Time is one of the most limited resources at a marketer’s disposal. With endless possibilities for strategy and campaigns, marketing and sales teams need to be as effective and efficient as possible.
Account based marketing (ABM) aims to solve that problem.
ABM is a strategic B2B marketing framework that aligns sales and marketing activities to focus on securing high-value accounts.
Whereas inbound marketing would be like casting a wide net in the ocean, account-based marketing is like targeting the big fish with a spear. In doing so, limited resources are allocated towards high-impact new businesses.
Although ABM can take time to implement, the results tend to come much faster than brand awareness or organic lead generation campaigns.
Some of the key benefits of ABM include:
- Efficient use of budget and resources
- Short to medium-term impact
- Possibility of winning business-changing accounts
- Builds high-value relationships.
There are three keys to an effective ABM campaign:
- Identifying your high-value accounts and associated stakeholders
- Personalizing outreach
- Demonstrating upfront value with content or resources specific to who you’re targeting.
Once you’ve identified your target account list, you can then choose how you’d like to distribute your campaigns. You can target accounts individually or group multiple accounts that share common characteristics. The decision to do so depends on:
- Size of the target account and their expected value
- Resources at your disposal
Making sure you’ve narrowed down your list to accounts with the highest value is key to make sure you’re efficient with your campaign. Keep in mind that the larger your target account list, the less you’ll be able to focus on each individual account.
In some cases, you may need to expand your current target account list. Sometimes, you might want to narrow it down. Much of that process depends on the depth of your current list of prospective accounts.
Some questions to think about:
- Do your sales teams know who your most valuable prospects are?
- Is there already an established relationship or are you starting cold?
- What resources do you currently have available to offer upfront?
- Are you willing to invest in platforms to aid in ABM or are you working with a tight budget?
Start small and work your way on expanding your ABM approaches as you gain experience.
There are a variety of marketing campaigns you can implement such as:
- Retargeting Ads
- Social Media Targeting
- LinkedIn Outreach
- Display Ad Campaigns
- Software-Based Campaigns
- Direct Outreach with Personalized Content
Summary
Account based marketing helps you build relationships with your most valuable prospects. Those relationships create the seeds for valuable new business. The first step is to develop your target account list and build a strategy that demonstrates your value in a personalized way. Although software platforms can be the best tools at your disposal, they are not necessities to run successful ABM campaigns.
When it comes to revenue generation, a few big accounts may be all you need to hit your goals. For this case, ABM is the best tool in your arsenal.
