Account Based Marketing (ABM) can be termed as the process of identifying lucrative accounts and pursuing them using a personalised approach to maximise ROI. It is not a new concept, you may have heard about it before.
Initially, it was considered impractical owing to the challenges and complexities involved in personalisation, but today due to the modern data-driven innovative marketing tools and growing emphasis on creating a unique customer experience, ABM is gaining immense popularity.
While the concept of Account Based Marketing is simple to understand, most organisations struggle with it. This can be attributed to the poor planning and implementation of ABM. To achieve your organisational goals through ABM, you must:
Create an Inclusive Strategy
Account Based Marketing will not lead to desired results if the marketing team works in isolation. The success of ABM heavily relies on the internal alignment of an organisation, especially on the cohesiveness and co-operation between the marketing, sales, and customer success teams. You must have all the concerned teams on board to ensure that your program does not derail.
Clearly Define Metrics
What gets measured, gets managed. What do you want to achieve through ABM? How are you going to measure the success of your ABM initiative? These questions deserve unambiguous answers. Having an idea about your short-term and long-term goals is not enough, you must define relevant metrics to measure your performance and improve your results.
Identify Right Accounts
Creating a personalised experience for every account may not be feasible. Through manual or automated processes you can classify accounts on the basis of the industry or domain, revenue or size, current business with you and future possibilities and growth, then choose accounts which can bring you the most business and begin ABM.
Target Key Decision Makers
Once you have identified the relevant accounts, it is time to influence the people who control these accounts. Design a communication blueprint and develop personalised content based on the needs, position, and goals of the decision makers. Mapping content to targets is not enough, it should be periodically delivered through multiple channels.
Personalise Content Judiciously
Today, every business aspires to be different and build a unique brand. A “one size fits all” approach has definitely become obsolete. While a personalised content nurturing program forms the basis of ABM, personalising every aspect of marketing is resource intensive and often unviable. You may not be willing to invest in personalising the customer experience when you are not sure about the returns. During the initial stages of the marketing funnel, you can simply create a perception of personalisation, by using curated or repurposed content, which is modified according to your needs. Once you are confident about the ROI, then create fresh content tailored to the account.
Remember Account Based Marketing hinges on data. The right data coupled with the tips mentioned above, can make ABM the primary driver of your organisation’s growth.
