Are you looking to strengthen your ABM strategy stronger? Utilize video

The concept of account-based advertising (ABM) can be described as a targeted strategy for B2B marketing that focuses on the most important accounts, not market segments.

ABM in the past was companies deciding on a limited set of potential customers to target and dedicating a significant portion of their marketing and resource to closing deals. However, the tactics used were often scraping of data, high-cost and expensive events that were geared towards small groups, as well as cold sales outreach. These weren't always effective.

In the present, ABM is a more integrated approach for attracting consumers. This is an important change as organizations are moving away from the notion which claimed that B2B Sales and Marketing usually have a less antagonistic relationship.

ABM--when executed well--helps both Marketing and Sales teams align on key target customers and help them win new business.

This guide unpacks what ABM is and how to make use of video for your account-based marketing campaigns--including personalized communications, ABM videos, and other things.

What will you learn

1.    What exactly is account-based advertising?
2.    the ABCs of ABM the fundamental components of an effective ABM strategy
3.    What should you avoid doing with your account-based marketing strategies
4.    How to customize ABM campaigns for your top-tier customers
5.    Ideas for closing

What is account-based marketing?

To recap, account-based marketing (ABM) can be described as a technique in which an organization tailors their marketing activities to focus on specific customers rather than taking the general strategy.

In order to succeed with ABM, it's essential to be able to comprehend the needs of the ideal client. So, you're able to create targeted ads that are which are more likely to appeal to those who make the decisions at your targeted accounts.

"How is account-based marketing different from traditional marketing," you may ask?

With traditional marketing methods the emphasis is usually to generate as many leads as possible. With ABM, the focus is on the quality of leads over quantity. This means instead of trying to connect with all the people you can it's about targeting the key decision makers within specific accounts more likely to make a change.

It's also important to note the fact that ABM is a team initiative. To be successful with ABM, Sales and Marketing should be well-informed about their activities and objectives.

This is vital for ensuring that all are working towards the same objective: generating quality leads that turn into clients.

A day in the life of account-based marketers

Every day, here's what marketers who are based on accounts accomplish:

• They design and create specific customers' profile.
• They then create personalized campaigns and content specifically for these target audiences and companies.
• Working in conjunction together with Sales, ABM teams publish and promote these campaign materials on various channels (depending on accounts that are targeted).
• Lastly, they track the results, analyze, and improve campaign results to iterate on and further refine their ABM strategy over time.

So...why do you think it is important to prioritise account-based marketing?

There are several key reasons that ABM should be a priority at your company.

In the first place, by tailoring your marketing strategies specifically to the specific account, you are able to develop custom experiences and content which will be significantly more likely to connect with your target audience. In turn, you'll be able to establish deeper connections with your targeted accounts, close more deals, and increase retention.

Through ABM, you can focus your efforts on accounts which will convert more frequently which means a greater return on investment for your company.

Second, ABM is a way to align Sales and Marketing. With traditional marketing techniques, there can be some gap between what Marketing wants and the way that Marketing does. But with ABM the two departments are working to close deals on particular accounts.

Thirdly, today's buyers--B2B and B2C--are more informed and sophisticated than ever. They aren't going to react effectively to general messages or campaigns that are universally applicable. Through ABM it is possible to tailor your approach and message to specific companies and individuals. This personalized approach is much more likely to be a hit with the buyers of today and lead to close deals.

Additionally, ABM is trackable, possibly more so than traditional marketing and advertising. Since ABM concentrates on quality over quantity, you can measure the impact of your actions and evaluate whether they're paying off. Transparency is critical to gaining buy-in from leadership, refining your strategy, and gaining many more clients over the course of time.

"The ABCs" of ABM the fundamental components of a successful ABM strategy

With ABM You treat every account as an individual market.

To sustainably scale your business You need a secure accounts-based marketing (ABM) plan. These are the essential aspects to be aware of if you're thinking about developing an ABM plan for your company.

1. Segmentation

The initial step to develop an ABM plan is identifying and segmenting your accounts of interest. To do this, you must be able to identify the ideal customer profiling (ICP).

Your ICP should include both demographic information (e.g., job title as well as company size and location) and psychographic information (e.g. Pain points, motivations, and buying influence).

In order to gather these data to gather this information, conduct initial research by conducting surveys or conversations with past and present customers. It is possible to supplement your personal brand with secondary research from reliable information sources, such as industry trade magazines.

Once you have a solid grasp of your ideal company/customer profile, you are able to start manually developing a list of accounts you want to target. It is also possible to make use of market intelligence tools to generate a list of companies that match your criteria.

If you've conducted your own research, it's time to segment the accounts you have into various personas. This will help you refine your message and ensure that you're targeting the correct users within each account. For example, you might have a persona for decision-makers, one for influencers, and one for end users.

