account based marketing - origingrowth.co.uk€¦ · marketing automation platform. the marketing...
TRANSCRIPT
Account Based Marketing
Getting started with
Software & Technology Industry
Growth Architects
Introduction
Account Based Marketing (ABM) is a focused and targeted approach to B2B marketing where sales and marketing align and work together to identify, target and engage best fit accounts and turn them into customers.
The concept of targeting and nurturing high-value accounts has been around for some time. What’s new is the ABM approach, methodology and technology that makes this strategy manageable and simple to implement.
Read on to learn how to get your ABM started.
In this guide, we’ll cover:• Your Account Based Marketing Team
• Define your goals and strategy
• Your ABM Technology
• Identify and prioritise your key accounts
• Choose your communication channels
• Create your messaging
• Plan your outreach
• Start your outreach
page three
Business DevelopmentYour sales team will be responsible for working with marketing on all
inbound and outbound ABM efforts.
Database AdministratorUltimately, they are responsible for all contact and account data, and
keeping your CRM clean and up to date.
Content ManagerResponsible for creating buyer
personas, content plans and content for each stage of the buyer’s
journey. They will work with sales and marketing to create collateral that will resonate with the target audience and address their pain
points.
DesignerAny collateral and assets will need
to be created to be in-line with your brand but also compliment the messages and story the content
have created. The designer will be able to bring the collateral to life
and design content in the required format, be it video or direct mail.
Sales RepThey are the individuals we are
positioning as the industry experts and who we want to create opportunities for. They will
understand the key accounts and the key decision makers within each account like the back of their hand.
Sales LeaderThey will be setting goals and
developing the ABM sales process.
Customer Success RepsThey know your customers better
than anyone else and they are responsible for turning accounts
into advocates.
Key Stake HoldersABM is not just a campaign or a strategy, it’s also a culture and it
needs be embedded from the top down. Ideally the CEO will be
responsible for this and have an keen interest in the ABM activity.
Your Account Based Marketing Team
Marketing OperatorThe owner and operator of your
marketing automation platform. The marketing operator will work with
business development to execute all inbound and outbound ABM efforts,
plus the lead nurturing activities based upon their life cycle stage.
Before you do anything, you’ll need to create your Account Based Marketing (ABM) team. Teams will vary based upon business needs, but they ideally will be made up of senior members who can take up the following roles:
Not every business will have the resource to fill all of these roles but that doesn’t mean you can’t proceed with your ABM. If you do have a smaller team, focus on getting your key stakeholders represented in your core team so they have input in your goals and strategies.
Define your goals and strategy
page four
ABM OPTIONS
1:1 ABM
Add OnABM
ABM Lite
ProgrammaticABM
Targeting a maximum of 10 key accounts with personalised touch points and sales plays.
Targeting a maximum of 100 accounts that share similar characteristics and pain points.
Targeting a maximum of 1,000 identified accounts using ABM tactics.
Adding ABM on to your current lead gen activity to expand your reach into each account.
ABM
You’ve got your ABM team in place, now it’s time to focus on your goals which will dictate your strategy. It’s key to keep all communications clear and consistent so that everyone within your ABM team is on the same page. So, what do you want to achieve with ABM? Here are some common ABM goals:
• Targeting ideal accounts• Entering new markets or verticals• Launching a new product• Getting more value from existing customers• Increasing market share and revenue
Goals will again vary based upon your resource and business size, but initially it would make sense to focus on one goal and build upon this over time. The next step is to choose an ABM strategy that is best suited towards your goals and business. There are four ABM options:
The ABM strategy you choose to implement will ultimately come down to your goals and available resources.
Only 5-10% of qualified leads successfully convert for marketers that are not using ABMB2B Technology Marketing Community (2013)
“
Your ABM Technology
page six
The reason why ABM has become more than a buzz word is thanks to technology. Without technology ABM would not be possible to implement, especially at scale. ABM technology has three key advantages, which are:
1. It helps you engage with your customers and target audience on their terms via digital channels. This allows you to keep up to date with the times and expand your reach and tactics, rather than just focusing on traditional methods like email and phone.
2. It allows you to engage with an entire account and all the key decision makers rather than just one individual which is key in today’s market.
3. ABM technology can help you personalise your marketing touches based upon your personas and sales plays.
With so many ABM marketing tools available you may be overwhelmed. You need to focus on the technology that works best for your business.
