Why Account-Based Marketing Is A Must For B2Bs
In the past, account-based marketing (ABM) was primarily seen as a strategy that only fairly large companies would leverage. Today, as the market for goods and services has become increasingly competitive and B2B buying cycles more complex, ABM is not only more effective – but is essential – in helping companies of all sizes effectively reach their target audiences. By focusing in on the top 10-20% of accounts that represent the best customers to your business, ABM helps you deliver more personalized, impactful engagements to the right customers, with the right message, for the right stakeholders. As we all experience increasingly more personalization in our everyday lives as consumers, B2B buyers are bringing those same expectations to their business roles. In fact, 73% of B2B buyers say they expect a personalized, B2C-like customer experience,1 meaning generic one-size-fits-all marketing no longer cuts it.
With a well-executed ABM strategy, businesses can both differentiate and accelerate the sales cycle to gain a competitive edge in today’s ever-increasingly competitive market. Forrester reports that 62% of marketers say they’ve seen a positive impact since adopting an ABM strategy,2 and ITSMA finds that 87% of account-based marketers report ABM initiatives outperform other marketing investments.3
Let’s take a look at some of the specific ways an ABM strategy can deliver meaningful impact for your business:
- It is more efficient and targeted: Instead of trying to aim your marketing at everyone with generic messaging, ABM helps you zero in on your best, target customer accounts and stakeholders within those accounts – which is why ABM delivers a better ROI than most other marketing efforts. With a better overall picture of your ideal customer profile, you can focus your efforts on crafting personalized, targeted messaging and campaigns for individual segments – which both captures buyer’s attention more successfully and ensures you’re targeting the accounts most likely to convert from the get-go.
- It speeds the sales process: With multiple stakeholders involved in today’s B2B buying decisions, it can often lead to a slow, tedious process to first get a qualified prospect into your funnel and eventually get to the decision-makers to close the sale. An ABM strategy, however, helps you eliminate unqualified prospects earlier in the sales cycle, while also helping you directly engage the primary decision-makers from the start – along with their relevant counterparts – to expedite the process.
- It helps align marketing and sales teams: One of the biggest hinderances to B2Bs today is disconnected sales and marketing teams – where one hand operating without knowing what the other hand is doing, so to speak. For an ABM strategy to work, sales and marketing need to work more closely in order to work toward a common goal, which not only helps with internal alignment on strategy but ensures that all outgoing messaging and campaigns are consistent and effective. According to Forrester, marketing and sales teams that take on a joint approach to ABM are 6% more likely to exceed their revenue goals than teams without an ABM strategy.4
- It helps you differentiate and improve customer lifetime values: Providing highly relevant, personalized content helps you stand apart from the competition while also demonstrating that you understand what they need. If you think about the fact that an ABM strategy centers around identifying and targeting your best, most-likely-to-convert customers, you’re then also building a more valuable customer base that is more likely to stick with you in the long run. More than 80% of marketers say ABM not only improves initial win rates, but that it also improves their customer lifetime values.5
In our next blog, we’ll share some key best practices for developing a successful ABM strategy. Or connect with us today to see how we can help you get started!
