Research by ABM Leadership Alliance, SiriusDecisions, Altera Group, and many more indicate the growing popularity of Account Based Marketing (ABM). While traditional marketing targets leads, ABM pursues accounts, but not all accounts are worth pursuing. ABM should not be blindly embraced, it should be tactically implemented. Knowing where and when to use ABM is crucial for its success.
Acquiring New Accounts
Account Based Marketing aligns the objectives and operations of the marketing and sales team to create a list of valuable prospects and market content relevant to them, driving greater engagement, and resulting in better nurturing and conversions.
Retaining Regular Customers
Account Based Marketing is not limited to prospects and new accounts, it should consider existing customers which are important to the company. Today, customers desire a more personalised buying experience and want to be engaged on their terms. Ignoring the changing needs of existing customers might lead to a perception of complacency, which the competition can capitalise on. ABM, through its customer-centric and result-oriented approach can be used to retain valuable customers.
Adapting to Internal Changes
As the number of decision makers involved in a B2B purchase cycle continues to increase, the length of the cycle also increases. The long time between the intent of buying and the final purchase is vulnerable to changes in the company’s goals, policy, structure, technology, leadership, and other internal factors. ABM can be used to leverage these internal changes and build a sustainable business relationship.
Maintaining Healthy ROI
If the ROI is not clearly visible, the customer may not retain their interest to do business with you. Though ideal, it may not be practical to ensure that every customer experiences high ROI. ABM applies the Pareto principle and prioritises those accounts which generate or have the potential to generate maximum revenue, rather than catering to all possible leads, and thus assures the best ROI to lucrative accounts.
Realising Campaign Goals
The growing emphasis on personalisation, the rising competition, and the evolving market, have decreased the effectiveness of conventional marketing methods, resulting in failure to acquire new accounts, poor conversion of prospects, poor ROI, etc. Generic marketing strategies are making way for targeted marketing, focussed on specific opportunities and needs. ABM not only penetrates key accounts which have the capacity to drive a company’s growth, it also increases overall engagements, leads to better conversion, and enhances probability of repeat business.
Account Based Marketing is not a fad, it will not fade away soon. Modern marketing technologies will not only simplify ABM, but will also encourage it. Are you ready for it?