2. Individualized messaging and communication

After you've identified your desired accounts and personas The next step is to develop personalized message and content to each one. Keep in mind that with ABM the company treats each account as its own market, so it's important to adapt your content to the specific needs of each.

If you attempt to apply the same generic messaging and contents for all of your accounts on your list but you'll not get the desired results. It is essential to design custom messages relevant to each account on your list. It can be difficult and a lot of work for teams, but it's definitely worth it. Personalized messages have significantly better response rates than generic messages.

It's important to also ensure that you align your go-to market (GTM) strategy with your ABM strategy. It's about personalizing your messages and employing the correct combination of channels to connect with your clients where they're using the internet. For example, LinkedIn would be a good channel to focus on for senior executives in large companies.

Personalized messages allow you to build contacts with the people you are targeting. Today, people do business with those whom they trust, love and trust. When you send personalized messages through appropriate channels, you'll be able to build those connections with the accounts you want to target and make them more inclined to purchase from your company when they're ready to buy something.

3. Alignment between marketing and sales

Another crucial aspect in a successful ABM strategy is building multi-functional teams. This means creating teams with people from various departments in the company, for example Sales, Marketing, or Customer Success. A recent study by Bombora discovered that companies typically are home to five teams focused on ABM.

The teams are designed to unite everyone within the organization around their common goal, which is to win the interest of the target clients.

4. Customer lifecycle marketing

A crucial and frequently overlooked component of a successful ABM strategy is the customer's lifecycle marketing. This involves fostering your connections with the key people at your target accounts. You can do this by a variety of ways like sending them personalized emails, giving them a call for their birthday, or handing over some helpful resources. What ever you decide to do, be sure you're adding value and remaining top-of-mind.

Chances are, you'll need more than one person at a target account to sell your product or service only one person in an account that you want to sell it to. It is likely that you will have to involve various stakeholders within your organization to push a deal to the next level. That's why crafting targeted information that is used at different points of the buyer's journey as well as throughout the customer lifetime.

By having a mix from top-of the-funnel (TOFU), middle-of-the-funnel (MOFU) and bottom-of the-funnel (BOFU) content accessible, you'll be able to reach out to prospects at every step of the sales process -- and post-purchase.

5. ABM software

One of the most important elements of an ABM strategy is to have the right software in place. ABM software can help B2B marketers manage and automate their account-based marketing processes. Popular platforms include HubSpot Sales, Terminus, Pardot, and Marketo.

ABM software is able to help track and measure account engagement which is a crucial metric to track in any ABM software (as we'll talk about in the next section). It is possible to adjust your ABM strategy based on which accounts are engaging with your brand and the way they're engaging. This can lead to increased account engagement as time passes, which could result in more completed contracts and more revenues.

ABM software also helps you automate repetitive tasks in order to let you concentrate on strategic ABM strategies. Automation can also help in executing targeted campaigns with more efficiency, by ensuring that all the right contacts receive the right messages at the appropriate date and time. This will make your ABM program more efficient and economical over time.

Finally, ABM software can help increase your ROI (ROI). You can ultimately drive more revenue for your business by increasing the engagement of your customers and the effectiveness of your campaign. This means that your ABM program will have more ROI. This is good for the bottom line.

6. Performance measurement

Last but not least, you need to measure your outcomes. Like any other marketing strategy, it's crucial to monitor the success of your ABM campaigns. In order to do this be aware of and track the information that will tell you the way each step in your campaign was performed by each individual decision maker within the target account.

It is possible to get a clear assessment of whether your ABM strategy is helping your company by tracking important measures like:

• Traffic to websites from specific accounts
• The rate of conversion from MQL to SQL
• The number of meetings set by Sales
• A variety of opportunities that have been created
• Size of deal
• Customer lifetime value (CLV)

What not to do in your account-based marketing strategy

We've covered the essential components of a successful ABM strategy. In this article, we'll go over some of the ABM mistakes to avoid once you begin.

Be careful not to make use of spooky and spammy ABM strategies

Ineffective ABM methods like purchasing numbers for cold calls as well as cold email are guaranteed to fail at account-based marketing. If your cold outreach isn't personalised or does not provide the value (e.g. offering useful content or event invitations) is it unlikely that customers will be able to respond or schedule a meeting.

Studies show that cold outreach could work...if properly executed. If you opt to conduct cold outreach as part in your ABM strategy, make sure you encourage your team to follow best practices:

• Identify themselves-- 79% of unidentified phone calls are unanswered
• Use "we" statements--Successful cold calls include 65% more "we" statements
• Make the content relevant to every person who will be receiving it. 57% of C-level buyers prefer being contacted via phone

Do notrely to a great deal on scraped data

Account-based marketers require data to create their ideal client or company profiles. However, relying on bought or scraped data can lead to illiterate ICPs. Moreover, it can result in your staff contacting potential customers without their permission, which is bad for the image of your brand and could make prospects opt out or report your messages as spam.

