b2b marketing masterclass – ABM strategy

Welcome to our series on business-to-business (b2b) marketing practices! We’ll be sharing practical advice and insights periodically, so you can upgrade your efforts and increase your share of the market (the clue’s in the name!).

ABM is an acronym for Account Based Marketing, a b2b specific marketing strategy that targets & focusses efforts on high-value accounts, rather than casting the net far and wide. 

ABM is all about being hyper-personal, where everything from the type of language used in communications, to the channels you communicate through or on, are tailored to that specific audience. 

We’re going to outline a step-by-step simplified run down of how to implement an ABM strategy. 

step 1 – define your target accounts

As a reseller you should already have an idea who your customers are, but for demonstration purposes let’s use a theoretical example. You’re a reseller operating in the England, where in reality any industry which requires telecommunications in the country is a potential customer. This is a big net to cast, so it’s time to figure out who your ideal customers are. Here are some key criteria to consider:

Verticals – identify industries that you want to align with e.g. businesses that require sophisticated recording capabilities. 

Geography – where do your ideal customers operate? Are they local, national or international.

Size – is your product best suited to SMEs or international corporations with hundreds of employees? 

Financial health – are you the best solution for companies that are operating with minimal revenue or those with huge budgets? 

Pain points – what is the main problem your product solves? When that is clear, you can then connect that problem, or pain point, with a specific customer group. For example, your telecommunication solution reduces call terminations and in turn increases profit margins, therefore your more targeted customer base are businesses experiencing slow/negative growth and poor performance.

step 2 – get Personal

You now have a very specific subset of customers that are going to be the bullseye on your marketing dartboard. Now it’s time to personalise all marketing activity so you have every chance of hitting that bullseye and increasing engagement and conversion rates. Some methods of doing that include:

Outreach – personalise contact with the customer so that it’s relevant to only them. For example, if they’ve just launched a new product, moved the HQ to a new location or hired a new CEO, include that in the initial communication with them. In other words, make them feel special!

Content – produce content that specifically addresses the customer’s pain point(s). For example, case studies, blogs and white papers. Be sure to share it with the customers on…

Specific channels – that the customer actually uses. There’s no point in trying to engage with a customer via Facebook adverts when they don’t use the platform for anything more than a company directory. In general, you want to employ a variety of channels, such as email, social media, adverts and direct sales contact, which leads us onto the last part of the ABM strategy run down.

step 3 – sales & marketing, make it a match made in heaven

A marketing team could develop the slickest, most personalised ABM strategy, but if the sales department doesn’t implement it, then it’s not going to increase leads or convert them. If we go back to the dartboard analogy, the sales team are the ones who throw the dart straight into the bullseye, so it’s imperative they know what they’re doing. 

It’s worth highlighting here that sales & marketing teams should be collaborating every step of the ABM process. Sales teams will have invaluable insight on which customers should be top priority, how they should be best engaged with, what the competition is doing and so on. 

Ensure both departments have common goals and benchmarks, such as outreach targets, and that the sales team has the correct personalised marketing materials (white papers etc.) and communication guidelines.

ABM – is it worth it?

ABM is fairly unique in that it is a legitimate sales funnel, offering a tangible ROI when executed correctly. This is also why it’s such an effective B2B marketing strategy. Some may argue that hyper-personalising marketing to this extent is costly and time-consuming compared to other activities, which is true, but in today’s age of automation and technology, marketing teams can easily reduce costs by using tools like HubSpot and Salesforce to help with content and outreach.

eve Wholesale resellers can access marketing support and advice to help them maximise their efforts, so if you’d like to have a chat with someone in our marketing team, get in touch.