Account-Based Marketing (ABM) has emerged as one of the most effective B2B strategies for engaging high-value clients through personalized, targeted campaigns. With 62% of marketers reporting measurable success from ABM, it's no surprise that more companies are adopting this focused approach. But while the concept may sound straightforward—identify top accounts, personalize messaging, align with sales—the execution is far more nuanced.
In this guide, we’ll walk through everything you need to know to launch or improve your ABM strategy. You’ll learn what ABM is, how it works, when it’s the right choice, and what technologies and steps are required for success. We’ll also share examples of proven ABM tactics, common challenges marketers face (like scaling personalization and aligning sales and marketing), and how to overcome them. Whether you're new to ABM or looking to refine your approach, this comprehensive breakdown will help you build more meaningful connections with your most important accounts—and convert them into long-term customers.
A Definition of What Account-Based Marketing Is
Account-based marketing (ABM) is a strategic marketing approach that focuses on targeting specific high-value accounts or companies rather than casting a wide net to attract a broad audience. It involves tailoring marketing and sales efforts to engage and nurture individual accounts throughout their buying journey.
How does ABM work?
ABM seeks to align marketing and sales teams to collaboratively pursue key accounts and deliver personalized experiences that resonate with their unique needs and challenges. At its core, ABM is built on three fundamental principles:
- Identifying and prioritizing target accounts based on their strategic value and alignment with business goals.
- Encouraging close collaboration between marketing and sales teams to develop account-specific strategies and messaging.
- Emphasizing the delivery of personalized and relevant content and experiences to resonate with the specific needs and challenges of each target account.
These enable coherent and highly targeted campaigns that reach the exact right buyers at the exact right moments.
What is the Objective of Account-Based Marketing?
As with many marketing strategies, the ultimate goal of ABM is to increase customer acquisition and retention, foster long-term relationships with target accounts, and drive sustainable revenue and business growth. However, ABM specifically aims to achieve these goals in a very specific way.
ABM is designed to build trust faster and tackle account which require extra effort. For example, a large enterprise business might have a bigger buyer team and more resources at its disposal. There will be increased competition for the account, and many other companies will be vying for buyers’ attention.
The objective of ABM is to differentiate your company through more specific messaging and more concerted effort. This means developing a deeper understanding of the specific buyers involved in a purchase decision and adjusting marketing and sales decisions to their specifics needs and wants.
Why is ABM Important? Top 3 Benefits of Account-Based Marketing
ABM is incredibly beneficial to B2B companies seeking to de-silo marketing, build customer loyalty, and prove a high return on investment (ROI):
- Improved marketing & sales alignment: ABM requires marketing and sales to come together to create consistent and coordinated efforts to engage and influence key stakeholders within the target accounts. The teams work together toward shared goals to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and cross-departmental synergy.
- Enhanced customer experience and personalization: Marketers and sales representatives involved in ABM develop a deep understanding of target accounts and can tailor content and messaging to each account's pain points and motivators. This personalization results in higher engagement and increased conversion rates.
- Higher return on investment (ROI): The nature of ABM calls for focusing resources and budget on high-value accounts, which, if done successfully, leads to increased revenue and customer lifetime value, making it easier to prove the worth of investing in ABM.
However, it is important to understand exactly when AMB is – and is not – the right approach to take.
When is ABM the Best Strategy?
Most of the benefits ABM offers are restricted to companies that can afford to focus on a handful of high-value clients. The kind of companies most ABM target – larger, more complex brands – may take longer to convert, which means ABM is not a “quick fix.” But it is important to keep a few facts in mind:
- You can run other marketing campaigns at the same time as ABM
- Your ABM campaigns can produce insights that support other campaigns, especially as they reveal more detailed information about your buyers’ motivations
- Your ABM campaigns can be flexible, increasing or decreasing in budget during key periods. This is particularly important for companies in industries with fixed or limited purchasing cycles
Most B2B companies therefore benefit from having ABM capabilities – and the ability to leverage ABM strategies when needed.
ABM Technology: What is Required for a Successful Campaign?
Running an ABM campaign without technology is unfeasible. The average ABM requires at least the following to produce significant results:
- Audience segmentation: The ability to create sophisticated targeting that ensures only the most relevant accounts receive specific emails, content, or advertisements.
- Marketing and sales automation: The ability to create automatic reminders or trigger emails based on specific actions to enable faster response times, more relevant content delivery, and more cost-effective campaigns.
- Data and analytics: The ability to quickly evaluate individual channels’ success to optimize existing campaigns, plan more effective future efforts, and gain a deeper understand of which messaging resonates with your target accounts.
