Getting Started with Account-Based Marketing (ABM) in 2024

Ready to enjoy the benefits of ABM? Here are the steps you should take:

Step 1: Establish Your ABM Leadership Team

To effectively implement an account-based marketing strategy, start by appointing ABM champions from key departments such as sales, marketing, and operations.

This foundational step ensures that your organization has the necessary support and expertise from various perspectives. Align your goals and identify potential pain points across these teams.

Communication is key! It’s crucial to schedule regular meetings to maintain clear communication and coordination, ensuring everyone remains focused on shared objectives.

Step 2: Identify Key Accounts

Decide on the key accounts that matter most to your organization. Work with your teams to develop a target list based on criteria such as:

• Company size: Understanding the size of potential accounts is crucial for your ABM strategy. Focus on organizations that align with your product or service capabilities. Larger companies may offer higher revenue potential but also come with more complex decision-making processes. Smaller companies, on the other hand, can be more agile and quicker to adopt new solutions. In other words, targeting smaller companies can mean scoring more quick wins for your business!
• Customer personas: Develop detailed profiles of the key stakeholders within your target accounts. These personas should go beyond basic demographic information to include insights into job roles, challenges, goals, and decision-making behaviors.
• Available marketing resources: Assess the marketing assets and tools you currently have at your disposal. This includes your budget, content library, digital tools, and analytics capabilities. Ensure that your team can efficiently create personalized content and campaigns for each high-value account.
  

Start with a manageable number of accounts and build up over time as you gain more experience and insights.

Step 3: Leverage Marketing Automation

One of the significant advantages of modern ABM strategies is the ability to leverage marketing automation (MA) platforms to build highly personalized campaigns.

These platforms offer a range of features that can be incredibly helpful for ABM initiatives:

• CRM Integration: Platforms like HubSpot and Salesforce offer seamless integration with customer relationship management (CRM) systems. All customer data is centralized, providing a comprehensive view of each target account. This allows you to achieve more effective segmentation and targeting. You’ll be able to use the most accurate and up-to-date data to fuel your campaigns.
• Email Automation: Tools like Marketo and Pardot excel in automating email campaigns. Use these platforms to customize assets with variable data, creating tailored messaging that resonates with each target account. You can set up automated email workflows to nurture prospects over time, delivering content that speaks directly to their specific needs and challenges.
• Content Personalization: Most MA platforms offer personalization features that allow you to dynamically alter the content based on the recipient’s characteristics and behaviors. (Ex. A customized landing page or call-to-action)
• Analytics and Reporting: To measure the success of your ABM campaigns, platforms like Google Analytics and Tableau offer robust analytics and reporting features. These tools can track engagement metrics, providing insights into what works and what doesn’t. This data is invaluable for continuously refining your strategy and improving ROI.
• Multi-Channel Outreach: Ensure your chosen platform supports multi-channel outreach. Platforms like Adobe Experience Manager allow you to engage targets through various channels—email, social media, direct mail, or events—all from a single interface. Multi-channel integration ensures that your messaging remains consistent and cohesive across different touchpoints.

With the right platforms, you can automate repetitive tasks and create a more targeted approach to your account-based marketing efforts. This makes it easier to build meaningful relationships and influence key decision-makers within your target accounts.

Step 4: Establish Baseline Metrics

Measuring the success of your ABM strategy is crucial to identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions. Begin by setting benchmark metrics such as:

• Average Deal Size: Understand the financial impact of each closed deal.
• Sales Velocity: Measure the speed at which deals move through the pipeline.
• Close Rate: Gain insights into your conversion efficiency.

These metrics offer a concrete starting point against which you can gauge the effectiveness of your strategies.

Continuously measure these metrics against your business objectives to ensure alignment. Regularly running reports will help you track progress and identify areas that require additional focus.

For example, if your sales velocity is slower than anticipated, examine your sales process for bottlenecks or inefficiencies.

Or, if your close rate is low, it might indicate a disconnect between your messaging and the target accounts’ needs.

Using these insights allows for iterative improvements, helping you fine-tune your approach over time.