Account-based Marketing: Everyone is NOT your customer
As marketers, aren’t we all guilty of sending out mass marketing messages to prospects and customers? Even though we are fully informed that the more personalised and targeted our campaigns, the better they perform. Whether intentional or unintentional- this is called spray and pray marketing- a gross generalising mistake made by the majority of marketers alike. Pushing out generic messages in the hopes that they resonate with a small percentage of an audience that will eventually go on to make a purchase and become customers- does not work out anymore. This type of interruptive marketing fails to generate a steady flow of revenue in the long run because not everyone is a right fit for your product.
If you keep selling your product or service to a customer who isn’t the right fit, it won’t take them long before they realise this and leave. So, it makes no sense for you to keep investing your sales and marketing efforts to sell to a customer who will leave within a short span of time. Instead, your resources should be focussed on attracting, nurturing and selling to prospects who are a right fit for your products and by “focussed”, I mean laser-focussed. Instead of one message to a global audience, it should be one message to a specific audience. This is where account based marketing comes into the picture.
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| Account Based Marketing Agency |
In a nutshell, account-based marketing uses personalised strategies to bridge the sales and marketing gap. It targets specific businesses in a bid to engage with key decision makers and then builds on that relationship to open up new sales opportunities and influence purchase decisions of the targeted buyers. This is so much more efficient than launching a broad marketing campaign that attracts thousands in an attempt to nurture only the few that express their interest. Essentially, account-based marketing flips the traditional sales and marketing funnel upside down. Complicated as it sounds, you can outsource this process to an account based marketing agency to streamline your business and focus on other important aspects of it that can drive revenue.
Account based marketing services align your sales and marketing efforts, generate a higher ROI and increase business revenue. Realistically, the investment made in account-based marketing delivers either the same ROI, somewhat higher or significantly higher returns when compared to other marketing initiatives. This makes it a zero-waste strategy!
The goal is to deliver highly personalized and relevant campaigns to the target audience, to secure more leads, eventually increasing your deal size, which isn’t something that happens overnight. In David Ogilvy’s words- “Don’t count the people you reach; reach the people that count.”- and that is the essence of account-based marketing.
Blog Link Resource:-
https://oxpermission.blogspot.com/2021/02/account-based-marketing-services.html
Account-Based Marketing vs Inbound Marketing: Which is the better of the two?
Isn’t marketing much easier when you know exactly which companies to target and what marketing messages to deliver that would resonate with them the most? That’s the dream. Given that we don’t live in a perfect world, we do live in one where inbound marketing and account based marketing exist. But when the two strategies converge, this dream can become a reality.
To begin with the basics, inbound marketing creates SEO-optimized content that attracts, delights and converts customers doling out information that’s important to them in an organic manner whereas account-based marketing takes a more focussed approach towards prospects aligning marketing and sales to deliver a personalised experience for a select set of accounts instead of an individual buyer. The best fit for a B2B marketing agency selling high-value products or services is opting for account based marketing services. But inbound and account-based marketing have a common ground in requiring a deep understanding of your target buyer to inform what type of content needs to be curated and how you can choose to deliver it. This increases the discoverability of your content by that target.
You can easily recycle and remodel the content and use the same channels for account-based marketing as you’ve already put into place with inbound. Basically, what account-based marketing does is takes that foundational content and personalizes it even more. At the end of the day, both inbound and account-based marketing focus on delivering a great buying experience across the entire flywheel. Account-based marketing just helps accelerate the flywheel once the inbound foundation is in place.
Additionally, account-based marketing services focus on a specific set of accounts curating targeted, personalized content that provides more opportunity to focus on the happiness and retention of those clients. This is another essential part of the inbound marketing flywheel. To put it another way, inbound marketing helps you attract the right customers post which account based marketing uses sales and marketing to speed up the process of the flywheel providing a valuable customer experience. In the end, both of these strategies enable you to win those target accounts. Using inbound and account based marketing in partnership can help elevate your company’s entire marketing strategy. Thus, it is critical to use account-based marketing the inbound way- providing valuable content and customer experiences to those high-value accounts.
In conclusion, instead of pitting inbound and account-based marketing against each other, you must think of them in alliance (i.e. inbound and ABM, not inbound vs ABM). Combining the services of inbound and account-based marketing offers a more robust strategy helping you to make streamlined decisions for your business.
Blog Link Resource:-
https://justpaste.it/301ka
Why B2B Prefer Account-Based Marketing?
Account based marketing is more than just a buzzword thrown around in every marketing conversation these days. You may not know exactly what it means...but you just nod along..right? Well, here’s the scoop on ABM in a nutshell- a strategic, efficient way to engage your highest-value prospects. Yes, that’s all it means. And here’s why it’s so important- especially if you’re a B2B marketing agency:
Flipping The B2B Marketing Funnel
The buyer’s journey to a product is more like a labyrinth than a linear path. With so many ads, messages, channels, and stakeholders factoring into every buying process, it can be tough to reach and engage the right targets, let alone deliver relevant content at the right time to influence their purchase decisions.