In our experience, HubSpot has a robust suite of account-based marketing tools and automation.
How to Execute ABM in 4 Steps
While the process for executing ABM may vary depending on your specific goals and resources, here's a general four-step approach to implementing the strategy:
1. Identify and prioritize target accounts
Begin by conducting thorough research to identify and prioritize the accounts that align with your business objectives. Consider factors such as revenue potential, industry, and other firmographic criteria that fit with your ideal customer profile. Collaborate with sales teams to gather insights and ensure alignment on target account selection. The process of account qualification shouldn’t be rushed; selecting the proper accounts from day one can make or break an ABM strategy.
2. Develop account-specific strategies
Once you've identified the target accounts, work closely with both marketing and sales teams to develop account-specific strategies. This involves understanding the needs, pain points, and goals of each account, as well as of the key stakeholders involved in the decision-making process.
3. Implement personalized campaigns and experiences
Use your account-specific strategies to execute personalized campaigns and experiences for each target. Leverage various marketing channels such as email and social media to engage with key stakeholders across different touchpoints. Deliver customized content that directly addresses their pain points and offers relevant solutions. Utilize data and analytics to track engagement and gather insights for ongoing optimization.
4. Measure, analyze, and optimize
Continuously measure and analyze the performance of your ABM efforts to understand what's working and what's not. Track key metrics such as engagement rates, conversion rates, and revenue generated from the target accounts. Use these insights to optimize your strategies, messaging, and content for better results. Make sure marketing and sales regularly communicate and collaborate to align on progress and make campaign improvements.
Examples of Effective ABM Tactics
There are several ways to market toward your ideal accounts while keeping personalized messaging at the forefront, including:
- Retargeting: Use website and ad retargeting techniques to deliver personalized ads to individuals from the target accounts, ensuring continued engagement and reminding them of your value proposition(s).
- Personalized content: Develop tailored content that resonates with the specific needs and challenges of the target accounts. This can include whitepapers, case studies, videos, or webinars.
- One-to-one email campaigns: Craft personalized emails that address the pain points of individual contacts within the target accounts. These emails should focus on building relationships and providing value.
- Events & webinars: Organize or participate in industry events, conferences, or webinars specifically tailored to target accounts. This allows for face-to-face interactions and deepens the engagement with key stakeholders.
- Direct mail: Send physical mailers or packages to key decision-makers within the target accounts. This tangible approach can leave a lasting impression and help break through the digital clutter.
- Account-specific landing pages: Create landing pages customized for each target account to leverage in your campaigns. These pages should offer relevant content, demonstrate a deep understanding of the account's challenges, and provide clear calls-to-action (CTA).
Key Challenges of ABM
Successfully developing and implementing an account-based marketing strategy comes with a few key obstacles that marketers should consider:
1. Account Selection and Identification
One of the primary challenges in ABM is accurately identifying and selecting the right target accounts. It requires a deep understanding of the ideal customer profile and your organization's business objectives, which not every team member has.
Due to limited data visibility, complex organizational structures, and evolving market dynamics, finding the accounts that will respond to your messaging can be difficult, so taking care during this step is necessary.
2. Personalization at Scale
ABM relies on delivering personalized experiences to target accounts, which can be challenging when operating at scale. Developing customized content, messaging, and campaigns for each account requires significant time, resources, and coordination between marketing and sales teams.
Balancing personalization with scalability becomes difficult as organizations strive to engage a larger number of target accounts without compromising the quality and relevance of their efforts.
3. Sales and Marketing Alignment
ABM’s greatest strength is often a double-edged sword that can be its greatest weakness. Successful ABM execution heavily relies on close collaboration and alignment between sales and marketing teams. However, achieving this alignment can be a challenge in practice.
Misalignment can occur due to differing priorities, lack of communication, and inconsistent processes and metrics. Successful collaboration requires shared goals, clear communication channels, and regular feedback and coordination to ensure marketing efforts effectively support the sales process (and vice versa!).
Account-Based Marketing: The Conclusion
ABM has and will continue to have the potential to significantly impact B2B success, but executing ABM successfully isn’t simple. Overcoming the challenges that come with this strategy requires a strategic approach and ongoing commitment.
ProperExpression has helped countless companies plan, execute, and optimize ABM campaigns to win high-value accounts and maximize their marketing ROI. Our HubSpot expertise enables us to leverage the best technology to improve targeting, enhance analytics, and make the entire process seamless for your sales and marketing teams.
Want to explore how we could help you connect with your ideal customers?
