Digital marketing plays a crucial role in Account-Based Marketing (ABM) by helping B2B companies to identify and target key accounts, engage decision-makers within those accounts, and ultimately drive revenue growth. Here are some digital marketing strategies and tactics that can be effective in an ABM context:
1. Identify target accounts
Digital marketing tools such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, and DiscoverOrg can be used to identify and research target accounts. These tools can provide valuable information on key decision-makers, their roles and responsibilities, and their company's pain points and needs.
Define your ideal customer profile: The first step in identifying target accounts for ABM is to define your ideal customer profile (ICP). This involves identifying the characteristics of the companies and decision-makers who are most likely to benefit from your product or service. Your ICP should include factors such as company size, industry, location, revenue, and pain points.
Use data and analytics tools: Once you have defined your ICP, you can use data and analytics tools to identify companies that match your criteria. Some popular tools for this include LinkedIn Sales Navigator and ZoomInfo. These tools can provide information on company size, industry, revenue, employee count, and other key factors.
Research target accounts: (Get an intern) Once you have identified a list of potential target accounts, it's important to research each account to understand their specific needs, pain points, and challenges. This can involve reviewing their website, social media presence, industry publications, and other relevant sources of information.
Identify decision-makers: In addition to researching target accounts, it's important to identify the key decision-makers within each account who are responsible for purchasing decisions. This can involve using tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator or DiscoverOrg to identify specific job titles or roles within the organization.
Develop personalized messaging and content: Once you have identified your target accounts and decision-makers, you can use this information to create personalized messaging and content that speaks directly to their needs and pain points. This can involve creating personalized landing pages, emails, and social media posts that are tailored to each account.
2. Personalize messaging and content:
Once target accounts and decision-makers have been identified, digital marketers can use this information to create personalized messaging and content that speaks directly to the needs and pain points of each account. This can include personalized landing pages, emails, and social media posts.
Understand the decision-maker's pain points: The first step in creating personalized messaging and content is to understand the pain points of the decision-maker within the target account. This can involve researching the company's industry, recent news and events, and the decision-maker's role within the organization.
Craft a value proposition: Once you have a clear understanding of the decision-maker's pain points, you can craft a value proposition that speaks directly to those pain points. This should highlight the benefits of your product or service and how it can help the decision-maker and their company achieve their goals.
Use personalized language: When creating messaging and content, it's important to use personalized language that speaks directly to the decision-maker. This can involve using their name, referencing their company or industry, and using language that resonates with their specific pain points.
Align messaging and content to the buyer's journey: Personalized messaging and content should be aligned to the buyer's journey, which typically involves awareness, consideration, and decision-making stages. This can involve creating different types of content, such as educational blog posts, case studies, and product demos, that align with the decision-maker's stage in the journey.
Use visual aids: Visual aids such as images, videos, and infographics can be effective in capturing the attention of decision-makers and helping them understand complex concepts. When creating visual aids, it's important to use high-quality images and graphics that are aligned with your messaging and content.
Use a personalized call to action (CTA): Finally, when creating messaging and content, it's important to include a personalized call to action (CTA) that encourages the decision-maker to take action. This can involve inviting them to a demo or consultation, providing a free trial or assessment, or offering a discount or special offer.
3. Use account-based advertising:
Digital advertising platforms such as LinkedIn Ads and Google Ads can be used to target specific accounts or decision-makers with personalized ads. For example, LinkedIn Ads allows you to target by job title, industry, and company size.
Create a LinkedIn Ads campaign: To use LinkedIn for Account-Based Advertising, you can create a LinkedIn Ads campaign that is specifically targeted to your desired accounts. This can involve creating sponsored content, text ads, or sponsored InMail messages that speak directly to the needs and pain points of decision-makers within the target accounts.
Use LinkedIn's targeting options: When creating your LinkedIn Ads campaign, it's important to use LinkedIn's targeting options to ensure that your ads are reaching the right people within your target accounts. This can involve targeting specific job titles, company sizes, industries, or locations.
Use personalized messaging: To maximize the effectiveness of your LinkedIn Ads campaign, it's important to use personalized messaging that speaks directly to the needs and pain points of decision-makers within your target accounts. This can involve using language and messaging that resonates with the specific challenges and opportunities within the company.
Monitor and optimize your campaign: Once your LinkedIn Ads campaign is up and running, it's important to monitor its performance and optimize it for better results. This can involve adjusting your targeting options, changing your ad copy and messaging, or testing different types of ads to see what resonates best with your target accounts.
4. Use retargeting:
Retargeting can be a powerful tactic in an ABM context. By placing a tracking pixel on your website, you can retarget website visitors with personalized ads on social media or other websites.
Place a tracking pixel on your website: The first step in using retargeting in an ABM context is to place a tracking pixel on your website. This involves adding a small piece of code to your website that tracks visitors and their behavior on your site.
Create retargeting audiences: Once you have placed a tracking pixel on your website, you can create retargeting audiences within the ad platform of your choice. This can involve creating custom audiences based on specific pages or actions taken on your website, or creating a general retargeting audience for all website visitors.
Develop personalized ad content: With your retargeting audiences in place, you can then develop personalized ad content that speaks directly to the needs and pain points of your target accounts. This can involve using language and messaging that resonates with the specific challenges and opportunities within the company.
Set up retargeting campaigns: After you have created your personalized ad content, you can set up retargeting campaigns on social media or other websites. This involves creating ads that are specifically targeted to your retargeting audiences and that use your personalized ad content.
5. Leverage social media:
Social media can be a great way to engage decision-makers and build relationships with target accounts. Digital marketers can use social media to share content, engage with prospects, and participate in industry conversations.
Identify the social media platforms your target accounts use: The first step in leveraging social media in an ABM context is to identify the social media platforms that your target accounts are most active on. This can involve doing research and analysis to understand which platforms decision-makers within the company use most frequently.
Develop a content strategy: Once you have identified the social media platforms to focus on, you can then develop a content strategy that speaks directly to the needs and pain points of your target accounts. This can involve creating content that educates, entertains, or inspires decision-makers within the company, and that positions your brand as a thought leader within your industry.
Engage with prospects: With your content strategy in place, you can then begin engaging with prospects and decision-makers on social media. This can involve commenting on their posts, responding to their messages, and sharing content that you think will be of interest to them.
Participate in industry conversations: Another way to leverage social media in an ABM context is to participate in industry conversations and events. This can involve joining relevant LinkedIn groups, participating in Twitter chats, or attending virtual events and conferences.
As with any digital marketing campaign, it's important to measure the effectiveness of your ABM efforts and optimize based on what's working and what's not. ABM campaigns can be measured using metrics such as engagement rates, pipeline influence, and revenue impact.
By leveraging these digital marketing strategies and tactics, B2B companies can execute effective Account-Based Marketing campaigns that drive engagement, build relationships, and ultimately drive revenue growth.