10 Effective Account-Based Marketing Tactics For Modern B2B Marketers

Share
This is some text inside of a div block.
copy
Silvio Perez

Do you need to find out if ABM is the right approach for you & how you can get the most out of your efforts? 

I had the pleasure of interviewing Brandon Alisoglu who’s  achieved a 300% increase in demo bookings for B2B companies while maintaining a 50% SQL rate from ABM campaigns. 

Here’s Brandon’s top 10 tips & tactics to maximize return on effort (ROE) for your ABM ads.

(In no particular order, they all matter)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Tip #1 - Assessing the Suitability of ABM for Your Business

When evaluating ABM for your business, consider the nature of your target accounts and the practicality of a personalized marketing approach.

ABM is particularly effective for targeting large organizations or "whales" where the potential return justifies the extensive effort and resources required for highly tailored campaigns.

Challenges with ABM in Smaller Companies

In smaller companies, the lack of numerous distinct roles and seniority levels may limit the effectiveness of ABM strategies that rely on granular targeting and personalized messaging. 

If a company is too small to segment effectively based on these criteria, the impact of a tailored ABM approach may be diminished.

ABM often involves high-ticket offerings and significant investment in marketing resources.

If the target account does not have the financial capacity or the organizational complexity, the return on investment might not be worth it.

Strategic Considerations for ABM

Evaluate potential accounts not just by their immediate size but by their strategic importance and the potential lifetime value they offer. 

Consider more generalized targeted advertising strategies for smaller accounts that do not justify a full ABM approach. 

These can still be effective by focusing on industry-specific pain points and solutions but do not require the level of customization and operational complexity associated with traditional ABM.

Identifying the Annual Contract Value (ACV) Benchmark

An ACV of around $20,000 is generally seen as a threshold where ABM becomes viable. 

This benchmark suggests that the deal size is significant enough to warrant the detailed and personalized marketing efforts required in ABM.

Another practical measure is whether the contract value requires CFO approval. 

The involvement of a CFO generally indicates that the deal is substantial enough to require careful consideration and alignment with strategic financial goals.

Tip #2 - Embracing the Long Game in Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

Unlike traditional demand generation tactics that may prioritize immediate results, ABM focuses on building engagement through a more deliberate and personalized approach.

The idea here is to build a meaningful relationship with key accounts.

In the same way, you wouldn't ask for a hand in marriage on the first date, successful B2B marketers shouldn’t ask prospects to talk to sales unless they've had some interaction before.

Meme of Jim Halpert using B2B account-based marketing tactics to emphasize timing in meetings.

The Importance of Educating and Engaging

The early stages of ABM should center around education and awareness. 

Allow targeted accounts to familiarize themselves with your brand and value propositions.

This foundational phase is important for setting the stage for deeper engagement.

Jumping directly to aggressive sales tactics like pushing for demos with accounts that have minimal interaction with your brand, is less likely to yield positive results. 

Instead, nurturing relationships over time fosters trust and increases the likelihood of conversion when the account is ready.

Balancing Immediate Needs with Long-Term Strategy

While the emphasis on the long game is important, we realize the need to meet short-term sales targets is a pressing reality for most B2B marketers. 

In such cases, employing a robust account scoring system can help identify which accounts are most ready to engage based on their behaviors such as:

  • Website visits (specially high-intent pages)
  • Ad engagement 
  • Email interactions
  • Webinar attendees

For accounts that show clear signs of being in-market or closer to the decision stage, tailor your approach to convert these opportunities. 

This can involve more direct calls to action, such as personalized demo invitations and running incentivized offers.

If your company is product-led, this would be a good time to offer free trials.

Sample of free trial ad by Plauti:

Plauti Linkedin Ad showcasing a database validation tool for salesforce

Tip #3 - Create a Dossier of Information

Understanding your prospects' interests, pain points, and engagement history comprehensively is the key to crafting personalized and effective ABM strategies.

This information equips sales teams with the required data to personalize their outreach effectively and accelerate the sales process.

Building & Targeting Prospect

Compile data on prospect activities, including the specific ads they clicked, pages they visited, or any communications they have sent. 

This dossier should act as a dynamic document that sales teams can use to personalize their approaches. 

By understanding what content the prospect has engaged with, the sales team can address specific interests or pain points, making their pitches more relevant and compelling.

Marketers can also use this data to launch 1:1 campaigns featuring social proof and objection handling.

If the list of accounts is not large enough for a 1:1 approach, then gather the top 3-5 most common objections that resonate with the majority of the accounts.

You can reduce the overall cost by dynamically excluding any account that has contacted sales.

