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How to use account-based marketing to increase brand visibility

November 18, 2023 | Jimit Mehta

Account-based marketing (ABM) is a targeted and personalized marketing approach that focuses on specific, high-value accounts rather than a broad, undefined audience. It involves aligning sales and marketing efforts to nurture and convert a specific set of target accounts, rather than casting a wide net in the hope of attracting any and all potential leads. ABM has proven to be an effective strategy for increasing brand visibility, building relationships with key decision-makers, and driving revenue. In this article, we'll explore how to use ABM to increase brand visibility and drive business growth.

Defining your target accounts

Defining your target accounts is an essential first step in implementing an ABM strategy. ABM is a targeted and personalized marketing approach that focuses on specific, high-value accounts rather than a broad, undefined audience. Therefore, it's important to identify and prioritize the accounts that you want to target with your ABM efforts.

To define your target accounts, consider factors such as the size and industry of the company, the decision-makers within the organization, the company's needs and pain points, and any existing relationships you have with the company. You should also consider whether the company is a good fit for your product or service, and whether it has the potential to generate significant revenue for your organization.

Once you have identified your target accounts, it's important to research and gather as much information as possible about them. This can include information about their business goals, challenges, and competitive landscape, as well as details about the key decision-makers within the organization. This information will be essential in developing personalized marketing campaigns and aligning your sales and marketing efforts to effectively nurture and convert these target accounts.

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Developing personalized marketing campaigns

Developing personalized marketing campaigns is a key aspect of ABM. ABM is a targeted and personalized marketing approach that focuses on specific, high-value accounts rather than a broad, undefined audience. Therefore, it's important to create marketing campaigns that are tailored to the specific needs and pain points of your target accounts.

To develop personalized marketing campaigns, you should start by gathering as much information as possible about your target accounts. This can include information about their business goals, challenges, and competitive landscape, as well as details about the key decision-makers within the organization. This information will help you understand what will resonate with your target accounts and create campaigns that are relevant and compelling to them.

Some strategies for developing personalized marketing campaigns include creating targeted content, such as whitepapers or webinars, that addresses the specific needs and challenges of your target accounts; using personalization tools to tailor your marketing messages to individual decision-makers within the organization; and utilizing data and technology to optimize your marketing campaigns and track their effectiveness.

Overall, the goal of personalized marketing campaigns is to build relationships with your target accounts, establish your brand as a thought leader in your industry, and position your product or service as the best solution to meet their needs.

Aligning sales and marketing efforts

Aligning sales and marketing efforts is an important aspect of ABM. ABM is a targeted and personalized marketing approach that focuses on specific, high-value accounts rather than a broad, undefined audience. To be successful with ABM, it's important to ensure that your sales and marketing teams are working together towards a common goal of nurturing and converting your target accounts.

There are several ways to align sales and marketing efforts in ABM. One effective strategy is to create a joint account plan that outlines the specific actions that both teams will take to engage and convert each target account. This plan should include information about the target account, such as their business goals and challenges, as well as details about the key decision-makers within the organization. It should also outline the specific marketing campaigns and sales activities that will be undertaken to nurture and convert the account.

Another way to align sales and marketing efforts is to use a common set of tools and systems to track and measure the progress of your ABM initiatives. This can include tools for tracking customer interactions, such as CRM systems, as well as data analytics tools that help you understand the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and sales activities.

Overall, aligning sales and marketing efforts in ABM is essential for building relationships with your target accounts, establishing your brand as a thought leader in your industry, and positioning your product or service as the best solution to meet their needs.

Utilizing data and technology to optimize ABM strategies

Utilizing data and technology to optimize ABM strategies is an effective way to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of your ABM initiatives. ABM is a targeted and personalized marketing approach that focuses on specific, high-value accounts rather than a broad, undefined audience. To be successful with ABM, it's important to use data and technology to understand your target accounts and tailor your marketing efforts to their specific needs and pain points.

There are a number of ways to utilize data and technology to optimize your ABM strategies. Some strategies include:

  1. Using CRM systems to track and analyze customer interactions and gather insights about your target accounts.

  2. Utilizing data analytics tools to measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and sales activities, and to identify opportunities for improvement.

  3. Using personalization tools to tailor your marketing messages and content to individual decision-makers within your target accounts.

