Account-based marketing works. It gets better ROI than traditional demand-gen, reduces time to close, and improves customer lifetime value.
But despite these big pros, it can still be challenging to sell a full ABM program to management or it can seem overwhelming. Fortunately, you can get started with bits and pieces on a small scale before needing to invest a lot of resources. In fact, you’re probably already doing a lot of ABM practices without even realizing it.
Here are some signs that you’re ready to really commit:
1. You have a developed ICP.
A lot of companies have an idea of who they want to sell to. Companies doing ABM have painted a clear customer profile that includes demographic, firmographic, and psychographic details of exactly who they want to sell to. If you’re struggling to develop your ICP, try out our free template on How to use an ideal customer profile to develop your ABM strategy.
2. You’ve built out your TAL.
Do you have a pretty good idea of every company that fits your ICP? Then you have a target account list (TAL). After the ICP, the TAL is the next most important part of ABM — you can’t base your marketing on accounts if you don’t know which ones you want to pursue. Our Complete B2B Audience Building Workbook can help you nail exactly which audience you should be going after, and when.
3. You’ve tiered your target list.
If you have an ICP and a TAL, you’re doing pretty well on the ABM front. But if you’ve tiered your TAL into levels of importance, well, you may as well consider that you already have a full ABM program going without realizing it. Learn more on how to structure your own 1:1, 1:few, and 1:many ABM programs with our No-Fail ABM at Scale ebook.
4. You work closely with the sales team.
Do you sit down with the sales team to identify who you’re going to target with your marketing? Work with individual sales reps to understand their marketing needs and fill those needs? Coordinate KPIs and success metrics with sales? You may already be doing ABM! If you need more advice on how to create better processes between marketing and sales, our webinar, The 5 (Real) Pillars of Sales and Marketing Alignment is available on-replay.
5. You create specific collateral for different tiers.
Do you put varying levels of effort into personalizing content and collateral based on how valuable accounts or account tiers may be to your company? Do you change your marketing mix based on these tiers? Then you’re basically already doing ABM! Want more fool-proof hacks to personalization (and channel framing)? Good news, we have 4 Ways To Unpack The Power Of Personalization At Scale With 1:1, 1:Few And 1:Many ABM.
6. You build custom marketing for especially valuable accounts.
Have you ever built out a landing page just for one specific account? Or created a whole mailer campaign aimed at different stakeholders inside the same company? If so, you’re doing account-based marketing. And if not, this is a great, low-resource way to get started!
7. You target prospects with content syndication.
You understand that in order to reach best-fit accounts, it requires you to allocate resources effectively. From SEM, webinars, display ads, email segmentation, and more, you know it takes a few tweaks ( and the right tech) to engage high-tier target accounts. Here more on how to ABMify Your Demand Gen Programs (With Just a Few Clicks).
8. You don’t toss leads to sales and forget about them.
Standard demand gen results in leads that go to sales and are never heard from again. The account-based marketing approach, on the other hand, follows those leads with marketing through the sales process and beyond, making sure that they not only close but continue to grow revenue even after they become customers. To stay on track, keep our Marketing and Sales Alignment Cheat Sheet handy!
9. You’re browsing the RollWorks website.
50% of doing any marketing is wrapping your head around what “doing X” really means. If you’re doing a deep dive into ABM material, you’re at least halfway to ABM without even realizing it. Keep at it, and you’ll have a fully functional ABM program in no time!
If you already tick all 9 boxes, here are a few big tips that’ll speed up your journey to becoming an ABM pro.
