A typical marketing funnel starts out broad, casting a wide net and hoping to catch an ideal client or two. But for B2B companies, there is another more effective approach – account based marketing, or ABM.
Let’s look at what ABM is, who it’s for, and why it can be a true game changer for B2B companies.
The traditional marketing funnel goes something like this:
Start out by building your brand, paying for ads and focusing on search engine optimization, and try to reach anyone who might be looking for your services. From there, find the people who show some interest in your services, and pass them along to your sales team. Your sales team then has to get in touch with those prospects and see if they’re a good fit for your products or services. Ultimately, those interactions result in just a few good fit opportunities, and a ton of disqualified leads.
That approach might work well for consumer brands, but it leaves something to be desired for B2B businesses.
ABM takes the typical approach and flips it on its head. Instead of hoping your service finds its way to an ideal client, you start by identifying the exact companies that you want to work with, and the decision makers who work at that company.
At that point, you can create a customized marketing strategy that speaks to the very specific pain points and opportunities that your business can address for those companies.
When you’re investing time and money into a marketing campaign, you want to do more than hope it will speak to your ideal clients and their needs. You want to build it with them in mind.
ABM focuses on a hyper-targeted approach that will reach those right-fit prospects, and ultimately result in better opportunities, more revenue and an increased ROI from your marketing efforts.
Companies see the benefit in this kind of approach. According to AMBLA, 76 percent of marketers say ABM provides a greater ROI than other marketing strategies, and 61 percent of businesses are either running an ABM program, or preparing to.
It can be difficult to keep the sales and marketing teams on the same page, but their collaboration is crucial for a seamless customer experience.
ABM aligns the sales and marketing teams from the very beginning. Both teams have to strategize to identify top prospects and build a targeted plan that will speak to their needs, and that alignment will support consistency in the onboarding process and ongoing client management.
When we think about implementing ABM for our clients, we start by scoping the specifications of the target market that they are trying to reach. We build filters to locate the right companies and their decision makers, and bring that information directly into their CRM. Then, we build out a strategic prospecting campaign (SPC), which is used to introduce your company and stay in front of your right fit prospects over a long period of time.
There are so many tactics that can be a part of these campaigns; 1:1 video, personal landing pages, direct mail and webinars, to name a few. As long as it speaks to your ideal clients and meets them where they’re at, it can be worked into your SPC.
The ideal ABM framework will look different for everyone, but the general process looks like this:
Identify a general process and benchmarks. This will require sales and marketing collaboration to determine the important steps in the strategy, as well as measures of success throughout the process.
Qualify top prospects. What does your ideal client look like, and which prospects fit the bill? Consider the size of your prospect, growth potential and who your competitors are working with.
Get to know your prospects. What are their needs, pain points and goals? How can your company help?
Attract the decision makers at your top prospect accounts. Engaging with your prospect on social media, creating targeted ad campaigns, inviting them to speak on an industry podcast or connecting at an event are all ways to get to know your prospect better.
Build relationships with your ideal prospects. Spend time getting to know them, and helping them understand what you do and how your services could help their business. The more they view you as a trusted expert, the likelier they are to choose you when they are in their buying window.
Track your results, find what works, and be open to adjusting your approach over time.
Not everyone is going to be ready to buy what you’re selling right now. In fact, research shows that only five percent of your available market is in their buying window right now.
That’s why ABM focuses on building an intentional campaign that fosters a relationship over time, and gives your ideal clients the opportunity to start a conversation with you the moment they are in their buying window.
If you’ve been using the traditional wide-net approach of marketing, then ABM can feel a little overwhelming or confusing at first. But by identifying your top accounts and creating bespoke marketing plans suited to their needs, you can position your company as the top choice in your industry, and consistently delight your prospects and clients along the way.