We suggest creating your ICPs by conducting primary research, such as surveys or customer interviews. If necessary, you can supplement your personas with research from trusted sources like magazines for trade or industry publications, or even instruments like Sparktoro.

Do not overlook that you are responsible for ROI

The process of calculating the ROI on the return on your ABM investment isn't difficult, especially if you focus on the abovementioned metrics and employ an ABM software program to assist.

Though certain ABM strategies (like events) are more uncertain when measuring ROI There's no reason to be hesitant about using these strategies if there's no evidence that they'll make a difference or even close transactions.

Do not make the error of organizing large, costly experiential events or investing in swag to build "brand awareness" without determining how these investments tie back to your main goal and objectives.

Don't avoid bad-fit accounts

Just because an account isn't suitable to your service or product does not mean that you have to ignore it completely. If an account does not produce a sale There could be additional advantages, like the publicity they bring or useful insights through interactions with them.

The key is not to concentrate on the short-term outcomes but instead focus on the game that will last for a long time ABM.

How do you customize ABM campaigns to your most prestigious clients

While ABM is a great option however, you must be aware that not all accounts are all created equally. The top clients - those who have the highest potential for revenue for your business--deserve special attention.

When selecting the right accounts, you must concentrate your efforts on top-quality accounts that offer the best opportunities for growth.

Top-end clients have a tendency to receiving the very best of the best, therefore your website and your services must reflect that quality. That doesn't necessarily mean you have to blow your budget, but it's investing the time and effort needed to create quality, high-quality content that attracts attention and deliver results.

There are several ways to customize your ABM campaigns to attract top customers. (Hint: They include video!)

Account-based marketing videos

Marketing videos that are based on accounts tell your brand's story through a personable and interactive way, far more so than a text-based message. Videos are an effective method to show your service or product at work and offer prospective customers an understanding of its benefits and capabilities.

What are these like on the job? When you're first trying to establish a new company, it's beneficial to introduce your staff by presenting a brief video. This gives the decision-makers at the organization a chance give a face to a name and begin developing a rapport with your team.

The video you create doesn't have to be extravagant. A brief tour of your workplace and some introductions by each team member can suffice. Be sure to make it clear and professional. It should also highlight how your team is the best possible choice for the account.

Screen recordings that are personalized

Enhance engagement as well as the number of sales you can make by making personalized screen recordings. Instead of sending a customer-agnostic recording, you can take time to make a customized product demo using your ICP's issues and company information in the back of your head.

The ability to watch a customized recording is an effective way of delighting the potential customer. Through enhancing your end-user's satisfaction, you increase trust , and boost the chance that they will move further down the funnel.

Video campaigns via email

Utilize account-based marketing video in your nurture emails. Instead of sending another generic "Look at what we can help your needs!" message, try creating your own emails using an engaging video that is that is relevant to the needs of your recipient.

Videos that highlight the pain aspects of your company as well as explain precisely how your product or service solves issues for customers are likely to be more effective.

This can help you stand out from the competition and demonstrate that you're prepared to go that extra mile to deliver value. Videos that are high-quality and delivered by email can help move customers to the next step in the funnel, and motivate them to schedule time with your sales team.

Virtual occasions

Today's buyers are different--they deal with individuals whom they trust, love and trust. One method to increase camaraderie and trust with the accounts you want to target is to host curated events. A good example of this would be the virtual VIP workshops or an executive experience.

Do not create generic experiences for your top clients--take time familiar with their requirements and issues so that you can create custom-designed virtual events that provide appropriate solutions as well as networking opportunities.

By putting in more effort early, you'll be able to make yourself known as a reliable business partner that is committed to helping their business succeed long term.

Churn-reducing programs

ABM does not stop once you've made the sale. Since your ICPs will be your "perfect" clients and you want to keep them engaged, it's best to engage them after purchasing.

Encourage Customer Success to touch contact with the target customers every quarter or bi-annually, to ensure the satisfaction of customers. Use feedback loops for feedback to get valuable input and understand how the customers use the software. You can even request they take part in Beta testing groups to test the latest features, or in consulting roles for your product team.

Treating your target accounts as valuable customers can decrease the likelihood of losing customers and boost retention. customer LTV.

Ideas for closing

Successful account-based marketing requires careful planning and execution in a variety of dimensions and teams.

By taking the time to understand your ideal buyer and creating specific campaigns as well as custom-made video content, you will be able to establish deeper relationships with them and seal more sales.

And since ABM is trackable it is possible to measure the results of your efforts and map back new customers to your unique, original marketing efforts.