Account-based marketing – otherwise known as ABM – is an increasingly popular marketing strategy among marketers for many reasons, the most cherished being that it allows you to target highest value prospects. Not only does it do this but it does so precisely, directly and effectively.
But, whether you are new to account-based marketing or you have already used it before, there are some mistakes that you could make that could cost you precious time and a lot of effort.
Here are some of those mistakes and some tips on fixing them:
1. Not profiling or mapping
This is a common mistake that could harm your chances. It happens when you are targeting the wrong part of an organization and it sinks your efforts. To avoid this, do proper research into which departments you should be targeting.
First, build a profiling plan before you do anything else. See which accounts you want to target and how you plan on doing that. Next, conduct research that will lead you to the right people behind an account and the right ways to target those individuals. Then, use your online and offline findings to expand contact with an organization and make sure that you are using the right influencers and targeting right individuals.
2. Not delivering personalized messages
In this day and age it should come as no surprise that generic, impersonal messaging will lead you only to failure. The focus of account-based marketing is to target high value accounts and prospects, so personalized messaging is something that you’ll want to use. Base your content on information you already have but also on your prospect’s behavior. Also, use your persona information and research to find the best channels for delivering those messages. Your message should contain your prospect’s specific problem and involve solutions for fixing it. Create valuable, personalized content with services like Stateofwriting or UKWritings.
While it may seem complex and time consuming, it could bring great results to your business.
3. Not having a strategy
Creating processes that are repeatable is pivotal to using your resources effectively. You should have a strategy that makes this possible – to an extent. A scalable strategy should dive deep into what kind of process works best for you and your accounts, as well as what type of content you’ll use in your campaigns and which resources as well.
Focusing on making a good strategy will make your job much easier but you also shouldn’t rely solely on a strategy. Tailor and change your processes using a human touch and by talking to your team.
4. Working in silos
A seamless account-based marketing strategy requires the whole organisation to work in unison. This means that ABM is not only a concern for your marketing and sales teams but also your other teams. Working in alignment will help gather the right information and share knowledge organisation-wide, not just in certain departments.
Organise frequent ABM meetings where you’ll share information, make ABM an initiative in your company and its main focus.
5. Thinking that ABM won’t work for SBM accounts
While ABM used to be much more labour heavy and time consuming – making it a good fit only for enterprise companies – now it’s much more accessible for small and medium companies. Any company that generates revenue from existing clients can and should use ABM as their strategy. This is a good opportunity for increasing the revenue you already have from existing customers and improve their practices overall.
6. Creating confusion
As previously mentioned, alignment between all of the departments is crucial but not as crucial as the alignment between marketing and sales.
“These two departments are completely different but they should focus on coming to a singular plan of what works best for both of them. There should be an ongoing communication between these departments that would allow them to share data and give feedback”, – explains Elizabeth Gillon, a Digital marketing strategist at Boomessays and Essayroo.
7. Using shallow data
One of the biggest mistakes an organisation can make is using incomplete, shallow data. This leads to having partial profiles which eventually leads to bad, non targeted messaging which doesn’t do any good for the organisation. Analyse your data thoroughly and create client personas, and that will allow you to deliver targeted messages.
8. Using bad data
Just like with shallow data, having bad data results in bad messages and bad results. To avoid failing at targeting your clients, do a thorough research and strive for getting valuable, true information that will allow you to truly know your clients and create messages that are tailored for them.
Final Thoughts
Account Based Marketing is one of the most popular marketing strategies nowadays. Thanks to its unique approach and amazing results. However, there are several mistakes that you could make that could get you to think that ABM isn’t that good. Follow these tips of fixing those mistakes and getting the most out of ABM.
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