Is account-based marketing right for you?

B2B companies can benefit from account-based marketing (ABM). ABM is about identifying, obtaining and marketing targeted, high-value accounts. It also involves communicating directly with business leaders and executives who have the authority to make large contractual or purchasing decisions.

ABM suits the B2B market by targeting decision-makers from the beginning, filtering out unqualified prospects, aligning sales and marketing on strategy, content and engagement for each account. ABM allows for a quicker turnaround of qualified leads, highly targeted campaigns and builds trust with decision-makers in the B2B space.

ABM ensures that your money is only used for the highest quality leads. This means you have shorter sales cycles, better lead nurturing strategies, and better alignment between marketing and sales. ABM is most beneficial to the following industries:

• Healthcare & Life Sciences
• Software & Technology
• Commercial Business Services
• Manufacturing
• Industrial Services

These are the top indicators that account-based marketing should be tried by your business.

Your products and services are targeted at a narrow audience.

ABM can be a great strategy if you already have a list of companies that you want to do business with. The more specific your target is, the better ABM will work. It's easier to target the companies you are interested in and create a targeted, successful campaign.

Your ideal target begins with looking at your customers and sharing data about their spending habits with you. Take a look at what your customers spend their money on and how high is your retention rate. This will allow you to paint a clear picture of your ideal customers, strengths and weaknesses. It will also help you improve your business.

Be sure to update your data and then get in touch with people looking for your products or services.

The top 20% of your customers are the most likely to generate revenue.

ABM will yield a greater return on your investment (ROI). ABM can be used to increase the revenue of top 20% of your customers. This is because if you spend a lot of time on cross-selling and upselling with your existing customers, your marketing budget will be much lower. Instead of wasting resources trying to sell to prospects or smaller customers, expand the accounts of your top clients to earn more.

This type of account expansion is common in B2B companies. It can be seen in product launches, cross-sales following acquisitions, company-wide expansions and updated branding. Although the revenue comes from an existing customer you can make more by offering them bigger and better products and services.

Remember that your ABM success will be greater if you target and sell to smaller clients than to larger clients. Your ABM success will be strengthened by retaining high-value clients.

A long sales cycle is necessary for your product or service.

ABM works best for companies with a longer sales cycle. Because of the long-term nature and complexity of B2B products and services, many have lengthy sales cycles. This is because they are complex. ABM can reduce the time it takes to convert leads.

ABM is a great way to ensure your product or service sells well over a long period of time. ABM eliminates the need to guess as you wait for marketing leads to pay off. Instead, you want to make sure that your marketing efforts are focusing on customers who have real potential.

Reach key decision-makers in your target accounts.

It is one thing to know who you want to target, but it is quite another to be able to reach decision-makers. It can be difficult to reach key decision-makers. Partnering with an agency that is equipped can help. Sagefrog, for example, uses RollWorks and other ABM tools to offer our B2B customers an ABM platform that suits their needs.

Your company has the resources necessary to support your ABM efforts.

Be sure to be ready to invest in both third-party marketing and expert resources before you jump in. You will get the best out of ABM if you invest in experts. Their efficiency and expertise will maximize your chances of success. A digital agency can help you develop your ABM strategy, content and project management. This will ensure that you get results and ROI.

Your ABM goals are shared by your sales and marketing teams.

ABM is only possible if your sales and marketing teams are on the same page. Marketing is responsible for setting goals and creating content. Sales should be focused on outreach, executing strategies, and getting feedback. Account-based marketing won't work if both teams don't align and are working toward the same goals.

Sagefrog can assist you in launching an account-based program. Sagefrog can help you with your account-based marketing program. Read our infographic "6 Ws" and get in touch with Sagefrog today.