September 17, 2020 5 min read
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If you’re like 15% of B2B marketers, your eyes are fully focused on account-based marketing – but you haven’t fully invested in the strategic approach yet. Account-based marketing, or ABM as it is commonly known, turns classic marketing on its head and targets a select number of high quality accounts while using personalized content to generate qualified leads. ABM appeals to B2B companies in a number of industries because it honestly makes sense. With ABM, your ROI is higher and both marketing and sales teams are constantly communicating about what is working, what is not, and what additional steps are required to achieve your KPIs.
However, by the time you’re reading this, you have likely already done your ABM research. You know how it works, you know why it works, and you know the types of accounts you want to target. There’s no point in waiting around; You are wasting valuable time and resources and focusing your efforts on other areas.
Once you’ve made the decision to implement an account-based marketing strategy and received financial approval from the CFO, your next task is to build an ABM team. Whether it’s a brand new team fully dedicated to account-based marketing or just a new direction for your current marketers and sales directors. There are different types of people on your team to have a dynamic, locked and ABM campaign loaded.
Here are the six skills your account-based marketing team needs to be successful.
1. Art of the written word
B2B copywriters are easy to find, but ABM copywriters in particular need a knack for nailing texts that appeal to a specific person or audience. They need to know what words, phrases, and general ideas appeal to a GMO – and they need to be able to change that message to resonate with a Director of Operations. For example, if you’re trying to get in touch with a healthcare company to sell them your software, your ABM wordmith should create content that focuses on growth and revenue generation for a seasoned marketer, while a senior member of the operations team will do more be interested in the implementation of the service. And at ABM, messaging has to be continuous. The ultimate ABM copywriter has the stamina and creativity to sustain a campaign from awareness to evaluation – and then keep creating engaging copy when needed.
2. Graphic design expertise
When designing an ABM campaign, experienced graphic and UX designers are crucial. You should feel confident designing e-books, programmatic ads, and even podcast logos. The creative resources of the ABM campaign determine the scope. While target accounts use B2B content across multiple channels – including email marketing, LinkedIn advertising, and even direct mail – visual messaging should be coordinated. Brand guidelines and general awareness of when and where the targets interact with the content are critical to the design process.
3. Project management skills
Organization, organization, organization. While the right ABM software automates a large part of the process, a real, living person keeps all parties within the marketing and sales teams on track. Is the creative ready for the Lead Nurture Email Campaign and released? The sales team identified a new lead. What do you need now from the marketing experts? This type of employee can be on either side of the marketing / sales spectrum but is always aware of what is happening throughout the ABM campaign.
4. Analytical ingenuity
No questions asked, your ABM team needs someone who is able to get a bird’s eye view of a campaign and target it to the detailed details. You can spot everything from an account that is running a higher rate than others to a missed website conversion opportunity. The ideal team member with this skill is always looking to reinvent the B2B marketing wheel. You may have seen another B2B software company’s ABM techniques and feel inspired to take it a step further. They asked the rest of the team, “How can we do this, but do it ourselves AND make sure it’s successful?”
5. An eye for budgeting
Budgeting in ABM is a feature that tends to fall under the “analytical” umbrella and focuses on the increasingly important ROI. With a more focused strategy, 71% of marketers say they get a higher ROI compared to previous non-ABM initiatives. However, this high ROI is not only guaranteed. Your team needs someone or more to pay close attention to where and how the marketing budget is spent. This type of marketer can withhold PPC spending when an account is in the sales funnel viewing stage. The cost of keywords targeted at this stage is ultimately prohibitive. And they’re not afraid to agree to big content marketing spend if they’re convinced to return.
6. Mastery of Operations
After all, your team needs someone who is very familiar with Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and the ABM reporting platform you are using. You work behind the scenes to keep your ABM campaign going. Question about channel performance? You have your answer – with just a few quick backend clicks. Wondering why a particular account is lagging behind? This person can identify a poorly performing campaign and submit numerical data to aid in the next strategic move.
Ultimately, account-based marketing is a complete team effort. A successful ABM campaign combines creativity with fixed numbers and seamlessly blends marketing and sales efforts to make your business grow quarterly, year after year.