ABM – Account Based Marketing

Account Based Marketing (ABM) is a marketing strategy that focuses on digital marketing efforts for pre-defined customer accounts.

Unlike marketing to large audiences, Account Based Marketing focuses on very limited target audiences of potential customers and is based on precise classifications down to the level of people names in the selected accounts.

ABM is mainly suitable for B2B companies that are interested in marketing to selected accounts, companies with a niche product, and companies where the learning/sales cycle is long.

The big advantage of ABM is in the focus, which is reflected in several aspects:

• Savings in marketing budget, time, and energy.
• Allows investments in the right places.
• The cost per lead (CPL) is more expensive, but the return on investment (ROI) is much higher than the average of the total activity.
• An excellent way of differentiating from the competition by content and messages tailored to the customer’s pains & needs.

Account Based Marketing (ABM) Services

We provide various types of ABM services:

• Account discovery & classification – conducting market research and identifying potential accounts according to different segments, setting an ideal customer profile (ICP).
• Planning and managing a multi-channel marketing strategy – based on selected customer accounts, building a multi-channel digital marketing plan, planning customer journeys and content tailored to each channel. Ongoing campaign management.
• Setting a measurement framework – Planning and implementing a measurement and monitor framework using various software’s along with determining an ROI model and KPIs.
• End-to-end ABM solution – ABM campaign management according to the steps outlined below.

The Steps in ABM Campaign Management

The steps we take in setting up and managing an ABM campaign:

1. Campaign Specification – It is important to define which market we want to operate in and who the ideal customer is, the companies we would like to contact and invest our marketing efforts with, who the key people are and how to contact them, define what they gain from connecting with you on a personal and organizational level, What is the potential revenue from each account, what is the geographical focus and more.
   At this point, there is also a mission to gather as much initial information as possible as a basis for the overall ABM activities.
2. Collaboration between Marketing, Sales, and Customer Service – An important part of ABM campaign planning is aligning with the sales and service department to enable coordination and collaboration.
   Potential customers should be presented with consistent key messages and benefits as part of their learning process.
   In addition, sharing engagement data with sales and service departments can generate better sales opportunities by focusing on customers with higher purchase intent and by improving ongoing customer service.
3. Personalized Content Creation – Content is a critical part as part of an ABM campaign. In order to create personalized messaging & calls to action that will drive results, map the pains and problems of your clients around the solution you offer.
4. Multi-Channel Marketing – The content we created should be tailored to the characteristics of different digital marketing channels. Since we reach limited & defined accounts, the messages we want to convey will be distributed in several different channels.
5. Marketing Automation – There are different software’s that have ABM campaign functionalities (such as HubSpot) where you can create automated workflows and manage the campaign from the planning stage to actual sales generated. It also enables personalization and provides a measurement framework that allows you to do ABM on scale.
6. Measurement Framework – Make sure to set goals and KPIs for the activity as part of the campaign monitoring and that it will be agreed upon by the marketing and sales department. The measurement framework is also used for the campaign optimization and ongoing management by focusing on highly engaged accounts, and to get an overview of the overall progress of the ABM campaign.

ABM Vs. Inbound Marketing

ABM activities should be combined with “regular” inbound marketing activities.

B2B companies combine these two types of activities to maximize return on investment and quantity/ quality of leads. An ABM campaign is not a replacement for a good, traditional inbound marketing campaign.