Before we launch into account-based marketing (ABM), let’s talk “data” for a moment.
Companies get inundated with data on the daily basis. There is firmographic data, account data, technographic data, intent data, predictive data… hot data, small data, cold data, tall data. Okay, so I took it a little too far, but you feel me, right?
All of those complex, undefined batches of information that your sales and marketing teams struggle to make actionable are living in your Customer Relationship Management (CRM), waiting to be deciphered and transformed into data-driven insights.
What good is all of that data if you don’t know how to effectively use it to scale your business?
Everybody’s doing the data dance. Maybe some of you are making bad moves or dancing with the wrong partners.
In this blog, we will introduce 5 key moves your company can make to deliver effective account-based marketing (ABM), and how to use your data to identify the right partners.
1. GET IN STEP WITH THE RIGHT DATA
Many speak about ABM as that intersection between fit, intent, and engagement data. This is where the new opportunity lies and new value can be created.
Forbes highlights the importance of seeking out the right data, which actually might be easier than it sounds — oftentimes, the data you need is already housed in your Customer Relationship Management platform .
Without the right data for your ABM strategy, a solid approach, and an ecosystem to support it, you will face the saturation of useless information. The goal is to make data-driven decisions versus relying on intuition.
What’s the right data to use for your ABM to be effective?
- Sales data – information used to manage sales (leads, opportunities, quotes, proposals, etc).
- Intent data – information on leads or accounts actively conducting research online for the kinds of products and services you offer.
- Customer service data – data captured from customer service experiences (case data, NPS score, customer satisfaction, etc.).
- Marketing data – information used to promote products and services, sales, distribution, branding (customer data, market research, competitive intelligence, transactions, interactions, marketing metrics, etc).
- Fit data – information telling whether your customers’ attributes and your company’s ideal customer profile (ICP) are an accurate fit.
If you want to step this up a notch, try an account-centric approach; coordinating engagement through unified data and technology. This aligns teams to a single view of target accounts.
You now have the right data sets in front of you to take next steps!
2. IDENTIFY KEY ACCOUNTS
Sales, marketing and service teams? This is a collaborative effort. No silos allowed. Get in the same room and sort through your accounts to find those with the most profit potential.
Start mining! Don’t worry, there are products available to make this process a lot easier. With artificial intelligence at play, this can be done with a few clicks.
Data mining is like a treasure hunt. You are finding all of the right data and searching for the right accounts to target. The purpose of mining is to identify patterns within the batches of data for your company to learn more about your customers. This will help develop more effective sales and marketing strategies.
Don’t forget to check in on your high-valued customers. Seek out online communities and reviews to “listen in” on their pain points, needs, and wants. Believe it or not knowing what makes them tick (or get ticked off) can help you sweeten the deal for those you’re targeting.
3. PERSONALIZE THE EXPERIENCE
Yes, we live in a customer experience economy where people want to feel a company knows them. I love getting emails with recommendations or suggestions based on my interests. It tells me the company is paying attention.
Over 78% of consumers will only engage offers if they have been personalized to their previous engagements with the brand.
Now that you have the right data and know who you’re targeting, it’s time to get personal.
- Send your key accounts emails, direct mail, and content that’s relevant to their needs and wants.
- Make introductions to products and services that are in line with their expressed interest.
- Reach out to see if your customers need anything. Selling and upselling has its place, but ensuring that your customers know how to use what they currently have is very important. The goal is to help make their work life easier and grow customer relationships.
Personalization builds and evolves trust in your company.
4. ENGAGEMENT ORCHESTRATION
To orchestrate is to arrange elements to produce a desired effect. Your company must strategically orchestrate your engagement with key accounts.
Engagement is made up of two things:
First, ask yourself how to take advantage of new channels like digital advertising, to reach that buying committee beyond the person who filled out a form.
“The typical buying group for a complex B2B solution involves six to 10 decision makers‚ each armed with four or five pieces of information they’ve gathered independently and must deconflict with the group.” – GARTNER
Breaking through this nonlinear process requires you to make the buyer’s journey a seamless one. Share the what and how of things – what to do and how to do it. Remove the cognitive fatigue from the equation to ease the customer experience and win the deal.
Second, ask how you can programmatically orchestrate every touch point to create that connected experience across sales, service, and marketing at scale.
When orchestrated correctly, you can start to measure things that directly correlate with ROI.
5. ON-POINT INSIGHTS AND MEASUREMENTS
Now that you have successfully orchestrated your customer engagement, start tracking the touch points.
Remember to measure what matters, not those things that don’t really move the needle.
Tracking the touch points across the different stakeholders and departments making up a buying committee will provide actionable customer insights and data.
You can deliver a consistent story for each account based on data that indicates what’s working or not working. For the customer, it conveys that your business pays attention to their needs, wants, and expectations.
This also enables you to focus on problem-solving for your key accounts to improve their customer experience and further drive business.
THE WRAP
You can start delivering effective ABM by integrating these moves into your company strategy.
Remember it’s best to begin by adapting your technology, people, and processes together. Without the three of them working in concert, you’ll risk taking missteps.
To learn more about how to implement these new moves to make your ABM more effective, take our trail!
