Account-based marketing is an excellent strategy for creating a personalized experience for a set of high-value accounts. It follows a relationship-based approach. So, it is common for more sizeable businesses to maximize returns on their customers. 

Nonetheless, your small business can adopt Account-based marketing strategies. The critical task is to perfect the execution, so you enjoy the best returns on investment. So how can your company maximize the effectiveness of Account-based marketing strategies?

Benefits of account-based marketing

Other strategies focus on generating sales opportunities to generate leads or sales. But ABM focuses on growing your business through building long-term relationships with existing customers. Some key benefits include the following:

• Increasing sales

With ABM, your team takes the time to understand every specific customer's needs. That then helps to provide personalized and relevant solutions that make customers more likely to purchase, thus increasing sales.

• Better customer satisfaction and lifetime value

Generally, customers are more delighted with the personalized experience that the ABM model provides. You tailor everything to their needs and give the impression that they are a valued client. Happy and valued customers are thus more likely to stick with you in the long run.

• Higher returns on investment

The typical sales cycle can be pretty long, repetitive, and tedious. However, ABM allows you to only focus on a few high-value accounts and maintain them for the long run. These are also most likely to be those that align with your sales and marketing. You, therefore, cut costs on regular lead acquisition and nurturing.

When Should Businesses Use ABM?

Account-based marketing (ABM) is a holistic approach that uses audience data to identify your ideal customers, how they behave and what they want. The goal is to find the right ways of reaching and engaging them so you can build a relationship with them.

• When faced with more valuable clients: If your business receives small and bigger/long-term accounts, you may want to invest in ABM. That way, you can maximize returns on your larger accounts and drive higher productivity.

• When you have the staff: ABM can be time-consuming and require dedicated project managers to make it most effective. So, it helps to have the team on board to ensure all your clients are catered for. Nowadays, it is easier to hire freelancers for some roles as well.

• When seeking to grow revenue: Data indicates customer retention is cheaper and more profitable than generating new leads. So, if your business is trying to increase its revenue and profits, you should start using ABM.

How to Make ABM More Effective

How do you maximize the ABM strategy to drive more sales, revenue, and profits for your business?

Use the right tools

First, you must ensure you're using the right tools. An effective ABM strategy cannot materialize if you are still using spreadsheets, for example. You'll need to be able to identify, attract and nurture those valuable accounts, and thus require advanced software and CRMs.

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system allows you to track the buyer's journey. It also enables you to align the marketing and sales process for them to ensure smooth handoffs that enhance customer experience.

Other marketing tools and features like email automation also ease the process with ABM strategies, which could boost conversion rates.

Target the right accounts

Since ABM requires investment in client relationships, you must ensure you are dealing only with the right accounts. So, your marketing team should do ample research and find firms that best align with your offerings. That way, you do not waste time and resources on "unqualified accounts".

The best way to start this process is by segmenting your prospects with rule-based lists, which could be by demographics, company or industry. This process provides a clear picture of who your ideal target is before you can start raising awareness with them.

Provide relevant content

Like any other marketing strategy, providing only relevant content to your target accounts is crucial. From landing pages to sales copy to emails, all your content should address each account's specific needs and pain points. 

Creating relevant content is key to building solid relationships with your customers and maintaining them long-term. You want your contacts to feel like you have their best interests at the forefront.

Furthermore, the appropriate content facilitates personalization efforts, ensuring a better overall experience. And since your prospects are more likely to click through and convert when presented with personalized content, it is a sure way to maximize returns on ABM strategies.

Customize the customer experience for every account

You want to build the best relationship with each of your accounts with the ABM strategy. Therefore, you must analyze your audiences, paying attention to metrics like location, demographics, company size, etc. These will help you tailor the activities and, thus, experience to each specific account throughout their journey.

For example, you might find a start-up with young founders and workers who prefer communication through phone calls, webinars, or online collaboration tools. In contrast, an older company may prefer emails as a means of communication. Knowing these differences will help you tailor the experience for each of these companies for the best engagement.

Report continuously

You must regularly review, analyze and report on your progress to maximize effectiveness. That starts with having clear criteria/ KPIs like engagement, revenue growth, customer retention, etc. Luckily, there are multiple automated review solutions to help you with this.

With regular reviews, you can determine if your tactics are working, and which ones are not. From this, you can then make the necessary improvements. 

For example, if your customers' engagement reduces when you start the lead nurturing process, it could be a sign that your content is not resonating with them. Then you have the chance to make changes.

Final Thoughts

Overall, an Account-based marketing strategy should be a vital tool for your business to drive revenue and growth through customer relationships. These strategies will help your teams to maximize returns when using them.

As a rule, you want to ensure your target accounts align well with your business. Plus, you use the appropriate automation and management tools to personalize the experience.  

Still unsure of how best to use ABM strategies for your business? Reach out to FunnelBud’s experts.