Everyone wants their business to be successful, that’s a given. These days, the common buzzword or phrase that is thrown around is ABM or account-based marketing.
By all accounts, this is the best method of securing long-term success for your company. But what exactly is it? And is it right for you?
ABM Defined
- Account-based marketing is a strategy where you treat a potential client as a market of one. What this means is that your business chooses to focus closely on a single client or shortlist of top clients, investing dedicated resources to building your relationship with them.
- Account-based marketing requires your sales and marketing team to work and think as one. Instead of targeting multiple clients, you dig into one, research who the key players are who you need to market to and make and provide content specifically for that client based on who or what they are. This effort takes time to develop and maintain. So knowing this, is ABM right for you? Well here are several factors to keep in mind.
Factors to Consider with ABM
- The first thing that you have to take into account is how lucrative are your clients compared to your overall revenue. For ABM to work, you have to spend money and leverage certain marketing techniques to attract a client through multiple channels. Return on investment is key here, or simply put, what you get from this needs to be worth more than what you put in.
- So in this example, it would be more useful to engage in ABM if you have 10 large clients that add up to your total revenue then say 100 smaller clients. It is simply inefficient to focus on quantity and you will not see good returns most likely. So to reiterate, unless you’re going for big clients, ABM will most likely not suit your needs.
- Another factor you have to take in when considering whether to use ABM or not is if the majority of your potential clients know you exist. The purpose of ABM is to break into new markets and find new prospects that would not have found you otherwise unless you chose to specialize and engage with them.
- ABM is not going to work if your potential client circle already knows about you and your name is passed around to a similar circle of customers. ABM works best when you sway clients with the amount of custom commitment to them, not when you suddenly change your marketing strategy on them. An old saying comes to mind, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
- Another factor to consider when evaluating ABM is how much of the market you already have. The purpose of ABM is to break into new markets and find new prospects that would not have found you otherwise were it not for you specifically targeting and engaging with them.
- ABM is not going to work if your potential client circle already knows about you. Or at least it would be a poor use of resources because ABM should be used to reel in new strategic accounts and not so much as a customer retainment program. ABM is not the right approach if your name is already passed around to a similar circle of customers.
- One of the more important things about ABM is knowing who your potential client is. Account-based marketing is best used as an offensive strategy and it pays off if you can mobilize your resources to clients that you know are right for your business to invest in. Knowing all important decision-makers is also critical for a successful ABM program.
- Research and information are key here. You need to be prepared with the necessary information if you’re going to safely execute. If you don’t even know any good prospective clients or who key influencers or decision-makers are that you should be reaching out to, then perhaps you should wait on ABM.
- The last factor that is ideal in choosing ABM is if your sales and marketing teams are aligned efficiently. One has to create the content while the other uses it effectively on the client. If there is some kind of rift or disconnect, there could be issues in implementing ABM.
- If it isn’t apparent by now, ABM requires every part of your business to be collaborating and working to its fullest extent so that you can effectively target your clients and bring them into the fold for a great return on investment.
Conclusion
Taking all of this into account, ABM may be difficult to pull off but with the right resources and planning it can lead your business to the success it deserves.
And no one cares more about your success than us here at GlobalEdgeMarkets. We can help you figure this out, and whether you need ABM or not, we will help elevate you to a higher position! Contact Us
