How small businesses can leverage the power of account-based marketing

In today’s hyper-competitive B2B environment, account-based marketing (referred to as ABM) has modified the game, enabling progressive firms to focus their marketing efforts on high-value accounts somewhat than simply reaching broad audiences. ABM is a strategy that focuses on the collaboration of marketing and sales teams to discover and connect with specific goal customers, creating highly personalized campaigns that increase conversions and revenue.

For entrepreneurs from emerging and enterprise brands, ABM offers the opportunity to focus on the goal customers you are best equipped to serve. AND Gartner Report for 2023 found that effective ABM strategies can increase pipeline conversion rates by as much as 14%.

Here’s the problem most leaders face when it involves ABM: traditional approaches emphasize expensive technology stacks and campaigns that rely solely on the long-term game – and which are often doomed to failure in environments that favor quick wins or change direction. Good news? With a “bad” strategy, even resource-constrained firms can harness the power of ABM to grow faster and smarter.

I recently spoke with Lauren St. Amand, vice chairman and chief marketing officer at StarCompliance, a leading provider of regulatory compliance software for the global financial services industry, on how small businesses can leverage ABM.

“The reality is that SMBs don’t need to invest in the latest and greatest martech stack to get started with ABM,” she said. “Using data analytics to measure campaign effectiveness and optimize programs is an essential element of any mature ABM program, but you can start small by developing relevant organic content, leveraging low-cost digital tools like Terminus, and even creating worker advocacy programs to assist grow your brand through social channels. The key is to focus on high-quality engagement with fewer high-value accounts.

Let’s look at the way you can scale your efforts, prioritize resources, and develop an effective ABM strategy without the need for extravagant tools and huge budgets.

1. Prioritize your goal accounts before developing tools

A successful ABM strategy at all times starts with focusing on the right goal customers. Instead of spreading your energy across a broad spectrum of potential customers, narrow your focus to firms that have the best growth potential. Identify accounts that are more more likely to convert and people who align with your enterprise goals.

Start by asking yourself: What are the characteristics of your most successful customers? Are there any industries, company sizes or problems that you just have successfully solved in the past? You don’t need expensive data tools to do this – easy CRM data, LinkedIn research, and a bit of intuition are often enough to get began.

PitchBook offers the perfect solution an example of this strategy in motion. Faced with ambitious sales goals, it analyzed over 2,000 accounts using data and machine learning to seek out those most definitely to convert. By combining internal data with current metrics, we were capable of prioritize and goal the most vital accounts. As a result, visits to the PitchBook website from targeted accounts increased by 79% and energetic engagement increased by 220%.

2. Identify the triggers that indicate readiness

Not every account is ready to interact at the same time. This is where identifying trigger signals becomes essential. Triggers can include specific actions, akin to visiting a key page on your site, downloading content, or attending a specific event. By collecting and analyzing this data, you can prioritize accounts that show signs of interest and engagement, allowing you to effectively plan when to achieve your audience.

For example, I used our 4D activation games during a #B2BMX session to create 26 sales opportunities. With 348 participants registered for the session, I used to be capable of leverage real-time data from the event app, which provided key information akin to company name, job title, and other sessions they attended. This data allowed me to achieve participants more precisely, reaching those most engaged and interested in my content. The lessons learned from their behavior during the event directly influenced my targeting strategy and helped create practical sales opportunities.

3. Develop highly relevant messages that address painful issues

Once you have identified your triggers, it is time to develop messages that address each account’s specific issues. This personalized approach is at the heart of ABM – a broad, generic message is not enough. To do this effectively and without overcomplicating the process, create modular content that can be quickly adapted to different accounts.

For example, use case studies from similar industries to point out the way you solved comparable problems, or create personalized email templates that can be customized to reflect the latest news or company updates. This level of personalization makes your outreach much more practical than a one-size-fits-all approach. AND McKinsey report from 2023 found that personalized marketing can reduce customer acquisition costs by as much as 50%, increase revenue by 5% to fifteen%, and increase ROI by 10% to 30%.

4. Direct prospects to specific, action-oriented pages

Once you have the attention of your goal accounts, direct them to landing pages that supply clear and actionable next steps. These pages ought to be product specific and closely related to the potential customer’s identified needs. You don’t need a high-budget web development team to make this work; tools like Unbounce and Leadpages let you quickly build skilled, targeted landing pages. For example, if you are targeting a company that has expressed interest in a specific product feature, your landing page should focus solely on that feature and include testimonials or case studies of similar firms. This customized approach increases your possibilities of conversion by offering a streamlined path for decision-makers.

DocuSign is an example of this approach. To be certain that top prospects at all times saw relevant content, the company personalized landing pages and calls to motion based on the prospect’s industry. This strategy led to Pipeline increase by 22%. and tripled DocuSign’s click-through rate for industry-specific calls to motion. By tailoring landing pages to the needs of each account, DocuSign effectively steered high-value leads toward conversion.

5. Don’t overcomplicate – start small and scale up

Perhaps the most vital thing to recollect is that ABM doesn’t have to be over-engineered. Start small by choosing a few goal accounts and running pilot campaigns focusing on one or two channels. The advantage of ABM is its scalability. Once you see success in several accounts, you can regularly increase your efforts.

“In a budget-constrained environment, ABM success depends on strategic focus, personalization and leveraging existing resources,” said St. Amanda. “For example, instead of spending your budget on acquiring new data, you can leverage existing CRM data to identify pre-defined target accounts on your sales team. Even with a small advertising budget of $1,000, you can create tailored LinkedIn retargeting ads to decision makers on a small number of accounts that can generate high-value leads that turn into a lead customer.”

Unlock the power of ABM, step by step

ABM doesn’t have to be an overwhelming and expensive endeavor. By focusing on key accounts, using free or low-cost tools, and delivering personalized, targeted messages, entrepreneurs can build a successful ABM strategy with limited resources. Start with small, testable efforts and scale up as you see results. In today’s B2B market, an effective ABM approach can be the key to unlocking growth without requiring a huge budget.

By following these steps, you will be well on your solution to implementing an effective ABM strategy that drives conversions and long-term success.