What Is Account-Based Marketing?

Account-based marketing (ABM) is the next step in inbound and outbound marketing. It’s a targeted, data-driven approach that leverages your customer relationship management (CRM) system to deliver personalized content to individuals at specific companies. ABM is a great way for small businesses to target particular customers of the best and highest valued accounts — it’s highly effective.

However, you may wonder what account-based marketing is and how it works. Below you will find out all that ABM entails and how to get started if it makes sense for your business.

What Is Account-Based Marketing?

Account-based marketing is a strategy that focuses on specific accounts and targets them with personalized messaging. It differs from inbound and outbound marketing because it begins with the customer rather than trying to attract new customers through ads or content creation.

ABM has many benefits over traditional outbound lead generation strategies, including:

•  Lower costs per lead.

• Higher conversion rates.

ABM requires understanding your customer’s journey and how they interact with your brand. It also requires a strategy that aligns with your company’s goals and objectives. The goal is to build trust, create a personal experience between buyer and seller and ultimately Drive sales.

How Does ABM Work?

Account-based marketing is a more targeted approach to cells and marketing. It focuses on high-value accounts rather than pouring all your attention into acquiring new customers.

This means you need to know who you’re targeting before you start the ABM process. Rather than emailing everyone in your CRM, you must consider how each customer fits into the bigger picture.

For instance, it’s not just about their needs at the moment — it’s about how they fit with other companies in their industry and how their needs might change over time.

Account-based marketing is a personalized approach because it allows companies to build customer relationships instead of focusing on transactions or clicks alone. When we say “personalized,” we don’t mean using specific language or topics tailored toward each customer. Rather, you would be pursuing tailored goals based on those relationships.

So if one person wants something while another needs to care more about it, you would only push both once they have an actual need present first.

Finally, ABM works faster because it takes advantage of existing conversations between two parties. This works by tailoring messages specifically toward them instead of sending generic patches.

Why Is ABM Important?

ABM effectively reaches your target audience, builds relationships with customers, and gets more leads.

Here are two ways in which account-based marketing can help you:

• Increases sales: ABM helps you identify the most promising product or service prospects. Then, it automatically connects you with them each time they interact with your brand. You’ll get more sales from existing customers this way since you’re reaching out at the right time.

• Get more leads: ABM lets you engage with potential buyers based on their specific interests — meaning you put less wasted effort into those who aren’t ready to buy.

How Does It Differ From Inbound and Outbound Marketing?

Account-based marketing is a form of inbound marketing. So, how does it differ from traditional outbound and inbound marketing?

ABM is more focused than inbound because it’s all about one thing — connecting with accounts where you have a high probability of success. Furthermore, it allows you to be more targeted than traditional outbound channels like cold calling or emailing. These two methods can be impersonal and ineffective on their own.

The end goal of account-based marketing is not to drive general awareness. But instead, it is to generate qualified leads that convert into pipeline opportunities for your sales team.

When Does ABM Make Sense for My Business?

If you’re ready to modernize your marketing approach, you can start with account-based marketing. ABM is a strategy marketers can use to build deeper relationships with their best prospects. It’s all about identifying those accounts with the greatest potential, then using technology and data analysis to reach them more effectively.

When investing in this type of program, a few questions should help determine whether it’s right for you.

Are You Willing To Collaborate Effectively Across Sales and Marketing Teams?

ABM is similar to inbound marketing, requiring strong communication between the sales and marketing departments to work effectively.

If these two groups aren’t on the same page, ABM will be counterproductive. In fact, one of the core goals here is getting everyone involved in identifying which accounts matter most. That way, they have access to up-to-date information at all times.

Doing this enables better decision-making across all functions within an organization.

Do You Know Enough About Your Market?

If not, try some competitive intelligence research first — it’ll give both teams insight into how you stack up against competitors when closing deals.

Is Your Lead Process Working as Well as It Should?

If you’re losing out on closing deals or they’re going stale, now would be a good time to identify gaps in your current sales funnel. You’ll need to ensure you make an honest assessment of where these issues lie so that ABM can help you fix them.

Are You Prepared for Increased Demand From New Clients?

Businesses will see higher conversion rates by strategically targeting top leads online through social media platforms.

Are There Any Best Practices for Account-Based Marketing?

When it comes to account-based marketing, these are the best practices you can implement within your strategy:

• Make sure you have a detailed prospect list. You want to ensure you’re selling to the right people. The more granular your list, the better your results will be.

• Have a dedicated account manager for each account. The most important thing is having someone on your team who knows their stuff and can help guide others through this process.

• Set up a dedicated lead generation team. Doing this is critical because, otherwise, it will likely fall onto existing staff members, causing problems concerning time management or other projects falling by the wayside in favor of ABM work.

How Do I Get Started With ABM?

Once you figure out whether ABM is right for you, you can focus on the right accounts.

To start with ABM, you’ll first need to define your target customer and determine who they are and what they want. Then, create a customer profile that describes each stage of the buying process for your ideal clients.

You can use this information to identify the accounts that will most likely buy from you. Then, you can create a list of target personas that reflect how these potential customers think, act and make decisions based on their business needs.

Doing this will guide your account-based strategies as you advance. With that in place, you’ll be able to prioritize activities based on the highest importance for reaching your buyer — or finding new ones who fit the profile.

Get Started the Right Way With ABM

If you’re ready to get started on your ABM journey, it’s highly recommended to take some time to plan how you want your program to work — and what resources you need. It’s also important you have a solid understanding of the different stages involved in ABM before starting a campaign.

With these tips in mind, consider implementing them into your ABM efforts and create a foundation for success.