The Ultimate Guide to Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

Imagine a world where you could开始the sales process by selling directly to your best-fit, highest-value accounts. No wasted time working to market and sell to unqualified leads who aren’t the right fit for your business. Meaning, you could move straight into the phases of engaging and delighting your target accounts.

Talk about efficiency, right?

和account-based marketing, all of this is made possible. The process allows you to align your marketing and sales teams from the get-go to promote long-term business growth, delight customers, and boost revenue.

本指南是为了帮助您实现它。让我们潜水。

账户-based marketing allows you to weed out less-valuable companies early on and ensure Marketing and Sales are in complete alignment — in return, your team can leap into the critical processes of engaging and delighting those accounts much faster.

ABM帮助您的业务工作，并与高价值帐户进行沟通，就像它们是个体市场一样。通过这样做 - 在个性化买家的旅程并将所有通信，内容和广告系列量身定制到这些特定帐户中 - 您会看到更高的投资回报率和提高客户忠诚度。

Before we take a look at additional benefits of account-based marketing and specific tactics you can implement at your company, let’s review its relationship with another important strategy:inbound marketing.

通常，这些策略被认为是完全不同的实体。但是，它们可能是相当互补的。

账户-Based Marketing And Inbound Marketing

Batman and Robin. LeBron and D-Wade. Peanut butter and jelly. Arguably some of the strongest partnerships ever to exist . These dynamic duos are forces to be reckoned with when they worktogether.

Similarly, when paired, account-based marketing and inbound marketing have the power to make waves (the good ones) for your business.

您可能想知道：“这种合作伙伴关系到底如何？”bob综合博彩下载

Well, we just reviewed thedefinition of account-based marketing— as you learned, ABM is a highly-targeted strategy.

Meanwhile,inbound marketingis more foundational — the methodology and growth strategy allows you to attract customers through the creation of valuable content, SEO, and a delightful customer experience.

Rather than interrupting your target audience and customers (as you would with outbound marketing), inbound marketing allows you to more organically provide your audience with the information they want when they want it. Inbound lays the foundation for a strong ABM strategy by allowing for highly-targeted and efficient resource allocation of high-value accounts.

Here are a few more reasons to implement bothABM and inbound marketing:

• Inbound marketing helps you attract target accounts and ABM then accelerates the飞轮因此，您可以通过出色的客户体验赢得和满意这些目标帐户（因此，您将grow better).
• Inbound marketing lays the foundation for a strong ABM strategy — ABM builds off of inbound by allowing for targeted and efficient resource allocation of high-value accounts.
• 和this combined approach, you attract a broader group of prospects than you would while using just one method and catch any opportunities the other strategy may have missed.
• Your content has a two-for-one value — you can create and use content that serves both an ABM and inbound strategy (e.g. create a personalized case study for a target account that you also share on your website).
• Software options, likeHubSpot’s account-based marketing software，可用，使以互补的方式实施ABM和入站策略变得容易。

TLDR：将ABM和入站营销结合在一起grow better.

Next, we’ll take a look at some of the definable benefits of account-based marketing.

There are a number of benefits associated with account-based marketing. We've compiled the following list of commonly-noted results that positively impact (all types of) businesses.

1. Keep Marketing and Sales aligned.

跨队协作和整个组织之间的沟通改善对增长有益。在基于帐户的营销方面，这种透明度和一致性将确保您的营销和销售团队专注于相同的目标，坚持相互构成的预算，并了解每个内部利益相关者的具体角色。

This alignment helps ensure all communications, interactions, and content (and more) are consistent for the accounts you work with. Meaning, no matter how long an account works with your company, your team members can pick up where others left off at any point in time without question — this creates a seamless and delightful customer experience.

The easiest way to maintain internal account-based marketing alignment is with the help of software, likeHubSpot，这使得连接您的营销和销售团队非常容易。

2. Maximize your business’s relevance among high-value accounts.

账户-based marketing requires you to personalize everything (e.g. content, product information, communications, and campaigns) for each account you invest your resources in. Through this personalization and customization, your relevance among these accounts is maximized.

那是因为你content and interactions are tailored in a way that shows them how your specific products, services, offerings, and team are what theyneed解决他们的挑战并变得更好。意思是，ABM允许您以使其成为目标帐户最有效和最理想的选择的方式将业务倾斜。

3. Deliver consistent customer experiences.

As mentioned, account-based marketing requires you to deliver consistent experiences for your accounts — this plays a major role in your success. A large part of the reason for this is because ABM is a long process that often lasts several months or years.

因此,为你的反弹道导弹的努力是值得注意的是,你亩t maintain a long-term sense of delight among your accounts. This is how you’ll make each account feel as though they’re your business’s market ofone— and why would they ever want to stop doing business with you if that’s their experience?

Delivering these long-term, consistent experiences may seem a bit daunting. Although this is understandable, the good news is that ABM is a process that naturally encourages you to do so.

