Speed to personalization
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Join us as we explore the future of ABM, together. This month we kick off with personalization and something we call ‘Speed to Personalization’
ABM is all about finding the right balance. Particularly in early-stage pilot programs, with questions coming from key leaders around the business such as “How long will it take the ABM program to deliver impact and results?”
The reality is, that this is partly answered through expectation management - ABM is a marathon, not a sprint after all. However, this presents a significant challenge for ABM professionals: how can we pursue speed without sacrificing the depth or relevance, critical to the program's success?"
This month, our spotlight shines brightly on "Speed to Personalization" – a pivotal element in accelerating ABM strategies, particularly at scale.
The essence of ABM lies in its ability to forge deep, meaningful connections with target accounts through tailored communication and strategies. But how can we achieve this level of personalization more swiftly, especially when dealing with a broad spectrum of accounts?
The significance of this topic cannot be overstated.
The ability to quickly develop and implement personalized approaches can significantly enhance our reputation and relationships within key accounts.
But this isn't just about making a good first impression; it's about laying a robust foundation for sustained engagement. By integrating meaningful personalization early in the ABM program, organizations stand to gain more traction within their target accounts, driving toward increased revenue, higher win rates, and shorter sales cycles.
The challenge, however, lies in striking that balance between the depth of personalization and the resources to be able to deliver against this need.
Especially in organizations where ABM is in its infancy. We usually see pilot ABM programs being delivered by small teams with limited bandwidth and often still working across all the other areas of marketing they are responsible for.
So it can be difficult to see how reaching personalization at scale is possible, especially when managing One-to-Many programs that target, potentially, hundreds of accounts.
Why is "Speed to Personalization" so crucial in today's ABM strategies?
Simply put, the sooner an organization can navigate these complexities to deliver personalized experiences, the faster it can differentiate itself in a crowded market.
This differentiation isn't just beneficial; it's imperative for cutting through the noise, capturing attention, and building the trust and credibility that are essential for any successful business relationships.
The stakes are high, and the challenges are real. Organizations venturing into ABM are often caught in a paradox: striving to deliver the personalized experiences that are crucial for ABM's success without the bandwidth to do so at scale.
This highlights the critical need for strategic decision-making and agile execution, ensuring the ABM journey is successful from the start.
Our answer to this is through the development of ‘intent-led’ tactical insights workflows.
This agile approach represents a shift in how we perceive and execute One-to-Many ABM campaigns.
By leveraging intent signals and tactical insights, a small ABM team can now prioritize accounts and deliver against a need for increased personalization more quickly.
This prioritization is not merely a matter of sequence but of strategic importance, enabling teams to identify and escalate specific accounts into a bespoke One-to-One workflow.
This workflow leverages the existing ABM Value Proposition which has been created for the target account cluster but it enables us to quickly layer over ‘account’ and ‘stakeholder’ insights to the value proposition, to personalize it for a single account and align it with the key decision-makers' requirements.
Something that in a typical One-to-many program would require the development of a new One-to-one ABM campaign.
The personalized insights and value proposition are then transformed into meaningful content assets such as an ABM Manifesto to present the current situation for the target account and make the argument for change, whilst positioning the solution at the forefront of this content.
To maximize its impact, this content asset can then be repurposed and reused in a number of different ways such as through video content, direct mail and events.
A cornerstone of our approach is the establishment of clear, data-driven criteria to determine when an account is 'personalization-ready.'
This involves a nuanced analysis of first-party intent data and engagement signals to ensure our efforts are concentrated on accounts that are not only likely to engage, but are at the right stage in their journey for personalized outreach.
By setting these thresholds, we empower ABM teams to allocate their resources more efficiently, focusing their creativity and strategic efforts where they will have the maximum impact.
A significant hurdle in traditional ABM strategies has been the time-consuming nature of insight generation and application.
Our solution addresses this head-on by streamlining the insights process, allowing for the rapid turnaround of targeted, actionable intelligence.
This efficiency is achieved through a combination of leveraging specific generative AI workflows, and a focused effort from our dedicated ABM teams.
The result is a nimble, responsive approach to developing account and stakeholder level insights to empower personalization.
Central to our strategy is the identification of key pillars within the ABM value proposition that are most likely to resonate with each target account.
By aligning our messaging and content strategies with these pillars, we ensure that our personalization efforts hit home, striking a chord with the interests of each account and their unique needs.
At the heart of our solution is the development of deeply personalized content that speaks directly to the needs, challenges, and aspirations of each target account.
This involves not just the customization of messaging, but the creation of bespoke content assets that speak directly to the target account.
To illustrate the approach of an ‘intent-led’ tactical One-to-one workflow, let's envision a hypothetical scenario where a technology company is looking to refine its ABM approach.
The team is working on hundreds of accounts for its One-to-many campaign but, due to limited resources, is struggling to move beyond high-level messaging aligned to verticalized pain points and needs, through to the level of personalization required to resonate deeply with individual stakeholders within these accounts.
The ABM team is overwhelmed, managing a broad target account list with limited resources.
Their content strategy is largely one-size-fits-all, leading to engagement that is lukewarm at best. The insights available on accounts are basic firmographic and technographic data points that don’t allow for the nuanced understanding necessary to tailor content effectively. The ABM campaigns are seeing average results, but the team knows they are not unlocking the full potential of their efforts.
The team decides to implement the intent-led tactical insights workflow, to establish clear thresholds for 'personalization-ready' accounts and build insights templates that they can use to gather qualitative insights on any of those accounts.
They utilize campaign engagement data and account scoring to quickly identify when an account has reached ‘personalization-ready’ status and leverage the bespoke One-to-one insights approach to research and gather information.
This will enable them to engage with high-potential accounts and identify specific stakeholders within these accounts who show the highest intent signals.
When a particular account shows significant engagement with content related to digital transformation,the ABM team, utilizing the rapid insights workflow, will identify the CTO of the account, Joe Bloggs, as a key stakeholder with a vested interest in this area.
Within a week, the team will craft a targeted content package specifically for Joe, including a personalized video addressing the accounts' unique challenges and opportunities in digital transformation, an interactive microsite outlining how they can partner with them on their journey, and a custom manifesto highlighting industry trends and data points relevant to their specific context.
The personalized approach immediately captures Joe's attention, leading to a direct inquiry about the client’s services.
This engagement opens the door to a series of tailored discussions, significantly accelerating the sales cycle. Previously, the account was just one among hundreds of accounts in a One-to-Many campaign. Now, they are actively engaging in a One-to-One dialogue, considering a partnership with the team to drive their digital transformation efforts.
This shift not only leads to a higher potential for conversion with the target account but also serves as a model for how the ABM team can scale personalization effectively across its ABM campaigns. The ABM team is now able to replicate this approach with other high-potential accounts, transforming their strategy from broad to deeply personalized engagement at scale.
By taking and implementing this approach to "Speed to Personalization" in Account-based Marketing (ABM), it's clear that the journey towards deep, impactful personalization doesn't have to be a daunting one.
With the right strategies, tools, and insights, ABM teams can significantly accelerate their ability to engage meaningfully with target accounts, even within the constraints of limited resources and bandwidth.
Now, it's your turn to take these insights and apply them to your own ABM strategies.
Whether you're looking to refine your approach, explore innovative solutions, or simply learn more about the power of personalized engagement, we invite you to join us for an exclusive ABM Lunch and Learn workshop.