Account Based Marketing, which essentially evolved from key account marketing, is a strategic approach to B2B marketing based on goals for specific target accounts. B2B marketers that even consider an account-based marketing program say that it will be too difficult to implement. They think of the questions: Will my team have to be restructured? Or, Do we have to revamp our entire marketing strategy? The answer is a simple no. Every B2B company has unique processes and goals so ABM won’t be a one-size-fits-all strategy and is usually implemented in enterprise-level brands with more than 1,000 employees to help teams. ABM is effective for initiatives across the entire buyer and customer journey. Here we will discuss four reasons to consider implementing Account-Based Marketing into your B2B Marketing Strategy.

Clear ROI

Effective ABM helps drive clear business results because a marketing strategy should be measureable. According to the 2014 Information Technology Services Marketing Association Survey, ABM delivers the highest Return on Investment of any B2B marketing strategy or tactic with it scoring at 84%. Measuring ROI of any marketing initiative is critical and is possible with the software tools available. Through this marketing, you can see both the ROI and areas for improvement based on how contacts are responding to your content.

Personal and Optimized

ABM entails personalizing your messaging and communications to specific accounts so that your campaigns resonate with these target audiences. For example, email introductions usually start off a greeting with “Dear Customer”, and everyone likes to be addressed by their name rather than some generic greeting. Account-Based Marketing takes personalized marketing to a new level by developing content those key decision-makers want and need to move them through the buyer’s journey. This involves some research that allows sales and marketing to collaborate and effectively target these contacts in a way that this going to be the most meaningful.

Sales Alignment is Clearer

ABM is one of the most efficient ways to align sales and marketing since running an ABM program is similar to thinking in terms of accounts and how to ultimately generate revenue from them. The sales and marketing teams need to work closely together to identify target accounts, develop a communication strategy, outreach tactics, and monitor progress. A survey from Bizible found that “marketers implementing ABM are 40% more likely to report alignment with their sales team compared to those who don’t”. ABM thus unites teams and has people working together.

Enhanced Tracking

When you need to analyze the effectiveness of campaigns, whether through email, ads, web, or events, it is easier to draw conclusions because you can look at a smaller set of target accounts instead of vast metrics. While reviewing the bottom line is critical, you also want to report on tactics that either contribute or don’t contribute to your ROI. By knowing the effectiveness on each component, you will be able to build more effective campaigns for the future. As noted in the ABM Adoption Report, “ABM’s ability to drive revenue creates benefits for the marketing organization.” Not only are you able to influence revenue, but you are able to measure it as well and tracking these metrics will help save you time and budget.

ABM is a proven way for B2B marketers to align more with sales and build personalized campaigns targeted to specific accounts that will end up bringing revenue. It is not intended to replace mass marketing initiatives, but ABM is the next level of B2B marketing that will help drive organizations toward clear ROI and measureable sales results based on marketing campaigns and sale integration.

Founded in 1990, Winn Technology Group is a leading provider of global, multi-channel marketing solutions for the technology industry.   For both direct and channel sales, Winn supports demand creation, account-based marketing, channel management, digital marketing, social media, teleprospecting, lead nurturing, event marketing, database services, and inbound response management.