You can use the following resources for finding out more on the ABM technology available:
The best Account Based Marketing software- G2 Crowd
Account Based Marketing software overview- TrustRadius
Best Account Based Marketing (ABM) software- Technology Advice
Identify and prioritise your key accounts
page seven
Which key accounts do you want to target? Your key accounts should be based upon your ideal customer profile (ICP). If you’re unaware of an ICP, it’s a description of a company that you feel will benefit from your services. You can use the following characteristics to make up your ICP: • Industry or vertical• Employee size• Revenue• Demographics• Technographics• Budgets
One common misconception is that ICP and Buyer Personas are the same thing. Yes, they are closely linked but they are different and both needed. ABM focuses on accounts and leads but you need to remember that each account will have a number of key decision makes, this is where your Buyer Personas come into play. Buyer Personas are fictional representations of these key decision makers which helps you understand them better so you can market and communicate with them effectively.
It’s time for your marketing and sales to align and select which accounts you want to target. As mentioned earlier you can use a range of characteristics to help you with this process but to assist in the identification process you can use ABM predictive tools and data tools.
You can use the following resources for finding out more on the ABM predictive and data tools available:
Top predictive analytics tools- Technology Advice
ABM Stack Grader- Terminus
80% of B2B companies using ABM state that it is one of the top revenue generating strategiesDemand Metric
Choose your communication channels
page nine
Blogs
Direct Mail
Website
Social Media
Remarketing
Video & Vlogs
Display Ads
InfographicsWorkshops Ebooks & White Papers
Webinars
AD
One of the key reasons ABM is so effective is down to the fact you are engaging with accounts and the key individuals on their terms. So, which channels will you use to reach and engage with them? You can use the following channels as part of your ABM campaign:
You ideally want to select the right channels that your targeted accounts and key contacts use. You can remove the guesswork by using ABM technology as mentioned earlier.
page ten
Create your messaging
BUILDING AWARENESS ABOUT YOU / THE PROBLEM YOU ADDRESS
TEACHING PEOPLE HOW TOCHOOSE A SOLUTION
EXPLAINING WHY YOUR PRODUCTIS THE BEST SOLUTION
TOFU - MOFU - BOFU
TOP OFFUNNEL
MIDDLE OFFUNNEL
BOTTOM OFFUNNEL
It’s time to create content that will resonate with your audience. This is where your Buyer Personas come into play as they will help shape your content and you can address their pain points. You may choose to create a range of content and marketing assets for each of your Buyer Personas at each stage of the buyer journey. The diagram below shows how you can create content for the various stages of the buyer’s journey.
No doubt you will be creating a bank of content so it would make sense to create a content plan so you can keep track of your content and use it as and when it’s needed.
A MarketingSherpa case study found that buyer personas added the following value:
900% increase in length of visit 171% increase in marketing-generated revenue 111% increase in email open rate100% increase in the number of pages visited
Act-On
page twelve
Plan your outreach
It’s time for your whole ABM team to work as one to map out your campaign. You want everyone involved as each member will have different insight they can bring to the table. You should invest the time to map out your ABM campaign. Take the time and try to answer the following:
• What channels are we going to use?• What content is to be used for particular channels?• How many touches are we going to use?• How much content do we need for each stage of the journey?• How many touches are we going to use before the sales call?• Are we going to contact them when they are an MQL or SQL?• What is the conversion path?• What’s the time delay between touches?• Are we going to use online and offline channels?
These are just a few questions to get you started. Invest the time to map out your outreach and consider all the elements you have been through and created to get to this stage. Remember what your end goal is and what ABM stands for, don’t rush or try to cut corners, get the ground work right before you start your outreach.
page thirteen
Start your outreach
Linkedintargeted ads
Sales email withpersonalised video
A5 personalisedpostcard
Sales call
Live demo Case study
You can now start your outreach and get your messages out there to your list of key accounts and individuals. Your outreach will be mapped out and deployed via the ABM technology you have in place and engage your targeted accounts via the planned outreach, through the chosen channels, with the tailored messages.
Example:
Remember that you are going in cold so take the time to build up your brand awareness and position your business and sales rep as the industry experts, the trusted authority. The marketing will be responsible for this, it’s their job to create this brand awareness and perception. Once they’ve done this it’s time for your sales reps to start to engage with the key decision makers using a range of tactics, traditional and new. The sales reps engagement will be a lot warmer as Marketing have set the stage for more effective conversations. In a nutshell, the key contacts will be warmer and more receptive.
It’s key for Sales and Marketing to continue to work together throughout this process. By aligning and communicating regularly you can continue to refine and review as the process goes on.
Always take the time to evaluate your ABM campaign with your core team. By doing this you will gain more insight which you can use to enhance your future ABM campaigns.
page fourteen
Final note
We hope you find this guide of use. You are now ready to get your Account Based Marketing started and focus on your best fit accounts.
If you want to know more about any of the topics in this guide or any ABM related matters, we’d love to help. If there is anything in this guide you wish to discuss further or if you have any questions, get in touch with me by calling (0)7764 993 622, emailing [email protected] or drop me a message on LinkedIn.
