Account Based Marketing (ABM) Strategies That Work: Tactics to Engage and Convert Prospects

Account-based marketing is a B2B marketing approach that requires marketing and sales teams to align their goals and target the accounts most likely to convert from prospects into paying customers.

AMB strategies are different from the traditional sales approach because it's much more targeted, improving your conversion rates and reducing the time it takes to qualify leads and help them enter the funnel.

With a targeted, less broad approach, sales teams and marketers focus on converting prospects that are the best fit for their product or service offerings. Account-based marketing tactics, such as social media, inbound, content, value-based, and intent-based marketing, help you target key decision-makers to increase the likelihood of purchases.

Account-based marketing starts by selecting accounts — prospects —most likely to convert to paying customers before nurturing them. ABM marketers select accounts by performing market research to find the ideal customer before reaching out to them directly.

An account-based marketing strategy example is SaaS companies that vet accounts before creating targeted campaigns. For instance, a marketer might research various companies within a certain niche or industry to determine if they're the right fit for a particular product.

Account-based marketing strategies are a more personalized and targeted approach that cuts down on waste. Rather than attracting leads that may never convert, you can create hyper-targeted marketing campaigns designed just for your target accounts.

The benefits of an ABM marketing strategy include the following:

Increases personalization

Account-based marketing targets a select few accounts using hyper-personalized marketing campaigns and experiences. This is different from traditional B2B marketing, which aims to generate as many leads as possible before qualifying them to determine if they're likely to convert. When you target only a few accounts, you can tailor specific creative assets and content to their needs.

Improves customer service

ABM strategies can improve customer service because it enables sales reps to act as customer service reps to serve their clients and customers' needs. Since many buyers prefer to work directly with their salesperson, they're often the first person they think to call when they run into an issue. This more targeted approach allows reps to work directly with customers to prevent issues later on.

Aligns marketing and sales

Marketing and sales teams must work together for an effective B2B strategy. The more aligned your marketing and sales efforts, the better your sales will be.

For example, your marketing team likely won't know which accounts to target without first talking to the sales team — the individuals who talk to customers every single day.

Marketing teams will also rely on sales teams for campaign customization and personalization to help move prospects through the pipeline with less friction.

Increases conversion rates

Improved personalization and targeting can increase conversion rates. Increasing revenue through personalization builds customer relationships and promotes loyalty. Using ABM marketing strategies enables you to build relationships with customers while setting the sales team up for success, making it easier for them to close deals.

Shortens the sales cycle

Account-based marketing can drastically reduce the time it takes to close deals because you're only targeting the accounts most likely to convert. Account-based marketing eliminates time spent unnecessarily vetting leads from other lead-generation efforts.

Instead of generating as many leads as possible, it focuses on finding qualified prospects most likely to convert and creating personalized messaging for the target account's decision-maker. This process dramatically speeds up the sales cycle by ensuring you target the right people at the right times with effective marketing strategies.

ABM strategies can help B2B marketers and sales professionals reach business objectives faster by developing effective messaging campaigns that target decision-makers. Unfortunately, many marketers don't have experience in AMB marketing.

There isn't a single ABM strategy template for every company since your exact strategy will depend on your sales cycle and prospective customers. However, with these account-based marketing tactics, you can create your own ABM strategy template you can use for effectively finding and nurturing prospects:

Identify your ideal customer profile

Market research can help you identify your ideal account profile. First, you should determine which types of customers your product is a fit for.

For instance, if you sell accounting software, your target market may be accountants or small business owners based on the type of product you've developed. Once you identify your ideal customers, you can create user personas using the information you've learned about them.

Choose your target accounts

After developing user personas, you can find high-value target accounts. There are a few types of ABM strategies you can use: one-to-one, one-to-few, and one-to-many.

One-to-one and one-to-few ABM strategies allow you to focus on creating customized campaigns for a small number of key accounts. Conversely, the one-to-many strategy allows you to target hundreds of accounts if you have the resources to scale.

Conduct research

To choose your target accounts, you'll need to perform customer research to learn about each potential prospect. When choosing your target accounts, you should consider the product fit and which customers are most likely to use your products. Your CRM can come in handy with this process by giving you data about accounts and how you can streamline the sales pipeline.

