ABM (Account Based Marketing) 101
Author: Abhay Reddy
ABM is an extremely effective tactic that treats key accounts as a market of one. It allows marketing to focus on specific large companies that account for a large share of the revenue.
The Traditional Approach: involves pushing some topics on all accounts irrespective of their interest in them. This ‘spray and pray’ approach is generally less effective than more targeted practices.
The ABM Approach: involves understanding the key pain points and opportunities within each account and tailoring the messages to match them. ABM involves personalization and developing nurture plays towards a specific concrete CTA (Call To Action). This could be setting up a meeting with the customer, or nurturing an existing opportunity to close, or prospecting key decision makers in a group
ABM Types: There are 3 key types of ABM.
- 1:1 marketing to a specific strategic account. This type of marketing is every effective but also the toughest to execute. It is resource intensive and costs a lot more
- 1:few ABM involves finding cluster of pain points or opportunities that resonate within few key accounts. This is a preferred approach for first time ABM pilots before attempting a 1:1 type marketing
- 1:many involves focusing on one or two themes that resonate across all strategic accounts. This approach is slightly better than generic demand generation, but less effective than the above two approaches
User/e-commerce accounts* One of the most effective ABM approaches I have seen is through the website… by not only personalizing the content for individual users and companies, but also creating login accounts (research or e-commerce accounts) and proactively preloading customer/company preferences (ex: purchase history, account discounts, punchout, user preference, repeat orders etc). Adding a chat functionality (non-bot) to this mix is a great way of improving customer satisfaction and accelerate sales.
Step By Step Approach: Below is a step by step approach to executing ABM campaigns. The key here is to research before execution. The customers have to feel special and be engaged at a personal level
Tactics Map: Below is a tactics map template from *SiriusDecisions, Inc. They have a more comprehensive approach to ABM, but I have used bits and pieces from multiple methodologies and customized the approach to the companies that I have worked for. There is no one size fits all, and customizations depends on the customers, product mix, budget and resource availability. The key is to align content and tactics in an integrated fashion towards a concrete Call to Action.
Test and Learn. It is ok if a flow or theme doesn’t work. Its important to measure and evaluate performance at each stage, and either stop or proceed based on analysis. ABM involves extensive piloting and hypothesis testing.
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