The Right Strategy for Your Account Based Marketing (ABM)

1. What is Account Based Marketing?
2. Implementing ABM in 8 steps: How to successfully implement your ABM strategy
3. This software supports you in an ABM strategy
4. Conclusion: Account Based Marketing accelerates your pipeline

So far, about 43 percent of companies in Germany have adopted Account Based Marketing and another 45 percent plan to introduce ABM in the future (Source: State of Europe). In this article, you will learn why you shouldn't miss out and how to successfully implement your ABM strategy.

What is Account Based Marketing? 

ABM is a form of B2B marketing where companies build (new) business relationships using personalized campaigns – based on carefully selected customers. Although the marketing strategy is mostly relevant today, it originated in the 2010s and is based on Key Account Marketing. Both strategies aim to strengthen long-term business relationships and ensure steady company growth.

In Account Based Marketing, you view individual accounts or business contacts as independent markets, rather than creating blanket campaigns for individual target groups. Therefore, the focus is not on a target group, but on a buyer profile (Key Account). All measures relate to their Buying Center (decision-making groups) and Buyer Personas (people involved in the procurement process).

At first glance, the marketing strategy resembles the principles of Inbound Marketing. However, you will only find similarities in areas before the first phase of the Customer Journey, i.e., before the Awareness Phase, in your funnel.

Source: Cieden

Account Based Marketing vs. Inbound Marketing

Both strategies overlap in three essential commonalities:

1. They aim to create added value for your customers.
2. Customers are the focus of your actions.
3. The strategies clearly differentiate themselves from traditional measures (Outbound Marketing).

In all other areas, they differ:

Account Based Marketing	Inbound Marketing
- Outbound Marketing Process ⁠- Your focus is on a few preselected customers selected by sales and marketing. ⁠- You view companies (accounts) as buying groups. ⁠- You treat companies (accounts) as individual buyers. ⁠- Your individualized measures arouse the interest and trust of major customers. ⁠- Your marketing measures are tailored to their plans and interests. ⁠- You address people personally and directly.	- Inbound Marketing Process - Your focus is on your target group. ⁠- You view all customers as individual units. ⁠- Your target group-based content draws attention and attracts customers. ⁠- Your marketing measures are tailored to their plans and interests. ⁠- You address people through content on your website, blog or social networks.
- Your primary goal is to build mutual trust and a long-term business relationship. ⁠- Reverse funnel: You insert a small number of potential major customers promising success into the funnel. Source: Openmoves	- Your primary goal is to gain as many customers as possible according to your target group definition. ⁠- Oriented to the Marketing Funnel: You insert a large amount of leads into the funnel and filter them according to certain criteria (e.g. purchase intention). Source: Openmoves
- You approach potential customers. ⁠- You place a lot of value on human interaction and a "friendly" communication.	- Your potential customers approach you. ⁠- You provide contacts with as much valuable information as possible.

In many cases, both concepts are pursued in parallel as they wonderfully complement each other and create synergistic effects. For example, you can personalize emails, websites, and calls during certain sales and marketing actions for individual goals. It also makes sense if you have established a name for yourself before starting your ABM strategy.

Benefits of ABM

1. Strong relationships

The biggest advantage is the establishment of long-term business relationships. Both sides benefit from this. In your personalized content, you address the needs and challenges of your accounts, thereby increasing customer loyalty, mutual trust, and loyalty.

2. Cross-departmental collaboration

For your ABM strategy to succeed, your sales and marketing departments need to pull together. They must be able to rely on each other for account identification, content personalization, and communications with accounts to achieve good results as quickly as possible. Strengthening cross-departmental collaboration benefits nearly every endeavor in your company.

3. Optimal use of resources

Your ABM measures are limited to a small number of high-quality accounts. This allows you to use your resources for the most promising customers, rather than investing in the mass market.

4. Measurable ROI

Your Return on Investment (ROI) becomes measurable as you define and track (mis)successes based on clear numbers. Tracking and meaningful reporting of ROI clearly tells you whether you are on the right track or should counteract.

5. Higher revenue

Marketing campaigns developed for a broad audience often do not yield the desired success. If you instead invest in campaigns for individual accounts (with high chances of success), you usually multiply your revenue.

