How to Begin and Perfect the Implementation Process of Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

Recent research from Alterra Group states that 97% of business-to-business (B2B) marketers  utilizing an account-based marketing strategy report that it produces a higher return on investment (ROI) than all of their other marketing techniques. It’s no mystery why account-based marketing (ABM) is rapidly gaining popularity and being used by businesses of all sizes, in all industries. 

Increasingly complex buying cycles in combination with harder-to-engage decision-makers and higher value deals, are most likely contributing to the increased usage of ABM. In addition, marketing agencies are now more than ever being pressured to prove their ROI, and ABM makes this possible. ABM has not only been proven to successfully generate more ROI but also to increase pipeline velocity. Focusing marketing efforts specifically on the companies that an agency is most relevant to and interested in, can be the difference between making a measurable impact on the bottom line, and not. 

Once a firm chooses to incorporate ABM into their marketing strategy, where should they begin? How does one perfect the implementation process of account-based marketing? As with any effective marketing program, ABM requires a strategic approach with a well-defined planning process to be successful. Every campaign will be unique to the brand and its key accounts, however, there is a general pattern that can be followed to help ensure a successful ABM strategy. 

Each of the following 5 steps is foundational and should be thoroughly considered when determining how to begin and perfect the implementation process of ABM:

In order for this strategy to work it needs to have solid sales and marketing alignment, making the first step in an ABM strategy implementation process to assemble a team, get buy-in from all stakeholders, set goals, and clarify roles. It will be crucial for the success of the campaign to have both the marketing and sales team on the same page, working towards the same goals, and utilizing the same metrics. Like with most other marketing strategies, the absence of this alignment sets a campaign up for failure.

Heidi Bullock, CMO of Engagio, comments “ABM, in many cases, makes alignment natural and less forced. Everyone is rowing in the same direction and wants the same outcome. It’s important to be clear who owns part of the process versus who participates. For many companies, once there's an opportunity, sales have formal ownership. If that’s the case, define how marketing should operate at that stage.” 

This alignment is set out as the first step of the ABM process here but should indeed be maintained throughout the entire campaign process as it continually will create relevant customer engagement. Bullock continues, “I like the idea of shared goals (the plan of record), aligned compensation, clear SLAs, and clarity around roles. [At Engagio] we look at coverage, awareness, and engagement daily – but figure out our actions on a weekly cadence. The ADR team looks at MQAs every day and has a very clear SLA of 24 hours.”

Continually reviewing this important conjunction allows a firm to make beneficial adjustments to the course of the campaign, such as changing the priority status of targeted accounts. Chris Bagnall, MD at Pulse, says that this alignment is “a continuous process… based on real-time insight from sales back to marketing.”

The next step towards implementing an ABM strategy is to identify high-value, high-priority target accounts. Doing this at the outset of a campaign, versus determining target accounts after the campaign message has been delivered, is one aspect that makes ABM unique from other kinds of strategies.  

A strategic account selection process should utilize an ideal customer profile (ICP), including intent-based criteria such as CRM, website, and buyer activity on 3rd party websites. It’s beneficial to establish these types of intent-based parameters when determining target accounts and should be considered in combination with some more traditional details as well. Such details as sales input, revenue potential, and firmographics, will prove to be advantageous informational details when considering where to focus marketing efforts. 

Jessica Fewless, VP ABM strategy and field marketing, DemandBase states, “Once you arrive at a list, go through the exercise of segmenting that list in a way that's meaningful and addressable by both sales and marketing. You may want to segment by industry, by sales stage, or by the product they're most likely to buy.” Segmenting, or defining the tiers of your accounts, helps continue the alignment between marketing and sales teams by helping determine the scope of the campaign(s). Using predictive analytics platforms and third-party data sources are a couple of tools that can be used to define which accounts will receive one-to-one outreach, which ones will get one-to-few, and which ones will receive one-to-many. 

Clearly defined target account tiers help determine how to prioritize each account and how much to invest in each one, as well as aid in furthering the clarification of which roles the marketing and sales team members will assume during the execution phase. Two very important things to remember here: this list is likely to change based on continual priority level reviews and adjustments; and that proper allocation of the marketing budget at each opportunity is crucial to the success of the campaign(s) and therefore, should be adjusted as necessary, too. 

On the contrary, not selecting the appropriate accounts from the beginning with a strategic selection process, will only be wasting valuable time and money.

After the targeted accounts are defined, the next step is to develop more insight into each account. Furthering the previously discussed alignment, account insights are the collective knowledge a business has about its campaign accounts. Developing account intelligence expands marketing opportunities by way of a stronger understanding of each accounts’ unique needs and pain points. 

This step gives marketing and sales teams the information necessary to accurately define how to engage the prioritized accounts, who the proper contacts are within those targeted accounts, and when the best time to reach them is. Bullock says that making sure the correct decision-makers and influencers are in the account database, such as the marketing VP, CEO, or head of IT, is often an overlooked, yet very important part of building account intelligence. 

Bullock elaborates: “Discover contacts and map these to your accounts. Then fill out these accounts and buying centers with specific contacts based on your ideal buyer profiles. Mapping out the organization and the relationships within it will give a huge advantage when trying to navigate the sale. Learn as much as you can about each key stakeholder and the account as a whole, so your interactions are always relevant and resonant.”

Selecting the campaign message, media, placements, and overall plan and the subsequent execution comes in at step four because it’s all based on the previously established alignment, target accounts, and profile intelligence. An ABM message and strategy is hyper-personalized toward the specific target account tier and therefore, no two campaigns are the same. For an ABM strategy to be successful, building a plan that is tailored towards maximizing the influence each account tier has is pivotal. Not determining where and how to focus marketing efforts prior to the creation of the ABM plan, will only lead to a poor message with little-to-no relevance, and ultimately, wasted marketing dollars. 

Building an ABM plan based on the established campaign channels and strategically chosen methods, allows for the content and execution to solidly convey a brand and message that is sure to grow awareness, increase web engagement, and ultimately increase ROI. Account-based plans are multichannel and always changing, so constant review and adjustment, as well as strategic timing of execution, is necessary to stay current in such a complex market. An overall rule for ABM planning is to always make sure the content reflects the account insight, as it is most likely the number one driving factor in which outlets and platforms will be chosen. 

5. Measure, Evaluate, and Optimize

The fifth and final step in executing an ABM strategy is measuring, evaluating, and optimizing the results. As with every marketing campaign, measuring and reporting the data in order to optimize the campaign moving forward, is vital to its success. Aggregating the results of an ABM plan allows for marketing and sales teams, as well as the business, to see exactly which aspects of the plan are working and which are not. From there, marketers can adjust their focus where needed to ensure delivering the most cohesive and effective results for the remainder of the campaign. 

Ultimately, this step is measuring account insight at the account level. Evaluating data such as pipeline contributions, close rates, funnel velocity, and opportunities with high-profile accounts gives the proper insight into whether or not the ABM strategy is working to the best of its ability. Taking it a step further and optimizing the campaign(s) based on the collected information makes it so everyone involved can avoid unqualified, irrelevant leads. 

The Takeaway

Account-based marketing is a powerful tool that B2B marketers can use to reach and engage specific, high-value targets with attractive content that will increase the sales pipeline and help align marketing and business development efforts. When properly applied, an ABM strategy can generate more awareness of a brand, thus increasing new leads and profiles, and ultimately, contributing to closing more deals. Refer to these 5 steps when beginning and perfecting the implementation process of an account-based marketing strategy.

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