Six Prime Considerations for Account-Based Marketing Success

1. It is imperative that marketing and sales work as one through the process of identifying target accounts. They should both understand how and why each account has been placed on the high-value key account prospect list.
2. Sales teams are in the field every day and are most likely to be in tune with the pain points and needs of your prospects. Marketing must consume and leverage this very vital information as they develop the marketing materials that will be part of the ABM plan for each account.
3. ABM is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Account-based marketing is powered by high-quality, targeted, personalized content. Assess your current content and offers and determine where they will fit in the journey map for each prospective account. Identify gaps and create messaging and content to bridge those gaps.
4. Match the content to the recipient. A CEO may be inclined to read unsolicited marketing materials that deliver insight and ideas that are relevant to the overall industry, while a CFO may be more inclined to glance at an infographic that puts specific data in visual context for quick consumption.
5. Create an engagement map for each contact within each account so that your entire team is clear on which content fits where into their specific overall plan.
6. As content is delivered, sales must be ready to respond with appropriate messaging when a contact is engaged. Not every engagement should be viewed as a sales pitch opportunity; rather, some should be seen as a relationship- and credibility-building opportunity.