Definitive Guide
to Account
Based Marketing

ABM is popular with B2B marketers because in this market sealing the deal with a high-profile account can generate a six-figure addition, or more, for the company coffers.

Those clients recruited via a B2B account based marketing campaign also tend to be more loyal to the brand and more willing to invest in upsells, compared to accounts gained by regular inbound or outbound marketing efforts.

In the B2B world, ABM is the most effective way to secure the highest value accounts. Also, 2021 is set to be a breakthrough year for this marketing method.

Before diving into an actual ABM campaign companies should firstly develop an ideal client profile (ICP).

Since ABM is a highly personalised and targeted approach, it makes sense to go after the highest-converting accounts in the marketplace. The initial challenge to any account based marketing strategy therefore will be to develop an ICP that aligns with the direction of the business.

• The Assets

Having decided on an approach, taking into consideration things like the presentation of solutions and tone of language, the next step is to strategise assets such as articles, eBooks, whitepapers, webinars, and more.

During the research phase, marketing teams should have established what type of content should be geared for their ICP. If unsure, do not be afraid to ask. And once established, only push content in the preferred formats. If the ICP does not care for eBooks, then don’t bother with them. Just create what is likely to be consumed.

And consider a Call-To-Action (CTA) button. This should be tailored to the target account, rather than your entire audience, by incorporating the keywords the target uses.

• The Distribution

Even with ABM it is important to plan how to distribute content. Consider the most active channels and focus on them, as well as determining a cost per lead that will fit within the budget.

If a target account is a heavy LinkedIn user, an SDR should add them, interact with posts, and when the time is right, send a message.

Content distribution is perhaps the most important aspect of ABM since it demonstrates how relevant your business is to the prospect. Hit the right note early on and a buying committee meeting might happen faster than expected.

Having said that, it can be beneficial to know who the buying team is.
To identify the buying team for a particular account:

• Search for C-suite and managers on the LinkedIn page of the company.
• Check the ‘who we are’, ‘leadership’ or ‘about us’ pages of the company website.
• Hire a demand generation service for buying committees, which uses AI and a database to identify members.

Having identified the members of a buying committee, a tailored content plan for each member can really drive home a conversion. Alternatively, create a single plan with content that will be well-received by each member.

A ‘problem > solution’ format is generally better received than product features. Consider that a problem such as churn will be understood by everyone, while specifics like ‘cloud service latency’ interests only developers and IT staff.

Analyse each profile in the buying committee and create content that will resonate with members. Psychographics help identify the key emotions of prospects when making a buying decision, as well as which keywords to include in a CTA button.

1. One-to-One

This is the classic account based marketing tactic in which single accounts are targeted with a marketing campaign. It is this approach that offers the most personalisation and the highest possibility of an upsell.

Because these campaigns are so micro-targeted, they require the most effort, yet offer the highest payoff. B2B marketers usually apply one-to-one ABM to high-profile accounts that will bring in six-figures or more.

However, if the one-to-one approach fails it can be costly. Even so, content can still be repurposed for other accounts or even inbound marketing campaigns.

2. One-to-Few

Coined by ITSMA as ‘ABM Lite’, with this approach marketers target a group of similar accounts with a single campaign.

While not as personalised as one-to-one, it requires a lower financial commitment to securing a conversion. It’s not all or nothing. With the one-to-few approach, if one company fails to show interest there are always others.

3. One-to-Many

This approach, also known as programmatic ABM, allows marketers to target hundreds or even thousands of accounts in a personalised way.

Usually launched with marketing automation software, the one-to-many tactic targets a cluster of accounts with similar features, making adjustments when needed on a case-to-case basis.

This approach is best suited to cost-conscious marketers who want to benefit from wide-reaching campaigns that still retain a more personalised touch, compared to a standard ‘one-size-fits-all’ marketing campaign.

Events

Finally, our last account based marketing example: INFUSE launches virtual and in-person events to nurture relationships with our target accounts.

Virtual events work best for international accounts or in locations where covid restrictions are still in effect, while in-person events are held in the US and Europe with account holders invited along as guests.

The events are designed with the preferences of the account holders in mind, which means we create an event for them, not us. With a focus on shared experiences, even cooking or drawing classes are a possibility, even in B2B! At the end of the day, it is about bringing people together in fun and creative ways.

With ABM software, companies can launch campaigns and track engagement. However, software still requires marketing teams to execute the campaigns, create assets and make adjustments.

This can take up a substantial portion of a team’s schedule. And if marketers are struggling, deciding to bring the ABM campaign in-house might not be the best idea.

Maybe they have the time but lack guidance. Whatever the reason, an ABM services provider can help generate an ICP list, target those accounts, as well as create the content needed to engage contacts via in-house marketing and sales teams.

Learn more about INFUSE’s account based marketing services.

ABM gets marketers and sales teams singing from the same hymn sheet.

Both teams must work together to successfully deliver an ABM campaign, with tactics synchronised for maximum effectiveness.

Thus, ABM can be a strategy not only to win over high-profile accounts, but also to get your departments aligned.
So, if your sales and marketing teams aren’t cooperating, ABM will get them talking.

After all, such a personalised strategy requires teamwork to be successful.

With ABM companies can in effect bypass the regular sales funnel format and advance straight to GO, identifying key accounts and targeting them with personalised content and ads.

With more traditional inbound marketing methods, resources are spent attracting leads to the top of the sales funnel and nurturing them to the bottom. But with ABM, the funnel per se is replaced with a direct sense of contact with high-value targets.

Hubspot presents the ABM sales cycle as a pitch-focused model:

While the first two steps in Hubspot’s definition might seem obvious, the latter two refer to convincing the buying committee and post-sales support.

Another platform for ABM learning is LinkedIn. There are several groups on the subject users can join, and hashtags such as #ABM and #accountbasedmarketing allow followers to get expert analysis posted to their feed.

Account based marketing is a personalised marketing strategy that facilitates the identification and acquisition of the most valuable accounts, compared to more traditional campaigns.

Nevertheless, it does have its drawbacks. The main one being that more time and effort is required to micro-target content to individual or groups of accounts.

A single successful approach does not exist with ABM because every vertical has its own set of issues and pain points which need to be reflected in the personalised campaigns.

Buying committees, often the final frontier in ABM campaigns, can also alter drastically from one another depending not only on the industry, but company size and budget.

In short, ABM is a micro-targeting marketing strategy designed to secure high-value accounts via personalised campaigns.