Know thy customer so well that your product sells itself" - Peter F. Drucker. As Peter F. Drucker, the father of modern management, once said, understanding your customer is the key to success in business. And when it comes to enterprises, B2B account-based marketing (ABM) is the ultimate strategy for building strong, lasting relationships with key accounts. In this article, we'll explore the benefits of ABM for enterprises and how it can help drive revenue growth and business success.
What is Account-based Marketing in Enterprises?
Account-based marketing (ABM) is a strategic approach to B2B marketing that focuses on identifying, targeting, and engaging high-value accounts or customers. For enterprises, ABM can be particularly effective due to their larger customer base, more complex sales cycles, and the need for cross-functional collaboration.
To implement ABM effectively, enterprises must be strategic in target account selection, personalize marketing efforts at scale, establish clear metrics for measuring success, and foster collaboration between sales and marketing teams. As John Wanamaker famously said, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half." ABM can help enterprises avoid this problem by targeting high-value accounts with a more personalized approach.
According to a survey by the Alterra Group, 97% of marketers reported that ABM had a higher ROI than other marketing activities. This is because ABM enables enterprises to focus their efforts on high-value accounts with a greater likelihood of conversion. By tailoring marketing and sales activities to the specific needs and preferences of each account, ABM can help enterprises build stronger relationships with customers and increase revenue over time.
How can Account-based Marketing for enterprises cater to their complex sales cycle?
The sales journey for enterprises is a complex and winding road, full of twists and turns, and unexpected detours. At the start of the journey, the enterprise sets out on a quest to identify the perfect customers or accounts, searching far and wide for the best fit for their product or service. This involves a mix of data analysis, market research, and customer relationship building.
1. Prospecting: This is where the enterprise sets out on a treasure hunt to find the perfect customers or accounts. They scour the land for clues and insights, using a mix of market research, data analysis, and customer relationship building to identify the most promising leads. With account-based marketing, the enterprise can identify the most promising accounts using data analytics and market research. By profiling their ideal customers and understanding their pain points and needs, the enterprise can focus their efforts on the accounts most likely to convert.
2. Lead generation: Once the enterprise has identified potential customers, they must capture them like skilled hunters. They use various techniques, from targeted advertising to email outreach, to entice the leads and collect their contact information. Account-based marketing enables enterprises to generate highly qualified leads using targeted advertising, email outreach, and other personalized marketing tactics. By tailoring their messages and content to the needs and interests of their target accounts, enterprises can capture their attention and encourage them to engage.
3. Qualification: Just like a savvy wildlife expert, the enterprise must carefully assess each lead to determine whether they are worth pursuing. They look for signs of interest, engagement, and alignment with their product or service, evaluating each lead to see if it fits their goals well. With account-based marketing, enterprises can effectively evaluate each lead's fit for their product or service. By using targeted messaging and content, enterprises can qualify leads more quickly and accurately, ensuring that they focus their efforts on the most promising accounts.
4. Engagement: With their leads in hand, the enterprise must now engage with them in a meaningful way. They use their storytelling skills to create a narrative that resonates with each lead, building relationships and showing that they understand their needs and challenges. Account-based marketing helps enterprises to engage with their leads in a more personalized and meaningful way. By tailoring their content and messaging to each account's specific needs and interests, enterprises can build trust and credibility, which is crucial in the complex sales cycle of enterprises.
5. Evaluation: As the leads move through the sales funnel, the enterprise must keep a close eye on their behavior and actions, much like a seasoned tracker following the footprints of their prey. They evaluate each lead's fit for their product or service, looking for signs that they are ready to purchase. With account-based marketing, enterprises can track and measure the behavior and actions of their target accounts more effectively. By using data analytics and other tools, enterprises can evaluate the progress of each account through the sales cycle and adjust their strategies accordingly.
6. Negotiation: As enterprises approach the finish line, they must use all their persuasion and negotiation skills to close the deal. They act like skilled diplomats, working to find common ground and establish mutually beneficial terms that satisfy both parties. Account-based marketing enables enterprises to negotiate with their prospects in a more collaborative and personalized way. By understanding their needs and pain points, enterprises can create customized solutions that meet their specific requirements and establish mutually beneficial terms.
7. Close: Finally, enterprises reach the end of their journey, and it's time to celebrate their hard-earned success. They act like seasoned explorers, planting their flag and staking their claim on a new customer relationship that will bring them new opportunities and growth. Finally, account-based marketing helps enterprises to close deals more effectively by focusing on the needs and interests of their prospects. By creating customized solutions and addressing their pain points, enterprises can build trust and confidence and establish long-term customer relationships.
How to implement an effective ABM strategy for Enterprises?
