What the hype surrounding account-based marketing is all about and why you should join the party
If you haven’t already jumped on the Account-Based Marketing (ABM) bandwagon, you should. There’s a reason marketers are increasingly adopting this tactic… when done right, it works.
First, what exactly is Account-Based Marketing?
Account-Based Marketing is a highly targeted approach to reach and engage individual B2B customer prospects. Unlike traditional marketing where a wide net is cast in the hopes of catching many, account-based marketing focuses on catching a single, prized customer.
Like any good angler, you’ve got to really know your target if you’re going to be successful. This requires research. You need to learn everything you can about your target – what keeps them up at night, what they value, and what their needs are. Once you understand your target’s pain points, you can effectively market to them.
One-to-One
The tactics you employ to execute an Account-Based Marketing campaign are very similar to traditional marketing. The biggest difference is that you’re marketing from one-to-one, rather than from one to many. Instead of sending out 1,000’s of emails to hundreds of companies, you might be sending 10 emails to decision-makers at a single company.
This degree of laser-like targeting enables you to get really specific in your marketing. This is your opportunity to demonstrate that you’ve done your homework. Here’s where you reference that recent acquisition, product release, award, or other relevant business detail about your target.
Get Creative
While Account-Based Marketing can get gimmicky, it does provide an opportunity to be creative and even have a little fun. In my days working in-house at a meal kit delivery service, I once received a large slate plaque with our biggest competition’s logo etched in it… along with a big ole’ sledgehammer. The message was something along the lines of – we can help you smash the competition. A little cheesy? Yes. But did it grab my attention? Yes again.
The vendor seeking my business knew my competition and was willing to invest time and money to express their interest in working with us.
One of my favorite ABM examples involves a burner phone. We knew we had the perfect product solution for a particular customer but couldn’t reach the key decision-maker. After numerous unanswered phone calls, emails, and LinkedIn messages, we were all but ready to give up.
That’s when the idea to ship the target a burner phone hit. It was a clever way to demonstrate the lengths we were willing to go to, to capture her attention. We programmed our number on speed dial and included a pithy note about how easy we make things for our customers. The out-of-the-box thinking paid off. She was intrigued enough to give us a ring!
In an increasingly chaotic and busy world, getting people’s attention can be challenging. Account-Based Marketing can provide a meaningful and effective way to break through the clutter. We recommend you give it a try–Top Fox Marketing is here to help!
