Marketing Activities

Account-Based Marketing

A strategy that encompasses a broad range of marketing and sales ideas focused on a carefully selected list of potential customers. Account-based marketing is not a separate component of sales or marketing; rather, it's a framework that integrates with all marketing and sales efforts.

This approach to B2B marketing works on a one-to-one or one-to-few basis. Engage key stakeholders and execute personalized campaigns across all digital marketing channels. It's one of the most effective ways to acquire customers.

It is not a technology

It is not independent and isolated

It is not something new

It is a framework, a foundation for execution

There are many different ways to implement a marketing strategy within ABM (Account-Based Marketing). The key is to identify your target accounts, analyze them in depth, and create unique offers based on that analysis that take into account the pains/problems/opportunities of the key decision makers within those organizations.

Why should my company use ABM?

Most people answer this question by saying that XX% of companies use it and XX% of salespeople say it is effective. Great! We respond by saying - not all companies need to use ABM - if your ARR is less than $30-50K, then ABM is not necessary for you. If your ARR is more than $50K: on average, in a one-to-few strategy (over a period of 4-12 months), you will have a 25-35% positive response rate. That is, out of 100 companies, 25-35 are willing to talk and discuss sales/supply. Of these, between 3 and 7 will become your customers.

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PREPARATION PHASE

Define the overall interaction strategy (one-to-one, one-to-few, one-to-many), key performance indicators, and campaign success criteria.

Define the mechanics of interaction between employees and between marketing and sales within the organization.

Ideal customer profile (companies, not individuals). Identify priority accounts and key people within them.

Account scoring (assessing the customer's value to the company).

Collect all customer information (external and internal sources) and analyze each account to identify connections within the organization, likely decision makers, and individuals who will support your efforts within the customer.

A thorough analysis of each account will reveal how buyers are connected within the organization, identify likely decision makers, and who will support your efforts.

Define the assets the customer will interact with.

Identify engagement and communication channels.

Map the journey from first touchpoint to target interaction.

Identify customer pain points. Personalize content and creative (books, podcasts, webcasts, technical documents, webinars, copy, etc.)

Adapt to customer needs as they move through the funnel.

Programming of engagement channels (email marketing, content marketing, programmatic, contextual advertising, social media advertising, social selling, etc.)

Programming Attributes and Metrics.

Automate interactions and interpret the data received.

PERFORM ACTIVITIES

Interactions with champions (those who will support the effort within the target organization). This includes personalized emails and one-on-one phone calls, delivery of customized content, and content hubs tailored to individual needs.

Content usage analysis is key to subsequent interactions. All actions taken by target contacts must be measured and analyzed.

Test hypotheses in terms of "decision maker's specific problem, as part of the company's broader problem - proposed solution".

Adjusting activities based on hypothesis testing and understanding the decision chain within the target client.

Visualize the dependency tree of decision makers within the target client, value matrix (problem-opportunity-solution) for each decision maker.

Creation of unique "decisive" proposals and targeted interactions (letters, meetings, presentations, breakfasts and dinners) with decision makers to achieve a collective positive decision.

Campaign duration ranges from 3 to 12 months.

After converting the target customer into an active one - formulating an overall interaction strategy.

Полезные материалы

Key points to consider

The cornerstone of ABM effectiveness is alignment between marketing and sales. If your company has known friction and disagreements between these departments, it may be better to stick to more general lead-generation activities for now. In addition to sales, it's worth involving business development professionals.

Accounts Qualifying

Account data is not limited to first name, last name, position, and department. Also consider: interests (both professional and personal), education, marital status and children, age. Social networking activities. Company data: industry, location, IT infrastructure and software used (regardless of department), investment history, expansions, contractions, major company news. Media mentions. Employee hierarchy. IP address data, linking IP addresses to known companies and departments. How the purchasing process works within the company. History of all sales interactions.

Competitive landscape: Who are your competitors selling to? Understanding who is currently in the market for products and offerings similar to yours can help you identify target company opportunities.

Targeted Advertising

During negotiations, the key decision maker receives information and approval from his colleagues, many of whom the sales department may never contact (and may not even know exist). In this case, targeted advertising to all potential deal participants can help. Such advertising should be launched before the sales process begins, actively using segmentation, cookies from target account site visitors, and target company IP addresses.

Hyper-targeting in a one-to-few, one-to-many strategy

In this context, hyper-targeting can do more harm than good. There is a high risk of wasting time and financial resources, especially if you have miscalculated during preparation. Instead of personalized communications, use ads and stories that cover the most common buying situations (or "entry points") for both large and small consumers. To develop three to five effective ads, research the market thoroughly, or if you are on a tight budget, survey your sales departments to identify common problems in their accounts.