Do you want to make your ABM strategy more effective? Utilize videos

ABM is also known as account-based marketing. (ABM) can be described as a hyper-targeted strategy for B2B marketing, which focuses on key accounts rather than market segments.

ABM used to be companies deciding on a limited list of target prospective customers and catering much of their marketing and resource to closing contracts. However, the tactics used were often scraping data, costly, experiential events for small group, and marketing to salespeople via cold calls. These weren't always effective.

Nowadays, ABM is a more integrated approach for attracting consumers. It is a significant difference as businesses are shifting away from the notion that B2B Sales and Marketing usually were in a conflict.

When executed correctly, ABM helps both Marketing and Sales teams align on key target customers and win new business.

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

What will you learn

1.    What is account-based marketing?
2.    The ABCs of ABM The fundamental elements of a successful ABM strategy
3.    What is not acceptable when you are using account-based marketing in your marketing strategy
4.    How can you personalize ABM programs for top-of-the-line customers
5.    Closing ideas

What exactly is an account-based approach to marketing?

To recap, account-based marketing (ABM) can be described as a technique where an organisation tailors its marketing strategies to reach specific accounts rather than pursuing an overall strategy.

In order to succeed with ABM the key is to be able to comprehend the needs of your ideal customer. So, you're able to develop targeted campaigns which are more likely to appeal to those who make the decisions at your targeted accounts.

"How is account-based marketing different from traditional marketing?" you ask?

Traditional marketing techniques, the focus is typically on creating more leads than is can be. When using ABM, the focus is on quality over quantity. That means that instead of trying to connect with as many people as possible it's about targeting the key decision makers in specific accounts that are more likely to convert.

It is also crucial to remember that ABM is a team work. For success with ABM, Sales and Marketing need to be aligned in their activities and objectives.

This alignment is essential for ensuring that everyone is working towards the same objective: producing leads that are of good quality and can be converted into customers.

The day-to-day daily life of marketers who use accounts

On a day-to-day basis Here's how accounts-based marketers are doing:

• They design and create specific customers' profiles.
• Then, they create personalized campaigns and content specifically to these specific audiences as well as companies.
• Working in conjunction in collaboration with Sales, ABM teams publish and market these promotional material on different channels (depending on accounts that are targeted).
• Finally, they monitor to measure and then optimize outcomes of their campaigns in order to refine the effectiveness of their ABM strategies over time.

So...why do you think it is important to prioritise account-based marketing?

There are many reasons that ABM should be an important consideration for your organization.

In the first place, by tailoring your marketing strategies specifically to the specific account, you are able to create custom content and experiences that will be much likely to be a hit with your target audience. As a result, you will be able to build stronger relationships with the accounts you want to target as well as close more deals and increase retention.

With ABM it is possible to focus your efforts on accounts which are more likely to convert and provide a better return on investment for your company.

Secondly, ABM aligns Sales and Marketing. With traditional marketing techniques, there can be an inconsistency between what Sales would like to achieve and the way that Marketing is doing. With ABM the two departments are working towards closing deals with particular accounts.

Thirdly, today's buyers--B2B as well as B2C, are more educated and sophisticated than they have ever been. They're not going to respond effectively to general messages or one-size-fits-all campaigns. With ABM you are able to customize the message and strategy for specific individuals and companies. A personalized approach is more likely to resonate with the current buyers, and will result in close transactions.

Additionally, ABM is trackable, perhaps more than conventional marketing and advertising. Because ABM concentrates on quality over the quantity of information, it is possible to measure the results of your efforts and determine whether or not they're paying off. The transparency of this process is essential to getting acceptance from the top management, improving your approach, and winning increasing numbers of customers in the process.

The ABCs of ABM The fundamental elements of a successful ABM strategy

With ABM, you treat each account as its own market.

For a sustainable growth of your company You need a secure Account-based Marketing (ABM) plan. These are the essential factors to consider in the event that you are considering implementing an ABM strategy for your business.

1. Segmentation

The first step of developing an ABM plan is identifying the accounts you want to segment. In order to do this, you need to know the perfect customer's persona (ICP).

The information in your ICP should contain details on demographics (e.g. Job title or company name, size of the business, and place of business, etc.)) as well as psychographic details (e.g. Pain factors, motives, purchasing influences).

For obtaining this information You can gather the data by conducting initial research by conducting surveys or conversations with past and present clients. You can supplement your persona with secondary research from reliable sources like industry trade publications.

If you've got a firm understanding of your ideal customer/company profile, you can start by creating a list of target accounts. It is also possible to employ market research tools to build the list of companies which meet your requirements.