这样考虑：我们已经讨论了ABM要求与每个帐户相关的所有事物的营销和销售的方式（例如，他们的目标，预算，独特的需求，团队的成员和购买委员会）。

When there’s a universal understanding of these factors within your organization, Marketing and Sales (and anyone else involved) will be able to effectively and naturally deliver that feeling of consistency through everything they communicate and share with each account (e.g. personalized content, targeted campaigns, pricing and product information, and more).

4. Measure your return on investment.

和account-based marketing, you can easily measure return on investment (ROI) for each account you invest your resources and time into. This is beneficial because you can confirm whether certain accounts you invested in were ideal for your business.

Then, you can nurture and delight those accounts long term as well as identify and target similar accounts in the future. If your ROI proves yourABM tacticsworked, use those results as a motivator to drive your strategy forward as well as one you can count on to continually improve your bottom line.

5.简化销售周期。

Depending on your business, industry, and resources, the sales cycle typically looks something like this:

1) Prospect → 2) Connect → 3) Research → 4) Present → 5) Close → 6) Delight

和account-based marketing, this cycle is streamlined — by focusing your efforts on specific high-value target accounts, you save time and resources, and spend more time on the stages of the cycle that positively impact your bottom line:

1) Identify Target Accounts → 2) Present to Target Accounts → 3) Close Target Accounts → 4) Delight Accounts

ABM streamlines your sales cycle by helping you stay efficient. Rather than experimenting with different tactics to prospect and qualify a large pool of leads, ABM ensures your target accounts are ideal foryourbusiness so you can quickly dive into building relationships.

The sales cycle stage of关闭也通过ABM精简。那是因为你chances of converting accounts and retaining them long termincrease thanks to marketing and sales alignment, consistent customer experiences, and personalization.

6. Expand business through account relationships.

The saying "quality over quantity” applies to account-based marketing. The process requires you to invest significant time and resources in engaging and delighting a group of carefully-chosen, high-value accounts, versus trying to quickly close deals with less-qualified leads who may not be the best fit for your company in the long run.

By taking the time to build these trusting relationships with accounts, you’ll expand business by retaining those valuable customers longer. And considering it costsmore to obtain customers than retain them, this will positively impact your bottom line.

Additionally, as a result of personalized, thoughtful, and consistent customer experiences, accounts will become loyal to your business over time — andloyal customers become your best marketers, promoters, and brand advocates.

In other words, your accounts will help you expand your business amongtheirnetworks (e.g. partners, customers) through referrals, word-of-mouth marketing, testimonials, and more.

Now let’s cover some account-based marketing tactics you can apply to your strategy to improve the likelihood of success.

ABM tactics are the building blocks of your strategy — so, work through the following list to ensure your ABM efforts and investment are successful.

1.使用战略帐户计划模板。

To unify your account-based marketing team, use astrategic account planning template.The free template will help you outline your initiatives for each unique account, such as the:

• Business Overview
• Key Business Initiatives
• 客户关系格局
• 客户产品和收入
• 账户Competitor Analysis
• Buying Process & Selling Points
• 关系的目标和Strategy
• 销售机会，目标和风险
• Action Plan

Download the Free Account-Based Marketing Plan Template

2. Secure organizational ABM alignment.

One of the most important account-based marketing tactics is arguably one of the most straightforward: Secure organizational ABM alignment.

This means getting all internal stakeholders on board with the various factors related to your account-based marketing strategy. In doing so, it’ll be easier for your business to create consistent experiences for accounts and make sure your strategy is as efficient and streamlined as possible.

For example, your VP of Marketing and VP of Sales should secure organizational alignment and spread awareness regarding:

• Marketing and sales team members who are directly involved in the strategy
• 账户buying committee members and any other account stakeholders
• Your business’s point-of-difference for each target account
• ABM budget and resources
• ABM goals and KPIs
  
  

3. Build your ABM team.

与我们上面评论的第一个策略类似，营销和销售副总裁也可能是有关如何建立ABM团队的讨论中的领导者。

They, along with managers on their respective teams, will need to identify a minimum of one marketer and one sales rep who will be completely dedicated to the accounts you work with.

These people will create and publish content for accounts as well as work to manage and close business deals with each account’s buying committee. (As a rule of thumb, try to limit your team size to no more than ten sales reps and one marketer.)

In addition to the marketer(s) and sales rep(s), don’t forget to identify any other internal key players — such as customer success reps — who should be aware of and aligned on your ABM strategy.

4. Identify and pick your ideal set of target accounts.

Identify and pick your ideal set of high-value target accounts to invest your time and resources in.

