A new phrase, account-based marketing (ABM), is becoming sought-after in B2B marketing. It emphasizes long-term revenue growth instead of focusing on short-term marketing goals. ABM is an effective approach for lead generation. It targets a more specific group using highly personalized messaging. In this blog, we will discuss the details of ABM and its advantages. 

What is Account-Based Marketing (ABM)?

ABM is a comprehensive approach in B2B marketing, in which you can focus on key accounts and individuals rather than targeting a large number of prospects. These accounts are treated differently based on their interest. Sending personalized messages and targeted content results in account conversion. 

Now you might ask how is it beneficial than the traditional marketing technique. You are achieving higher revenues in a shorter timeframe. Imagine the market funnel of traditional marketing, the ABM strategies start from the bottom of the funnel. It means you start with targeted accounts and then develop the content and campaigns to target the particular companies. 

One of the strategies in account-based marketing is that you can target the logos of the company that matters most. You can nurture these accounts with the already existing ones to turn them into long-term and highly valuable clients.  

Examples of Account-Based Marketing

You have to create campaigns for the targeted audience to practice ABM. Here are some instances where ABM can be used: 

1. Live Events – This is a perfect strategy better than webinars. You can work with the sales team to identify the accounts and send them VIP passes, merchandise, or VIP rooms. 
2. Email – It is one of the most effective account-based marketing strategies. You can select the targeted accounts, segment the email list, and create personalized content for them. Deliver valuable and insightful content based on the business needs, stakeholders, and pain points. 
3. PPC – Targeting high-rate clients is always easier on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google Ads through ABM. You have to identify the targeted audience and then create specific campaigns for the prospects. In the case of a PPC campaign with ABM, you have a clear target in mind, you know where it is, and you understand the steps to reach it. Now, it’s time to take action.

Benefits of Account-Based Marketing

2. Higher ROI

Because ABM focuses on high-value, qualified accounts, resources are allocated efficiently, leading to a higher return on investment (ROI). Companies often see a significant lift in revenue from a small number of key accounts.

3. Stronger Alignment Between Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing align on target accounts, messaging, and strategies, leading to more cohesive and effective campaigns. ABM enables you to build a collaboration between sales and marketing teams.   

4. Faster Sales Cycle

With ABM, you can accelerate the sales process by targeting high-value accounts. The messaging is relevant and the conversation can be made in a meaningful way with decision-makers faster. 

5. Better Account Insights

ABM often involves a deep dive into the targeted accounts, giving you better insights into their needs, challenges, and buying signals. This understanding helps in crafting more effective marketing strategies and messages.  

What are the Types of Account-Based Marketing? 

There are three types of ABM strategies named, strategic, lite, and programmatic. The highly strategic accounts maintain the strategic ABM based on a one-to-one. Delivering a highly personalized marketing campaign is basic to this strategy. The focus for ABM lite is more on the lightly customized campaigns to the smaller accounts of people. The programmatic ABM is an amalgamation of strategic and ABM lite. This approach focuses on tailoring marketing campaigns using the latest technologies.

Beneficial ABM Practices 

You have to put in coordinated efforts from a multifunctional team. There are some strategies for proactive ABM. Some of them are as follows:

• Conduct Research and Leverage Data – The initial aspect of ABM is to do thorough research. Research the market position, trends, and goals of your targeted audience. Understand the market well to filter the companies that fit your customer profiles. You can leverage the industry reports from social media, news sites, or other online sources. 
• Align your Teams – The marketing and sales team must work hand-in-hand for ABM as opposed to traditional marketing methods. You will need both departments for segmentation and to develop buyer personas. You can leverage some tools for account information and internal documentation. 
• Focus on Relationship Building – Relationship building will bring you success for an account-based marketing funnel. Use personalized messages to demonstrate your understanding of the client’s requirements. Deliver engaged content and be transparent with the content to solve the client’s problems.  
• Leverage the Right Tools – Implement the new strategies of account-based marketing with the help of some tools. Some of them are CRM (customer relationship management platform), marketing automation tools, web personalization platforms, account data enrichment apps, etc. 
• Monitor Everything – There is always room for improvement. So it is essential to keep track of every detail you are conducting in account-based marketing. You can use some of the tools such as Google Analytics to check the website’s performance.  

How to Implement ABM Strategy? 

There are certain steps included in implementing account-based marketing strategies. Let’s have a look at them: 

Step 1: Identify the Targeted Accounts

The initial step is to identify the targeted companies and then segment them into different segments. You can also use some tools such as email lists and CRM for possible prospects. Emphasize the high-value companies as they are suitable for ABM strategies. 

Step 2: Conduct a Research

Once you gather the information, it is time to investigate the data. You can use LinkedIn and the company website to fetch more contact information. A useful tactic in this manner is to target the managers or HR, don’t target the CEO of the companies, for example, since they are busy most of the time. 

Step 3: Curate Personalized Campaigns

Curate personalized content based on the needs of the clients and send them in the form of blogs, whitepapers, emails, and ads. These contents are your creative assets which will help you create relationships with your customers.  

Step 4: Launch the Campaigns

Once the go-to campaign is curated, you can launch that using account-based marketing tools. 

Step 5: Track Every Data

Evaluate the performance of the campaigns to see how are they performing. Make adjustments if required. With the help of ABM syndication, you can reach a large number of audience across multiple platforms. 

Account-based marketing is a modern comprehensive approach to growing a business. It not only increases brand awareness but also builds customer loyalty for a business. Add value to the content by personalized content to ensure customer relationships. Utilize the data wisely and start growing in your business.