Close your eyes, and imagine…
Instead of going through bundles of hurdles to simply get a sales process started, what if you could directly begin by selling to your best-fit and highest-value clients?
Think of all the efficiency achieved and time saved by not having to market and sell to unqualified leads, who’re especially not the right fit for your business. In short, you can divulge into the stages of engaging and delighting your most lucrative target accounts.
Sounds too good to be true, right?
Well, it isn’t.
With the rise and mass acceptance of new technologies and account-based marketing, you can now realistically achieve all this!
Wondering “what is account based marketing?”, fret not, we’ve got you covered. In this post, we’ll discuss how this process enable businesses to align their sales and marketing endeavors from the get-go to foster long-term business growth, boost revenue and satisfy customers!
So, without any more delays, let’s dive in!
What Is Account Based Marketing?
Account based marketing, also commonly referred as ABM is a focused growth strategy in which the sales and marketing teams of a businessjoin hands to create highly personalized buying experiences for a mutually-identified set of best-fit, and highest-value accounts within a market.
This business marketing strategy concentrates resources on developing tailored campaigns specially designed to engage each account, founding the ultimate marketing message on the particular needs and attributes of the account. In addition to this, account based marketing (ABM) also takes a more holistic marketing that’s beyond merely lead generation. The key founding principle of ABM states, encouraging up selling and cross-selling to existing customers through marketing is the best way to get the most value from your largest accounts.
Here’s a simple depiction of ABM and conventional marketing:
AccountBased Marketing (ABM) Approaches
The ABM approach was first pioneered by ITSMA in the 2000s. However, over the years, it has identified three different types of ABM approaches that businesses generally take. These approaches include:
- Strategic Account Based Marketing (ABM) – Building and fostering lucrative relationships is the core focus of this approach, and it’s executed on a one-to-one basis, generally for highly strategic accounts.
- Account Based Marketing (ABM) Lite –This approach makes it possible for businesses to pursue account based marketing at scale. The focus is largely on lightly tailored campaigns targeted at a small group of similar accounts.
- Programmatic Account Based Marketing (ABM) – The programmatic ABM approach somewhat combines the previous two ABM approaches by calling upon state-of-the-art technologies to personalize marketing campaigns for target accounts at scale. This approach also simultaneously focuses on a certain vertical or horizontal segment.
Remember, the decision to use just one approach or an amalgamation of all depends greatly on your organization and the sophistication of your account based marketing program.
Benefits of Account Based Marketing
ABM is an increasingly popular approach for businesses that aim to target larger accounts. Therefore, if you’re trying to sell into large target accounts with lengthy sales cycles and big deal sizes, the ABM approach can offer you several benefits over other marketing approaches. Here are some of those benefits:
Personalized marketing approach
- Clearer ROI
- Sales and marketing alignment
- Shorter sales cycles
- Fewer wasted resources.
Face Off: Account Based Marketing vs. Inbound Marketing
We’ve come across several marketers who wonder if they should dedicate their resources to account based marketing or inbound marketing. But let us end this debate once and for all.
“Account Based Marketing vs. Inbound Marketing” isn’t an either-or solution or decision.
In fact, both of these approaches have a critical place in the contemporary marketing toolbox, and in actuality complement one another.
Think of them like peanut butter and jelly; Batman and Robin; bat and ball…
These are definitely some of the strongest and greatest partnerships ever to exist.In fact, they are forces to be reckoned with when they work together.
Likewise, when paired, ABM and inbound marketing have the power to turn around things for your business.
You may question, “How exactly does this partnership work?”
Well, as you learned, account based marketing is a highly targeted strategy. On the other hand, inbound marketing is more “foundational” if you what we mean. Unlike ABM, the inbound marketing methodology and growth strategies enable businesses to attract customers by creating valuable content, search engine optimization, and a pleasing customer experience.
Instead of interrupting the target audience and existing customers, inbound marketing enables marketers to more organically provide their audience with the info they want or need, when they need it. In a nutshell, inbound marketing lays the groundwork for a robust ABM strategy through highly efficient and targeted resource allocation of high-value customer accounts.
Closing Note
Now that you know what ABM is and how it can help your business, it’s time to put this knowledge into practice. However, keep in mind that if the results aren’t as great as you anticipated the first time around, do not be discouraged! Arguably, the best thing about digital marketing is the fact that results are measurable, allowing you to figure out exactly where you need to improve and evolve.
In the opposite scenario of ABM yielding massive returns for your business, just keep going on with the great work!
