Account Based Marketing (ABM) has a great potential to give you outstanding results if done correctly. The real magic of ABM is in the fact that it is more targeted and understands the needs of individual accounts. According to a report by ITSMA, “Companies using ABM programs found 74% improvement in customer relationships.” However, to carry out a successful and integrated ABM campaign you need to understand some important factors. In this blog, we will discuss those factors that will help you to carry out effective and successful ABM campaigns.
Important Factors To Run A Successful ABM Campaign
1. Identifying the target Accounts
The first step to carry out a robust ABM campaign is to identify the right target accounts. Identifying the right target accounts isn’t a child’s play rather it requires research and time. For doing this you first need to make an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) before you start your ABM campaign. This will help you to know the attributes that your ideal customer should have and thus you can segment the accounts accordingly.
For identifying the target and high-value accounts you can start with the basics, see the firmographics that would be perfect. You can then figure out where and how your product can fit into a company’s tech stack. Identifying the target accounts would be much easier for you if you make the buyer’s persona priorly.
2. Know and Understand your Audience
For an effective ABM campaign, you need to understand your audience. You need to work with your B2B marketing team and see what your potential customers want and are looking for. Then, divide the target accounts into different categories.
You can segment the accounts on the basis of buying intent, geographical location, and authority. Making different account lists will help you to understand the needs and wants of different categories within your target audience. This way you will be able to build more influential messaging and programs relevant to your target accounts.
3. Quality Content is the Key
Once you have identified the target accounts, what’s next? Well, the answer is content. Content is a very important factor as it drives the prospects to take action. Therefore, the content of your messages should be impressive and impactful. It must build the interest of people in your products or services.
Knowing what your target audience wants and writing content accordingly is the key. Try experimenting and creating different types of content such as images, polls, and videos. This will keep the boredom away for your audience and keep them hooked. You can make creatives, infographics, and short videos with a touch of personalization. Making personalized and relevant content posts can get you a better engagement rate.
4. Conversion of ABM attention to sales
You have identified the target accounts and given them all the marketing attention. Without any doubt, the main purpose of all this is sales. However, there are certain tactics that you can do to cut down the long sales cycle.
For example, you have given a demo to target accounts and after the session, they will just remember the important highlights and features. You can make a short video talking about how it would be helpful and the features of your service and send it after the session. This will act as a mini ad that your potential clients can use to forward to the key decision-makers.
The main agenda is to convince the decision-makers of a company that your service is worth investing in. You can improve your chances of closing a deal by influencing the members of an organization that can understand how your service is helpful. You can create personalized messages and plans for different tier members of an organization. This will create a highly detailed and personalized experience and help you in securing more deals.
5. Follow-ups
To ace the ABM campaign, the alignment of B2B Marketing and sales teams is very vital. Alignment doesn’t just mean having the same set of goals rather it is more than that. The sales and marketing teams need to work together from the beginning. From agreeing to the accounts selected to goals and measurement of the strategy.
B2B Marketing and sales teams should decide the follow-up guidelines and messaging to be used. Afterward, the marketing and sales team should connect to see what’s working out and what’s not in your ABM strategy. This will help you to refine your programs and campaigns accordingly.
6. Measure and scale your ABM efforts
To make your Account Based Marketing Services (ABM) more effective you can use automation technology. Using automation tools you can set your account lists and coordinate your marketing campaigns. Not only this you can also measure the success of your ABM campaigns. You can measure and analyze the impact of your different ABM programs and campaigns. This way you can also set up the target metrics and ensure that your target goal is met by different cross-functional teams. Analyzing, scaling, and refining your ABM strategy frequently will help to improve your conversion rate.
The Main Takeaway
Account Based Marketing (ABM) is a marketing strategy that targets individual accounts with relevant and personalized content. It is a great way for B2B Marketers to secure more deals. However, an ABM campaign can give the best results only when the right tactics and strategies are used to apply it. ABM is beneficial for B2B marketers as they can use their resources more efficiently by targeting high-value accounts. It also helps to bring the sales and marketing teams in alignment for the same business goal.