Want to make your ABM strategy stronger? Utilize video

The concept of account-based advertising (ABM) can be described as a highly-targeted strategy for B2B marketing, which focuses on key accounts rather than market segments.

ABM of the past involved businesses selecting a small set of potential customers to target and catering much of their marketing and performance resources towards closing deals. The tactics were usually based on scraping of data, high-cost, experiential events for small groups, as well as direct sales calls. These weren't always effective.

Today, ABM is a more than just a Sales-plus-Marketing strategy to attract consumers. This is an important change as organizations are moving away from the notion that B2B Sales and Marketing usually were in a conflict.

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

This article explains what ABM is and how to make use of video for the account-based marketing campaign, including customized communications, ABM videos, and many more.

What will you learn

1.    What exactly is account-based advertising?
2.    ABM's ABCs ABM The fundamental elements of an effective ABM strategy
3.    What should you avoid doing in your account-based marketing strategy
4.    How can you personalize ABM programs for top-of-the-line clients
5.    Ideas for closing

What exactly is an account-based approach to marketing?

To recap, account-based marketing (ABM) is a methodology where an organisation tailors their marketing activities to focus on specific customers rather than taking an overall method.

When it comes to ABM, it's essential to gain a thorough understanding of your ideal customer. This way, you can develop targeted campaigns that are more likely to be a hit with those who make the decisions at your targeted accounts.

"How does account-based marketing differ from conventional marketing?" you might ask?

Traditional marketing techniques, the focus is typically on generating the most leads can be. With ABM, the focus is on quality over volume. It means that instead of trying to connect with the maximum number of people possible You're focusing on key decision makers with specific accounts who are that are more likely to be converted.

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

This is vital in order to make sure that all employees are working toward the same end goal of producing leads that are of good quality and turn into clients.

Every day life of account-based marketers

Every day following are the things account-based marketers do:

• They create and target specific customer profiling.
• Then, they create targeted campaigns and specific content designed for the target audience and companies.
• Working in conjunction with Sales, ABM teams publish and promote these campaign material on different channels (depending on accounts that are targeted).
• They also track to measure and then optimize the results of campaigns to improve and refine and improve their ABM strategy over time.

So...why prioritize account-based marketing?

There are several key reasons why ABM should be an important consideration within your business.

In the first place, by tailoring your marketing strategy specifically to each account, you can develop custom experiences and content that will be significantly likely to be a hit with the people you want to reach. In turn, you will be able to build stronger relationships with the accounts you want to target, close more deals, and boost the likelihood of retention.

With ABM it is possible to focus your efforts on accounts which will convert more frequently which means a greater returns on investment for your company.

The second reason is that ABM aligns Sales and Marketing. When using traditional methods for marketing, there can be an inconsistency between what Sales wants and the way that Marketing does. However, with ABM, both departments work towards closing deals with certain accounts.

The third reason is that today's buyers -- B2B and B2C are smarter and sophisticated than they have ever been. They aren't going to react effectively to general messages or one-size-fits-all campaigns. With ABM it is possible to tailor the message and strategy specifically to individuals or businesses. A personalized approach is more likely to be a hit with the buyers of today and lead to closed transactions.

Additionally, ABM is trackable, possibly more so than traditional marketing and advertising. Because ABM focuses on quality over quantity, you can measure the impact of your actions and assess whether they're paying off. The transparency of this process is critical to gaining the trust of your leaders, enhancing your approach, and winning many more clients over the course of time.

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

Through ABM You treat every account as a market for itself.

To sustainably scale your business, you need an airtight account-based marketing (ABM) plan. These are the essential aspects to be aware of in the event that you are considering implementing an ABM plan for your company.

1. Segmentation

The first step in developing the ABM strategy is to identify and segmenting your target accounts. To do this, you need to know your ideal customer profiling (ICP).

Your ICP must include both demographic information (e.g. Job title or company name, size of the business, and the location) as well as psychographic data (e.g., pain points, motivations, and buying influences).

To gather this data to gather this information, conduct primary research through surveys and interviews with former and current customers. Your persona can be augmented by conducting secondary research using reliable information sources, such as industry trade magazines.

Once you have a solid knowledge of your ideal client/company profile, it is time to begin by creating a list of accounts you want to target. Additionally, you can make use of market intelligence tools to generate a list of companies who match your needs.

Once you've done your research Now it's time to divide your accounts into different types of people. This can help you improve your message and ensure that you're targeting the right individuals within your account. For example, you might be able to create a persona that targets decision makers as well as one that targets influencers and one that is for users.