The in-bound marketing funnel is outdated. Using the help of a sales team to generate demand and nurture leads to conversion becomes especially challenging for large, complex B2B purchasing. Here’s where account-based marketing comes in!
It flips the traditional B2B sales funnel, so instead of working your way down from a high volume of minimally qualified leads, you focus on a set of roles within organizations that are determined to be valuable prospects. Once the sales has scored and prioritized their leads that fit these roles, they can work in collaboration with the marketing team to build a well-informed profile of the ideal customers to target. This gives marketers the critical insights to craft a salient, personalized message to address their needs and interests.
Experts speak...
Influential entrepreneur Neil Patel thinks of ABM as the “sniper’s way of marketing” as it is incredibly “precise, targeted, personalized, and accurate compared to general inbound and outbound strategies”, thus giving a clearer picture of the ROI. This automatically reduces the risks and wastage of resources associated with traditional marketing.
Marketing automation specialist Alp Mimaroglu writes that clients prefer “personalised offers” and experiences which account-based marketing delivers thus closing the deal on sales. With ABM, “accounts become revolving doors, even if one contact is lost, another one will walk right in.”
To surmise, the greatest power of account-based marketing lies in its ability to build and warm up high-value customer relationships, directing all efforts on those prospects who represent the strongest potential to positively impact the company’s bottom line, which is why if you’re a B2B business, your winning strategy would be to adopt account based marketing services.
Blog Link Resource:-
https://telegra.ph/Why-B2B-Prefer-Account-Based-Marketing-02-12
The Art of B2B Marketing Campaigns
A great campaign idea is hard to come by, especially in B2B Marketing, even if they are well-spun strategies woven by experts over a generous course of time. But is it a kick-ass idea or an eye-watering budget that goes the distance? Let’s find out:
- P. Enterprise Solutions - “The Wolf”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUP4ib5FzGs&t=317s
A 3-part cinematic web series starring a slew of impressive celebrities like Christian Slater, Jonathan Banks and directed by award-winning director Lance Acord is precisely what something as mundane as an office printer needs to get the buyers running in their direction. This intense, fast-paced, high-stake production delivers a powerful message of “reinventing cybersecurity”, which is a grave concern that lies at the core of all businesses. The narrative is not only creative but full of emotions, the importance of which is often forgotten in B2B marketing campaign ideas.
- E.- “What Matters”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zlhw-GTVdY
Every B2B Marketing Agency should take notes of this master class in campaigning. Acknowledging that people care more about their own lives than what G.E. does, while simultaneously pointing out the importance of their business, is a stroke of sheer genius, that not only makes them incredibly self-aware but also catapults their brand in the eyes of the world. Also, notice how they use human storytelling to stir up emotions and get people to care through the differences they make in their everyday lives. Even though, G.E. may seem dry and clinical as a business on paper, this is a reminder to those who buy from them, that it is the real human beings who directly benefit from their products.
- Upwork- “Hey World”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6eDdJ0PeQY
There is nothing that sells more than humour and Upwork hammers this point home with their series of short, punchy videos targeted at a different organisation or celebrity, while advertising all the freelancers they work with. From Donald Trump to NASA and Elon Musk to Amazon, the cheeky name-dropping before enlisting the wide range of services they have to offer for each of them, is bold, controversial and hilarious. Shout-outs to people more famous than they are, is a great way to use other people's fame to increase their own. While other B2B brands may play safe and toe the line, Upwork shows that they are willing to push the boundaries of B2B marketing, making them stand out in all the right ways.
Now whether you are in flush with cash or scraping coins together, running a campaign idea from start to finish is an artform itself. Not only does it require a sizable budget for some, it most certainly pushes all brands to be creative and relatable on a human level.
Blog Link Resource:-
https://oxper.wordpress.com/2021/02/10/the-art-of-b2b-marketing-campaigns/
Recruitment Marketing: Target The Right Candidates
If you’re an employer who is struggling to fill roles with the right talent, your recruitment agency needs to start thinking and acting like a marketer. In the past, things were as simple as posting an ad on a job site and waiting for the inevitable stream of applicants to flood your inbox. But now, it’s a constant battle for hiring the right people. With the shift in function from traditional HR to marketing, recruiters need to sell the role through the entire hiring process, to make sure the applicant doesn’t lose interest and jump on a better offer. Here’s where the need for a good recruitment marketing agency strategy arises, in order to position yourself as the first choice for the candidates you are targeting. So, here’s a few things to keep in mind when you go about building that strategy:
1. Segmentation of Candidates
Do not make the mistake of painting all candidates with the same brush. After all, what looks attractive to someone working in customer service might be really off-putting for someone working in sales. Is the 58-year old accountant going to be interested in the free pink gin offered every Thursday night at the office? Maybe. We can’t make any assumptions, which is why in-depth research of the people you are dealing with is important so that your recruitment marketing strategy is more personalised to them. You should be able to segment candidates into specific types of people to avoid sending them unrelated or attractive content in order to minimize dropouts.
2. Brand your Business
Think of your candidates as “consumers”. Consumers have a wide variety of “products” (job positions) to choose from, so you need to make your organization seem the most attractive. For any recruitment marketing strategy to work, first you have to create a strong brand around your business and a work culture that is unique to your organization. Being extremely transparent about your company’s benefits, values and culture filters out misfit candidates before they can damage you by dropping out at the last stage.
