You may or may not have heard about one of the fastest-growing trends in B2B marketing. However, if you are a business that wants to land large, key accounts, or if you specialize in delivering products or services to a very specific industry, then you need to know about account-based marketing.
Account-based marketing focuses your sales and marketing on a defined set of target accounts, using personalized marketing campaigns to engage the key contacts at those accounts and drive sales for your business.
By targeting your highest-potential accounts and the customer segments that are the best fit for your products and services, account-based marketing is more strategic and efficient. Instead of conducting broad-based inbound marketing, which is designed to reach the largest possible number of prospects, account-based marketing narrows the focus to more effectively connect to specific top-priority clients.
Using this approach, marketers develop personalized campaigns and messages, not just for those accounts, but for the individuals who are instrumental to opening doors and landing the target account as customers. These include the decision-makers, end users, and influencers who may all play a crucial role in securing business at a given account.
Account-based marketing (ABM) takes into account the individuals involved, their roles and responsibilities, and the needs of their organization in crafting personalized communications and touch points to drive engagement.
Think of it as identifying the exact accounts you want to win, the people you need to speak with, and the conversations you need to have to make it happen. ABM involves examining the key issues and pain points facing each target, mapping those issues to the individuals involved or affected, and tailoring marketing campaigns to engage key stakeholders by addressing the issues they care most about.
If this sounds like nothing new, you are partly right. ABM has its roots in traditional sales, and the core concept of targeting key accounts and contacts while focusing on their biggest issues has been around for decades. The difference today is that ABM presents a way to align your sales and marketing resources according to a very specific target, and automation allows you to engage the right contacts and have the right conversations in a highly personalized, yet efficient way.
ABM is also crucial to maintaining your existing key accounts, particularly if you rely on a select few customers for a large portion of your business. Maintaining personalized engagement with those customers and cultivating lasting business relationships is critical to avoiding a disastrous loss of an important account. The right marketing and sales communications can make all the difference, and automation makes establishing and nurturing lasting relationships easier than ever before.
What are some of the best tactics for account-based marketing, and how can you get started?
The first step is to build a target account list, identifying the companies you want as customers, along with the existing customers who are critical to the future health and growth of your business. You can use a list of your existing accounts as a basis for identifying the characteristics your ideal customers have in common. You can look to industry trends and projections for insights, or you can simply ask your sales team for input.
Once you have your targets in mind, it is time to develop the ABM strategies, tactics, and programs that will engage those targets and drive sales success.
For an overview of some of the best account-based marketing strategies, check out our free Quick Guide to Account-Based Marketing. This is a free PDF download offering quick tips on the best and most effective tactics for landing and maintaining top-priority accounts.
To learn more about ABM and what it can do for your business, contact our team today for more information and a free consultation.