  4. Implementing marketing automation tools to streamline and optimize your marketing efforts, such as by automating email campaigns and lead generation activities.

Overall, utilizing data and technology to optimize your ABM strategies can help you better understand your target accounts, create more relevant and personalized marketing campaigns, and drive business growth.

Measuring and tracking the success of ABM initiatives

Measuring and tracking the success of your ABM initiatives is an essential part of any ABM strategy. ABM is a targeted and personalized marketing approach that focuses on specific, high-value accounts rather than a broad, undefined audience. To understand the effectiveness of your ABM efforts, it's important to track key metrics and measure the results of your campaigns.

Some key metrics to track when measuring the success of ABM initiatives include:

  1. Revenue generated from target accounts: This is the most important metric to track, as it measures the overall financial impact of your ABM efforts.

  2. Engagement with target accounts: This can include metrics such as the number of visits to your website from target accounts, the number of interactions with your marketing content, and the number of meetings or calls with decision-makers within the organization.

  3. Pipeline and conversion rates: Track the progress of your target accounts through the sales funnel, and measure the conversion rates of target accounts into customers.

  4. Brand visibility and thought leadership: Track metrics such as the number of mentions of your brand in target accounts, and the number of leads generated from target accounts as a result of your thought leadership content.

Overall, tracking and measuring the success of your ABM initiatives will help you understand what is and isn't working, and allow you to make data-driven decisions to optimize your ABM strategy and drive business growth.

Case studies of successful ABM campaigns

Case studies of successful ABM campaigns can provide valuable insights and inspiration for organizations looking to implement ABM strategies. ABM is a targeted and personalized marketing approach that focuses on specific, high-value accounts rather than a broad, undefined audience. Case studies of successful ABM campaigns can highlight the specific tactics and strategies that were used to drive business growth, and provide examples of how other organizations have effectively implemented ABM.

Some key elements that are often featured in case studies of successful ABM campaigns include:

  1. The specific goals and objectives of the campaign, such as increasing brand visibility or generating revenue from target accounts.

  2. The target accounts that were focused on, including information about their size, industry, and any specific needs or challenges.

  3. The tactics and strategies that were used to engage and nurture target accounts, such as personalized marketing campaigns and sales activities.

  4. The results and outcomes of the campaign, including any revenue generated or other business benefits that were realized.

Overall, case studies of successful ABM campaigns can provide valuable insights and ideas for organizations looking to implement ABM strategies, and can help organizations understand what it takes to drive business growth through targeted and personalized marketing efforts.

Best practices for implementing ABM in your organization

There are a number of best practices to consider when implementing an ABM strategy in your organization. ABM is a targeted and personalized marketing approach that focuses on specific, high-value accounts rather than a broad, undefined audience. By following best practices, you can increase the chances of success with your ABM initiatives and drive business growth.

Some best practices for implementing ABM in your organization include:

  1. Clearly define your target accounts: Identify and prioritize the accounts that you want to target with your ABM efforts. Consider factors such as the size and industry of the company, the decision-makers within the organization, the company's needs and pain points, and any existing relationships you have with the company.

  2. Align sales and marketing efforts: Create a joint account plan that outlines the specific actions that both teams will take to engage and convert each target account. Use common tools and systems to track and measure progress.

  3. Develop personalized marketing campaigns: Gather as much information as possible about your target accounts, and use this information to create targeted content and marketing messages that address their specific needs and challenges.

  4. Utilize data and technology to optimize your ABM efforts: Use CRM systems and data analytics tools to track and analyze customer interactions, and implement marketing automation tools to streamline and optimize your marketing efforts.

  5. Measure and track the success of your ABM initiatives: Track key metrics such as revenue generated from target accounts, engagement with target accounts, pipeline and conversion rates, and brand visibility and thought leadership.

Overall, by following best practices for implementing ABM in your organization, you can increase the chances of success with your ABM initiatives and drive business growth through targeted and personalized marketing efforts.

The role of content marketing in ABM

Content marketing plays an important role in ABM. ABM is a targeted and personalized marketing approach that focuses on specific, high-value accounts rather than a broad, undefined audience. By creating targeted, relevant, and valuable content, you can engage and nurture your target accounts and position your brand as a thought leader in your industry.