Here are some recommendations on how you can do this:

• Set search alerts for your ideal customer profile on LinkedIn.
• Create a workflow that filters incoming qualified leads based on specific criteria (e.g. company size, industry, etc.) and tags them as an ideal customer type in yourCRM.
• Ask, “If we could replicate one deal from last year, what would it be?” Then, use the characteristics of that deal (e.g. industry, company size, value) to help you identify other good-fit customers.
• Pick target accounts based on a particular industry or geographical location.
• Review major companies and leads who are using and engaging with your inbound content but don’t have a deal attached (yet!).
• Identify the lighthouse accounts you could use for reference.
• 每个销售代表不超过10个帐户。
  
  

5. Encourage Marketing and Sales to create account plans together.

Throughout this guide, you’ve probably picked up on the fact account-based marketing is a team effort. That’s why ensuring appropriate marketing and sales team members are involved in account planning is so important.

Make sure Marketing and Sales ask the following questions while they work on account plans:

• Who will we need to know at each account (e.g. buying committee members and account stakeholders)?
• What content will we need to attract and engage account buying committee members (and any other stakeholders)?
• Which channels will we use to share content with the right people at each account?
• How will we (marketers and sales reps) provide the right type of support throughout each stage of the strategy and sales process — in other words, how will sales help at the outset and how will marketing support in the later stages?

将您的帐户计划存储为固定的注释Hubspot CRM, Google Docs,AsanaBoards, pinned messages in松弛以及更多的东西，可以轻松访问和协作。

以下是营销和销售可以用来使您的帐户计划成功的一些提示：

• Ensure Marketing and Sales align on your product or service’s value proposition and point-of-difference for every account.
• Create personalized content — or update existing content — so it’s tailored to each unique account.
• 为每个帐户自定义您的分配资源和预算。bob体育苹果系统下载安装
  
  

6. Attract contacts from high-quality accounts.

接下来，您需要吸引购买委员会成员和目标帐户的利益相关者。根据您从事业务多长时间以及您已经完成的任何ABM工作，您可能已经或可能尚未有特定帐户的联系人。

成功吸引高质量帐户的关键是将内容个性化为这些帐户 - 这将帮助您提高品牌知名度并最大程度地提高听众成员之间的相关性。

Here are some GDPR-compliant recommendations for attracting high-quality accounts:

• Engage accounts on social media (e.g. determine which platforms they’re on, join the groups they’re in, contribute to conversations they're a part of, and share helpful and relevant content you’ve created).
• 制作播客或视频系列，并邀请该帐户中的领导者成为特别嘉宾。
• Sponsor a booth at a target account’s conference or event.
• Send direct messages via social media and direct mail via email or post.
• 通过LinkedIn Inmail Outreach进行交流（做到这一点，并without ever leaving HubSpotwith theLinkedIn integration）。
• Build custom landing pagestailored to the needs, questions, and concerns of accounts.
• Offer gifts for engagement and interaction (e.g. prizes, swag, and discount codes).
• Distribute content such as blog articles across channels that are relevant to each account (e.g. website, social media, and magazines).
• Createad campaigns和社交广告，以针对不同因素，例如位置，技能和职务。
• Ask current contacts, accounts, and customers for referrals.
• 邀请联系人参加（物理或数字）活动，并要求与会者邀请他们的同事。
  
  

7. Forge strong relationships with the account’s buying committee.

一旦您吸引了高价值帐户，就该与他们的购买委员会建立牢固的关系了。这是您的团队可能会在很长一段时间内进行的工作 - 实际上，建立这些债券通常需要数月甚至数年的时间。将这种策略视为与您的帐户满意的策略 - 您永远不会停止喜悦的过程。

这里有一些关于如何与帐户购买委员会建立牢固，长期关系的想法。

• Provide education around the value your business — and your product/ service — brings accounts through tailored interactions and engagement.
• Create and share personalized content, such as case studies, to prove the ways you’ll exceed expectations and resolve the challenges of each account.
• Communicate one-on-one when possible to make buying committee members feel like they’re your only priority.
• Host events with and for account members (e.g. dinner) so they get to know your brand and team on a personal level.
• 我们坚持组织,ll-timed meetings.
• Useemail sequencingto enhance all communication, be professional, and maintain consistency.

Learn how to showcase your company's success using compelling case studies with a free case study creation kit.

8. Measure and analyze your ABM results (and make necessary iterations).

While working through and upon completion of the tactics above, it’s crucial you monitor your success. By reviewing and analyzing your ABM results, you’ll identify any gaps or parts of your strategy that need to be changed. This will allow you to make your strategy more effective for your business, marketing and sales teams, and accounts.

Here are some examples of common account-based marketing KPIs that provide insight into how you’re doing:

• Deal creation
• 账户penetration (net new contacts added to an account)
• 帐户参与
• 交易到关闭时间
• 净收入
• Percent of deals closed

For support with your analysis, enlist the help ofHubSpot's library of12+ ABM reportsandpre-built ABM reporting dashboard为了获得如何修改ABM策略以获得更大成功的宝贵见解。

通过基于帐户的营销更好

账户-based marketing doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By working through the tactics we’ve listed above and implementing software — such asHubSpot’s ABM software- 为您的营销和销售团队使用together, you’ll identify valuable accounts more efficiently, reduce any friction impacting your flywheel, and grow better.