Implementing ABM in 8 steps: How to successfully implement your ABM strategy

Step 1: Assemble an ABM team

Depending on your company's size, your ABM team can be larger or smaller. Regardless of the number of people, these roles should be represented:

• Sales Representative: Implements the ABM measures
• Data Specialist: Ensures the currency of contact and account data
• Marketing Manager: Is responsible for the marketing tools and ABM measures
• Content Manager: Creates the content
• Graphic Designer: Visually prepares the content
• Sales Account Executive: Looks after the members of an account for the entire process
• Sales Manager: Defines the goals, sales process and supports marketing
• Customer Success Manager: Looks after a fixed customer base
• Executive level (C-Level-Management: Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Revenue Officer or Chief Executive Officer): Ensures essential characteristics such as the budget

Step 2: Define your goals

You should now define the goals of your ABM strategy. It's not just you who should be able to rattle them off. Your entire team should internalize them too. As always, define SMART goals.

Example goals for your Account Based Marketing:

• Increase awareness: By 01.01.2025 (realistic and scheduled), we want to increase our awareness (measurable and specific) by 10 percent on last year's figures (realistic and measurable) (attractive).
• Customer acquisition: By 01.01.2025 (realistic and scheduled), we want to increase our number of new customers (measurable and specific) by 10 percent on the previous year (realistic and measurable) (attractive).
• Cross and Up Selling: By 01.01.2025 (realistic and scheduled), 10 percent (realistic and measurable) of our software customers (measurable and specific) should also have our employee training module in use/switch to the new version (attractive).

Step 3: Choose your tools

ABM is theoretically possible without technical support, but not effectively feasible. Too many data are collected, processed and evaluated. Therefore, define a set of tools and define who, when, how and which tool should be used.

Example tools for your Account Based Marketing:

• Customer Relation Management (CRM)
• Marketing Automation (MA)
• Project Management
• Collaboration Tool
• Chatbot

Step 4: Structure your ABM strategy with the Account Based Marketing model from W4

The model is based on the familiar W-questions: who, what, where and when.

• Who: Identify the most valuable accounts, the people responsible and their needs.
• What: Create personalized messages.
• Where: Identify the optimal channels.
• When: Identify the optimal timing.

Step 5: Prioritize your Target Accounts

In the last step, you defined your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Now you should put together a Target Account List. Your sales and marketing teams should be involved in this.

Example procedure for your ABM strategy:

• Pilot projects: Your Target Account List for pilot projects should contain about 50 contacts (ten accounts, five members per account). In larger companies, the list may contain more contacts.
• First Party Data: You can use data from your CRM, your Close-lost Deals or other tools, or buy data from third parties.
• Intent Data: The data gives you information about the behavior of your contacts.
• Buying Role: Identify blockers and champions in the Buying Center.

Step 6: Choose your channels and create your messages

Your content mapping should ideally include five channels per campaign. Pay attention to valuable content.

Example channels for your ABM strategy:

• Targeted Display Ads
• LinkedIn Sponsored Content
• Email Signature Marketing

Step 7: Start your marketing campaign and your sales outreach

While your marketing team creates and publishes personalized content, your sales team tracks the reactions of your Target Accounts. This way, Sales Account Executives can respond directly and make contact.

Important features for your ABM strategy:

• Centralized data on account activities and engagements
• Real-time notifications for quick reactions
• Playbook with suitable messages that can be played out at any time

Step 8: Measure your (mis)success and optimize your campaign

You should always have your KPIs in mind and adjust if necessary.

Important features for your ABM strategy:

• A/B tests
• Real-time monitoring of KPIs such as Target Accounts and Engaged Target Accounts
• Reporting

This software supports you in an ABM strategy 

Currently, missing contact, account and engagement data is one of the major challenges of ABM. An ABM tool like Ocean.io can help. With its Proprietary Algorithm ("Lookalike Search") and AI functions, the tool helps to find companies according to your Target Accounts and ICP and thus specifically supports lead generation agencies, SaaS companies and manufacturers in identifying and winning Target Accounts.

Key features of the ABM tool:

• Campaign Audience Lists: Create lists and upload directly to the LinkedIn Campaign Manager or Google Ads
• CRM Integration: Find new leads that are not yet part of your CRM
• Intent Data: View and track the search queries of your ICP prospects
• Lookalike Search: Detailed search goes far beyond the usual industry code filters
• Company Filters: Filter target group-specific lists (19 filters), sort, prioritize and personalize

Conclusion: Account Based Marketing accelerates your pipeline

Especially in economically difficult times, it is challenging for marketers to convince buyers to invest in their products or services. According to a study, 84 percent of respondents are more likely to purchase from someone who speaks to them individually than from someone who sends a standard message. This shows: Individual communication is a significant competitive advantage. That's why ABM is becoming increasingly important for companies. So don't wait any longer, book a free demo appointment directly!