Account based marketing is a booming business these days. Vendors, bloggers, and market research firms are fueling a renewal in account based marketing’s popularity. Throughout the years, account based marketing has joined with inbound marketing tactics to create an automated system of marketing that is beneficial to clients at every stage of their journey.
Today, marketers understand messages cannot just be thrown into the online world for an audience to find them. We need to target our clients and potential customers with messages tailored to them to ensure campaigns are efficient. This is where account based marketing is the most useful in today's marketing practices. More and more B2B businesses have found success by targeting a list of accounts and creating customized messaging and campaigns. Instead of focusing on a wide funnel, account based marketing treats each individual account as a market of one.
What is Account Based Marketing
Account based marketing (ABM) is a business marketing strategy that concentrates resources on a set of targeted accounts within markets. By using personalized campaigns designed to engage each account, messages can be delivered based on specific attributes and needs for each account.
Why Shift To AMB Strategy?
- According to an ITSMA Online Survey from 2014, ABM delivered higher ROI when compared to any other marketing strategy for B2B brands
- AMB strategy delivers personalized communication, allowing your sales team to connect with clients on a deeper level after they gain trust in your product or service
- Content using AMB is not created based on a guess-based personas—instead, information is tailored according to the needs of individuals and their position in the buying cycle
- ABM focuses on and targets the most qualified accounts, so you don't waste your resources
ABM tiers
There are various ABM tiers your company can incorporate. True one-to-one ABM requires a high investment in resources, which usually can be applied only to a small percentage of a company’s target accounts. This may not be the most effective practice for your business’s needs and sales team capacity. By mixing tiers based on customer accounts, you are able to achieve the depth of customization with your company’s critical accounts that will help to meet your revenue, reputational, or relationship goals.
- One-to-One – A dedicated, senior-level marketer works in full partnership with the account team and creates highly customized marketing programs for “markets of one”.
- One-to-Few – Takes the research-based principles of one-to-one and applies them to larger groups of accounts. This approach typically brings together clusters of five to 15 accounts with similar business issues, often in the same industry.
- One-to-Many – Emphasizes personalization at scale. This approach typically addresses a strategically curated target account list of several hundred or more named accounts. This tier can only only be achieved with the right technology in place.
Encouraging Personal Meetings
ABM is focused on customizing the experience of the clients and making them feel like they are getting exactly what they need. By scheduling face-to-face meetings, your sales team is able to build relationships that go beyond a digital connection. Offering specialized offers, free evaluations, and consultations are great incentives to drive a boost in meetings.
Investigate the accounts you’re meeting with using your company's CRM. Your CRM should hold any useful information, such as the last connected date, locations, deal stages, and relevant contacts within the company. By doing research on client needs, you are able to run a personalized meeting and better explain the services you are offering. Using case studies from previous clients is an effective way to display effectiveness and drive a sale.
Additionally, using an ERP allows your sales team to directly communicate with your operations, financial, and management teams, ensure correct expectations are set, and provide the ability to check on stock real time. By utilizing a CRM like HubSpot and an ERP system like NetSuite, your sales team is able to move a buyer along the pipeline in an efficient manner.
Personalizing the Website Experience
When a website’s design is flexible enough to change to the name of the account, the prospects will get the personalized experience you’re aiming for.
- Launch welcoming popups that include the name of the account. Use the popup to thank them for coming back to the site, and offer personalized suggestions of content they would be interested in.
- Offer discounts or an invitation for a video conference with a sales team member.
- Encourage each client to build a profile on your site. This can be automatically logged into a CRM and assigned to a sales team for follow up.
- Create personalized landing pages based on account-specific information. Displaying custom copy, images, offers and forms based on account is an effective way to ensure your prospect gets all the information they need.
Build Personalized Resource Centers
Prospects always appreciate having access to content that provides answers to pressing questions about their industry. A resource center acts as a comprehensive database of industry-related information. You can organize a resource center by topic, format, or any other criteria to make it easier for users to find the content they need. Your online resource center should also offer a way for your users to filter their search by keywords, date of publication, and popularity.
To drive your account-based-marketing initiative, develop a resource center that is aimed directly to your target accounts. The resources offered could be categorized in several different ways. Categorizing allows you to drive target accounts to the content most relevant to them:
- Industry vertical categories: Best for ABM campaigns that are focusing on three or fewer target verticals
- Account specific categories: If you are going after a big fish, why waste those valuable assets created for your ABM campaign? Create a landing page resource center specifically for them
- Challenges and benefits categories: Are you targeting multiple accounts that share similar challenges? Create a resource center where they can learn more about the benefits of implementing your products and solutions
Build a list of contacts
Maintaining your CRMs contact list is a great way to ensure that you are connecting with the best contacts. Having a database allows account based models to seed data bases and build workflows. By properly tracking information, such as title in the company and contact information, your sales team’s jobs are made easier.
Send Direct Emails to Contacts in Your Target Accounts
Customized emails allow you to speak directly to a prospect's challenges and provide a strong solution. By automating your emails with CRM programs, you are able to effectively and efficiently manage your contacts and ensure consistent information. Additionally, CRM’s allow sales teams to customize email templates and nurture campaigns. Being able to share preset campaigns and communication increases effectiveness and communication between teams.
Nurture campaigns should include:
- VIP event invitations
- Exclusive offers tailored to that account
- Whitepapers or other collateral that through your research you have discovered will be of interest to the account
The right mix of inbound marketing and ABM allows your company to reach target customers and ensure optimal growth. By using technology, such as PRM’s, CRM’s and ERP’s, your company is able to communicate via cloud and push buyers along the buyer's journey with ease.
Partnering with an agency like ManoByte is a great way to ensure all of your technology is working to optimize your growth. ManoByte has specialists trained in strategizing and implementing various inbound tactics using technology platforms. Additionally, our team can design, write, and help manage all of your company's communications with potential clients. Our Business Growth Consultants are ready to answer any questions you may have about leveraging technology to grow your business.