If you've conducted your own research Now it's time to divide the accounts you have into various individuals. This can help you improve your messaging and ensure you're targeting only the appropriate people within each account. As an example, you could be able to create a persona that targets decision makers, one for influencers, and one that is for users.

2. Personalized messaging and outreach

Once you've identified your target persons and accounts Next step is to create a custom messaging and content for each of them. Remember, with ABM, you're treating each account as a market for itself It's essential to create content that is tailored for each account.

If you attempt to apply the same messages and contents for all of your target accounts but you'll not get what you're looking for. You need to create customized messages specific to each of the accounts on your list. This can be a challenge and a lot of work for teams, but it's well worth the effort--personalized messages have significantly better response rates than generic messages.

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

Personalized messages can help you establish contacts with the people you are targeting. Today, people do business with the people whom they trust, love, and trust. When you send personalized messages through relevant channels, it is possible to build those relationships with your target accounts and make them more inclined to purchase from you when they're ready to buy something.

3. Alignment between marketing and sales

Another important element in a successful ABM strategy is creating cross-functional teams. That means forming teams made up of members from different departments within your company, such as Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success. A recent study by Bombora discovered that companies generally have five teams dedicated to ABM.

These teams aim to align every employee within your company around their common goal, which is to win the customers of your targeted clients.

4. Customer lifecycle marketing

One crucial, yet often neglected element of a winning ABM strategy is the lifecycle of the customer marketing. It's about maintaining your connections with the key people in your targeted accounts. You can do this by a variety of ways like sending them personalized messages, giving them a call for their birthdays, or passing an email with helpful information. Whatever you do, make sure you're providing value and remaining top-of-mind.

It's likely that you'll need multiple people in a target account to sell your product or service to only one person in an account that you want to sell it to. You'll most likely require the involvement of various stakeholders within your organization to push an offer forward. This is the reason why creating specific content that can be utilized at different points of the buyer's path and throughout the cycle is crucial.

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

5. ABM software

One of the most important aspects of any ABM strategy is to have an appropriate program in place. ABM software assists B2B marketers to manage and automate their account-based marketing activities. Some of the most well-known platforms are HubSpot Sales, Terminus, Pardot Marketo, and Marketo.

ABM software will help you to track and assess engagement of your accounts which is a crucial metric to track in any ABM software (as we'll talk about in the next section). Adjust your ABM plan based on how your customers are responding to your brand and the way they're engaging. This leads to improved account engagement over time, which could result in more completed transactions and more revenue.

ABM software is also able to help to automate tedious tasks in order to let you concentrate on strategically ABM tactics. Automation can also help you execute targeted campaigns with greater efficiency in ensuring that the right contacts receive the right messages at the appropriate time. This will make your ABM system more efficient and affordable over time.

Additionally, ABM software can help to improve the overall ROI (ROI). It can help you generate more revenue for your business by improving account engagement and the effectiveness of your campaign. It means your ABM program will have more ROI. This is good for the overall bottom line.

6. Performance measurement

The last thing to mention is that you must measure your outcomes. Like any other marketing campaign, it is essential to track the progress and results of ABM campaigns. To do this effectively, identify and monitor the data that tells you the way each step in your campaign performed with each individual decision maker within the target account.

You can get a good sense of whether or not you ABM strategy is effective for your business through monitoring key measures like:

• Website traffic from targeted accounts
• The rate of conversion from MQL to SQL
• The amount of meetings scheduled by Sales
• The number of new opportunities created
• Size of deal
• Customer lifetime value (CLV)

What is not to consider when you are implementing a marketing plan based on accounts

We've covered the essential aspects of an effective ABM strategy. We'll now go over a handful of ABM errors to avoid when you start.

Don't make use of spooky and spammy ABM techniques

It's spammy ABM methods like purchasing numbers for cold calls as well as cold emails are a surefire way to fall short of account-based marketing. If your cold outreach isn't personalized or doesn't demonstrate the value (e.g. offering useful information or invitations to events) It's highly unlikely that your customers will be able to respond or schedule a meeting.

The research shows that cold outreach may work...if executed correctly. If you decide to implement cold outreach as part of your ABM strategy, make sure you encourage your team to follow best practices:

• They must identify themselves. 79 percent of unidentified phone calls are without a response
• Use "we" statements--Successful cold calls include 65% more "we" statements
• Make the content relevant to every individual recipient. 57 of of C-level buyers want being contacted via phone

Do notrely too heavily on scraped information

Account-based marketers need data to build their ideal customer or company profiles. But relying on purchased or scraped data could cause a lack of knowledge ICPs. Additionally, it could result in your staff contacting potential customers without their permission this is detrimental to your branding and may cause prospects to unsubscribe or report your messages as spam.

