Account-based marketing (ABM) is the latest B2B marketing strategy to intrigue marketing and sales teams across the globe. In fact, in a recent market survey, 67 percent of companies stated that their account-based marketing activities had higher customer success rates than their other campaigns. This highly focused marketing strategy represents a shift, where consumers are no longer seen as "mass audiences," but instead as their very own markets. Correctly implemented, an ABM strategy focuses on creating the content, events, and even entire campaigns needed to intrigue, engage with, and sell to the people associated with a specific account.

Step 1: Define Targets for your ABM Campaign

Start by examining your existing customer accounts to identify the prospects who are most likely to deliver the financial results you're aiming for. For example, you could identify the characteristics common to existing accounts that you have been able to upsell or cross-sell to. Another tactic would be to look at your sales data and build your target list based on leads who have similar traits to recently won new business. Alternatively, you could look to your competitors' customer list and create a profile of your ideal customer based on your research.

Once you have successfully defined your target accounts, you will be ready to start creating an account-based marketing plan.

Step 2: Targeted Content Marketing

Content is the bread and butter of a successful account-based marketing plan. Without highly personalised and relevant content that speaks to your targets' needs, your campaign efforts will fall flat. Fortunately, the following tips will help you to make your prospects feel like they are the only people who matter as your sales team reaches out with personalised messages. 

• Personalise every field. — ABM is about more than merely changing the name at the beginning of an email. Instead, the entire message should be customised to address the unique needs and pain points of your prospects. For example, you might adjust what eBook is available for download, or you might recognise that your prospect responds more effectively to bullets rather than lengthy paragraphs. Sometimes it's not what you say, but how you say it in a personalised fashion.

• Offers should initiate a personal meeting. — Free evaluations, assessments, and consultations are all brilliant account-based marketing tactics. These types of offers help you to transition from a digital relationship to a more personal relationship with your target accounts.

• Create emails that are engaging, useful, and contain more than sales jargon. — Unsolicited sales emails are a nuisance. They are also something that every single decision-maker deals with multiple times throughout the day, which is why your account-based marketing emails should be engaging, useful, and void of over the top sales jargon. As part of these efforts, add contacts within the company who are part of the decision-making team within the organisation. Sometimes the easiest way to expedite a sale is to reach out to your prospect's colleagues, and let them do all of the selling for you.

• Move beyond a generic website. — A successful account-based marketing plan will leverage the power of dynamic digital tactics, and personalise specific fields when your site recognises a previous visitor. The latter personalisation will help your prospects feel welcomed as they return to your website to learn more about your organisation's services and products.

• Give an appropriate shout-out. — People want the affirmation that they are heard and acknowledged. The simple act of mentioning your target accounts within your content (i.e. blog posts, newsletters, social media posts) will help to build the appreciation that you need to develop a positive relationship.

In short, the key to a successful account-based marketing plan relies on personalised content that is engaging and relevant to the unique needs, challenges, and goals of your prospect. Once you have created the content, it will be time to publish it on various media outlets, including social media platforms, so that it gets in front of your target accounts.

Step 3: Account-Based Marketing Activities For Social Media 

Social media represents an excellent opportunity to connect with your prospects on a more personal level. For example, after you have mentioned your target prospect within a blog post, you can then share the post on LinkedIn and Facebook and tag them. The duality of this approach is that you can not only attract the attention of your prospect, but you can also subtly reach their extended network as you gather additional leads for your sales pipeline.

Create a list of key stakeholders at your target companies and find them on platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter. Carefully monitor these lists so that you can engage with the leaders (and decision-makers) at each company. In addition to Twitter lists you've built manually, custom Facebook audiences and LinkedIn company targetting are based on robust demographics and allow you to target key influencers with personalised advertisements that are not only eye-catching but also encourage immediate actions.

Step 4: Retargeting To Tie Content Marketing And Social Media Efforts Together

Now that you have created brilliant content, published it on social media, and created targeted posts and advertisements, it will be time to tie it all together through account based retargeting. In layman's terms, retargeting helps businesses separate interested prospects from "random digital passersby." Did you know that 96 percent of website visitors arriving for the first time aren't ready to buy? Fortunately, retargeting can help you to understand better when someone is a real prospect. Once you have identified an opportunity, your automated remarketing campaign can deliver highly customised content and retargeting advertisements to increase brand awareness, engage with the prospect, and encourage them to learn more by contacting your organisation. When 75 percent of buying activity happens before the initial contact, isn't it time that you started using retargeting to your account-based marketing advantage? 

Step 5: Taking B2B ABM Offline

Let's take a moment to bridge the gap between the digital world and the material world that we all live in. Direct marketing, such as mailers, might seem a bit outdated, but it gives you a chance to show the human side of your marketing efforts and sales efforts. In a world where only a few keystrokes separate us, the human element is critical to the success of your account-based marketing campaigns.

One strategy is to send a personalised offer directly to your prospect. To do this, avoid a generic message or gift that you could send to any of your contacts. Instead, think of something more personal, that highlights your unique understanding of their challenges, obstacles, pain points, successes, and future goals. The personal note aims to help you schedule an in-person meeting based on a mutual understanding that the prospect's needs come first, and that you can properly respond to those needs. This note should also be written using mirroring language that mimics the vernacular that the prospect has used to describe his unique situation. 

While this is by no means the first step in creating a meaningful relationship, when used correctly you can show your prospects that you genuinely care about their needs and that you are willing to go the extra mile to make them feel supported throughout the entire sales journey. 

The goal of your efforts should be to gain face-to-face time with the key decision-makers, so hosting in-person events should be an integral component of your ABM strategy. These in-person events can take a wide variety of forms. For example, you might choose to host an industry networking event or bring a group of individuals who all share a common goal or purpose. No matter which route you decide to take, you want to make sure you enjoy high attendance rates, and can give your targeted accounts the one-on-one attention that they deserve. The point of this particular ABM strategy is to maximise the impact your face-to-face time has with the key decision-makers on your targeted account. A failure to give them your undivided attention will be detrimental to your budding relationship, which is why you should plan an event that caters directly to their needs, wants, and goals.

The Bottom Line: Account-Based Marketing Is A Long-Term Holistic Strategy

Like anything worth doing in life, perfecting your account-based marketing campaigns will take time and effort. You will need to try a combination of tactics and strategies to find the perfect combination for your sales and marketing team and your prospects. By finding the right personalised balance, combined with the appropriate delivery methods, you can and will succeed at account-based marketing. 

To learn more about your specific roadmap to ABM success, contact us at 1827 Marketing team today. Our approach to beautifully modern campaigns will help you engage with your target accounts as you build meaningful relationships that lead to higher engagement levels and increased sales year over year.