Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a highly-tailored marketing strategy that targets a specific business. It is usually used by B2B businesses in order to win new high-value accounts, or to increase the business they are already receiving from a high-value customer.
ABM means customizing a marketing campaign based on specific characteristics and needs of a target account in order to maximize engagement and drive the highest return from the business.
Account-Based Marketing Example
Imagine your target account is a telecommunication company and you know that their CEO is a huge fan of cheese.
You could customize your marketing campaign to mention cheese or be featured on famous cheese websites in order to increase your chances of being seen and approved of by the CEO.
The intention is that you would do this while still staying aligned with your campaign objectives.
Why is ABM Important?
Account-Based Marketing is important for B2B companies that have large deal sizes and long sales cycles. ABM is an effective methodology as its approach is designed based on the unique needs and desires of the decision-makers within an organization.
In turn, it provides a higher ROI than other marketing approaches. The benefits of ABM are as follow:
Customized Marketing Approach
With the ABM approach, marketers personalize and tailor campaign messages for each target account based on their specific needs and attributes. As a result, this approach generates more engagements and lead conversions.
Alignment of Sales and Marketing
Using Account-Based Marketing, sales and marketing teams can work together to create campaigns that are personalized for the prospects and lead them through the stages in the sales cycle.
Shorter Sales Cycle
The generic B2B marketing approach usually starts with a lower level in an organization and moves towards the main decision-maker. With Account-Based Marketing, the sales cycle is shortened as the decision-makers are all targeted together.
Higher ROI
ABM is known to deliver the highest ROI compared to all other B2B marketing approaches. According to research conducted by ITSMA, 87% of marketers reported seeing a higher ROI with ABM than any other types of marketing.
Efficient Use of Resources
With ABM, companies can save time and resources by focusing narrowly on potential accounts, and therefore, fewer resources are wasted.
5 Key Steps to Implement ABM
ABM is an effective B2B marketing approach that drives the highest return. In order to implement this strategy, follow the key steps below:
- Identify your target account.
- Conduct the research needed on those target accounts. Some helpful types of research include:
- Market Research: industry, competitors, trends.
- Company: financials, SWOT, culture.
- People: key players, management, buying power.
- Relationship: organizational structure, reporting teams.
- Create a customized campaign for the target accounts.
- Run the customized campaign.
- Measure and evaluate your campaign.
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