Account Based Marketing. ABM. You've heard about it. You're a B2B. You know you should.
But how on earth would you find the time? And where would you start?!
Here's the thing: You don't have to make the perfect plan or buy the perfect system. The most important is actually to.... Get going! When you've taken the first few steps, the insights earned will help you both to define the next steps and to build a better relationship with your customers. Which in time will grow your business.
All Sales teams, at some point, will question what Marketing really does to help close the big deals Sales have been struggling with. It's here ABM comes into play. By adopting a targeted marketing tactic aligned with the sales efforts, Sales and Marketing can work together to deliver powerful results. Great marketing is the catalyst and spark behind successful sales, and it will significantly increase your chances of winning business both with current and new clients.
By having common goals, Marketing and Sales can support each account through the entire buyer's journey - from early phase awareness, through the research and evaluation phase, during the client's decision making, and then, after the sale by building long-term trust and loyalty. ABM should be seen as a method or a way of working, rather than a marketing activity.
Therefore, it's quite ok to start small. To go for trial-and-error. The key to successful ABM is to dare to make mistakes, to be flexible, and to adapt the tactic based on customer insights gained along the way.
Although ABM in its purest form implies a very engaged approach with a specific marketing plan for either one or a few selected account(s), I'd recommend a more generic approach to get started. You never know exactly when your intended target group is ready to listen to your messages or where they are in their buyer's journey. Hence, it makes sense to first focus on building knowledge and gathering actionable insights. Then adapt the activities and messages to individual accounts.
With a generic approach, getting started doesn't have to be difficult:
See, it's not as complicated as you might have thought!
By adopting an ABM mindset, you can turbocharge your sales and marketing, prioritise your resources to drive sales, and be seen by the people you want to see you. And it's quite ok to start small.