5 Account-Based Marketing Strategies for B2B Companies

In today’s B2B marketing landscape, niche-ing up is the name of the game.

The most successful brands are creating content for a small set of target customers, instead of for ‘the masses’. Business leaders are constantly searching for the right strategy to succeed. Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is that strategy.

The Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategy employs a marketing approach designed to reach out to decision-makers at organizations based on the products or services offered by your company.

If you’re like most B2B companies, then you’ve either tried or are still testing out Account-Based Marketing (ABM) in some form or another. It’s such a hot topic and many companies have started to add dedicated ABM Managers and resources for their efforts.

This blog covers:

Getting Started With Account-Based Marketing
5 B2B Account-Based Marketing Strategies
1. Identify and Focus on Key Accounts
2. Make Your Marketing Personalized and Relevant
3. Create Customer Journey Maps
4. Create Customer Personas Based on Behavioral Data
5. Develop Content That Inspires Action
Conclusion

Let’s dive in!

#1. Getting Started With Account-Based Marketing

With so much going on, it’s hard to know where to start when it comes to Account-Based Marketing (ABM). This is even more true if you’re a marketing newbie and tend to feel overwhelmed at the thought of tackling all the elements involved.

Account-based marketing is when a company focuses its marketing activities on specific companies instead of blanket messaging to anyone interested in the product or service. It requires hard work and dedication from both your marketing and sales teams.

The essential steps involved in executing successful ABM frameworks include leveraging account insights, unifying communication and alignment, and distributing personalized content.

Account-based marketing is everywhere. You see case studies, blog posts, online courses, and webinars on how to do account-based marketing (ABM). ABM is the way of the future. It’s how companies can tap into the richest source of opportunities — their target accounts.

However, growth in this area has slowed significantly because most companies use tactics that only work for the short term. Sometimes, an ABM effort only lasts three months. Most B2B companies don’t know how to make it sustainable or successful. To win the battle for market share using Account-Based Marketing, you’ve got to employ appropriate strategies.

#2. 5 B2B Account-Based Marketing Strategies

The Account-Based Marketing (ABM) revolution has changed the B2B landscape forever.

Being a customer-centric approach to marketing, ABM focuses on the targeted needs of individual accounts. In today’s world of marketing, it is an effective way to gain a competitive advantage, close deals faster, and drive revenue growth while improving customer retention.

While ABM can be an excellent way for B2B companies to improve their revenue performance, it is not as easy as simply executing one or two ABM strategies. And while the term is broad, there are a number of strategies that all companies need to consider in order to ensure they have an effective Account-Based Marketing strategy.

Here are 5 ABM strategies that can help bring positive changes to your business, from getting leadership support to implementing an ABM framework.

#a. Identify and Focus on Key Accounts

The first step in any account-based marketing strategy is to identify and focus on key accounts so you know who you should be talking to and what they need from you. You need to target decision-makers aligned with your business goals.

This can be done through a variety of methods, including listening on social media channels for mentions of specific products or services, referencing customer data such as industry rankings and revenue numbers, as well as using an automated sales intelligence tool like Salesforce.

#b. Make Your Marketing Personalized and Relevant

ABM is about creating personalized experiences for individual buyers across the purchase cycle, from initial research through post-sale support. You need to develop an account-based approach to your content marketing.

The best way to stand out from your competitors is by delivering personalized content to each prospect or customer. You can create personalized landing pages or send out personalized email campaigns. This will give prospects a reason to choose you over your competitors.

#c. Create Customer Journey Maps

A customer journey map is a visual representation of the customer’s interaction with your brand. It shows how customers move through different stages of their relationship with you and provides insights into what they need at each stage.

Creating customer journey maps can help you identify gaps between where they are and where they want to be so that you can create more relevant content and products to meet their needs.

#d. Create Customer Personas Based on Behavioral Data

One of the most effective ways to identify your best-fit accounts is by creating customer personas based on behavioral data. Behavioral data can help you identify the characteristics of your best customers, which you can use to create buyer personas. You can create lead scoring models based on account behavior or persona attributes that best predict outcomes in your sales funnel

This will allow you to create detailed profiles for each persona based on what they do and don’t do within their organization. By doing this, you’ll be able to better understand where they are in their buying process and what challenges they’re facing as they move from one stage to another.

#e. Develop Content That Inspires Action

An essential ABM strategy for B2B companies is to create content that inspires action. ABM is not just about creating content based on your prospects’ or customers’ specific needs and goals. It is also about driving your prospects to action.

Whether you’re creating personalized content via email or social media platforms to drive engagement, you need to ensure there is a clear call to action. Having a clear call to action helps your ideal customers know the next steps to take to purchase your product.

#3. Conclusion

With the right strategies and planning, you can significantly increase your marketing by focusing your efforts on a small number of accounts. This will help you not only to double down on quality marketing but also to prove that you have value after the pitch when it matters most. That is how you establish an effective long-term relationship with your prospective clients who become your actual customers.

To strive for a healthy balance, make sure you’re incorporating both low-touch and high-touch strategies. This should keep your sales pipeline full. If your pipeline is slim, it’s likely because you’ve skewed to one side or the other. It’s time to right the ship and incorporate these strategies to make sure leads are flowing through your sales pipeline.