2. Personalized messaging and outreach

Once you've identified the target peopleas and accounts Next step is to develop personalized message and content to each of them. Be aware that when you use ABM, you're treating each account as an individual market, so it's important to adapt your content to the specific needs of each.

If you decide to utilize the same generic messaging and information for all the accounts you want to target, you won't get what you're looking for. You need to create customized messages relevant to each account on your list. It can be difficult as well as a heavy burden between teams, however it's well worth the effort--personalized messages result in significantly greater rate of response than generic messages.

It's also important to ensure that you align your go-to market (GTM) strategy with the ABM strategy. This includes personalized messaging and making use of the appropriate mix of channels to reach your buyers where they're already using the internet. For example, LinkedIn would be a excellent channel when you're targeting executives at senior levels in large companies.

Personalized messages help you build connections with the accounts you want to target. In today's world, people do business with those they know, like and trust. By sending personalized messages on relevant channels, you can build those contacts with your targeted accounts, making them more likely to work with them when they're ready make a purchase.

3. The alignment between sales and marketing

A third important aspect of an effective ABM strategy is creating teams that are cross-functional. It is a matter of creating teams that include members from different departments within your business, like Sales, Marketing, or Customer Success. A study conducted by Bombora found that businesses, on average, are home to five teams focused on ABM.

They aim to bring every employee within your company around one goal: winning the interest of the target accounts.

4. Customer lifecycle marketing

An important and often overlooked component of a successful ABM strategy is customer lifecycle marketing. This is about nurturing your relationships with key contacts who are in your desired accounts. This can be done in several ways like sending them personalized emails, giving them a call for their birthday, or handing over some helpful resources. Whatever you do, make sure you're adding value and staying top of mind.

It's likely that you'll need multiple people in a target account to sell your product or service just one person at the target account. Most likely, you'll require the involvement of several stakeholders from different organizations to help move the deal forward. That's why crafting targeted content that can be utilized at different points of the buyer's journey and customer lifecycle is important.

With a mixture of high-of-the-funnel (TOFU) as well as middle-of-the-funnel (MOFU), and bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU) material that you can access, you'll have the ability to reach out to prospects at every step of the sales process as well as after purchase.

5. ABM software

One of the key aspects of any ABM plan is having an appropriate program in place. ABM software helps B2B marketers automatize and manage their account-based marketing processes. Popular platforms include HubSpot Sales, Terminus, Pardot and Marketo.

ABM software will help you to track and assess engagement of your accounts as a vital metric of every ABM software (as we'll discuss next). You can adjust your ABM plan based on the types of accounts that are in touch with your brand , and what they are doing. This will result in increased engagement over time, which could result in more completed deals and increased revenue.

ABM software is also able to help to automate tedious tasks so that you can concentrate on more strategic ABM tactics. Automating your processes can help to run targeted campaigns more effectively by ensuring that all the proper contacts are receiving the correct messages in the correct date and time. This can make your ABM program more efficient and economical over time.

In the end, ABM software can help to improve the overall ROI (ROI). It can help you generate higher revenue for your company through increasing account engagement as well as campaign efficiency. That means the ABM program will have a higher ROI, which will benefit the financial results.

6. Measurement of performance

Not least of all, you must measure the results. Similar to any other type of marketing initiative, it's essential to monitor the success of your ABM campaigns. For this to be done effectively be aware of and track your data to determine what each touchpoint of your campaign performed with each decision-maker within each target account.

It is possible to get a clear sense of whether or not you ABM strategy is helping your business through monitoring key indicators such as:

• Traffic to websites from specific accounts
• The rate of conversion from MQL to SQL
• The number of meetings set by Sales
• The number of new opportunities opened up
• Size of deal
• Customer lifetime value (CLV)

What you are not to include in your account-based marketing strategy

We've covered the essential elements of a successful ABM strategy. In this article, we'll go over the most common ABM errors to avoid when you get started.

Do not use spooky, unprofessional ABM tactics

Spammy ABM methods like purchasing information for cold calls or cold email are guaranteed to be unsuccessful in account-based advertising. If your cold email isn't personalized or doesn't demonstrate the value (e.g. by providing useful content or event invitations) is it unlikely that readers will respond or even book meetings.

The research shows that cold outreach may work...if done correctly. If you decide to implement cold outreach as an element the ABM strategy, you should encourage your staff to adhere to the best guidelines:

• Name themselves. 79% of unidentified calls go unanswered
• Use "we" statements--Successful cold calls include 65% more "we" statements
• Customize your content for each person who will be receiving it. 57 percent of C-level buyers would prefer to be contacted by phone

Do notrely to a great deal on scraped data

Account-based marketers require data to build their ideal customer or corporate profile. But relying on purchased or scraped data can result in ill-informed ICPs. Additionally, it could result in your staff contacting prospects without their consent, which is bad for branding and may result in prospects unsubscribing or flag your emails as spam.

