Key Speaker: Mr. Ross Macrae (Solution Consultant, Marketo) 27 Oct

Premise

Account Based Marketing (ABM) is the B2B marketing method by which marketers launch marketing solutions for specific agencies that are catering to individual organizations. Instead of devising solutions for customers, it is done for organizations which already have a specific target. In this write-up, we will explore the various ways in which ABM can be most effective as demonstrated by a top player in this segment- Marketo.

Methodology

ABM implementers focus on accounts that matter the most rather than a mass dispersion of content. There is an adage which claims that marketing owns the customer but sales owns the accounts. It is a B2B method so narrow. ABM also extensively uses marketing automation technologies top perform the best of digital marketing. Account Based Marketing flips the marketing funnel as illustrated in the following chart:

So as can clearly be understood, the traditional format looks at channeling mass audience using various techniques before finally filtering out the relevant leads. On the other hand, ABM looks at direct targeting of a handful of select clients, who then distribute the content to their filtered audiences. ABM follows a three pronged strategy. The overall learning curve is shorter in this process.

Advantages of ABM

The advantages of ABM are as follows:

$1·      The overall ROI for marketing improves as only pre-selected clients are targeted; there is no major expenditure on the filtration process.

$1·  Proper business analysis will reveal revenue generation across various sources; each source can be individually attributed for the bang-per-buck.

$1·         Qualified lead generation takes place rather than any ad-hoc business strategy.

$1·         Sales and marketing get integrated to work together.

Requisite ABM Capabilities

In order to best undergo ABM, certain pre-requisites are needed. The following illustration will best explain the process:

Thus as it explains, first of all, market research must be done in order to identify clients that would be ideal to pitch solutions to. Next up the right personnel need to be matched and for this top notch talent recruitment has to be executed. Content targeted needs to be personalized for each client. As there is no mass mailing, there is ample scope for individual content to be disseminated. Similarly even the channels to be used need to be custom developed. Social media is an apt tool to pursue within the present context. Once all this is done, work must begin on all these accounts. However, no progress can be properly identified without individual assessment of all accounts. Proper data and ensuring information needs to be maintained so that all accounts can be matched against revenues or other business metrics.

Three-pronged Approach

The three pronged approach can best be understood using the following diagram:

This rotates constantly. The moment one step is over, the marketing team has to optimize to start straight away the next one. Targeting can be done both vertically as well as sub-vertically. The scope can be divided as per sectors or geographies. Engagement too needs to explore all possible opportunities. The measuring stage needs to pose some crucial questions.

Now let us individually look at each of these stages.

Targeting must involve a segmentation of all the accounts. There must be an analysis on each named account. This analysis process is also a stage of discovery. A store must be maintained for the purpose of data warehousing. Leads must then be matched against their individual results.

Engagement with the audience is taking on an increasingly important role. A cross-channel engagement needs to take place. This includes a mix of online as well as offline methods. Each account must see a separate campaign. Filters or triggers must be attached to each of these campaigns so that proper metrics may be derived.

A lot of companies conduct their ABM using multi- point solution providers. They look at a bouquet of solutions rather than a single troubleshooter. This leads to measurement irregularities. A few critical questions need to be posed at this stage. First of all, the marketer must analyze how effective the entire campaign is going on. Then the decisions involved in the buyer journey must be mapped in detail. The best performers must be identified

A straw poll conducted during this webinar revealed that the majority of participants’ organizations were not undergoing ABM. This is an interesting indicator proving the massive potential for this stream to grow. Already, a lot of progress has been made, and ABM can be the marketing winner in the coming times.

Forum:   https://www.marketo.com/