3. Recruiting from Social Media
One cannot downplay the importance of social media in recruitment marketing. Those who’ve been pestered with LinkedIn messages from every recruiter under the sun, know it all too well. When done right, social media proves to be an effective channel for your recruitment marketing strategy. Even though it may feel like adding a drop in the ocean, social media aids in making valuable connections with candidates. But you have to be smart about it because just sharing job ads across various social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc. just doesn’t cut it anymore.
The struggle to fill job-openings is real. But proactively searching for the right talent who seamlessly weave into your organization’s cultural fabric through personalized recruitment marketing strategy builds a strong name for your business that candidates won’t be able to resist.
The Future of B2B Marketing Post Pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has not only disrupted the way we live, think and work, but has successfully upended consumer trends, businesses, marketing strategies and their operations. Many businesses froze, unsure of how to move in a new scenario while others decided to go through trial and error looking for some way to overcome their current hardships. Needless to say, the economic consequences of the pandemic on B2B marketing agencies have been dire.
Going forward in 2021, these businesses are damage controlling in three essential phases:-
1) navigating the current crisis with resolve and resilience,
2) planning for the recovery,
3) re-imagining the next normal and adopting B2B marketing services tailored to the new world post pandemic.
Leaders have been constantly adjusting how their organizations sell in the face of new customer habits in these trying economic times. We are at the cusp of a digital inflection where B2B marketing services and sales operations are now fundamentally different than what they used to be. The effects of the upheaval in marketing and sales trends for B2B businesses that were in motion before the pandemic, can be seen in the following ways:
1. A Shift in Spend
Many B2B marketing agencies are generally reducing their rate of spend. But a sizable number of them are also increasing or maintaining it, depending upon their business size, sector and most importantly, their geographical location in the world.
2. The Shift to Digital
Owing to the social distancing practices, B2B marketing agencies find digital interactions as two to three times more important to their customers than traditional sales interactions. The customer’s preference for digitally enabled sales and B2B marketing services saw a significant jump with a sharp peak in the use of mobile apps, social media and online communities.
3. The Shift to Remote Sales
Born out of necessities such as lock-downs, quarantining, shelter-in-place orders, etc., almost every B2B marketing agency has made the jump to remote selling astonishingly fast. As much as 90% of them have been working via videoconferencing, phones, web sales models, even though skepticism regarding productivity remains. Unsurprisingly, this trend is more pronounced in some sectors than in others like- media, technology, telecoms etc.
Even though the future of B2B marketing and services look grim from our current vantage point, there is much hope for it in the near future as most of these newer approaches are believed to be equally or more effective than the models used prior to the pandemic.
Blog Link Resource:-
https://oxper.mystrikingly.com/blog/the-future-of-b2b-marketing-post-pandemic
Shorten Long Sales Cycles with Account-Based Marketing
Shorter the sales cycle, better it is for the businesses, because who does not want to close a deal as soon as possible. But is it easy to shorten the sales cycle?
Shortening the sales cycle has been the biggest challenge that is faced by the organisations, not because their products are not good enough but because unless a prospect is able to connect with a product psychologically, they will not be willing to make a purchase.
Account Based Marketing helps in shortening the sales cycles, in turn increasing the customer satisfaction. It amplifies content as per the personas of the target groups, making it more personalised, convincing the prospects that it has been curated especially for them. This helps the organisations to build a relationship with its prospective customers, creating a sense of trust and emotional attachment with them.
Traditional Marketing methodologies believe in capturing more and more leads for an organisation, increasing the chances of making a sale. Everything else above the quantity is overlooked. Account based Marketing on the other hand considers the ROI rather than the number of leads obtained.
In order to make Account Based Marketing effective it is highly essential for the organisations to align their sales teams with their marketing teams, enabling them to formulate personalised, goal specific campaigns that match with the preferences of their target prospects.
How does Account Based Marketing work?
- Identifies high value accounts and identifies the point of contact in each account
Account Based Marketing methodologies reviews the customer base of an organisation in order to identify the potential customers. Once the key accounts are identified, the person or the people who make the buying decisions or are the most important for an organisation are identified. The needs of such individuals are understood, in order to amplify persona specific content amongst them.
- Creating customised campaigns and knowing the right communication channels
The campaigns so created must be such that resonates with the targeted prospects, helping in nurturing a relationship with them. Once the messages have been formulated, it is important to identify the correct channels to amplify the content. The channels where the potential customers spend most of their time must be used to interact with them.
- Starting the campaign and measuring the results
Once all the necessary information has been collected, the campaign is formulated, it is ready to be run amongst the prospects. It is essential for an organisation to gather and analyse data from the campaign, in order to understand the level of success attained and to modify the tactics if needed.
Account based marketing services helps in aligning the sales and the marketing teams, to increase the customer satisfaction and reduce the sales cycle. It is said to be a cost effective road to success.
Blog Link Resource
http://oxper.mystrikingly.com/blog/shorten-long-sales-cycles-with-account-based-marketing