It is recommended to create your ICPs using primary research such as surveys and customer interviews. If you need, supplement your personas with secondary research that comes from trustworthy sources such as industry trade publications or software like Sparktoro.

Do not overlook that you are responsible for ROI

The process of calculating the ROI on your ABM investment should be straightforward particularly if you concentrate on these metrics and employ an ABM software to help.

Although some ABM tactics (like occasions) can be more nebulous when measuring ROI, there's no excuse for choosing these tactics when there's no evidence that they'll move the needle or close deals.

Don't make the mistake of hosting expensive, large experiences and spending money on merchandise for "brand awareness" without determining the relationship between these expenditures to your key goal and objectives.

Beware of ignore accounts that aren't fit for you.

Just because an account isn't a good fit to your service or product isn't a reason to dismiss it entirely. Even if an account doesn't result in a sale it could have other benefits, such as exposure or insights from interactions with these accounts.

The trick is to not focus on short-term results and instead keep an eye on the long game of ABM.

How can you tailor ABM campaigns for your top-tier clients

While ABM can be very effective but it's important to keep in mind that there aren't all accounts all created equally. The top clients - those who offer the greatest revenue to your company -- deserve special attention.

When selecting the right accounts, it's important to make sure you focus on a group of premium accounts with the highest growth opportunity.

The top clients of your business are used to getting the best of the best, so your experiences and content must reflect that standard. That doesn't necessarily mean you need to break the bank--but it does mean taking the time to create high-quality, engaging content that attracts interest and yield results.

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

Account-based marketing videos

Account-based marketing videos present your brand's story in a relatable and engaging way--more so than a text-based marketing message. Videos are a great method to show the product or service you offer in action and give prospective customers an understanding of the benefits and features.

What do these look like in practice? When you're first trying to get into an account, it's useful to introduce the team by presenting a brief video. The decision-makers from the company a chance to put a face to the name, and start creating a connection with your staff.

Your video doesn't need to be elaborate. A quick overview of your workplace and some introductions of each member of your team will suffice. Make sure that it's concise and professional. It should also highlight what makes your company the best possible choice for your account.

Personalized screen recordings

Increase both engagement and the number of sales you can make by making personalized screen recordings. Instead of sending a customer-agnostic recording, take the time to record a tailored product demo with your ICP's issues as well as your company's details keeping in your mind.

A custom-made recording can be the easiest way to please the potential customer. Through enhancing your end-user's experience, you build confidence and improve the chances of them continuing into the funnel.

Video campaigns via email

Utilize account-based marketing video in your emails to nurture. Rather than sending yet another generic "Look what we can do for you!" message, try creating your own emails using a short video relevant to the recipient's needs.

Videos that highlight the pain areas of the company you are targeting and provide precisely how your products or services can solve the problems of potential customers will resonate more deeply.

This can help you distinguish yourself from your competitors and prove that you're ready to go that extra mile to provide the best value. Videos that are high-quality and delivered via email can move prospects farther down the sales funnel and motivate them to schedule appointments with your sales team.

Virtual Events

Today's buyers are different--they do business with people whom they trust, love and trust. One way to build confidence and camaraderie among your customers is through curated virtual occasions. An example of this is a virtual VIP workshop or experience for executives.

Do not create generic services for your best clients. Instead, take time familiar with their wants and needs so you can create custom-designed virtual events that offer appropriate solutions as well as networking opportunities.

If you put in the extra effort upfront, you'll be able to position yourself as a trusted partner who's invested in helping their business succeed long term.

Churn-reducing programs

ABM doesn't stop after you've made the sale. If that your ICPs represent your "perfect" customers It's a good idea to engage them after purchasing.

Encourage Customer Success to touch contact with the target customers every quarter or bi-annually, to ensure their experience is positive. Participate in feedback loops so that you can gain invaluable feedback and learn how they use the product. They can also be asked to take part in beta testing groups for new features or consulting-type roles in conjunction with your Product team.

Treating your target accounts as valued customers could reduce the rate of churn and increase retention and customer LTV.

Ideas for closing

Successful account-based marketing involves careful planning and implementation across multiple dimensions and teams.

By taking the time to understand your ideal buyer and creating specific campaigns as well as custom-made video content, you can develop deeper connections and close more deals.

Since ABM can be tracked it is possible to measure the impact of your marketing efforts and connect new customers to the custom-designed, innovative marketing efforts.