KEO Marketing


Why Account Based Marketing Is So Important in 2022 and 2023

Imagine a football stadium filled to capacity. Somewhere in those 100,000 people, there are 20 people that fit the profile of your ideal customer. You know that if you could get in front of that select group and engage with them, you could probably close a fair number of deals.

Finding them is a huge challenge among all the people in attendance. You would either run out of time and energy running from seat to seat or send a message that was so generic it would not reach anyone and get them excited.

Traditional marketing goes after the large group trying to find the few that need what you are selling. You can do all sorts of things to narrow your approach, but you may still not reach the right buyers with the right message at the right time.

Account based marketing (ABM) flips that approach on its head. Forget the large groups and focus your effort on high-value accounts that are more likely to convert.

Account Based Marketing’s ROI

In a survey of marketers, 84% reported that ABM strategies provided a higher ROI than any other form of marketing initiative. Let that sink in for a moment. Of all the marketing approaches you could, all but a few say account based marketing gets the best return.

Why?

Today’s buyers are overwhelmed with information and actively resistant to sales and marketing. There is so much noise in the market that just getting the attention of the right people is increasingly difficult. ABM zeroes in on the right prospects to deliver relevant and personalized information to nurture them through the buyer’s journey.

Coordinated, strategic, and high-touch campaigns to qualified accounts and individuals simply yield the best results. 60% of companies adopting an ABM approach report revenue growth of 10% or greater in the first year of implementation. 91% say they saw increased deal size with a quarter of companies saying they saw deal size increase by 50%.

The Benefits of Account Based Marketing

Efficient Use of Resources

No matter how big your organization is, you have a finite number of resources. With all the demands on your sales and marketing team, you cannot afford to have them working on anything but your high-value prospects. ABM lets you do exactly that.

As companies start to scale back even further as the economy slows, it will be more important than ever to work efficiently.

Personalized Approach

Marketing automation today can help you create personalized buyer journeys for every account at every touchpoint. Intelligent recommendation engines can suggest the right content and next steps to lead prospects through the sales funnel.

This allows you to personalize your outreach at a much higher level, customizing content delivery based on behavior, engagement, and interest. This helps you deliver more relevant content designed for conversions.

In B2B sales, buying teams are now the norm. Whether there are formal buying committees or just multiple stakeholders involved in the decision-making process, ABM lets you personalize content to various prospects within the same account. This allows you to address individual pain points and customize solutions to account for stakeholder motivations on the same account.

Clear Measurement

One of the biggest challenges in marketing has always been attribution. There has not always been a straight line between where the many ways you spend your time and money and the results you get. With account based marketing, you get enhanced tracking for each touchpoint for every account.

This granular measurement lets you gauge effectiveness at every stage and help your further refine your approach. You will know what works and what does not so you can continually improve your results.

Better Alignment

In too many companies today, there is still a disconnect between the marketing and sales process. Marketing focuses on generating demand and developing leads. Once qualified, they are handed over to sales for activation. In the handoff, sales teams are often unaware of the path prospects took or the engagement that drove them to that stage.

ABM forces better alignment between marketing and sales, ensuring a holistic approach. Teams need to work together to identify targets, the content needed to nurture leads, and track engagements at every touchpoint.

Target the Right Customers

We would all love a stadium full of engaged and qualified prospects, but it simply does not work that way. ABM lets you target the right customers and drive them through the sales funnel with relevant content designed for conversions. Throughout the process, you can measure the impact and continuously improve your marketing and sales process.

Implementing an account based marketing strategy for your business takes experience. Working with a top marketing agency such as KEO Marketing can get you started. ABM works, and it can work for you. Contact us today and let us help accelerate your deal pipeline.

With more than 25 years of hands on marketing strategy and operations experience, Sheila Kloefkorn is dedicated to developing marketing strategies and plans that help clients succeed. Some of the world's largest brands have depended on Sheila for marketing programs that delivered tangible and substantial results. Specialties: B2B marketing, lead generation, lead nurturing, sales strategy, marketing strategy, competitive marketing strategy, social media, search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), mobile marketing, email marketing, website design, marketing plans.