Account based marketing (ABM) is a focused growth strategy that enables sales and marketing teams to concentrate their efforts on a mutually agreed set of high-value target accounts which have been identified as a good fit for the business. With this emphasis, an ABM strategy aims to reduce the number of target accounts that the marketing and sales team must service, and increase conversions amongst that targeted sub-set.
In account based marketing, your teams work and communicate with high-value target accounts as if they are individual markets. In successful ABM campaigns, your teams will personalise the buyer’s journey and tailor all communications, content, and promotions to those specific key accounts. This saves the time and effort that would otherwise be spent on marketing to unqualified leads who aren’t a correct fit for your business. By using highly targeted ads and content specifically tailored for each account, an ABM strategy promotes customer loyalty and increases the return on your marketing investment.
The foundations of an ABM strategy
With ABM campaigns, you can inspire your target accounts with a vision of what is possible to solve their challenges, and fill them with confidence that you are the right partner to take them on their journey. Successful ABM campaigns will target, engage, nurture and convert your high value prospects into lifetime customers.
However to be successful with ABM, it’s necessary to understand the unique nature of account based marketing and the tactics and techniques involved.
With this in mind, the first and most important thing to realise is that ABM works differently from the traditional sales funnel, as illustrated below.
[Image source: Learn Seismic]
ABM reverses the conventional funnel structure. It commences by pinpointing an organisation that has the potential to be a valuable prospect, and then employs technology to send customised and precise messages to engage the key members of that organisation's staff. This engagement persists even after a deal is concluded.
To ensure ABM success, there needs to be alignment between marketing and sales teams, who must mutually agree on the allocation of resources to each target account, and the roles and responsibilities that each team member must take on in order to ensure a seamless interaction between marketing and sales activities. ABM teams also need to agree on the metrics and milestones they’ll use to measure the success of their efforts.
ABM campaign ideas, strategies, and tactics
A number of ABM ideas and tactics may serve as the building blocks of your account based marketing strategy. They include the following:
1. Develop and articulate your account based marketing strategy
Every successful ABM campaign begins with a structured and well-articulated plan. HubSpot identifies several key components for developing an effective ABM campaign strategy. They include an awareness of your own organisational and business processes and objectives, and an awareness of your customer relationship landscape – i.e., the buying process, products/services and revenue accruing from your target accounts, sales opportunities, sales targets, business risks, etc. An analysis of the competitor environment as it relates to your targets is also necessary.
2. Align your marketing team and sales teams, and build your combined ABM team
Ideally, your marketing and sales team leaders should identify a minimum of one marketer and one sales rep with exclusive responsibility for interacting with the target accounts you’re working with. These are the people who will create and distribute content for your target audience and manage relationships with decision makers at each account. It may also be necessary to draw other participants into the ABM campaign loop, such as customer success agents.
3. Identify and segment your target accounts
There are a number of ways that you can do this. For example, you can set search alerts for your ideal customer profile (ICP) on social media platforms like LinkedIn, or choose target accounts based on a particular industry or locale. You could also develop a filter for incoming qualified leads that fit your ICP, based on specific criteria such as company size, or industry.
4. Create personalised, multimedia content that speaks specifically to the needs of your target audience
For your account based marketing campaign, your team will need to create content that attracts and engages the specific interest of key decision makers at each of your target accounts.
While they can achieve a lot with media such as blogs, eBooks, or white papers, it also helps to think outside the box. For example, you might create screen share videos to walk a prospect through an idea, product, or website. Or you could use a personalised and target account-based “selfie” style video instead of a text-based email.
5. Make intelligent use of your data
Market intelligence, social media, user-generated content and numerous other sources combine to leave a wealth of potentially useful information at your disposal. For example, you can use social intelligence to gain a greater understanding of what truly matters to your target audience, and develop offers or guidance specifically tailored to them. Feedback and metrics can assist in monitoring the success or otherwise of your account based marketing efforts – and put the spotlight on areas where you may need to improve.
6. Partner with a specialist agency
Account based marketing campaigns may be both intricate and long-term, requiring diligent monitoring, continuous optimisation, and specialist knowledge. If your resources are limited or you lack the necessary skills in-house, one of the best ABM campaign ideas you can have is to enlist the aid of a dedicated and specialist marketing agency.
Here at Incisive Edge, our team are experts in ABM campaign execution. Our approach allows for a hyper-personalised experience on behalf of the customer. We get straight to the heart of your challenges to deliver excellent results. We’ll track engagement and all key metrics, enabling us to optimise your campaigns and measure success in growing relationships with your targets.
To find out more about how the targeted tactics of Incisive Edge can foster better engagement for your ABM campaigns, get in touch with us.
