Account Based Marketing has been a mainstay in B2B for years. But right now, it’s in an interesting spot. As the economy feels uncertain and the funding boom a few years ago, marketers are having to work harder to show true ROI and revenue impact as things peel back.
And that’s where ABM as a practice finds itself. Many of us associate the phrase to simply mean “ads, but more targeted”. It’s a lot more than that if you’re truly thinking about a whole strategy to work around.
True ABM can bring a dramatic lift to your revenue. It’s more direct, personalized to the prospect and account. Which is exactly why a ton of marketers are turning to it right now.
Crafting Your Account Based Marketing Strategy
The journey towards implementing a successful ABM strategy begins with a fundamental shift in mindset. Rather than casting a wide net and hoping for the best, companies must concentrate their efforts on a select group of high-potential accounts. For those new to ABM, the quest for best practices and actionable resources becomes paramount. By embracing the principles of ABM, businesses can unlock new avenues for strategic growth and engagement.
Starting at zero, here’s a good order of operations:
- Clearly define your ICP
- Define which channels you can reach them on
- Set a budget
- Draw up your list of target companies and the stakeholders you’ll engage
Account Based Marketing Platforms
Central to the execution of any ABM initiative is the effective utilization of tools and platforms. HubSpot, with its comprehensive suite of features, serves as a cornerstone for many ABM projects. Similarly vendors Terminus, 6Sense among other stand out as popular tools used in SaaS marketing teams.
It goes without saying, Account Based Marketing programs built with poor strategy and reliance on platforms to generate results will likely fail.
Gathering Strategic Insights Is Essential
Very often, understanding what the messaging for the target customers on your list needs to be is an issue for marketers kicking off an Account Based Marketing project. Many of us have had to start “going upstream”, which usually means there’s not 50 accounts on the customer list we can model from.
So, how do we work out where to start?
Number 1, go to Customer Support/Success. They will be able to help guide you toward the most appropriate customers should there be any, for you to interview and seek to understand the true pains and problems you sell against. This can help you inform copywriting and creative if you’re running ads, and email content or call scripts if your Sales team are involved.
If that’s not viable, you’ll need to go direct to examples of that perfect ICP and try to meet with them to conduct a similar interview. You may find some takers, others may be motivated by some form of Gifting to sweeten the offer of talking to you over lunch.
Once you have a firm understanding of the pains, problems and the angles to take in your messaging, stop to check the following are part of your plans:
Personalized Outreach. Tailoring messaging and engagement efforts to resonate with the unique needs and preferences of individual prospects, fostering deeper connections and rapport.
Executive Involvement. Elevating outreach initiatives by involving executive stakeholders, infusing interactions with gravitas and strategic alignment.
Multi-Channel Approach. Embracing a multi-channel approach to outreach, leveraging platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and curated trade shows to maximize visibility and impact.
Alignment with RevOps. Ensuring seamless alignment with Revenue Operations (RevOps), fostering a culture of accountability and transparency while enabling robust performance tracking and optimization.
Deep Prospect Research. Diving deep into prospect research to uncover key insights and pain points, informing tailored engagement strategies that drive meaningful outcomes.
Company-Wide Participation. Fostering a culture of company-wide participation in prospecting initiatives, incentivizing involvement and collaboration across departments.
Content Utilization. Leveraging a diverse array of content assets, including customer testimonials and reviews, to engage prospects at various stages of the buyer’s journey, nurturing trust and credibility along the way.
By embracing these strategic imperatives and integrating them into their ABM initiatives, businesses can chart a course towards sustainable growth, forging deeper connections, nurturing meaningful relationships, and ultimately driving lasting impact in an ever-evolving marketplace.
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