Many marketers have been paying attention to something called Account-Based Marketing, or ABM, and you should also consider doing the same. But what is Account-Based Marketing? ABM is a highly focused business strategy where marketing specialists treat a prospect or a customer like its very own market.
According to Hubspot, ”more than 60% of companies are planning an ABM-based campaign to be launched in 2020. Marketers create content, events, and entire campaigns dedicated to the people associated with that account, rather than the industry as a whole.”
In other words, ABM creates specific content targeted for particular audiences to generate new leads or sales. It is a strategy that is commonly used by B2B businesses to face the challenge of multiple stakeholders in the decision-making process. It will allow you to connect with them effectively and to create positive business relationships. Eventually, it will lead to earlier and faster decision-making processes.
This type of marketing strategy flips the traditional inbound marketing funnel on its head. The business will identify its target companies, it will engage them with personalised campaigns, and eventually, they will build sustainable relationships that will lead to new and regular business opportunities.
An essential element in the equation of Account-Based Marketing is social selling, which consists of using your social networks to find and nurture relationships with the ideal prospects and existing customers for your business. By building trust and empathy, customer relationships will become stronger. Social selling can help with this process by using the insights of social media to engage and share relevant content for your prospects.
Why is Account-Based Marketing so important today?
Currently, there is an enormous amount of content out there, and an ABM approach will allow you to stand out from your competitors and become industry thought leaders, which eventually will develop the proper trust from your target audience. Therefore Account-Based Marketing is more important than ever today because it can help with the following.
Target
This strategy allows marketing to focus only on accounts that matter and the effort will be more targeted and personalised. Using content that addresses their needs, challenges or offers a solution to their business. Eventually, it will allow you to stand out from the competition and attract the attention of your audience.
Prioritisation
ABM allows you to prioritise depending on the size of the target account by having different campaigns aimed at the various markets that are part of that account. You can decide which accounts you want to connect with first and if some can be addressed programmatically.
Simplification
Buying decisions can be very complicated, and sometimes they depend on many people, not just one individual. So, rather than sticking with the traditional inbound sales funnel, ABM reflects the way that companies buy by tailoring the content to the right moment and the right audience.
What other benefits can you get from strategically applying ABM into your marketing plan?
Sales and marketing work aligned.
ABM needs for sales and marketing to work closely together in an aligned manner since they both have to focus on target accounts while working toward a common goal – developing sustainable and trusted relationships, which will produce regular business opportunities along the way. With Account-Based Marketing, the discussions about lead quantity and lead quality are not as important since these two teams become one single unit.
More efficiency in marketing
Account-Based Marketing seeks to be a zero-waste type of strategy by connecting with accounts that have been targeted because they are more likely to buy. A combination with an excellent customer experience will enable higher conversions.
Better customer experiences
Every part of the buyer’s journey and experience is personalised looking for the account to have and enjoy the best customer experience possible. ABM searches each account and designs campaigns specifically for each one of them. It is a customer-driven approach that addresses what is needed for the prospects/customers, rather than generalised content.
Higher return of investment
“Nearly all B2B solution providers that measure Account-Based Marketing (ABM) ROI find that ABM delivers higher ROI than other marketing initiatives.” You can read more about it in ITSMA’s online survey about Account-Based Marketing and ROI.
You can start today applying account-based marketing by following the simple steps we bring you in our next article ”how to apply ABM strategy – first steps”.
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