Planning ABM takes time and effort. As marketers, you need to understand the accounts well. Different accounts require different approaches. The key is to ensure processes are in place to scale. Here are the proposed steps to follow:
- Get buy-in from Sales
- Identify key accounts
- Conduct research
- Identify key marketing channels
- Create a targeted outreach plan
- Monitor and track results over-time
#1 – ONBOARD SALES
I was asked by a client for the best way to introduce sales to ABM. In my experience, sales teams are incredibly busy. In their eyes, ABM adds to their already heavy workload because they must collaborate with marketing.
Here are a few things that should be discussed with sales as you plan your ABM strategy. Highlight how it will benefit them. It’s important to explain ABM and how it sets a path for sales enablement.
Explain how it will be carried out and what is expected of them.
Value Proposition – The sales and marketing teams should both agree on which products and services are suited to the target account and how they can help.
Share Goals – Discuss your goals and the KPIs used to measure them with the sales team.
Who Will be Involved – What marketing and sales staff will be involved in the ABM campaign? This should be made very clear to both sides from the start.
#2 – IDENTIFY KEY ACCOUNTS (New or Existing)
Partner with your sales team to create an ideal customer profile (ICP). This will be used to identify target accounts. Utilize firmographics such as:
- Annual Revenue
- Industry
- Company size
- Location
Consider whether these accounts present opportunities for new revenue or upsell or cross-sell. After creating an ICP, develop workflows within CRM software to identify target accounts in the future.
#3 – CONDUCT RESEARCH
Identify those involved in the target account’s decision-making process. Remember ABM is about winning over the account, not an individual. LinkedIn can be useful here to identify company employees and their job titles.
#4 – IDENTIFY KEY MARKETING CHANNELS
Where do decision-makers in each target account spend most of their time? What marketing channel will be most effective in reaching these people? LinkedIn is a popular choice for B2B marketing as many companies and their employees have a profile there.
#5 – CREATE TARGETED OUTREACH PLAN
Develop a plan to reach out to these decision-makers. Use your research to personalize campaigns. Simply listing off features is not enough. Remember, your content and messaging should convey how your products and services can help the target account. Case studies are one way to do this. Choose or create a case study that showcases how your products/services have helped companies like the target account.
#6 – MONITOR AND TRACK RESULTS
Monitoring the results of your account-based marketing strategy provides information on whether your campaign has been successful. This information can be used to improve future campaigns. Some useful KPIs to measure are:
- Percentage of deals closed
- Number of account sales
- Deal value
- Engagement with messaging
You can find Pam’s advice, along with other Leap Advisor’s solutions to today’s most pressing marketing challenges in our E-Book: The 10 Biggest CMO Challenges of 2022 and How to Conquer Them.
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