The concept of account-based marketing (ABM) has gained traction in recent years, with companies finding great reward with hyper-personalized targeting efforts. This process, however, is a resource-intense activity, leaving many companies questioning if they should stick to casting a wide net hoping for success, or if it’s also worth chasing a smaller group of accounts with a greater commitment.
In this #ContentChat, Sierra Summers (@SierraSummers), demand generation and marketing operations consultant with Main Shark, joined us to discuss what makes ABM so valuable, when an account-based approach makes sense, how you can prove the ROI of your ABM efforts, and where content fits into the picture (hint: practically everywhere).
Q1: What is account-based marketing (ABM)? How does it compare to inbound marketing?
ABM takes your traditional marketing tactics and laser focuses them toward a very specific target audience or individual account.
A1a: Funny you ask – when I first started in marketing we called it “strategic” marketing. At the core it is taking applying your marketing programs/campaigns/tactics at a group of accounts/prospects. #contentchat
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
A1b – It is highly targeted and specific to the individual accounts. @Engagio defines it as “go-to-market strategy that coordinates personalized marketing and sales efforts to land and expand target accounts” #contentchat
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
A1c – the biggest difference is you aren’t boiling the ocean. It is not “if you build it they will come.” It is designing your messaging/programs/campaigns around a smaller subset of prospects. You are leveraging all angles to break into the account #contentchat
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
Any of your existing strategies and/or marketing collateral can be used in an ABM approach, but there will almost definitely be some personalization and fine-tuning to appeal to your target audience’s needs and preferences.
A1: Account-based marketing is targeting your marketing efforts to a select group of ideal clients, with tailored content reflecting their needs. Inbound marketing revolves around creating great content that speaks to your target audience overall. #contentchat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) July 8, 2019
Account Based Marketing is the process where sales and marketing team up to go after key accounts.
Instead of creating content for personas or roles you create or modify content for specific people at the target account.
#ContentChat #ABM #Marketing— Tod Cordill (@todcordill) July 8, 2019
A1: For me, any marketing technique where you go after a specific prospect (account) is ABM. The perfect ABM will combine inbound and outbound marketing techniques. #ContentChat
— ⓂⒶⓁⓉⒺ ⓁⒶⓃⒹⓌⒺⒽⓇ (@MalteLandwehr) July 8, 2019
A1.
ABM – Highly targeted way to market your specific audience.
Mostly I will do this with Facebook pixel by adding user identity. I.e (profile link)
ABM is a part of Inbound I believe. #ContentChat
— ⚡ Vraj Shah (@vrajshahspeaks) July 8, 2019
A1: ABM is targeting a very specific people or account with relevant messages or content. #ContentChat
— Bernie Fussenegger #Digital360Chat (@B2the7) July 8, 2019
Many marketers like Derek have used ABM principles without realizing it. Are you in that group?
All this time I was ABMing and I didn’t even know it (in my past life) #ContentChat
— Derek Pillie (@derekpillie) July 8, 2019
Q2: What kinds of marketing and sales organizations should consider switching to ABM?
ABM is a resource-heavy approach, especially since the modern buyer’s journey can span several months and 10+ touchpoints. Companies with especially high-value customers or complex buying cycles can benefit from ABM, which is why B2B is one of the most natural use cases for ABM (but B2C can be relevant as well). It’s best to have a defined budget and dedicated resources that can sustain months of activity before a deal closes.
A2a – great question! I would stay first and foremost – those with a defined budget. ABM should not be attempted while being scrappy. (Yes, it can be done but not at scale). #contentchat #abm
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
A2: In my opinion, every B2B sales/marketing organization should look into ABM. Especially if you have large tickets, a long sales cycle, and multiple stakeholders. #ContentChat
— ⓂⒶⓁⓉⒺ ⓁⒶⓃⒹⓌⒺⒽⓇ (@MalteLandwehr) July 8, 2019
A2. Account Based Marketing should be considered if you check these boxes:
B2B company with
High Value Customers and
Long, complex buying cycles
#ContentChat #ABM #marketing— Tod Cordill (@todcordill) July 8, 2019
A2 Speaking from personal experience, ABM worked for us because we sold a product that was:
1) Expensive
2) Required a significant education curve
3) Provided the most benefit to business that sold high profit margin products through a distributed network. #ContentChat— Derek Pillie (@derekpillie) July 8, 2019
Technology will help your ABM efforts, but it is not exactly a “must-have” for you to start implementing ABM ideals (Tod & Erika discuss how it can be done).
