HQL Solutions | 6 Reasons Why You Should Adopt Account-based Marketing In 2020

6 reasons why you should adopt account-based marketing in 2020

While servicing multiple B2B clients, one thing must be clear that no two businesses are exactly the same. They don’t just vary in the services being offered, but also in how they want to market their products. They have different brand languages, different target audiences, and may employ an entirely distinct strategy while communicating with the audience.

If the clients are so immiscible, then following a default template-based model for servicing and marketing is not adequate. Hence, marketers are switching to an Account-Based Marketing model for high-value customers.

According to a study done by Sirius Decisions in 2016 more than 70% of B2B marketers are ramping up customer-specific programs. By 2020, almost all of these frameworks are already in place, and thus it has become the new normal for almost every client.

But what exactly is ABM?

ABM or Account-Based Marketing is the specific marketing strategy of treating key industries and businesses as individual markets, such that the sales and marketing are aligned from the outset.

This helps a marketer assign values to various accounts and segment them on that basis. After that, a bespoke marketing-sales cycle is established, tailoring the content curation, the sales pitches, and the buyer’s journey, according to particular clients, from the start to end.

Although it might seem like a new strategy, the truth is that the frameworks such as ABM are as old as marketing agencies themselves, and the concepts of personalization and nurturing key accounts have withstood multiple tests of time. However, with modern automation and artificial intelligence, the risks associated with such a meticulous strategy have been minimized to a great extent.

However, if you have not yet utilized this strategy in your workflow, or are unsure how employing this strategy will boost your ROI, here are 6 benefits of Account-Based Marketing:

1. Customer Acquisition

Every service seeker wants to be treated specially, even more so, if they are businesses. Firms know what makes them unique and want their account managers and brand spokespersons to be able to imbibe and reflect the core values of their companies. Hence a marketer espousing principles of ABM will have a greater chance of landing high-value targets.

2. Easier Analytics and ROI measurement

A fair assessment of what your marketing efforts have resulted in is pretty hard to gauge, sometimes. However, as Neil Patel mentions, “ABM is the sniper’s way of marketing” giving precise data about inbound and outbound strategies. Looking at a smaller set of data points and case by case data analytics helps you understand the impact of your work, or to make changes as required. This is observable in the following few data points obtained from this McKinsey whitepaper.

3. Reduction in Junk Lead Chases

Junk Leads are those who can not be converted into useful transactions, no matter what they do. In traditional B2B marketing, multiple stakeholders are involved, many of whom de-accelerate the processes of sales and marketing.

But if you’re employing Account-Based Marketing strategies, these stakeholders are all personally involved in the sales cycle. Hence, you can use it to your advantage by focusing on accounts that are interested in buying your services. It saves valuable time and money as no more running after unquantifiable leads.

4. Building Expertise

Rather than being a Jack-of-All-Trades across business verticals, ABM provides you the opportunity to be the Master of one particular specification.

Given, there’s more research going into the process but this also means that you are gaining expertise in an area where most people just have a broad idea.

Slowly, over time you will have your unique selling points, which will stand you apart from the crowd and attract more like-minded businesses to your services.

5. Shorter Sales Cycle

Deleting non-viable leads and prospects from the initial stages of sales funnel creation, or marketing campaign curation will definitely result in a shorter sales cycle.

The sales and marketing teams can only focus on the accounts that are deemed beneficial and display the potential to be converted into clients, generating a higher ROI.

A shorter sales cycle also means that more products can be sold over a calendar year or fiscal quarter, as more such cycles can be iteratively implemented.

6. Sales and Marketing Confluence

To perform ABM effectively, the seamless alignment of sales and marketing teams is a must.

These should be treated as the two sides of the same coin for ABM, and are absolutely crucial for the success of the entire process.This makes both the sales and marketing teams work together and keep a tab on mutual goals and corresponding efforts.

It also means the knowledge transfer from one department to another is easier, bringing everyone on to the same page; while also increasing teamwork and communication skills of both marketing and sales executives.

How to implement ABM in your workplace?

ABM is a revolutionary step, which not only increases revenue generation or lead conversion but also builds the foundation for better marketing strategies and more cohesive team-building.

The strategy is an absolute must in today’s world. However, implementing it will require advanced know-how and expensive software packages. Industry experts and leading B2B marketers at HQL Solutions can help you smoothly transition from a traditional marketing setup to an ABM based one.