For enterprises always looking for new ways to stand out, the right abm agency can help build stronger relationships with their most valuable customers, increase revenue, and drive long-term growth. Let’s explore how enterprise services can implement a kickass ABM strategy that drives results and helps them stay ahead of the curve.
1. Define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
The first step is to identify your ideal customer profile or the types of accounts that you want to target. To do this, you need to understand your current customers, analyze their buying behavior, and identify the characteristics that make them a good fit for your product or service.
Tip: Focus on a few key factors that are most important to your business, such as company size, industry, location, or revenue. Use data analysis tools to identify patterns and insights that can help you refine your ICP.
Success Story: Salesforce identified their ICP as enterprise-level companies with a complex sales process and needing a customizable CRM solution. This helped them tailor their ABM strategy to target these specific accounts, resulting in a 35% increase in deal size and a 70% increase in win rates.
2. Build your target account list
Once you have identified your ICP, it's time to build your target account list. This involves selecting a list of accounts that meet your ICP criteria and are likely to be a good fit for your product or service.
Tip: Use a combination of data analysis and market research to build a comprehensive list of target accounts. Look for accounts that have shown interest in your product or service, have engaged with your brand, or have a need that your solution can address.
Success Story: Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) used an ABM approach to target a select group of accounts that had the potential to generate high-value opportunities. They used a combination of data analysis and market research to build their target account list, resulting in a 400% increase in pipeline for their target accounts.
3. Develop personalized messaging and content
With your target accounts identified, it's time to develop personalized messaging and content that speaks to their needs and challenges.
Tip: Use the insights you have gathered about your target accounts to develop messaging and content that is relevant, timely, and resonates with your audience. Personalize your content to each account and use a variety of formats, such as blog posts, videos, webinars, or case studies, to appeal to different buyer personas.
Success Story: Adobe developed a personalized ABM campaign that targeted key decision-makers at their target accounts. They used personalized videos and landing pages that spoke directly to the challenges faced by each account, resulting in a 65% increase in engagement with their target accounts.
4. Engage your target accounts
Once you have developed personalized messaging and content, it's time to engage your target accounts through targeted outreach and engagement.
Tip: Use a mix of channels, such as email, social media, direct mail, or events, to engage your target accounts. Develop a multi-touch campaign that includes a mix of messaging and content to keep your accounts engaged and interested.
Success Story: Demand base used a targeted ABM approach to engage their top 100 accounts through a combination of personalized messaging and content, direct mail, and events. This resulted in a 75% increase in engagement with their target accounts and a 200% increase in the pipeline from those accounts.
5. Measure and optimize your ABM program
As you engage your target accounts, it's important to measure and optimize your ABM program to ensure you get the best results.
Tip: Use data analytics to measure the success of your ABM program, track key metrics such as engagement, pipeline, and revenue, and optimize your program based on your findings. Test different tactics and strategies to determine what works best for your target accounts.
Success Story: Terminus used an ABM approach to target key accounts, using personalized messaging and content to engage their audience
Common Pitfalls Enterprises face when Implementing an ABM Strategy
Account-based marketing (ABM) is a strategic approach to B2B marketing that focuses on targeting and engaging specific accounts with personalized content and messaging. While ABM has become increasingly popular among enterprise services, several common pitfalls can hinder the success of an ABM strategy. Here are a few:
1. Lack of Alignment between Sales and Marketing
ABM is a collaborative effort between sales and marketing teams. Alignment between these teams is critical to the success of an ABM strategy. Without a shared understanding of target accounts, messaging, and tactics, the strategy will likely fail.
2. Poor Data Quality
Data is the foundation of any ABM strategy. Enterprises must have accurate, up-to-date data on their target accounts to effectively personalize content and messaging. Poor data quality can lead to wasted resources and lost opportunities.
3. Failure to Identify the Right Accounts
Identifying the right target accounts is key to the success of an ABM strategy. Enterprises must take the time to research and identify accounts that are most likely to generate revenue and align with their business objectives.
4. Lack of Personalization
ABM is all about personalization. Enterprises must tailor their messaging and content to specific accounts and individuals within those accounts. Failure to do so can result in disengagement and lost opportunities.
5. Insufficient Investment
ABM requires a significant investment in time, resources, and technology. Enterprises that do not invest sufficiently in their ABM strategy are unlikely to see significant results.
6. Failure to Measure and Optimize
Enterprises must have a way to measure the effectiveness of their ABM strategy and optimize it based on those results. Failure to do so can result in wasted resources and lost opportunities.
7. Overreliance on Technology
While technology is an important part of any ABM strategy, enterprises must not rely on it too heavily. Personalization and engagement require human interaction and expertise. Overreliance on technology can lead to a lack of personalization, engagement, and, ultimately, a failed strategy.
