According to ITSMA, about 85% of marketers who measure ROI describe account-based marketing as delivering higher returns than any other marketing approach! Generating leads via account-based marketing is real. Look at this image, the close rates are as high as 75%!
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Why wouldnt it? The basis of Account Based Marketing is promising. It is all about marketing to and personalizing for specific and high-value accounts. Read here why we say account-based marketing is worthy of the iron throne. (Game of Thrones, anyone?) While it may sound easy peasy, it is definitely challenging. So, how do we effectively take on this challenge and fulfill it in the limited time frame? By following certain best practices and understanding the premise of this tactic? What are these? How can we be sure of generating leads via account-based marketing campaign? But, before we go on to answer all of these questions, lets understand what is generating B2B leads via account-based marketing. As opposed to one too many approaches or casting the net to catch as many leads as possible, generating leads via account-based marketing is about marketing to specific accounts directly. It begins with identifying high-value accounts or buyers, key stakeholders who are the decision makers, crafting content for every communication in a manner that resonates with each and every account and then, marketing through various channels and taking these decision makers down the sales funnel. Now that we understand what is generating leads via account-based marketing, lets look at 3 aspects you must pay attention to if you want a skyrocketed ROI.
1. Define strategic accounts, segment your data accordingly and understand them
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Marketers are familiar with defining buyer personas. But, it is slightly different if you are looking to generate leads via account-based marketing. Wondering, how? Account-based marketing is all about targeting and selling to a whole organization rather than an individual. It is crucial that you understand this difference. You need to start by gathering the data and analyzing the common grounds on the accounts that are getting you the highest monthly recurring revenue. For example, which industry do they belong to, how many employees do they have, upsell opportunity, location etc. You need to go after accounts with similar characteristics. You can gather this data from sales, marketing and customer success teams of your organization. Once you have, you need to start building the list of accounts you want to target. You can either use your own data or purchase it from a reliable B2B list building agency. If you are using your own data, understand that – Segmenting the list of accounts based on predefined parameters is absolutely foundational for generating leads via Account-Based Marketing. This will help you understand who are the high-value leads that are most likely to convert and skyrocket your ROI. If you are outsourcing it to an agency, they will have a process in place to build a list that already complies with these predefined parameters. Once you have the list ready, start understanding intricate details about each account. Give importance to questions like
- Who are the influencers in the organization?
- Who are the real decision makers?
- How are decisions taken? What is the process like? etc
You can make use of the data collected from various teams along with talking with employees that may have contacts inside of these organizations. If you have all this information ready at your fingertips, you can personalize campaigns and move the decision makers through the funnel easily.
Must Read: 5 ABM Mistakes You Cannot Afford to Commit
2. Take time to personalize each message
You will waste a hell lot of resources conceptualizing a no-ROI campaign if you rush through personalizing each message. Each and every message needs to be tailored in a manner that resonates with your audience. Meaning, it should generate curiosity, touch upon the pain points, answer them, give them actionable insights, and then showcase your product/services as a solution in a non-salesy way. Not only does your content need to be visually appealing, but it needs to communicate the right message to the decision makers. You can also personalize landing pages according to your audience or create incentives for each account.
3. Promote on the right channels
You cannot generate leads via account-based marketing if you are promoting on channels where your audience does not even hang out. It is important that you do the research and understands your audiences state of mind when they are on social media. For example, if you are targeting tech influencers, you may want to show ads on websites like TechCrunch but if you are targeting design companies, you may want to focus on Pinterest.
Of course, this had to be included on the list. Once your campaign has run for at least 30 days, measure the results and ask relevant questions
- Did the content resonate with your audience?
- Are the targeted accounts becoming more engaged with your business?
- Are the accounts moving down the sales funnel?
- Did you generate any revenue?
- What part of the campaign does not seem to be working? etc
If you do not get the desired results, dont be upset. Generating leads via account-based marketing is all about trying new tactics and strategies and see what works for you. Over to you –
What has been your experience with generating leads via account-based marketing? Do want more help with account-based marketing? You can call us or email us to get in touch with us.
Must Read: 7 Account Based Marketing Tactics To Drive the ABM Process
Vikas Bhatt is the Co-Founder of ONLY B2B, a premium B2B lead generation company that specializes in helping businesses achieve their growth objectives through targeted marketing & sales campaigns. With 10+ years of experience in the industry, Vikas has a deep understanding of the challenges faced by businesses today and has developed a unique approach to lead generation that has helped clients across a range of industries around the globe. As a thought leader in the B2B marketing community, ONLY B2B specializes in demand generation, content syndication, database services and more.