There are several ways to use content marketing in ABM:

  1. Create personalized content for target accounts: Use the information you have gathered about your target accounts to create content that addresses their specific needs and pain points. This could include whitepapers, webinars, or other types of content that provide value to the target account.

  2. Utilize data and technology to optimize content distribution: Use data analytics tools to understand the content that is most effective for your target accounts, and use marketing automation tools to personalize and optimize the distribution of your content.

  3. Use content to build relationships with key decision-makers: Create content that is tailored to the specific interests and needs of key decision-makers within your target accounts. This can help you build relationships with these individuals and position your brand as a trusted resource.

  4. Utilize content to drive conversions: Use calls to action within your content to encourage target accounts to take specific actions, such as requesting a demo or scheduling a meeting.

Overall, the role of content marketing in ABM is to build relationships with your target accounts, establish your brand as a thought leader in your industry, and position your product or service as the best solution to meet their needs.

Integrating ABM with other marketing strategies

Integrating ABM with other marketing strategies can help increase the effectiveness of your ABM initiatives and drive business growth. ABM is a targeted and personalized marketing approach that focuses on specific, high-value accounts rather than a broad, undefined audience. By integrating ABM with other marketing strategies, you can maximize the impact of your marketing efforts and achieve better results.

Some strategies for integrating ABM with other marketing efforts include:

  1. Integrating ABM with inbound marketing: Inbound marketing is a customer-centric approach that focuses on attracting and engaging customers through valuable content and experiences. By integrating ABM with inbound marketing, you can create personalized content and experiences for your target accounts that align with their specific needs and pain points.

  2. Integrating ABM with email marketing: Email marketing can be an effective way to nurture and convert target accounts. By integrating ABM with email marketing, you can create targeted and personalized email campaigns that are tailored to the specific needs and interests of your target accounts.

  3. Integrating ABM with social media marketing: Social media platforms can be valuable channels for engaging and nurturing target accounts. By integrating ABM with social media marketing, you can create personalized social media campaigns that are targeted to your target accounts and align with their specific needs and interests.

Overall, integrating ABM with other marketing strategies can help you maximize the impact of your marketing efforts and achieve better results with your ABM initiatives.

Overcoming common challenges in ABM implementation

There are several common challenges that organizations may face when implementing an ABM strategy. ABM is a targeted and personalized marketing approach that focuses on specific, high-value accounts rather than a broad, undefined audience. By understanding and addressing these challenges, you can increase the chances of success with your ABM initiatives and drive business growth.

Some common challenges in ABM implementation include:

  1. Lack of alignment between sales and marketing: It's important to ensure that both teams are aligned and working towards a common goal of nurturing and converting target accounts.

  2. Insufficient data and insights about target accounts: To create personalized marketing campaigns and align sales and marketing efforts, it's important to gather as much information as possible about your target accounts.

  3. Difficulty in measuring and tracking the success of ABM initiatives: It's important to track key metrics such as revenue generated from target accounts, engagement with target accounts, pipeline and conversion rates, and brand visibility and thought leadership.

  4. Limited resources and budget: ABM can require significant resources and budget, particularly if you are targeting a large number of accounts.

  5. Difficulty in scaling ABM efforts: As you begin to see success with ABM, you may want to scale your efforts to target additional accounts. However, this can be a challenge, as it requires the ability to effectively personalize marketing efforts for a larger number of accounts.

Overall, by understanding and addressing these challenges, you can increase the chances of success with your ABM initiatives and drive business growth through targeted and personalized marketing efforts.

Final thoughts

ABM is a targeted and personalized marketing approach that focuses on specific, high-value accounts rather than a broad, undefined audience. By aligning sales and marketing efforts and developing personalized marketing campaigns, ABM can be an effective strategy for increasing brand visibility, building relationships with key decision-makers, and driving revenue. To use ABM to increase brand visibility, it's important to define your target accounts, gather data and insights about them, and utilize data and technology to optimize your ABM efforts.

Measuring and tracking the success of your ABM initiatives, and integrating ABM with other marketing strategies can also help drive business growth. By understanding and addressing common challenges in ABM implementation, such as lack of alignment between sales and marketing, and limited resources and budget, you can increase the chances of success with your ABM initiatives.

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