now adding more channels and areas, which is an evolution to SEO, and it is very exciting.”

This pivot required optimizing the company website, as well as the data sources AI tools use to generate answers. “Our goal is to identify the leading data sources that this AI is using, and to influence from there,” concluded Zvi.

When the dark funnel gets darker

Recently, buying behavior has shifted toward independent research over engaging with sales, a challenge faced by marketing teams around the world.

“With Gen AI, the dark funnel is actually becoming darker,” said Greg Campbell.

“More information is being researched before brands actually cotton onto it, so there is a holistic need to look at the way your brand is perceived in the market. There is a shift towards looking at brand and needing to drive far more preference over a longer period of time.”

The implication is clear for organizations in the B2B market: being early and visible matters more than ever.

Campbell added that brands that show up early in a buyer’s journey win the deal 84% of the time. That means balancing performance and presence, not simply chasing leads, but building preference.

By pivoting their ABM strategy to a hybrid model, the team at Check Point is able to adjust their nurturing strategies according to these preferences, which can be difficult with older playbooks not aligned to modern buyers.

Pivoting with purpose

Check Point’s shift was not instant. “We went live, the campaign was live for a while… we had different acquisition channels, LinkedIn, content activation with INFUSE, and inbound experience,” said Zvi. “At first, the cost per lead was high. But over time, through optimization, we increased leads and lowered CPO, and surpassed our goals.”

For Avishai Sharon, CEO of Trendemon, the transformation goes beyond tactics: “As marketers, we have to be storytellers. If you only look at outcomes and not understand the unifying story, it is much harder to defend your strategy. We are now at a point where the stories are more complex, with a darker funnel, more touchpoints, and less attention. It is a harder story to tell.”

The three principles of the hybrid pivot

Across the discussion, three lessons stood out:

1. Start small, scale what works: “Don’t try to change the whole organization,” advised Zvi. “Start with a smaller pilot, show results, and expand.”
2. Diversify channels to improve efficiency: Applying content activation with partners like INFUSE was key to lowering the cost per opportunity.
3. Reframe content as a value engine: The quality of content, not just its quantity, drives higher-quality prospects and brand lift in a noisy market.

The takeaway: ABM is no longer a static playbook, but an evolving discipline built on adaptability, precision, and data-led storytelling.

As Campbell summarized: “Don’t be afraid to pivot. Have open dialogue with your teams and partners. Innovation now means being lazer-focused, and ready to evolve.”

📺 Watch the full 45-minute webcast