Like a lot of B2B brands, you've probably identified that an Account-Based Marketing strategy draws dividends.

However, every plan - no matter how effective - occasionally needs a tune up. You could wait for a downturn in your conversions as an indication that it’s time for a breath of fresh air, but why wait for that to happen?

Instead, make time for a regular review so you can be proactive, rather than reactive. Taking the opportunity to scrutinise your ABM strategy will allow you spot changes in your B2B audience. You will also be able to anticipate which trends will drive changes in their behaviour and purchasing decisions.

Here are six ways you could refresh your ABM approach today:

1. Refocus On Your Key Accounts

Many brands focus their marketing efforts on generating new leads. But often, the best way to increase sales is by looking at your existing customer base.

Indeed, Gartner’s 2021 CMO survey identified that 73% of CMOs are focusing on growing the business through existing customer relationships. 39% are seeking to increase sales of existing products, and a further 34% on introducing new products.

The definition of an ‘ideal customer’ is framed slightly differently for every business, but it usually comes down to the most profitable, satisfied, and long-term clients with whom you enjoy working. They appreciate your solution, are pleasant to work with, and provide the greatest customer lifetime value. They're also the most likely to be receptive to expanding their footprint with your company.

If you haven’t reviewed your key accounts list in a while or haven’t considered using ABM to develop your relationship with existing customers, this could be a good first bet. A refined target list has the added benefit of being a great foundation for the creation of lookalike audiences on ad platforms. This allows you to extend your reach in a more targeted way.

2. Review the Customer Journey

You need to create a positive, personalised customer experience and gently guide contacts through the purchasing process. This involves helping them to not only make sense of your offering, but also of their options and questions.

Today’s B2B buying process is a long, drawn-out, and non-linear affair. Communications are more streamlined and buyer-led, thanks to digital marketing, and marketing automation. As a seller, you have fewer opportunities to meet in-person with your buyers – even virtually.

As a result, your contacts expect you to influence them in more advanced ways. You need to create a positive, personalised customer experience and gently guide contacts through the purchasing process. This involves helping them to not only make sense of your offering, but also of their options and questions.

Use your understanding of your key accounts to map out the structure of your customer journey and provide coherence. Look for inconsistencies and points of friction to eliminate. Coordinate communications across all touchpoints and personalise marketing channels to have a more meaningful impact on the intended audience.

Integrating the Sales Pipeline and Customer Journey

Focus on Sensemaking for a Winning B2B Marketing Strategy

3. Reinvigorate Your Content Strategy

You can find high-quality, valuable content for free everywhere these days. Content designed specifically for the needs of one business is much more unique. Taking this approach can distinguish your company from others vying for a prospect's attention.

We're not talking about content designed for people in a particular industry or position, such as CMOs in FMCG companies for example. Instead, we want you to think about the information needs for a single targeted business.

This will require effort from your entire team. ABM uses the combined powers of marketing and sales. Different departments of your business will have different perspectives on what your customers need to know.

Brainstorm with your team to develop this content for a short-list of your highest value prospects. Ensure it contains the answers to their questions, not fluff, and is designed to look attractive. Then decide on how to deliver it to the right people. Should your account handler forward it on as a follow up to a phone call? Would a targeted email campaign or message on social media do the trick?

While this might seem like a lot of effort for very few customers, it’s no different to investing in corporate hospitality for key targets. This content also has the additional benefit in that it will serve to answer the questions of a broader audience too.

Hyper-personalised Content in Account Based Marketing

4. Re-engage on Social Media

If Account Based Marketing is all about understanding your audience, social media provides the perfect platform to learn more about them.

Once you have your list of target contacts - whether they are prospects or existing customers – double down on connecting with them through social channels. LinkedIn has incredible tools for targeted advertising, lead nurturing, and data enrichment, and a broad business audience.

Pay attention to what your targets have to say. Social listening allows you to see how these accounts are engaging with their own networks. What are they trying to accomplish? What information are they sharing? What questions are they asking? You’ll be able to use this information to interact with them, including:

Replying with a valuable contribution to their status updates.
Sharing their content when it's useful to your audience.
Joining groups or chats where they're involved and becoming part of their extended network.
Using retargeting ads to direct their attention to relevant (and hyper-personalised) content.

5. Recommit to Relevance

According to research from the ABM Leadership Alliance and ITSMA, 76% of marketers saw higher ROI with ABM than any other marketing strategy in 2020. However, to reap those rewards you need to deliver on your customers’ expectations on personalisation and relevancy.

In ABM, the traditional one-size-fits-all approach isn't enough. Each person in each account needs to be treated individually so you can focus on buying triggers, challenges, needs, and preferred communication channels.

Personalising your messages across channels is crucial. Yes, this will take time, but it's a great way to single out your brand. You need your marketing to cut through the noise and make a genuine connection with the person on the receiving end. Therefore, you need to target your messaging to each contact based on their individual needs and concerns.

This is much easier to do when you dedicate yourself to knowing as much as you can about them. You are then able to consider their role within the company, their considerations, and how they factor into the purchase decision-making process.

To illustrate, one contact in an account may want to increase lead generation, while another’s priority is to improve sales. The point is you need to understand these differences and identify each contact’s role in the buying process. You can then ensure they get the most meaningful marketing possible.

Understand Your Client Team To Understand Your Client

6. Retarget to Stay Top of Mind

Retargeting allows you to deliver paid ads to a small and select group. This focuses your ad budget on the contacts that matter most to you, and allows you to repeatedly engage with them as they navigate social media or read blog posts.

This delivers the highly personalised and relevant experience your customers expect.

By focusing on your existing target list like this, you can increase return visits to your website and direct your prospects’ attention to useful and relevant content.

To get started, upload your existing target list to the ad platform and create a matched audience. In addition, you can segment your audience based on factors such as customer information, firmographics, and behavioural data. You can then use what you know about the contacts to develop relevant ads that address their needs.

Read More:

Imaginative Ways to Use Retargeting

If you’d like to find out more about how we can help to develop your account-based marketing strategy, contact 1827 Marketing today.

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