Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a strategic approach that has gained popularity in B2B marketing for its success in driving ROI and increasing revenues. For ABM to be successful, it is crucial to put the necessary work in to align sales and marketing teams with common values and goals. In this blog, I’ll explore the main components of a successful ABM framework.
Choosing Your Common Objective
To kick things off in the right way, sales and marketing should discuss and agree on which common objective they want to achieve. Is your goal to grow net new opportunities? Or is it to increase revenues from existing top clients? A common goal will lay down a solid foundation for your ABM campaign.
Defining Your Ideal Customer Profile and Target Account List
Based on the common objective, sales and marketing can start collaborating on defining their Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and building their shared Target Account List (TAL).
Each team can put forward the accounts with which they have had the most success and then narrow down the key accounts to focus on together. They can decide the common attributes of the account stakeholders, which will inform their ICP.
Thorough research is useful to gain insight into which companies to target. Commissioning insight reports or hiring an industry expert are also excellent ways to know which accounts to invest time and money in. You may also choose to use an intent technology partner to help you generate an initial TAL.
The Dynamic TAL
It helps to think of TALs as ‘living,’ constantly changing and moving. A deep understanding of the target accounts is key in choosing which tactics to leverage, and these tactics constantly need to be reviewed and re-evaluated based on how the target accounts are behaving and engaging. TALs also need to be continuously updated to make sure they remain in line with your objective. (Which accounts need to be added? Which ones should we remove? Who has moved through the pipe?).
Tailored Content for Every Stage
In ABM, content must be personalized to each specific account in your TAL. Since the buyer’s mindset will depend on the buyer’s role and stage in the buying journey, content should be tailored to ensure an approach for each specific account and for the full funnel. It is useful to review existing content and see which assets have performed well for past campaigns. Collaborating with content and creative partners can also prove valuable in designing your content strategy and tailoring your existing content based on your ABM goals.
Feedback Loop
It is important to know what is working as well as not working throughout the ABM campaign. Sales and marketing should continue to work closely and communicate effectively to share valuable feedback that can help nurture the target accounts and personas through the buying journey. Is there new research that can better address the client’s pain points? What insight can boost content creation? Success metrics at every stage are valuable to measure the progress that has been made from initial engagement to closed deals.
Worth the Work
ABM is certainly complex and requires a lot of planning and expert resource, but time and time again, it has proven successful in increasing pipeline and bringing in larger deal sizes. So, having a solid and unified approach is vital for your ABM strategy right from the very start.
Need help with your ABM journey? Please feel free to contact me to find out more about how LeadScale can support you.
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