As the worldwide enthusiasm for account-based marketing (ABM) continues to grow, enterprises in Southeast Asia are also rapidly adopting this methodology. For instance, companies in Singapore have already recognised the benefits of personalised and targeted marketing strategies to reach high-value accounts. While in Malaysia, ABM is gradually gaining traction as businesses are shifting from traditional marketing methods to more focused and personalised approaches.
Did you know?
14% of surveyed marketing decision-makers in the Asia Pacific region are thinking about applying ABM, but a majority, i.e. 86%, have either fully adopted or started adopting this approach in 2023.
Source: xGrowth research, 2023
Customer relationship management (CRM) systems and Marketing Automation tools are essential for managing and tracking ABM campaigns. It makes them a must-have solution particularly for B2B companies as it not only personalises, but also reduces the teams workload, saving precious time and resources that can be used somewhere else.
With that said, here are five essential tips on crafting an effective ABM campaign with a CRM and Marketing Automation tool.
Step 1. Identify Your Target Accounts
In traditional marketing brands usually respond to leads that are expressing interest. In ABM, however, the approach is flipped. It starts with identifying the specific targeted companies and then attracting their attention through tailored marketing campaigns. Given the significant time and effort invested in pursuing these accounts, it’s crucial to choose targets with high-value potential. Identify target accounts by considering similarities with your past or current accounts, evaluating factors like size, annual revenue, or location, exploring your existing social media followers, blog readers, and other engaged contacts. You can also do research on competitors’ partnerships, and monitor industry news for growth or merger opportunities.
Step 2. Rank Prospects within Target Accounts
Besides identifying target accounts, you will also need to locate and compile contact information of employees who are decision-makers within these businesses. Advanced lead-based targeting is essential for successful ABM, as you target an individual within the context of the larger account. If you have contact data for prospective accounts, verify decision-making power through your CRM. If contacts have changed or aren’t relevant, research new contacts on platforms like LinkedIn. Once identified, add these contacts to your CRM and collaborate with your team to rank them, narrowing your focus to key decision-makers.
Step 3. Align Marketing and Sales
Collaboration between marketing and sales teams is vital for account-based marketing. Ensure that both teams are aligned when it comes to target accounts, ideal customer profiles, messaging consistency across the customer journey, KPI tracking, technology utilisation, lead qualification criteria, and individual responsibilities within each team. Regular meetings and weekly standup sessions between sales and marketing maintain synchronisation.
Did you know?
A salesperson using CRM experiences 41% increase in revenue growth.
Source: Deal Code, 2022
Step 4. Create Personalised Content
ABM revolves around targeting specific prospects within your chosen organisations. The benefit of CRM and Marketing Automation tools is its ability to craft hyper-personalised content that caters to the unique needs of each prospect. For instance, you can create a tailored guide for the C-suites of an office supply business, showcasing similar success stories that resonate with them. This is made possible because CRM tools measure and track every touch point a lead has made with your business.
Personalisation can be achieved through:
- Role or company-targeted ads
- LinkedIn outreach
- Dynamic Content on your website and in email campaigns
- Addressing specific companies or individuals by name (tagging them)
- Crafting individual emails or in-person interactions at industry events.
Read about the latest trends in content marketing in our blog post.
Step 5. Measure Your Results
ABM requires patience, given the longer B2B sales cycle, but effective measurement is key. Leverage data analytics tools to monitor critical metrics such as engagement rates, open rates, click-through rates, conversions, upsells, annual contract values and customer lifetime value. ABM emphasises the quality of lead engagement over quantity. Though the sales cycles are often generally longer, it does however yield larger deals. Focus on increasing your average deal size to gauge the success of your ABM strategies.
Conclusion
Account-based marketing (ABM) represents a dynamic and targeted approach that holds great promise for B2B industries that are looking to elevate their marketing outcomes. While its adoption is on the rise in these Southeast Asian markets, the success of ABM depends on factors such as technological integration, close collaboration between sales and marketing teams, and a focus on quality lead engagement rather than quantity. As the marketing landscape continues to evolve, ABM remains a favourable strategy in conjunction with CRM and Marketing automation tools for businesses looking to make lasting, impactful connections with their most valuable prospects
What's next for you?
Implementing account-based marketing requires not only rethinking and flipping over the whole marketing approach, but also applying specific practices such as hyper-personalisation. Marketing Automation and CRM software is the solution that helps not only automatically track all important data about your accounts but also implement and scale up personalisation and outreach. Contact our team at “Lead Gen and CRM” by Constant Contact for effective ways on how you can personalise and tailor your ABM strategy effectively.
