If you are used to the standard, funnel model of driving sales, account-based marketing may seem a little counter-intuitive. In standard funnel models of sales and marketing, a marketing team tries to determine a target market, and using a large net, attempts to capture as many leads as possible and push them into the funnel. The focus at the initial stage is lead generation. Account-based marketing–some refer to it as key account marketing–takes an entirely different approach. Instead of casting a wide net in your targeted market segment, the sales and marketing team target actual specific individual prospects–accounts- that they believe show real promise as long-term, high value customers. In this model, sales and marketing sets out to define the client profile that best matches your product/service proposition, and then personalizes a sales and marketing campaign to win that account. The “account” in account-based marketing refers to a specific, individual company or organization. Ideally, a high-value prospect justifies the resource necessary to pursue this individualized approach. Instead of a target market segment, sales and marketing selects individual accounts.
One of the key goals of this approach is to increase the ROI of your marketing. The funnel model means fewer leads end up as customers, thus a higher percentage of resources often end up not yielding sales. The goal behind this approach is to increase the yield from your sales and marketing efforts by focusing resources on specifically determined, targeted accounts.
Who are the target accounts
These are generally what can be referred to as “high value” accounts. Characteristics might be a high revenue potential, especially one with significant lifetime customer value. It should also be noted that higher value customers probably also represent a longer sales cycle: account based marketing has the potential to shorten the sales cycle as you are going in with carefully targeted, personalized marketing material as the outset, with the key decision makers already identified by the sales and marketing team.
What is the process?
- Sales and Marketing work together during the entire process. This is not a handoff deal. Sales doesn’t wait in the wings to be called upon at some stage, as in the funnel model.
- Research: Define your ideal account. As noted above, these are accounts that have high revenue potential, Also the accounts should have potential for growth. Is there the potential to expand the range of products or services that you can offer them?
- Keep defining the best account prospect: Keeping your competitors in mind, what type of account is most likely to be attracted to your particular value proposition. Which of your distinguishing characteristics best align with potential accounts out there in your target market?
- Market – The key here is personalized marketing assets that go directly to the needs and interest of this account. Tools used can include the usual subsets of direct mail, email marketing, social media, and print marketing. However, Webinars can be a tool that can be carefully targeted. In addition, account based marketing utilizes in-person events such as luncheons, or half- or full-day presentations that provide in-depth industry knowledge of specific interest to your target accounts.
- Measure – As ever, measure the response — or lack thereof — of each marketing effort. However, since this is a personalized strategy, look beyond clicks and opens and identify actual actions from individual decision makers that indicate interest.
The key benefit.
When all of a team’s focus is on one target and all engines are fired towards a single account, there is a greater chase of lead closure. Account-based marketing uses personalized massaging. This means addressing the different pain points of each constituent. Features that attract an engineer may have little meaning for the CFO. When you reach each person where they are–meet their needs within their organizational territory–You have more evangelists for your product/service within the company, more people influencing the purchase decision in your favor.
Isn’t this resource intensive?
Yes. It is. But the idea is that it is also more effective. Marketing becomes less of a fishing expedition. Also, keep in mind that this doesn’t necessarily mean a marketing and sales team is always working one-to-one on a single targeted account. Some accounts may have sufficiently similar characteristics that they can be “ grouped together” and your resources can be devoted to many accounts. What matters is that everything is focused on identified, specific accounts, not on a market segment.
In conclusion, account based marketing is an approach that you should consider when designing your entire marketing program.
