What Is Account Based Marketing and Is It Right for Your Business?

There’s been quite a bit of buzz about account based marketing recently, so there’s a good chance you’ve heard something about it. Many marketing leaders are excited about this emerging trend, as they feel it represents a huge step forward for marketing.

You’ve likely been left wondering what exactly it is and why it’s such a revolution for the marketing industry. You’re also wondering if it’s a good fit for your business. Here’s what you need to know in order to determine how this marketing methodology could fit into your marketing strategy.

Account Based Marketing Is Part of Account Based Experiences

The first thing to note about account based marketing (ABM) is that it goes hand in hand with account based sales (ABS) and account based advertising (ABA). Together, the three create the account based experience (ABX).

ABM is revitalizing the world of outbound marketing. Outbound techniques have largely fallen by the wayside in a world where narrowcasting your message to a selected audience is often a better plan.

ABM combines this new focus on narrowcasting to a specific audience and tailoring the message to them with more traditional outbound techniques.

How Does It Work?

Account based marketing asks you to focus your marketing efforts on highly specific organizations or companies. Each organization is an “account,” which you then treat as its own separate market.

As you prepare your marketing materials, such as your email marketing messages and PPC ads, you’ll tailor the message and content for each of these individual markets. The result is outbound marketing that’s highly customized and appealing to individuals.

To accomplish this, ABM relies heavily on technological innovation, such as predictive targeting. This allows you to send the message out to highly defined target accounts in large volumes. In many ways, account based marketing is the best of both worlds.

The Marriage of Outbound and Inbound

You might be wondering if ABM marks a shift back towards outbound marketing versus inbound marketing. The truth is that ABM works best when you already have an inbound marketing strategy in place to support it.

Like inbound marketing, ABM relies heavily on your buyer personas and ideal customer profiles. Using this information, you can create content that suits the channel and a message that appeals to the target demographic.

In many ways, ABM brings outbound marketing techniques into the inbound era.

Who Succeeds with ABM?

This is a key question for business owners and marketing professionals to ask.

Account based marketing can be an effective option for almost any B2B business, but it must be implemented correctly.

Businesses that already have an inbound strategy in place, complete with extensively researched buyer personas, will have an easier time adopting ABM. Those already working with technology that allows for predictive targeting are also one step ahead of the game.

If your business doesn’t yet use inbound marketing, hasn’t developed buyer personas, or doesn’t use the latest technology, ABM could still be a good choice. You may need to make more changes in order to properly support it.

Is It Right for Your Business?

This is the question you’re likely asking now. Is it a good idea for your business to adopt account based marketing?

Almost anyone in B2B can succeed with ABM, provided they take the right steps to support it as part of the marketing strategy. The target should also be of high value. If you’re not going to invest in developing buyer personas or you don’t have it in your budget to adopt the right technological tools, ABM might not be the right choice right now.

As time goes on, however, ABM is likely going to become part and parcel of a robust and diverse marketing strategy for almost every B2B business with high-value products or services. By adopting it now, you can stay ahead of the curve.