Do you spend resources on every prospect you have? Now you can concentrate on only high-value accounts and eliminate fewer value clients with the help of account-based marketing (ABM). In addition, your marketing and sales teams can work together more effectively with an account-based marketing plan. By nurturing many leads and reducing the time spent waiting for each decision maker’s approval, marketing collateral distributed to multiple decision-makers shortens the sales cycle.
As a result, your team can move much more quickly into the crucial procedures of engaging and pleasing those clients. So, there is no need to waste time attempting to advertise to leads who are not the proper fit for your company. This highly personalized sales prospecting strategy is worth trying.
What is account-based marketing?
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a method for creating and implementing highly-targeted, customized marketing campaigns and activities for an individual or what we say is an account. In the ABM framework, marketing and sales teams build strategies for a mutually-identified group of high-value accounts rather than casting a wide net with their lead generation activities. As a result, the traditional sales prospecting strategy is now a backdated method. Instead, it’s the era where the lead nurturing process comes with a personal touch.
The main distinction between ABM and other marketing strategies is how each client or account is treated as an individual, and targeted marketing is applied.
Why should small companies say yes to ABM?
ABM is more efficient for B2B businesses. So, you should first consider ABM if you own a similar business. However, it goes beyond simply being a B2B company. Usually, ABM is used on enterprise-level accounts with more than 1000 employees. Nevertheless, if your accounts are smaller than this, you should still try ABM due to its effectiveness. High-value accounts, which frequently belong to big organizations, are the targets ABM marketers typically pursue. Let’s see why you should consider ABM:
- Small businesses usually have less money to spend on their products or services, so focusing on them may not be economical. However, if you have a B2C firm or typically target small businesses, go for implementing ABM! Although the strategy is widely used in large organizations, it doesn’t imply it can’t work in other companies.
- Sales and marketing teams are under increased pressure to directly influence sales growth despite expanding buying circles. So it’s a noted factor that businesses adopt the ABM strategy.
- The one-to-one tactic assists in establishing relationships with high-value prospects and guaranteeing their customer experience are as positive as possible. The tactic also helps businesses to provide their target clients with a one-to-many marketing approach available in the marketplace.
- Marketing and sales engage and convert accounts more effectively by merging their efforts and resources. But, in reality, they have the luxury of taking their time to craft a deliberate strategy that increases the likelihood of uplifting engagement.
- ABM mandates that marketing and sales personally interact with every team member. A personalized strategy seems necessary when concentrating marketing and sales efforts on a small number of high-value accounts. In addition, if you personalize successfully, customers will be more receptive to your outreach and less likely to dismiss your interactions and the solutions you offer.
Also, the following are three critical components of the ABM framework postulated by Hubspot (source).
- Marketing-sales alignment: As we have previously mentioned, ABM focuses on the alignment of the marketing and sales team, which is vital to the success of any company. Together they can engage target accounts more effectively.
- Account qualification: ABM facilitates creating an ideal customer profile for your target accounts. You can eventually understand which accounts you should qualify for as target accounts.
- Go-to-Market Approach: Once the above two stages are completed, it’s time to understand how a target account would move through the sales funnel. Your team may discover poorly built areas that must be fixed to offer a perfect personalized buying experience to every target account.
In short, running highly focused sales and marketing campaigns is the foundation of ABM, generating more revenue than conventional marketing strategies and tactics. Initiate the process by gathering data, analyzing the best targets for your business, and figuring out how to engage these accounts with customized solutions. Your chances of getting high-value conversions will rise. It’s good practice for small teams to run long.
