What is account based marketing and how do you get started?

Account Based Marketing (ABM) is a strategic approach to your B2B marketing efforts. ABM focuses on targeting personalized and highly targeted campaigns to high-value accounts. In this article, we take a look at:

• What is Account-Based Marketing (ABM)?
• Why use Account-Based Marketing (ABM)?
• Why should ABM and sales work together?
• How to get started with Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

What is Account-Based Marketing (ABM)?

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a strategic marketing approach that focuses on specific companies (or “accounts”) as individual marketing targets. Instead of trying to reach a broad audience, ABM concentrates on aligning marketing and sales efforts towards specific customers who are considered to have the greatest potential.

ABM is often used in B2B marketing and involves the marketing team working closely with the sales team to develop customized campaigns and solutions for specific prospects. It’s a more targeted and personalized approach compared to traditional marketing methods.

Why use Account-Based Marketing (ABM)?

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a marketing strategy that is particularly effective in B2B markets, where the focus is on building long-term relationships with key companies and not just chasing quantity. ABM has become popular because it delivers measurable and specific benefits that can be difficult to achieve with traditional marketing methods.

Here are some of the top reasons why companies should consider using ABM:

1. Focused resources on ‘high-value’ customers

One of the biggest benefits of ABM is that you can concentrate your resources and marketing efforts on the businesses that have the greatest potential to generate revenue. Instead of spreading your efforts across a broad audience, ABM targets specific high-value accounts. This leads to a more targeted and efficient use of both time and budget as you prioritize companies that are most likely to become profitable customers.

2. Better alignment between marketing and sales

ABM promotes close collaboration between marketing and sales teams. This requires both departments to work together to target and nurture specific accounts throughout the customer journey. By integrating marketing and sales, ABM creates a more cohesive experience for the targeted customers, increasing the likelihood of successful conversion. This collaboration also ensures that both marketing and sales are working towards the same goals and focusing on the right leads.

3. Personal and relevant communication

One of the greatest strengths of ABM is the ability to create highly customized campaigns and messages for the specific companies you target. Unlike broad marketing, where generic messages are often used, ABM ensures that each message is relevant to the individual account. This personal touch makes it easier to build trust and relationships, which is especially important in B2B sales where decision-making processes are often complex and involve multiple stakeholders.

4. Shorter sales process and increased conversion rate

By focusing on highly qualified leads and tailoring messages to their specific needs, ABM can help shorten the sales cycle. When you target your most relevant leads, you have a better chance of engaging them early in the process and guiding them faster towards a purchase decision. This also leads to higher conversion rates as you focus your efforts on companies that have already shown interest or fit your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) perfectly.

5. Higher Return on Investment (ROI)

Because ABM focuses on the accounts with the greatest potential and marketing efforts are carefully tailored to these customers, ABM can deliver a significantly higher ROI than broader marketing strategies. Resources are used more efficiently and the result is often greater customer value and higher customer loyalty. The long-term relationships built through ABM often lead to higher average orders and higher customer lifetime value.

6. Better measurement of results

ABM makes it easier to measure the success of your marketing activities because efforts are focused on a smaller number of targeted customers. This means you can measure progress and success against specific KPIs such as engagement, meetings and sales conversions. At the same time, ABM gives you a deeper understanding of how your efforts affect each customer, making it easier to adjust and optimize your strategies on an ongoing basis.

7. Improved customer experience

By tailoring your communication and content to each company in your ABM strategy, you can create a more personal and relevant customer experience. This is especially important in B2B markets where customers expect suppliers to understand their specific needs and challenges. ABM ensures that each customer feels valued and understood, which can lead to stronger relationships and long-term loyalty.

Why should ABM and sales work together?

Creating a sales strategy where account-based marketing is an essential part of it can be a catalyst for increased sales. By creating a plan for interaction between marketing and sales, you can take advantage of the synergies inherent in the two disciplines.

• Higher ROI: By targeting high-value businesses, you can see a higher ROI from your marketing and sales efforts.
• Personalization: ABM allows companies to tailor their messaging and outreach to each customer’s specific needs and pain points, leading to stronger relationships and better results.
• Improved customer retention: By focusing on building strong relationships with key customers, businesses can improve customer retention and reduce customer churn.

As ABM focuses on high-value businesses, the purchase from the company will often be more complex. Complex purchases also require a greater relationship with the seller. Therefore, relationship selling is also a term often used in connection with ABM. By focusing on long-term relationship-based sales efforts and a tailored marketing effort that ensures top-of-mind, you will find that ABM can be a very profitable discipline.

With flows like the one below, you can quickly define companies of a certain size. You can then create marketing campaigns for those companies and warm them up with personalized messages and references before sales reaches out to them.

6 steps to get started with Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

Implementing Account-Based Marketing (ABM) requires a structured and coordinated approach between marketing and sales. Here are the key steps you need to follow to get started with ABM:

1. Identify and select companies you want to target

The first step in ABM is to identify and select the companies that are most valuable to your business. This is also known as account selection and involves using both qualitative and quantitative data to select the right companies.

• Use CRM data, customer analytics and external tools to identify potential accounts that fit your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).
• Focus on the businesses that are most likely to become valuable, long-term customers.

Read more about ICP

2. Create close collaboration between marketing and sales

A successful ABM strategy requires close collaboration between marketing and sales teams. Both departments must work together to identify the best leads and align their efforts.

• Make sure you have common goals and metrics (e.g. meetings, closed sales, engagement) between the two departments.
• Hold regular meetings to ensure strategies are aligned and adjusted according to customer engagement and feedback.

3. Customize your messages and content

ABM is about creating personalized communication for the selected target companies. This means developing tailored messages and content that address the specific challenges and needs of each business.

• Create content such as whitepapers, case studies and targeted campaigns that speak directly to your chosen businesses.
• Use personalization tactics like emails with specific references to the company, their industry or their current challenges.

Read more about VPs and how to differentiate yourself with a positioning map.

4. Choose the right channels for your campaigns

To get the most impact from your ABM strategy, you need to choose the right channels where your target businesses are located. This can include:

• Email marketing: Tailored email campaigns that address the needs of target businesses.
• LinkedIn: Use LinkedIn for both organic and paid marketing aimed at decision makers in target companies.
• In-person meetings or webinars: Use occasions such as product demonstrations, events or meetings to engage businesses directly.
• Retargeting ads: Use digital advertising to stay visible to the businesses you target by using retargeting campaigns.

5. Measure and adjust your campaigns continuously

An important part of a successful ABM strategy is measuring the effectiveness of campaigns and adjusting them based on the results. Use metrics like engagement, meetings booked, conversion rates, and pipeline growth to track campaign progress.

• Use tools like CRM and marketing automation systems to collect data and track progress.
• Adjust the strategy continuously based on how the selected companies interact with your content and promotions.

6. Scale your ABM strategy

Once you’ve established an effective ABM strategy on a smaller scale, you can start scaling your approach to more target companies. Consider using technology and automation to handle multiple accounts efficiently without losing the personalized approach.

• Use ABM tools like HubSpot, Demandbase or Terminus to streamline the process and ensure you can scale without compromising on customization.

By following these steps, you can create a well-coordinated ABM strategy that ensures you target your key prospects with tailored communications and achieve better results.

Related reading

• Sales Performance & Market Focus