A2C- Lastly, these companies should be somewhat mature in their technology stack. I suggest having a CRM like @salesforce, a marketing automation system like @marketo and data enrichment tools like @insideview @DiscoverOrg or @ZoomInfo #ABM #contentchat
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
I agree that CRM needs to be in place. A tool like @Zoominfo can help considerably. But if you don’t have #MarketingAutomation in place I wouldn’t wait to get started on #ABM.
Having an #ABM process will clarify what you need your marketing automation to do. #ContentChat
— Tod Cordill (@todcordill) July 8, 2019
What would you recommend for tracking/scheduling touches if the team is not using a marketing automation tool? I dread having someone leave the org in sales, for example, and losing all that history in their email inbox. Ideally, they’d log in CRM…but…#ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) July 8, 2019
Relying on sales to log all contacts in CRM is untenable in many or most company cultures.
If you integrate the email system with CRM you can automatically log incoming and outgoing emails in CRM.
You can also set up sales workflows in many CRM systems. #ContentChat
— Tod Cordill (@todcordill) July 8, 2019
I agree. Automating any of these high-value repetitive tasks is so important. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) July 8, 2019
At a minimum, your team needs to understand its audience and what value your product provides. If your story can be told and sold in a mass-blast communication, ABM may not be needed.
A2b – Second – companies with a targeted product/service that can be applied to specific personas or industries. You should be able to say why the product applies specifically to that company/persona. #ABM #contentchat
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
Q3: What is the role of content and content marketing in ABM?
Content is needed at every step of the buyer’s journey to help move prospects to the next stage. This content should address pain points that the customer is facing, and an ABM approach requires that these pain points directly resonate with the target (versus a range of semi-relevant pain points being discussed).
A3a – Content should be created to align with your target accounts and the target buying persona. While this is important – this doesn’t mean it is ok to abandon your #SEO strategy. #abm #contentmarketing
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
A3b – Content should be designed for three things – the industry, the pain point and the persona. #contentchat #ABM #contentmarketing
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
A3c – Consider creating a matrix – with the industry (or however you break out your ABM list, could be region,etc), persona, and why your product/solution helps make life easier for that persona #contentchat #ABM #contentmarketing
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
As your team identifies new priority accounts, the marketing team can address current gaps in content that need to be filled. Blanket communications won’t cut it in an ABM approach.
So in an essence, content marketing uses the insights gleaned through the ABM discovery process to improve and enhance personas, and use them as a tool for driving their editorial calendar, and being able to say “no” to those “but we always..” projects you dread. #ContentChat https://t.co/XEetzZHDJE
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) July 8, 2019
A3: Content marketing becomes very important as you are being very targeted – should be relevant and personalized for your target person/audience. #ContentChat
— Bernie Fussenegger #Digital360Chat (@B2the7) July 8, 2019
A3: ABM and Content Marketing should be tied together closely.
Go after few, specific accounts? Adapt Content Marketing assets to these accounts.
Go after same role at many different companies? Content Marketing should adapt plans to support ABM campaigns. #ContentChat— ⓂⒶⓁⓉⒺ ⓁⒶⓃⒹⓌⒺⒽⓇ (@MalteLandwehr) July 8, 2019
A3: Through your content, you’re able to reach your audience. You can develop blog posts, videos, social media posts, etc. to draw them to your brand.
Use it to connect with them and address their pain points. Over time, you’ll build the KLT Factor. #ContentChat
— Express Writers | Your Content Writing Team (@ExpWriters) July 8, 2019
Q4: What content marketing tools or resources do you need to have in place to support ABM?
Regardless of the tools at your disposal, any team needs a solid ABM foundation. This includes clean data, the ability to follow up with leads on a set cadence, a place to document progress and activities, and agreed-upon roles and responsibilities.