Develop an account plan

Next, you'll need to develop an account plan. If you're like most businesses, you'll want to target as many accounts as possible to help you sell more. A one-to-few strategy is a good option for most businesses because it allows you to segment your target accounts based on similar characteristics.

Align sales and marketing teams

Before you develop marketing campaigns, you'll need to align your marketing and sales teams. Your sales team can provide insights into pain points and what customers are looking for when researching similar products. By aligning your marketing and sales teams, you can provide a consistent experience throughout the customer journey.

Create personalized content

Every account-based marketing strategy needs personalized content to target different accounts. Personalized content, including emails, blogs, and website pages, can help you address common customer pain points to highlight the value of your products.

Use different marketing channels

AMB strategies require a multichannel approach that allows you to create consistent sales interactions at each customer touchpoint. Your prospects find products and services differently.

While many start with a Google search, others may not even know they have a problem that needs solving. Using multiple marketing channels can help you attract and convert more prospects that are a good fit for your products.

Account-based marketing examples

Identifying your target audience and developing personalized campaigns can help you convert more customers. However, many marketers, sales reps, and business owners aren't familiar with this type of marketing.

If you sell accounting software for small businesses, you want to target small business owners, specifically creating content demonstrating how your product addresses their pain points.

Let's take a look at a few ABM strategy examples you can use to attract prospects and convert them into paying customers.

Personalized email campaigns

Sending personalized email campaigns to account contacts is one of the most cost-effective ways to begin ABM. You should always research a company and send emails to decision-makers.

But remember, these decision-makers aren't always business owners or CEOs. Instead, they're the individuals in charge of departments. For instance, if you sell accounting software, you might target the chief financial officer (CFO).

Direct mail campaigns

It might seem like traditional marketing efforts have taken a backseat to digital marketing, but direct mail is still effective. The type of mail you send depends on how engaged your target account is. For instance, you can send personalized offers to decision-makers.

Direct mail should only be used if you've engaged a prospect and they know what your business sells. Otherwise, your efforts could land your content directly in the trash. Instead, you should target engaged prospects who have spoken to a sales rep from your company.

Retargeting

Most decision-makers start with an online search when they're looking for a specific product or service. If you've invested in search engine optimization (SEO) or paid advertising, many potential prospects have probably landed on your site but may not have converted or engaged with your business. Account-based retargeting can help you bring those target accounts back to your website to give your business a second opportunity to convert them.

Account-based marketing best practices

Developing ABBM strategies can be time-consuming because it requires you to vet prospects before they enter your marketing funnel. However, by choosing which industries and types of companies you want to target beforehand, you can reduce friction in the sales funnel and streamline the sales process.

Here are a few best practices for account-based marketing:

• Use sales territories: Sales territories allow you to assign salespeople to specific regions or states based on social proximity. For example, you may have sales reps across the country, allowing you to build relationships with prospects based on proximity.
• Build an effective team: An account-based marketing team should align sales, marketing, and customer service teams. Your ABM team should be separate from your traditional lead generation team, each with its own goals. However, they should work together collaboratively to ensure efforts are effectively targeted.
• Forge strong relationships with prospects: The person who reaches out to your company isn't always someone with decision-making power. They might be someone who would use the technology but can't purchase it right away. If you sell CRM software, you might meet with marketing and sales associates for the discovery meeting. But with an ABM approach, you can target decision-makers directly and forge strong relationships before selling the product.
• Always measure your results: An account-based marketing strategy can increase sales and revenue, but it's not guaranteed. Every ABM strategy hinges on your ability to align sales and marketing teams and create more effective marketing campaigns. Measuring the results of your campaigns can help you determine whether you need to implement changes that convert more customers.

Maximize your marketing impact with ABM strategies

Finding the right account-based marketing tactics can help you target key decision-makers to reduce the time it takes to convert, find higher-quality leads, and improve customer relationships.

Create an effective ABM campaign with Mailchimp today. Our suite of marketing tools enables brands to implement an account-based marketing strategy to target the right prospects at the right time.