We recommend crafting your ICPs using primary research such as surveys and customer interviews. If necessary, you can supplement your personas with research from trusted sources like magazines for trade or industry publications, or even tools like Sparktoro.

Don't forget the ROI

Calculating the value of your ABM investment ought to be simple particularly if you concentrate on the abovementioned metrics and utilize an ABM software that can help.

Though some ABM tactics (like the events) may be less clear when measuring ROI, there's no excuse for choosing these tactics when there's no evidence that they'll make a difference or even close deal.

Do not make the error of organizing large, costly experiences or spending money on swag for "brand recognition" without determining how these investments tie back to your key goal and objectives.

Beware of ignoring bad-fit accounts

If an account isn't an ideal fit for your business or product doesn't mean you should ignore it entirely. Even if an account doesn't result in a sale, there could be other advantages, like publicity or valuable insights gained by interacting with them.

The key is not to concentrate on the short-term outcomes but instead focus at the longer-term game of ABM.

How do you customize ABM campaigns for your top-tier customers

While ABM can be very effective but it's important to remember that there aren't all accounts all created equally. Your top-tier clients--the ones who represent the biggest revenue potential for your business--deserve special attention.

When selecting the right accounts, be sure to make sure you focus on premium accounts with the highest potential for growth.

Your top-tier clients are used to receiving only the best, and your content and experiences must reflect that quality. This doesn't mean that you need to break your budget, but it's taking the time to create appealing, quality content that will capture attention and deliver outcomes.

Here are a few methods to tailor your ABM campaigns for your top-tier clients. (Hint that they include videos!)

Account-based marketing videos

Account-based marketing videos convey your company's message in a relatable and engaging manner, which is more than text-based marketing message. Videos are a great way to showcase your service or product as it is and provide your potential clients a greater understanding of the benefits and features.

What do these look like in practice? In the beginning, when you're trying to break into a new company, it's beneficial to introduce your staff with a short video. The decision-makers from the company a chance to give a face to the name, and start developing a rapport with your team.

Your video doesn't need to be extravagant. A brief tour of your workspace and introductions of each member of your team is enough. Just make sure it's clear and professional. It should also highlight why your team is the best possible choice for your account.

Personalized screen recordings

Improve engagement and increase sales by creating personalized screen recordings. Instead of sending a customer-agnostic recording, make the effort to make a customized product demo using the ICP's needs as well as your company's details in mind.

A custom-made recording can be an easy way to delight your potential customers. By increasing the end user's interaction, you establish confidence and improve the chances that they will move further into the funnel.

Video campaigns via email

Make use of account-based marketing videos for your nurture emails. Rather than sending yet another generic "Look at what we could do for you!" message, try personalizing your emails with a short video that is relevant to the needs of your recipient.

Videos that focus on the pain points of your target company and explain exactly the way your products or services can solve the problems of potential customers will make a stronger impression.

It will allow you to make yourself stand out and demonstrate that you're prepared to go that extra mile in order to add quality. Videos that are high-quality and delivered by email can help move customers further down the funnel and help them book appointments with your sales team.

Virtual events

These days, buyers do business with people they know, like, and trust. One method to increase confidence and camaraderie with your target accounts is by arranging curated virtual events. An example of this is the virtual VIP workshops or experience for executives.

Avoid creating cookie-cutter events for your most valuable clients. Take the time to to know their specific requirements and issues so that you can develop tailored virtual events that provide relevant solutions and networking connections.

In putting forth the extra effort upfront, you'll be able to establish yourself as a trustworthy partner who's invested in helping businesses succeed in the long term.

Churn-reducing programs

ABM doesn't stop after you've sold. Considering your ICPs will be your "perfect" customers, it's wise to continue to engage them after purchase.

Encourage Customer Success to touch the accounts you want to target every quarter or bi-annually, to ensure that their experience was positive. Participate in feedback loops so that you can gain important feedback and gain an understanding of how they use the product. It is possible to request that they participate in beta testing groups for new features or consulting-type roles for the product team.

Treating your accounts' customers as important customers will reduce the likelihood of losing customers and boost retention. customer LTV.

Closing concepts

Successful account-based marketing involves careful planning and implementation over a wide range of teams and dimensions.

By taking the time to learn about your ideal customer and developing specific campaigns as well as custom-made video content, you will be able to develop deeper connections and close more deals.

And since ABM can be tracked it is possible to measure the outcomes of your work and map back new customers to your unique, original marketing strategies.