3 Key Ideas Before Implementing ABM

According to DemandGen’s Report 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing, 60 percent of respondents were committed to investing more or “significantly more” in ABM

B2B CMOs are pushing hard on implementing ABM as it can show a significant return on marketing investment.  DemandGen’s Report – 2018 State of Account-Based Marketing, says that 60 percent of respondents were committed to investing more or “significantly more” in ABM.  However, it can be effective only when applied at the right time with the right account.

Here are some of the critical things to ensure a successful run of  ABM.

1. Think about long-term goals

Many B2B organizations implement ABM at an early stage since it is a strategic and focused program that requires research, alignment, and preparation. One of the biggest challenges faced by companies is having alignment between the sales and marketing teams. Both teams need to be aligned on an ABM program before it gets implemented.

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There’s often a level of mistrust between the sales and marketing functions when it comes to delivery. Both teams need to understand each other’s functions and processes before implementing ABM for successful results.

Choose accounts wisely

It is essential to select the right accounts while implementing ABM. Its success is driven by the kind of research that is conducted to target accounts and deciding the proper layout to pursue the correct accounts.

One common error is when the sales team gives the marketing team a certain number of accounts they would like to target with ABM as they are struggling with those accounts, or it ‘feels’ that they are high-growth accounts. Account selection for ABM needs to done with the help of predefined data to make selection objective and measured.

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At the same time, selecting too many accounts is also problematic as there would be many accounts where ABM makes sense. However, it’s not feasible to roll it out across a broader spectrum. As per experts, 1:1 ABM programs should not be applied to more than four or five accounts to have a fair chance of being successful.

Personalized content is the key

Finally, one of the main reasons ABM can fail is, if companies are not creating personalized content targeted to specific accounts. Marketers need to set the right KPI (key performance indicator) for ABM or it may fail even before it kicks off.

The majority of marketers allocate typical KPIs such as leads and deals to campaigns, but in the case of ABM, the KPIs are around the problems marketers are trying to solve by implementing it.