As the name suggests, account-based marketing (ABM) is all about targeting specific, typically high-value business accounts that are most likely to generate revenue and foster long-term relationships.
This targeted approach is gaining immense popularity in the B2B domain, particularly among software as a service (SaaS) brands aiming to build meaningful and effective engagements with potential customers. So much so that the market size for ABM is projected to burgeon from $819.79 million in 2023 to $1,451.21 million by 2028, which is equivalent to a CAGR of 12.1% during the forecast period.
When it comes to lead generation, ABM is particularly potent as it drives alignment between your sales and marketing teams while shifting the focus from a broad audience to specific prospects. This means your teams work together to fine-tune marketing content and sales collateral to address the unique needs and challenges of each account, which in turn, means engaging the right leads at the right time and significantly enhancing the odds of conversions.
In this post, let’s delve into the nitty-gritty of generating leads using an ABM strategy with a step-by-step approach.
How to Generate Leads Using an ABM Strategy
Lead generation via account-based marketing works best when you follow a structured approach. Here are some actionable tips and steps to start generating leads after setting up your ABM framework.
1. Pinpoint Your Target Accounts
Start by identifying the high-value accounts that align with your business goals. Consider factors such as the prospect’s industry, mission and vision, company size, location, revenue, and growth rate.
Leveraging tools such as ZoomInfo and LinkedIn Sales Navigator can streamline the process of identifying target accounts, thereby laying a solid foundation for your ABM strategy. ZoomInfo, for instance, provides a comprehensive database of business contacts and companies, making it a valuable resource for identifying and researching potential target accounts. Sales Navigator allows you to create custom lead lists, get insights into company details, and engage with potential leads right on the LinkedIn platform.
This focused approach ensures that your marketing efforts are directed toward leads with a high likelihood of conversion.
2. Do Your Homework Well
Next, delve into thorough research to understand the needs, challenges, and business objectives of your target accounts. You can research your target accounts by going through their company websites, social media content, press releases, industry reports, etc.
Knowing their industry, market position, and the decision-makers within the organization is instrumental in crafting personalized engagement strategies.
3. Craft Personalized Content and Messaging
Use your solid understanding of your target accounts to create content and messaging that resonates with their specific needs and pain points. Content can be anything from blog posts and eBooks to white papers, case studies, and even something unique, like comic books.
For example, GumGum, a computer vision company, leveraged a personalized ABM approach to secure deals with T-Mobile. They discovered that the CEO of T-Mobile was a huge Batman enthusiast, so they created and printed 100 copies of a comic book titled T-man and Gums. These comic books were distributed to various T-Mobile outlets.
This initiative was a result of GumGum’s data gathering about its target audience and crafting content explicitly tailored to them. Through this personalized content, GumGum could capture the prospects’ attention by demonstrating an understanding of their interests, thereby forming meaningful connections that contributed towards engagement and potentially sealing the deal with T-Mobile.
GumGum’s example illuminates how personalization, grounded in an insightful understanding of the target account, can significantly enhance engagement and create a pathway for meaningful interactions in a B2B setting.
4. Harmonize Your Sales and Marketing Teams
Ensure that your sales and marketing teams are in sync in terms of:
- Shared Goals: Establish shared goals that both sales and marketing teams can work towards. This could include lead generation targets, conversion rates, or revenue milestones. Shared goals foster a sense of collective responsibility and drive collaborative efforts.
- Regular Communication: Facilitate regular communication between the two teams to ensure everyone is on the same page regarding the ABM objectives and target accounts. Scheduled meetings, shared platforms, and informal catch-ups can be beneficial.
- Unified Messaging: Create a unified messaging strategy that is endorsed by both teams. This ensures consistency in communication across all stages of the buyer’s journey, enhancing the credibility and professionalism of your engagement.
Put simply, a cohesive effort between the two teams enhances the effectiveness of your ABM campaign and ensures a seamless transition of leads through the sales funnel. Use xGrowth’s Account Planning Template to ensure that your teams’ collaborative efforts are organized, focused, and effective.
5. Select the Right ABM Tools and Channels
As ABM focuses on personalizing your marketing efforts for each individual account, doing it at scale is challenging and time-consuming.
Adopting advanced ABM technology lets you automate repetitive processes, gather insightful analytics, and ensure precise targeting. Examples include CRM systems, email marketing automation tools, and analytics platforms — all of which are invaluable in managing and optimizing your ABM campaigns. Check out this list of the top ABM tools in 2023.
Furthermore, based on your initial research, make sure to select and only focus on the channels that align best with your target accounts’ preferences and behaviors, such as email, LinkedIn, webinars, and/or industry events.
6. Track Your Results
Any marketing endeavor without metrics is essentially like shooting arrows in the dark.
Monitoring key metrics like your content’s engagement rates, conversion rates, return on ad spend (ROAS), and overall ROI is crucial to gauge the effectiveness and make necessary adjustments for continual improvement.
Here are a few tips and tools to help you track your ABM results effectively:
- Set Clear Objectives and KPIs: Establish clear objectives for your ABM campaigns from the get-go. Determine the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as the ones mentioned above that will help measure the success of your campaigns.
- Use ABM Analytics Platforms: Employ specialized ABM analytics platforms like Terminus or Demandbase that provide comprehensive insights into customer engagement, campaign performance, and ROI.
- Leverage CRM Systems: Utilize Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems like Salesforce or HubSpot to track interactions, lead progression through the sales funnel, and conversion rates.
- Employ Attribution Models: Use attribution models to understand the impact of different touchpoints on your target accounts’ journey towards conversion. Multi-touch attribution models can provide a more holistic view of your campaign’s effectiveness.
- Regularly Review and Adjust: Regularly review the performance metrics and compare them against the set benchmarks. If certain aspects of your ABM campaign are not performing as expected, be ready to adjust your strategies accordingly.
- Seek Feedback: Direct feedback from your target accounts can provide invaluable insights. Use surveys or one-on-one interactions to understand the effectiveness of your messaging and overall campaign.
- Custom Dashboards: Create custom dashboards using tools like Tableau or Google Data Studio to have a centralized view of all the metrics and data relevant to your ABM campaigns.
This way, you can derive actionable insights from your ABM efforts and continually optimize your ABM strategy for better lead generation and sales outcomes.
Conclusion
ABM’s efficacy in lead generation lies in its ability to foster deeper levels of engagement with key stakeholders at your target accounts. By enabling a laser-focused approach, ABM paves the way for you to finely tune your content, ads, and sales material to cater to the distinct needs and pain points of each individual prospective customer. This, in turn, drives a level of relevance and resonance that’s often elusive in broader-based marketing strategies.
Plus, the precision of ABM ensures that the marketing resources are judiciously deployed toward nurturing leads that have a higher disposition to convert. This not only optimizes your marketing spend but also amplifies the chances of securing and converting qualified leads.
Need help in approaching your leads with solutions tailored to their specific challenges and objectives? At xGrowth, we specialize in building bespoke ABM strategies for high-growth B2B brands seeking to boost engagement with leads and nurture them into sales. Get in touch to understand how we can help you elevate your lead generation game to new heights.
