Account-based marketing (ABM) has emerged as a formidable strategy for businesses that market to other businesses;; with ABM, you can drive growth, build relationships, and maximize your marketing investment. What is ABM, anyway, and how do you make it work for your business?
This guide gets into the nitty gritty of ABM steps and includes:
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Sifting through and identifying high-value accounts
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Building a campaign worth running
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Measuring the return better than anyone else to ensure the funnel stays packed.
By the time you’re finished, you’ll have a clear understanding of what ABM is and what it can do for your business.
What Is Account-Based Marketing?
Account-based marketing (ABM) is a very focused way of B2B marketing in which a business or sales marketing team plan and coordinates efforts to target, engage, and win high-value accounts (i.e., companies or clients). Traditional methods have been like throwing a really wide net, where ABM targets the account as its own market.
This individualized approach is meant to focus the marketing resources to the opportunities that matter the most, making sure that our efforts reach deep to every account and prove quantifiable. When done right, ABM eliminates wasted effort and allows for an increase in conversion rates and ROI.
A Snapshot of the ABM Process
The process of ABM usually includes the following:
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Differentiating valuable accounts/action mapping
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Developing customized plans and campaigns
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Implementing strategies between marketing and sales
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Track and analyze results for performance improvement
Now that we have the overview, let’s jump into each step so you can become a real expert in the account-based marketing process.
Finding Key Accounts
At the heart of ABM is the act of identifying the right accounts to go after. Not all prospects are a good fit for this personalized approach. To be successful, you should concentrate your efforts on accounts with the most revenue potential — or the ones closest to your ideal customer profile (ICP).
The Process for Identifying the Right Accounts
Create Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP):
An ICP describes the characteristics of companies that would get the most value from your product or service. Narrow it down by company size, industry, budget, location, or annual revenue.
Partner With Sales:
Your sales team may have insights into the profile of previous higher-value clients. Exploit their knowledge to enhance how you pick accounts.
Leverage Data and Technology:
There are tools, such as CRM, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and intent-data providers, that can help you spot which accounts are signaling they’re ready to buy, demonstrating interest.
When you’re prioritizing your ABM on those accounts with the most potential, you’re already building a great stage for your campaign success.
Developing Campaigns And Custom Content
ABM is all about personalization, so personalized content is definitely a good place to start, right from the designing of highly relevant messaging for individual accounts. This process helps ensure your message and value proposition resonate with decision-makers in a compelling way.
Kinds of Focused Content for ABM
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Industry-Focused Content: Write up blog posts, whitepapers or case studies focused on the industries your target accounts are in.
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Personalized Email Campaigns: Leverage what you know about an account’s needs and interests to create emails that really resonate with their pain points.
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Tailored Value Propositions: Emphasize how your product or service speaks to the specific pain of each account.
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Tailored Ads: Leverage geofencing or account-based ad platforms to serve up ads to decision makers in your target accounts.
Pro Tip:
Invest in developing buyer’s journey maps that represent how your high-value accounts tend to buy. This ensures your content matters at every step of the process from awareness, consideration and final decision.
Executing ABM Strategies
You’ve personalized your content, and you know who your target accounts are… Now it’s time to apply your ABM tactics.
Sales and Marketing Collaboration
ABM needs to have both sales and marketing teams in sync. Both departments will have to cooperate to provide a harmonious experience for the accounts the campaign is aimed at.
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Marketing: Attracts and engages customers with personalized campaigns.
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Sales: Speak to decision-makers front and center with the insight driven through marketing activity – close the deal!
Channels and Tools to Use
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Email Marketing: Nothing beats a specific email that is personal and relates directly to the account.
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Social Media: Platforms such as LinkedIn might provide opportunities for you to interact directly with decision makers and stake holders.
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Engagement Based on Events: Holding webinars, events focused on your industry, or one-to-one meetings specific to target accounts can help position your brand as more valuable.
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ABM Solutions: Use a software tool like HubSpot ABM, Terminus, Demandbase to direct campaigns and monitor progress.
Adapt channel usage to the needs and habits of decision-makers in each account.
Results Measurement and Analysis
Every marketing process will always have some success measurement, and account-based marketing process is not an exception. When you can measure the impact of your outreach, it allows you to continue to optimize your tactics and ultimately prove the value you provide.
Metrics to Track in ABM
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Engagement Metrics: Monitor how targeted accounts are engaging with your content, emails, and ads.
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Influence: Calculate the contribution of your ABM efforts to the wider pipeline.
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Multiplicity Rates: Investigate conversion levels from lead qualification to deal closed.
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Total ROI: Measure the amount a company received from ABM campaigns and spent on ABM efforts.
Tools for ABM Analytics
If you’re using Salesforce, Market, or Google Analytics, these platforms can provide deeper insights on performance indicators and behaviors.
Iterative Improvement:
Keep optimizing your tactics according to performance statistics. And if something works particularly well on one account, consider if you can bring your audience the same joy with your other handles. And, conversely, don’t be afraid to pivot if something isn’t working.
Looking Ahead to ABM’s Future
The ABM model provides companies the deepest level of opportunity to form valuable, high-impact relationships with their customers. But as technology changes, so will ABM. Some of the solutions already being developed with AI, predictive analytics, and more sophisticated audience segmentation promises even more personalized and efficient campaigns.
For the companies seriously invested in sustainable growth, ABM is not another passing fad. It’s a competitive necessity. So, figure out your high value accounts today, and see how this high level approach will change the sales and marketing game for you.
Learn how to measure, interpret, and act on your campaign data with this complete guide to digital marketing analysis.
