More Tips and Techniques to Maximize Return on ABM Programs

As we continue to explore the many benefits and nuances of account-based marketing, you may be wondering, “so how does this actually translate to revenue?”
ABM speeds up the sales process by cutting down on unnecessary sales introductions and sets the stage for a more personalized buying experience, increasing the likelihood that a lead will turn into a closed deal. Not only that, but ABM ensures that you’re focusing on the right leads from the start, so time and money aren’t wasted chasing down dead-ends.
But simply having an ABM program in place doesn’t automatically equal big bucks. According to industry expert Mark Ogne, in order to achieve success with ABM, marketers must consider 6 key capabilities:
Account Selection – Identify specific accounts you’re going to target. Usually manual and reflective of existing sales assignment of accounts, this is a mission critical area that could greatly benefit from more robust solutions, like the growing list of B2B Predictive Analytics platforms.

• Insights – This is the planning and preparation stage: account profiles (decision makers, buying process, trends, needs identification, value props), account marketing plan (strategy, objectives, media, budgets), data preparation (aggregate, cleanse, append, roll up to account)
• Content – Content strategy and production drive the media and messages to be delivered in order to achieve each account-marketing plan.
• Orchestration – Define and configure the relationship between account marketing plan and content and channel delivery.
• Distribution – Deliver impressions based upon orchestration parameters (email, phone, website, display, social, search).
• Measurement – Descriptive analytics based upon account level activity (rather than channel, campaign or platform), designed to identify and optimize results of investments and optimize the relationship between the account marketing plan, content and orchestration.

As we discussed last week, however, as ABM catches on, it will also be important to differentiate yourself by utilizing ABM in new ways. One way to gain that competitive edge is to develop an account-based content strategy.
It is vital to define your visitor segments, content groups and website goals prior to embarking on an account-based content strategy, but do so based on the needs of your key accounts. Once you know who to write to, you can then determine what to write to them by developing segment-focused content.
Focusing on segments not only aligns with the overall sales effort, it actually helps create better content. Content marketer Nick Mueller noted that often when content is “approved by multiple people and stuffed with extra [product plugs] it becomes meh.”
Nobody wants their content to be “meh.” “Meh” doesn’t translate to money. But compelling, laser-focused content can absolutely make the difference in getting the sale vs. wasting your efforts.
Image via Simon Cunningham