If you’re spending a lot of time trying to sell to unqualified leads, it may be time to implement account based marketing (ABM). It’s one of the most effective B2B marketing and sales strategies. This approach combines targeted marketing with sales, which can help you communicate effectively with high-value accounts.
As higher quality prospects are identified, fewer leads fall through the cracks and your revenue improves. Resources are dedicated exclusively to accounts that are a good fit for your business. This means resources aren’t being wasted on poor leads. Using this approach, many marketers exceed their revenue goals.
ABM and Content Marketing
ABM that’s powered by content marketing is especially effective. Content is used to attract and nurture qualified accounts. Content can be written with a specific target in mind rather than using a buyer persona. The same content can be repurposed and posted on your website to attract new leads.
This marketing strategy is especially effective if your organization has a high price point or long sales cycle. If you use inbound marketing, you may attract only a handful of prospects. ABM helps you develop long-term relationships with the most qualified prospects. Relationships based on mutual respect and trust may lead to new referrals.
Selecting Target Accounts
Choosing the right accounts to target is an important part of ABM strategy. Start by looking at your current clients. What makes those accounts the best partners with your business? What are some new accounts that share similar characteristics? Use LinkedIn to look for prospects that would be a good target.
When you’ve identified a good target account on LinkedIn, from their company page, scroll the right hand side of the page for “Similar Pages.” Create a list of target accounts and identify contacts for your sales team to interact with. Creating personalized content for your target accounts is the key to effective ABM.
The efforts of your marketing and sales team will be focused on a few large accounts that have the best potential of increasing your revenue. This is done using relevant content and highly targeted messages. Monitor what your prospects are doing on social media and comments they’re making on blog posts. Keeping up with what they’re doing provides clues on delivering timely content.
Your marketing team can regularly interact with these prospects through email and social media. They can also use advanced software to track which pages they visit on your website, which can help you create content that is focused on their needs.
Nurturing Relationships
Once prospects have become clients, continue to nurture relationships. This increases the likelihood they’ll provide referrals, testimonials, leave reviews or participate in case studies. If you notice a client on LinkedIn has a connection you’re interested in targeting, ask for an introduction.
If you need help creating focused content for ABM or nurturing relationships on social media, reach out to Softline Solutions. We’ve helped many businesses grow and thrive online and can do the same for you. Let us help you succeed with ABM and realize your online potential. Contact us today.
