Account-based marketing (ABM) has been increasingly popular with B2B marketers recently as it allows brands to personalize their content. As a result, it optimizes the customer experience on a more lasting basis.
The ABM approach combines sales and marketing, providing a shortcut to the sales cycle.
However, what does a successful ABM strategy entail?
The answer is a systemic activation of predefined personas and giving them a satisfactory customer experience.
How Does ABM Work
Many companies find success with an ABM strategy, however you must follow the appropriate steps and optimize your campaigns to get the best results.
Here are three primary ways how ABM can work between two teams:
- One-to-one: A senior marketer will work with the account team to get the best strategy.
- One-to-few: A marketer works with 5-15 accounts, usually within the same industry, and gets similar issues.
- One-to-many: Working with a high number of carefully chosen accounts
Using one of the following methods, your marketing team can focus on the campaign.
Here are the six reasons to implement ABM into your B2B marketing strategy:
1. Efficient Use of Marketing Resources
ABM allows you to structure your marketing efforts and resources within your key accounts, driving the most revenue.
With a narrow focus, account-based marketing initiatives enable you to optimize your most valuable resources, saving you time and money.
By integrating your sales and marketing efforts, your marketing team can work directly with sales. That way, you can easily target and create content for key accounts.
This will help you maximize the efficiency of your B2B marketing resources and helps build communication channels with sales to help you have an aligned sales and marketing organization.
The top three challenges of implementing ABM are creating a scalable strategy for multiple accounts, producing customized content, and coordinating programs across marketing, sales development, and sales teams.
2. Defined Return on Investment (ROI)
Your marketing strategy needs to be measurable, which is no different from ABM.
Data from the Information Technology Services Marketing Association shows that 84% of businesses say that ABM provides them with higher ROI than any marketing strategy.
Measuring the ROI of any marketing initiative is vital and is possible because of the automation and software tools available in the market.
With ABM, you can easily see the return on investment for ABM initiatives and other areas for improvement based on how people respond to your content.
3. Identify Account-Based Marketing Measures
Usually, account plans have specific measures that need to be noted as part of the ABM campaign. It helps you create structure and coordinate all the steps involved.
Moreover, the following aspects also need to be considered:
● What channels need to be utilized for your ABM campaign?
● What specific type of content works well with your target group?
● Who are the key decision makers within your target company?
● How are ABM and the sales process integrated?
Account-based marketing is solidifying your relationship with target accounts beyond your campaigns. The extent to which a campaign can support your goals could be measured in KPIs such as:
● The number of deals that are concluded
● Engagement
● Interactions on social media
● The number of content people
Tracking these metrics allows you to save time and resources. Check out this handy guide to account based marketing metrics– what to track and why.
If any weaknesses are found in your analysis, you’ll know precisely the points you need to channel your efforts. Doing so allows you to optimize your ABM campaigns better.
4. Closer Alignment of Sales and Marketing
Perhaps your sales and marketing teams function independently of each other but it would be good to change, especially if you’re keen on implementing a true ABM strategy.
Your sales and marketing team should work with one another to identify target accounts, creating solid communication and outreach strategies. You also need to monitor the progress of your campaigns.
ABM functions as a way to unite teams and not divide them. It allows teams to work hand in hand rather than working independently.
Moreover, ABM is an excellent way for B2B marketers to align strategically with sales while creating personalized campaigns targeted at specific accounts that drive revenue.
However, ABM isn’t intended to replace mass marketing initiatives that drive awareness and traffic.
However, you can use it to level up your B2B marketing strategy so that you can drive organizations towards a clear ROI with measurable sales results.
5. Cultivate Your Information Contacts
Once you’ve acquired contacts, you must deepen your relationship with your target group. It would help if you also strengthen your customers’ trust in your brand.
Offering direct communication, individualized content, and having a professional presence in meetings provides you and your brand a solid foundation in retaining contacts through account-based marketing in the long run.
87% of account-based marketers say that ABM initiatives outperform other marketing investments.
6. Define Your Target Accounts
To pay off your investment in ABM, you need to pick target accounts wisely.
Several factors, such as the company size, number of employees, and location, let you identify target accounts that are attractive to your brand within the framework of your B2B marketing strategy.
Over to You
There’s no better time to jumpstart your ABM strategy than today, especially since many of your competitors haven’t completely maximized usage of this strategy yet.
By implementing these tactics targeting and investing in account-based marketing, you’ll be on your way to success. That’s because the future of B2B marketing lies in account-based marketing.
Good luck!