A4c – and last – no matter what tools you have in place – you need a foundation! clean data, good use of your CRM, custom fields and DOCUMENTATION! This is not a one person project – your entire company must be aligned to achieve #ABM #contentchat #MarketingAutomation
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
Agreed! It works best when the rules of engagement are clearly laid out. We use @Basecamp but @Slack @Googledocs @Zoom @Skype – all work well.#ContentChat
— Debi Norton (@BRAVOMedia1) July 8, 2019
A4: First and foremost, you need your internal processes in place, starting with defining roles & responsibilities, target audience, and of course, a detailed content strategy. A lot of times companies just buy the “ABM tech” without the foundation. #ContentChat
— Berrak Sarikaya | Content Strategist | Speaker (@BerrakBiz) July 8, 2019
Oh, the dreaded “roles and responsibilities” matrix.. 😉 I kid, but there seems to often be a lot of “shared” ownership in the sales enablement and marketing comms worlds. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) July 8, 2019
It’s cumbersome but it’s one of the first questions we ask our clients. Otherwise, it all becomes a big mess. “Shared” ownership is fine, as long as there is a defined decision maker. #ContentChat
— Berrak Sarikaya | Content Strategist | Speaker (@BerrakBiz) July 8, 2019
Luckily, there are countless tools at your disposal to help you with this process. They range from audience research, task automation, targeting, and more. Comment if any of your favorites are missing.
A4a – I love this question! I love @marketo for marketing automation and getting campaigns to deploy on time, to the persona with timely information. I’m also loving @Drift too – create custom chat bots based on the account #ABM #contentchat
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
A4b – @Terminus has been a great help with getting targeted ads out to the companies on my clients’ ABM lists. And I can’t forget about @sigstr. There are so many out there, check out #flipmyfunnel and https://t.co/pb1h1gHHcX for more! #contentchat #ABM #MarketingAutomation
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
I am SUCH a big fan of the folks @sigstr. They do an excellent job on onboarding, in addition to having the best tool for turning your everyday emails from everyone on the team into hard-working marketing tools. #ContentChat https://t.co/xl8UWshbiW
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) July 8, 2019
A4: I am a huge fan of @outreach_io
LinkedIn is great, as well! #ContentChat
— ⓂⒶⓁⓉⒺ ⓁⒶⓃⒹⓌⒺⒽⓇ (@MalteLandwehr) July 8, 2019
A4.
1st – Find your appropriate audience who listen you.
Where?
If Social Media
– #ContentChat (Hashtags)
– Demographics
– Interests
Competeor Analysis2nd Content it self
I am using @CMIContent, @HubSpot, and @semrush for a reference.— ⚡ Vraj Shah (@vrajshahspeaks) July 8, 2019
A4: Linkedin is a great tool to use for B2B outreach around ABM #ContentChat
— Bernie Fussenegger #Digital360Chat (@B2the7) July 8, 2019
Don’t get too distracted by the shiny objects. Have a clear idea of what you actually need and when you need it. Start small and assess tech needs as you scale.
A4a: When you’re ready to actually execute an ABM program, you need:
– Marketing automation
– Content management system
– AnalyticsThe *actual* tools depend on your budget and what actually integrates with your existing systems. #ContentChat
— Berrak Sarikaya | Content Strategist | Speaker (@BerrakBiz) July 8, 2019
I agree, but I’d say you need #MarketingAutomation when you want to SCALE your #ABM program.
#ContentChat— Tod Cordill (@todcordill) July 8, 2019
Q5: We have a small marketing team. How can we accommodate the customization and personalization that ABM content requires?
If your team is short on resources, start small with your ABM activities. Pilot launch your program and focus on content that is easy to repurpose or that can work across channels.
A5a – start small. and remember #ABM isn’t only the responsibility of the marketing team – but sales too – they just call it `Account Based Selling`. Instead of having 100 target accounts, shorten it to maybe 25 or 50. #contentchat #ABM
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
A5: ABM with a small marketing team?
• Make smart decisions around tools.
• Repurpose your content as much as possible.
• Prioritize the creation of content that works for multiple marketing channels (SEO, Social, ABM). #ContentChat— ⓂⒶⓁⓉⒺ ⓁⒶⓃⒹⓌⒺⒽⓇ (@MalteLandwehr) July 8, 2019
Start by making simple tweaks to the content you already have. You don’t have to create entirely new content for a successful ABM approach.
