**Connect, educate, influence, and grow your most important accounts.**
It’s all about treating an account as a market of one.
What lies at the heart of ABM? There is one thing that stands out. One thing that makes ABM unique. One thing that makes ABM such a compelling go-to-market strategy. And that one thing is personalization.
It’s all about treating an account as a market of one. Getting to know that account, understanding the market in which it operates, the opportunities available, the threats it faces, its competitive landscape, what makes it unique to its market, etc. Knowing that account better than the account knows itself.
Personalization creates the connection with the individual - the person - on a level that resonates, connects, and builds that important trust that is at the heart of an Account-based Marketing strategy.
of marketers agree that personalized content is key to ABM success. (Forrester)
Companies that personalize see a 30% uplift in sales. (Gartner)
of consumers react positively to personalized experiences. (Epsilon)
Stakeholders exposed to personalized content are 40% more likely to buy. (CEB in Harvard Business Review)
Each ABM program type (and the accounts enrolled in each program) require different levels of personalization. So how do you know how much personalization is enough at each level? The table below outlines typical levels of personalization required for each program type.
ABM program type
Degree of personalization
Light
Personalized at...
Persona level personalization + industry pain/challenge
Industry/vertical with some ‘light touch’ personalization at account-level
Account and individual contact level
What to include
Use insights like intent data to personalize based on persona and/or industry challenges, goals, etc.
The main campaign assets won’t feature the target account name.
Campaign assets are created at industry or sub-industry level (think Retail and then, specifically, DIY).
The messaging can be further personalized to talk to how you specifically help industry/sub-industry or how your solution is ‘better’ than known competitors in account X.
Here it's all about the account - their unique challenges or strategic objectives.
Use insights to uncover specific nuances to shape personalization, e.g. competitor battlecards, unique hero assets or specific messaging that resonates with the buying committee.
There’s a fair amount of leg work to be done before you can personalize. You need to figure out what you are going to personalize, where, and with what message.
With personalization, you’re looking to ‘show me you know me'. So where do you get the information and insights you need to personalize?
Let’s look at the list that you need to tick off:
The value proposition is the foundation of any personalization strategy.
A value proposition is a simple statement that summarizes why a customer would choose your product or service.
It communicates the clearest benefit that customers receive by giving you their business. It speaks to the key challenges that the specific audience faces.
A well-built value proposition:
To build your value proposition for your cluster/accounts, conduct research around these five themes using internal and/or external insights.
If you don’t explore value through the cluster/market context, you are simply expressing the company’s overall value proposition.
Move from sales objectives to business benefit - consider the accounts' needs first and foremost.
What motivates the audiences' buying decisions? With multiple personas, it’s as important to find commonality as variations.
Analyzing competitor products or services will help unearth differentiated benefits. Involve Sales as they have significant competitor intelligence.
If there is an existing relationship with the account, work internally to discover what has worked and why.
You’ve collected invaluable insights into the accounts that you are targeting - you have the ‘what’.
Now it’s time to work out the ‘how’. How to get your message across through unique client experiences - or what is commonly referred to in ABM as ‘account experiences.
This takes the data you have collated, all the insights, and the value proposition you have crafted and turns it all into a tangible experience.
The aim is to engage the Account, build trust, create an emotional connection, and lead the Account (the buying committee) through to sales conversations and revenue opportunities.
Your content strategy should encompass the entire account experience - with personalized assets for each stage of the journey: from initial awareness of your brand, and further education around the prospect’s challenges, through to the influence and commit stages.
Our client ABM campaigns use a large number of digital and physical assets at each stage of the journey - that account experience. Each asset is designed with the relevant channel in mind.
1.
When it comes to personalization, your first-party data is your best friend. Your CRM, wider marketing suite and sales software should help you build out a picture of how your target accounts - and the key contacts within them - are engaging with you.
2.
Intent data gives you insight into what content the account is consuming around the web, what subjects are important to them, and even indicates a propensity to buy. Use this intent data to create personalized and hyper-relevant content for these target accounts.
3.
It’s not only Marketing touch-points that offer opportunities for personalization. Your Sales teams have more face-time and contact with customers - present and future. Use this knowledge. Build a meeting cadence to get this knowledge into your campaigns.
4.
To deliver a clear and consistent experience for accounts, keep your messaging aligned across all creative and touchpoints. How? Lean on the value proposition to stay on point.
5.
The account experience can be promoted through multiple channels. You’ll know from your research where your customers - present and future - ‘hang out’ - which channels, which platforms, etc.
