As a B2B deep tech business, imagine being able to target only the best-fit and highest-value prospects without wasting time and resources on anonymous or unqualified leads. This is where account-based marketing (ABM) comes into play, as it’s no longer about how great our products or solutions are; it’s about how we respond to our customers’ unique challenges.
What is account-based marketing (ABM)?
ABM is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and delivering a more engaging campaign for improved conversion rates and longer-term relationships. It involves creating hyper-personalised campaigns that foster greater engagement by addressing specific customer needs and pain points at every step of the buyer journey.
Taking an account-based marketing approach enables businesses to increase revenue from their best customers as well as easily convert new high-value prospects, as it helps you to develop stronger, longer-lasting relationships and improve your brand reputation. In a recent study, it was found that 60% of companies have seen a minimum revenue increase of 10% after pursuing an ABM program for one year.
How to deploy ABM campaigns
ABM comes in three primary forms:
- One-to-one – focusing effort and resources on a small number of accounts to completely meet their specific and unique needs. This approach offers a higher chance of success, so it requires more time and resources, particularly in-depth insights
- One-to-few – a bespoke, targeted approach enabling you to connect with a larger group of key accounts in one go. This is particularly useful if you have a group which shares similar needs and pain points, budget or are at the same stage of their buying cycle
- One-to-many – sometimes called programmatic ABM, with content not tailored to specific accounts but a larger group with similar characteristics such as industry, size or location
There are a number of different ways to approach account-based marketing, but what they all have in common is a reliance on good-quality data and compelling content.
Why account definition can supercharge results
Choosing the right accounts for your ABM campaign will require using data and insights. It will be a collaborative process between sales and marketing, but ultimately should focus on the following:
- Profitability and forecast spend
- Place in the buying cycle
- Relationship with you and competitors
- Purchasing history
- Needs and requirements vs your offering
- How much you already know about them
Achievability is a significant consideration with ABM, so you may also want to consider whether to focus on protecting and growing existing high-value customers or on new business, which requires more time and effort.
Creating compelling content is key
For ABM to be successful, you need to take a hyper-personalised approach to demonstrate how your offer is precisely what they need to solve their pain points.
You’ll need content that positions your product or solution as the answer to achieving their goal or solving their specific problem. It should also position you as a trusted advisor who brings value to their decision-making process and connects with them on a human and emotional level. Assets can take many forms, such as whitepapers, blogs and infographics, or be online platforms such as microsites, webinars and calculators.
There are many traditional marketing channels you can use for your ABM approach, such as social media, email, and your website. ABM also supports sales enablement opportunities, providing your sales function with personalised content for in-person meetings, innovation days or roadshows.
Laser-sharp measurement and high value opportunities through ABM
As ABM approaches are so targeted, it becomes an easier strategy to measure and draw conclusions from because you’re working with a much smaller pool of targets than traditional marketing campaigns. As well as marketing metrics, you can also work in alignment with sales to monitor revenue growth, improved win rates, quicker time to pipeline and customer lifetime value. ABM offers B2B deep tech brands the opportunity to differentiate from their competition and engage with their most valuable customers and prospects in a unique way.
If you would like to explore how an account-based marketing strategy can benefit your business, get in touch.