ABM (Account Based Marketing) drives the pipeline of many B2B organizations at previously unheard-of rates. Therefore, it is unsurprising that more and more boardrooms and executives are asking small marketing teams to initiate their own ABM initiatives.
Especially for departments that consist of one or two people, this can be a real challenge, as they are already facing a wide array of marketing requests.
It can be challenging to balance the rigours of ABM with the necessary planning upfront and choosing a path within this vast framework that best suits your business.
The purpose of this article is to help those who are considering ABM as part of their marketing strategy to gain a better understanding of the core concepts and to begin by identifying some low-hanging fruit.
It may also help you hire a digital marketing agency or a marketing team for your business.
In ABM, strategy is the starting point, not the execution.
Your internal stakeholders may not fully appreciate the importance of planning in generating results from your marketing efforts, as you likely approach your work from a strategic perspective anyway.
A key thing to do when discussing ABM internally is to prepare an answer to the following question: "Why can't we start the campaign this week?"... or some variation thereof.
As part of your messaging, the account and persona list must be matched with clearly defined pain points.
You can only succeed in your campaign if you create pain points that resonate with your target audience. To build pain points that resonate, you must tailor them to groups of personas within groups of accounts.
Are IT managers at e-commerce companies with ten employees experiencing the same pain points as those at e-commerce companies with 1000 employees?
In this case, where two factors are the same, but one is significantly different, the answer will likely be no.
You should identify like-minded accounts who are interested in your product/service. If database marketing is a machine gun, ABM is a sniper. You must invest time in building an adequate scope and an effective bullet.
... pardon the laboured metaphor!
Tools that can help you reach your audience
ABM campaigns require MarTech tools to track activity within particular accounts and effectively market to them. We do not recommend ABM without well-maintained CRM systems or Marketing Automation systems.
As a result, your CRM/MAT (Marketing Automation Track) will need to hold data that can help you determine which accounts are engaging with you and which are not. It will also allow you to plan campaigns based on an account's health or lifecycle, such as starting a nurturing campaign six to twelve months before contract renewal.
HubSpot is our preferred CRM and marketing automation tool for supporting our clients.
Using intent tools to figure out what your target accounts are doing online is also helpful. Intent tools like Cognism and Demand Base are some of the most valuable examples, but Rollworks has been the one we have been most successful with.
If you focus your ABM on enterprise accounts, such as retail banks, the intent tool will give you an idea of which organizations are looking for similar solutions or services. It is typically most effective when you target enterprise accounts.
As a final step, you must choose the right advertising solution to reach your audience. You won't find a more suitable solution for ABM than LinkedIn or Microsoft Display Network.
While their ads may not be as effective as Paid Search, they provide a unique way to target individuals based on self-cleaning CV information on LinkedIn profiles, which is far superior to the competition.
Consider the customer lifecycle from start to finish… to start again.
After a prospect converts to a customer, true ABM continues. Once a candidate becomes a customer, you can access entirely new data sets. If you're a SaaS platform provider, consider how to use your platform from a marketing perspective.
If a customer goes from 5 active licenses to 3 dormant users, one empty seat, and only one person logging in consistently, it might be time to reactivate.
The NPS and customer satisfaction surveys can help you determine when the sales team should contact an account and give you a temperature check on the account.
This is why CRM databases are so important! You have to store and maintain this information!
Less is more
Here is a few tips from Incisive Edge, a growth-obsessed B2B marketing agency. Here are a few words of wisdom for you. Keep your target audience tightly defined so you can achieve all the above.
When it comes to a target account list, a rule of thumb is to keep it small. You want to target achievable, realistic, complementary, and potentially lucrative accounts.
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