How does Tripledart approach Account-based Marketing for Enterprises?
Quality over quantity. It's a simple concept we all understand, but it's especially important when it comes to Account-Based Marketing enterprise services for companies with long sales cycles. According to a recent survey, 84% of businesses reported higher ROI with ABM than any other marketing strategy. At TripleDart SaaS ABM agency, we take a strategic and personalized approach to ABM for enterprises with long sales cycles, allowing you to focus your resources on a select group of high-value target accounts.
1. Define Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): We work with you to define your Ideal Customer Profile, taking into consideration factors like industry, company size, revenue, and pain points. For enterprises with a long sales cycle, it's important to also consider the decision-making process and stakeholders involved in the purchase.
2. Identify and Prioritize Target Accounts: Once we have defined your ICP, we use data and research to identify and prioritize the target accounts most likely to result in revenue. We also consider factors like the level of engagement and interest from these accounts and their potential lifetime value.
3. Develop Account-Specific Messaging: We develop messaging tailored to each target account's specific pain points, challenges, and motivations. For enterprises with a long sales cycle, this messaging should also speak to the long-term benefits of your product or service and how it can help address ongoing challenges or pain points.
4. Leverage Multiple Touchpoints: We use a multichannel approach like enterprise digital marketing and enterprise PPC to engage with the key decision-makers within each target account. This can include tactics like email marketing, direct mail, social media advertising, and personalized landing pages.
5. Use Content Marketing: Content marketing is an important aspect of ABM for enterprises with a long sales cycle. We develop educational and informative content that speaks to your target accounts' needs and challenges and helps establish your company as a trusted thought leader.
6. Nurture Relationships: Enterprises with a long sales cycle require ongoing relationship-building efforts. We work to establish a relationship with the key decision-makers within each target account and use tactics like regular check-ins, personalized messaging, and ongoing content marketing to maintain engagement over time.
7. Measure and Optimize: We measure the effectiveness of our ABM campaigns using advanced analytics tools and use this data to optimize our tactics and approach continuously. This includes refining messaging, adjusting targeting criteria, and identifying opportunities for further engagement.
In today's crowded market, it's more important than ever to stand out and build meaningful relationships with key decision-makers. With our ABM enterprise services specifically tailored for you, we can help you engage with high-value target accounts, build relationships over time, and ultimately close more deals. As Robert Collier once said, 'Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.' Let us help you make those small efforts count with our ABM services for enterprises.
How do we track multi-stakeholder engagement through a long sales cycle?
Albert Einstein once said, 'In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.' This sentiment rings especially true for enterprises with a long sales cycle that require tracking multi-stakeholder engagement. In fact, according to a recent industry report, businesses that implement account-based marketing (ABM) see an average increase in the deal size of 40%. Here's how we approach tracking multi-stakeholder engagement for ABM success in enterprises.
1. Map the Decision-Making Process
We work with you to map the decision-making process within your target accounts. This involves identifying the key stakeholders involved in the purchase decision and their roles and responsibilities.
2. Assign Account Owners
Once we have identified the key stakeholders, we assign an account owner to each stakeholder. The account owner is responsible for engaging with and building a relationship with their assigned stakeholder throughout the sales cycle.
3. Use a CRM System
We use a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to track engagement and interactions with each stakeholder. This includes recording emails, phone calls, meetings, and other touchpoints.
4. Analyze Engagement Data
We analyze the engagement data to understand which stakeholders are most engaged and which require more attention. This allows us to adjust our approach and tactics to engage with key stakeholders better.
5. Personalize Messaging
We use the engagement data to personalize our messaging and approach for each stakeholder. This ensures that we speak directly to their pain points and motivations and helps build a stronger relationship over time.
6. Coordinate Communications
We work with account owners to coordinate communications and ensure all stakeholders receive a consistent and personalized message. This helps to avoid confusion and ensures that all stakeholders are on the same page.
7. Optimize the Sales Process
We use the engagement data to optimize the sales process continuously. This includes identifying opportunities for further engagement, refining messaging, and adjusting tactics to engage with key stakeholders better.
By mapping the decision-making process, assigning account owners, using a CRM system, analyzing engagement data, personalizing messaging, coordinating communications, and optimizing the sales process, we can help your enterprise ensure that all stakeholders are engaged and informed throughout the buying process. This ultimately positions your company to close more deals and drive revenue, even in the midst of a long sales cycle.
At TripleDart, we understand the importance of account-based marketing (ABM) in enterprise services. With our tailored ABM strategy, we can help you engage with high-value target accounts, build relationships over time, and ultimately close more deals. Let us be your ABM partner and watch your enterprise grow. Talk to our experts today!
