Account-Based Marketing for B2B Success in 2022

In the world of business-to-business (B2B) marketing, closing leads is the key to making deals. The problem is, many leads aren’t directly linking interested, applicable clients with your products and services, thus wasting valuable time and energy that can be spent attracting applicable clients. What if there was a better way to link interested clients with appropriate vendors? Enter Account-based marketing. 

 What is Account-Based Marketing (ABM)?

 In a nutshell, ABM is simply identifying high-value clients that are more likely to close deals and become repeat customers or who will refer other customers. How does this happen? 

 ABM requires a fusion of various components of the B2B marketing pipeline. Rather than relying on outbound marketing to generate clients, ABM uses inbound marketing funnels including webpage content and SEO to generate client interest. 

 The second factor essential to effectively implementing ABM is coordinating marketing and sales to target the most applicable clientele. Before clients are identified, both teams need to be clearly aware of the vendor’s service mission and revenue goals. 

 Once client contacts are established, clientele should be evaluated on their scalability relative to long-term sales and purchasing growth, how much revenue can be generated from that specific account and what competitors are doing to attract and land clientele. Identifying high-value, long-term clients will then lead to creating customized landing content tailoring the vendor’s services to meet the client’s specific needs. 

 Content tailoring can incorporate a variety of approaches. Identifying client’s business objectives, expanding on client’s growth trajectories, and evaluating the applicability of tools and platforms a client is currently using are all effective methods to create customized marketing that gives the services a vendor offers to the clients that need them. 

 Ongoing strategies after accounts are created and clients are identified focus on expanding the role of buying committees. Sales teams will typically transition over to the marketing team once clients are identified, but both teams will need to continue to collaborate on how clients are engaging with vendor content to ensure that vendors maintain a constructive, growth-oriented relationship.

 Why should B2B sales companies care about ABM?

 ABM is a growing tactic in the world of B2B marketing given its efficiency and scope with regard to generating and funneling future clients. ABM’s considerable success has generated the following data:

• Marketers using ABM to land clients increased by over 55% from 2020-2021.
• ABM has allowed 57% of vendors to target 1,000 clients or fewer
• Most organizations only pursue 38% of their targeted accounts at any given time
• A strategic ABM strategy can improve marketing revenue by 208%
• 87% of marketers claim that ABM outperforms other marketing activities

The above metrics clearly indicate that ABM is quickly becoming a go-to means for generating consistent clientele while also increasing revenue streams. For vendors looking for a proven method to increase clients and revenue, ABM offers the metrics and the method to secure long-term clientele without wasting resources.

 What are the benefits of ABM?

 ABM offers a variety of benefits compared to outbound and inbound marketing strategies alone.

 More attractive to new customers

 Because ABM is tailored to attract individual enterprises rather than direct marketing to a mass audience, a variety of formats are used to make content more engaging and more attractive to new customers. Email and social media both play important roles in providing an outlet for a customized presentation of products and services to delight prospective customers and keep them coming back. 

 ABM streamlines the B2B Digital Marketing and Sales Process

 Rather than having to coordinate separate approaches to market and sell products and services to clients, ABM brings both teams together to create a more refined product. High-value clients are targeted primarily, increasing the effectiveness of sales strategies. The notoriously lengthy B2B sales cycle decreases substantially, increasing revenue through decreased costs to attract clients and higher turnaround to generate more client interactions and transactions.

 ABM Increases Efficiency and Results

 ABM immediately increases efficiency on multiple fronts. First, the collaboration between marketing and sales increases data generation and distribution, allowing both teams to pinpoint the clients who will actually benefit from products and services and who are more willing to engage in multiple transactions. By targeting these clients, fewer resources are allocated to chasing dead-end leads. Finally, by focusing on clients with larger budgets, similar revenue goals or who are interested in repeat business, ABM inherently increases revenue streams and facilitates long-term growth for all parties involved.

 Benefits of Account-Based Marketing for B2B companies

B2B businesses inherently benefit as well from the more efficient process. Shorter sales cycles and more direct advertising means that businesses spend less time trying to find appropriate vendors and secure financially feasible contracts. A more personalized marketing approach means that businesses can find the vendors that suit their actual needs rather than having to research and vet potential vendors to see how appropriate they are. A personalized approach also facilitates a trust-based relationship, making negotiation and long-term transactions more welcoming and lowering costs for all parties. ABM serves as a sound business practice for all components of the B2B exchange. 

 Account-Based Marketing Tactics In 2022

 A variety of ABM platforms are gaining prominence in 2022. Here are a few examples:

• ABM platforms, such as 6sense, Demandbase, and Terminus, are just some of the many ABM-oriented platforms that optimize client personalization, acquisition, and accounts management to speed up and improve sales conversions
• Marketo has pioneered AI-based data acquisition and analysis to vastly improve client differentiation, allowing enhanced personalization that meets the needs of all B2B parties. 
• HubSpot is a leader in creating user-friendly ABM software that maximizes personalized marketing accounts while streamlining data transfer between marketing and sales teams to generate specific, data-driven marketing campaigns for high-value clients.
• Engagio, acquired by Demandbase in 2022, brings together the best in data analysis and comprehensive, omnichannel marketing to create marketing campaigns that generate value throughout the lifetime of client engagement.  

ABM has taken off into a life of its own, consistently proving why tailored, personalized marketing strategies that bridge the goals of marketing and sales teams can generate long-term, high-value business relationships that keep the B2B world turning. If you’re a vendor looking to maximize your ROI, streamline your marketing campaigns, and generate long-term revenue, then contacting an account-based marketing agency is a sound decision for improving your long-term business prospects. In the interim, feel free to download the ABM checklist so you can get an insight into the tips and tricks to use ABM to turn your next marketing campaign into a sales celebration.