As we are all pulled through this mind-bending era of virtual marketing, it is becoming clearer that people want to buy experiences, not products.
ABM (account-based marketing), is a technique that typically focuses on the golden accounts that can drive the most revenue. This B2B marketing strategy is growing rapidly in popularity as it is highly effective at generating revenue and increasing your overall ROI.
That said, while many marketers are experiencing great success with ABM, many more are still struggling to unlock its full potential. This is because their approach is limited, creating random customer interactions and one-off campaigns. Certainly, the short-term results are amazing, but the real treasure lies in establishing customer loyalty.
In this article, we’re going to talk about the evolution of account-based marketing, and how ABX (account-based experience), can help get you qualified leads with a high chance of keeping them on the books over the long term.
Synchronicity is key: Bring sales and marketing together
B2B companies are facing an ever-increasingly complex buyer journey and sales cycle. In addition to that, there tend to be multiple decision-makers dealing with a single account, often requiring a shared sales and marketing input in order to efficiently target the right people accordingly.
The modern B2B buyer is struggling with traditional lead-based marketing approaches, particularly without an account-based strategy in place. This is because traditional lead-based marketing methods often result in disconnected and conflicted customer experiences, and wastes sales & marketing teams’ valuable time and resources.
However, sales and marketing teams that collaborate together and work in perfect synchronicity are bound to achieve a far better ROI for their efforts.
In other words, you need to build a shared data infrastructure where all sources of information are joined in one real-time customer engagement system. That way, when crucial customer data is accessible for both sales and marketing teams, all parties involved know precisely where the customer is in their ‘customer journey’, thus avoiding any overlap or unnecessary disruption.
Make your business all about the experience
Gone are the days where product and price are the key competitive differentiators. Yes, your product must be solid and your prices should be fair, however, today; customer experience is the ultimate brand currency.
This concept is true for all forms of engagement, both online and offline, including ABM. You must put people and their experience at the very epicentre of your ABM approach. This is where ABX comes in, or account-based experience.
You see, an account-based approach isn’t only about marketing; it’s also about collaboration between the departments who each share the very same duty of care to your customers: delivering an exceptional experience no matter what.
A salesperson’s duties extend beyond simply selling products, but nurturing a healthy client-relationship and building a solid foundation for long-term success. Just as a marketer’s duties extend beyond simply promoting your brand, but attracting the right prospects who will gain genuine value for your products and/or services.
Read more: 5 great workshops to help you build incredible Human Centred Design Experiences
Build a comprehensive customer profile
It is paramount that you have a clear, single view of the customer for the most effective ABX marketing. Your sales and marketing teams need to work together in order to combine all the second and third-party data, including CRM, behavioural, financial, transactional, and operational data. That way, they gain a genuine, end-to-end profile of the customer, in real-time.
Proper ABX demands that you have an almost living and breathing customer profile that is in-tune with your online and offline channels (e.g., email, mobile, advertising, etc.). When you have this at your disposal, your account-based experiences will begin to build off the previous experience, thus ensuring that your customers enjoy the most relevant experience possible.
Learn more: Empathy mapping: How to walk a mile in your customer’s shoes
Utilise AI to personalise your ABM
Now that you have a solid data infrastructure in place, and you are gathering heaps of delicious, ‘actionable’ data, you should look to AI (artificial intelligence) to gain an even greater advantage. AI provides:
- Accuracy
- Efficiency
- Personalisation
For example: during the account selection process, AI can save you so much time and effort on analysing multiple data sources in order to develop a comprehensive, data-driven customer profile. Additionally, when you know precisely when a customer is active on your website, including what they are looking at, it can help you to better identify what type of content the prospective buyer should encounter next – regardless of where they choose to engage with your brand.
With an effective AI-powered personalisation approach that is present throughout the buyer’s journey, it can help you to keep your ABX as relevant and airtight as possible – thus closing deals more effectively and ultimately turning engagement into higher sales and an even greater return on investment.
ABX is an ever-evolving strategy
ABX is not just a single point in time, but an ongoing strategy. Account-based experiences are intended to keep the conversation going, with influential touch points that are relevant to your key accounts. ABX should be personalised, coordinated, and continuous! It focuses on the overall lifetime value of an account, or rather, customer relationship.
Invest in your understanding of a customer, the way that they engage with your brand, what kind of content they respond best to, and then create the perfect experience that is designed especially for them.
How does ABX get you leads?
So, how does ABX actually get you leads? Well, first of all, ABX begins before a customer has purchased; it begins the moment they become aware of and interact with your brand. When leveraged properly, you can use ABX to improve the overall experience when interacting with your brand and begin tailoring the experience to that specific prospect. It can help you nurture the right prospects so that when a lead becomes a customer, they are far more likely to stick around and continue using your products and/or services for the long-haul.
Not only that, but ABX has a strong focus on making people’s lives easier. When a customer experiences exceptional service from a brand and business that is proving to understand their needs and desires, they are far more likely to recommend you to others.
In other words, when executed properly, effective ABX creates a snowball effect where satisfied customers refer your business to others, thus bringing in even more leads for you to work with.
Chat to us about how you can make ABX work for you
Again, people want to buy experiences, not products. As such, putting people and their experiences at the very centre of your ABM strategies is the most logical response. When you invest in ABX, you invest in people, and that is the most effective means of gaining customers that are the perfect fit for your business.
Quality over quantity, always.
Take your time to feel us out and if you like what you see, why not drop us a line? We will gladly offer you a free consultation. Think of it as a discovery call where we can get to know each other and see if we’ll be a good fit.
