B2B marketing can get pretty robotic. When you adopt the mindset of selling to businesses, it can be easy to de-humanize the process and focus on the entity you’re trying to convert. But generic, scripted marketing campaigns won’t help you create meaningful conversations and relationships. An organization doesn’t take actions, make decisions, or engage in conversations – it’s the people within those organizations you want to focus on.
That’s one reason account-based marketing has gained so much traction. Even when you have massive target accounts at the corporate level, you can adjust the lens to focus on the individuals within that organization. You may already be using some ABM tactics without realizing it – but if not, you can steal these four marketing tactics that adapt well to an account-based marketing approach.
Role-Based Contact Lists
When you’re identifying the challenges faced by the individuals within a company or target account, titles can be misleading or insufficient. For example, an IT director at a large company could be responsible for one or many issues and priorities: governance, technology, security, operations, or strategy, just to name a few. By focusing instead on the roles these individuals play within the organization, you’ll get a better understanding of the topics and challenges they face on a daily basis.
Role-based contact lists allow you to segment and customize your messaging at the individual level, rather than by department or level of leadership.
Retargeting
Retargeting allows you to repeatedly engage with a target account by paying attention to the online content consumed by employees and other individuals within that target group. For example, if the CTO at a prospect company visits your about page, you can use retargeting campaigns to display ads when this person moves on from your site. Retargeting is intended to keep your company on the radar and redirect your contact back to your website, where they can consume additional valuable content and build awareness about your services.
Personalized Landing Pages
In the above scenario, should you redirect the CTO back to your services page? Absolutely not.
By directing all ABM campaigns toward generic pages on your website, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to personalize the relationship. Once you’ve identified companies and organizations for your target list, consider developing custom landing pages for each of those accounts. You can reference the company name, industry, and the problems they are likely trying to solve.
If you’ve really done your research, take some time to develop a key resource related to the company you’re targeting. This could be a security report, for example, in the industry your target account works in, customized with the name of the company.
Direct Mail Campaigns
Account-based marketing tactics can be valuable beyond the digital world, because you can personalize your collateral in the same way as your landing pages and resources. This is a great way to leverage your role-based contact lists, by segmenting your direct mail messaging and delivering collateral that speaks directly to your contact’s daily priorities.
Executives rarely open marketing emails or click on ads. But imagine what could happen if a well-messaged mail piece lands on your contact’s desk, specifically addressing an issue they struggled with in a meeting that very morning. Direct mail as an ABM tactic can make a huge difference in the perception and awareness of your brand.