A5b – One you have those accounts – you can do direct mail to those smaller set of accounts – but make it more personalized – where did they go to school, what are their hobbies, do they have any pets? Send direct mail, engage with them on social. #contentchat #ABM
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
A5c – It can even be as simple as sending our four different emails based on what you use to segment your accounts (industry, region, size, etc.) – it doesn’t need to be complex you can swap out a sentence or an image #contentchat #ABM #worksmart
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
Your content team can create email streams w/a certain amount of content tailored towards the persona, & include those prompts for where to personalize with that hard-won data. I know I am way more inclined to chat with a salesperson who is aware of my interests #ContentChat https://t.co/9Pt9k3gNYK
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) July 8, 2019
A5D – I really like @MyConversica to help here too #contentchat #ABM
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
With most projects, having internal alignment on goals and C-Suite support is an essential place to start.
a5 Small teams can be a benefit as they are more nimble. Accommodating & collaboration amongst Sales & Marketing first must have the support of the C-Suite and be in alignment with the end-goal.#Contentchat pic.twitter.com/A7MJgQKw7o
— Debi Norton (@BRAVOMedia1) July 8, 2019
Q6: What are the KPIs or metrics we should track as content marketers to show ABM success?
Your KPIs will depend on the goals you’ve set, but some essentials: content views, social media engagement, email open rates, form submissions, site visits, etc.
A6a – <3 this! Look at engagement – how frequently are people from target accounts (another plug for @Terminus here) viewing your content, how are they engaging on social, email. Look attention metrics – are they opening emails, submitting forms. #ABM #contentchat
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
A6b – don’t spam your #ABM accounts either – measure what kinds of content resonates with your audience, blogs, case studies, white papers, etc. #ABM #contentchat
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
A6: Track things like engagement so you can see what your audience is saying and whether or not they resonate with your content. You’ll also want to track conversions like sales, sign-ups, etc. #ContentChat
— Express Writers | Your Content Writing Team (@ExpWriters) July 8, 2019
a6 That depends on the GOALS. KPI’s to track could be:
* More Sales
* Upselling
* Phone Calls
* Foot Traffic
* Landing Page ConversionsAll Depends on the goal(s).#contentchat
— Debi Norton (@BRAVOMedia1) July 8, 2019
A6.
🔥 User interaction and Interest in products. Monstly contact forms and DMs. (In late conversation you can convert them)– Increases Social Media Vanity Metrics & subscribers
– Landing page visits
And after all 💎
Sales and Purchases from ABM and Remarketing#ContentChat— ⚡ Vraj Shah 📸 (@vrajshahspeaks) July 8, 2019
Q7: What tools or resources do you recommend for content marketers just getting started with account-based marketing?
Start by researching the topic (our community shared some articles below). Next, look at your own data and resources—look into your Google Analytics dashboard, understand how customers are currently finding you, and talk to your prospects to understand how they speak and their problems that you can solve.
A7a – run, don’t walk to @Engagio and download their guide – https://t.co/MWLXBBkebs (Not a sponsored post) #ABM #Contentchat
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
A7b – sit down with your sales leadership to understand how they’re breaking into accounts, listen in on prospecting calls, onboarding calls – how do the prospects/customers describe the problems your product/service solves #ABM #Contentchat
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
A7c – get familiar with google analytics, understand where the traffic on your website is coming from. subscribe to a service like @Leadfeeder to see what pages your target accounts are visiting on your website #ABM #Contentchat
— sierrasummers (@SierraSummers) July 8, 2019
Using your prospects own words is so important! Your company’s jargon isn’t going to connect with the real people who make your buying decisions. #ContentChat https://t.co/LSanXdaHDo
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) July 8, 2019
A7.
Today’s conversation is also a part of it. With that @CMIContent, @socialmedia2day, and @SMExaminer s articles and podcasts on it.
After we all have G O O G L E.#ContentChat
— ⚡ Vraj Shah 📸 (@vrajshahspeaks) July 8, 2019
A7: Talk with your teams to understand who they are talking to, what their questions are, what questions they get the most – this will help with the personalization and relevant content to help with connecting and building of the relationship. #ContentChat
— Bernie Fussenegger #Digital360Chat (@B2the7) July 8, 2019
Leave a Reply