Implementation Tips for Effective ABM

  1. Identify in-market accounts by using advanced analytics and account scoring to determine which of your target accounts are actively engaging with your content.
    Tools like HubSpot or Marketo can help streamline the process. 
  2. Once these engaged accounts are listed, segment them for targeted campaigns that address their specific stages in the buyer’s journey. 

    This segmentation allows you to apply more aggressive sales tactics appropriately while continuing to nurture less-ready accounts with educational content.
  3. Distribute content that educates and engages at various stages of the customer journey. 

    This tactical approach ensures that when you invite accounts to a demo or free trial they are informed and more likely to be receptive.

    Successful ABM is a blend of patience and strategic agility, tailored to meet both the immediate and long-term goals of your business.

Tip #4 - Breaking Content to Audience Segmentation

The purpose of this step is to develop and deliver content that addresses specific pain points and interests identified in your prospect dossiers.

Strategies for Deepening Prospect Engagement

As you gather more data on your prospects' behaviors, such as the ads they click or the pages they visit, use this information to guide them through a personalized buyer's journey. 


This involves crafting content that speaks directly to their needs and leading them to web pages that provide further value and deepen their engagement with your brand.


Regularly update and refine your ads to keep them in line with your audience's changing interests and needs.

Creating a Content "Buffet"

Offer a Variety of Content Options.

Imagine setting up a buffet of content options tailored to different tastes and preferences within your target accounts. 

By providing a range of topics and formats—from whitepapers and case studies to webinars and interactive tools—you allow prospects to self-select the content that most resonates with them.

Use the insights from observed interactions to refine your understanding of what each prospect cares about. 


This personalized approach not only enhances the relevance of your outreach but also increases the likelihood of a prospect's deeper engagement with your content.

Account Based Marketing content examples diagram showing various content types.

Integrating Technology for Efficiency

While managing this level of personalized engagement can become complex, employing an ABM platform can streamline the process. 

These platforms can help organize and automate content delivery based on user behavior, keeping track of interactions across different channels to maintain a cohesive and personalized marketing approach.

Pro tip:
Before fully investing in an expensive ABM tech stack, validate your strategy with simpler tools or minimal setups to prove its effectiveness. 

A simple way is to use LinkedIn's demographic reporting to see which companies have been exposed to impressions, and which ones are actually engaging.
You can take it a step further and leverage a third-party data connector like data slayer to pull the demographic data from LinkedIn through API.

Tip #5 - Focusing on Outcomes: The "So What?" Factor in ABM

A critical aspect of effective ABM is ensuring that every piece of data, every content interaction, and every campaign has a clear and compelling answer to the question: "So what?" 


Every action should educate, nurture, or capture leads, to bring you closer to revenue.

Futurama Bender meme about pipeline urgency.

The Importance of Outcome-Based Messaging

In ABM, it's not enough to highlight the features of your product or the hours it can save a potential client’s team. 


The key is to articulate what these benefits mean in the context of the customer’s specific business challenges and goals. 


When discussing a product feature, such as "saves your engineering team 20 hours a week," it's essential to connect this benefit to tangible business outcomes. 

For example, what does saving 20 hours a week mean for the company?
Could it lead to faster project completions, cost savings, or better resource allocation? 
These outcomes are what will truly capture the interest of decision-makers.

By consistently focusing on the "so what?" of your actions and messaging, you can lift your ABM efforts from functional to transformational.

Pro-tip:
Establish Leading Indicators to Measure ABM Progress:


By establishing clear leading indicators across your marketing funnel, you can quantify progress and tie every action back to tangible business outcomes.

From initial awareness through engagement to conversion, each stage can be monitored and analyzed to ensure marketing efforts move potential clients closer to a sale.
These indicators provide a roadmap that justifies the investment by showing how specific activities contribute to moving accounts through the sales pipeline.

If you want to learn more about creating leading and lagging indicators along with actionable free templates check out the AdConversion Paid Media Program course; Module 2, lesson 1.

Paid media strategy table outlining budget plans.

Tip #6 - Drilling Into Personas & Messaging

Within any given company, different levels of management and seniority have distinct priorities and challenges. 


For example, C-suite executives might focus on strategic growth and scalability, directors on operational efficiency, and managers on tactical execution.

Tailoring your messaging to address these specific concerns can dramatically increase the relevance and impact of your communications.


Beyond role-based customization, consider the particular needs and pain points of the industry or vertical your target accounts might operate within. 

Strategies for Effective A/B Testing

Implement continuous A/B testing across your campaigns to determine which messages resonate best with each persona. 

Segment your target audience by role and seniority, and tailor your messages accordingly. 

For example, test different value propositions with managers versus C-suite executives to determine which messages drive more engagement or conversions from each group.


Understand that the preferences and behaviors of your audience can evolve, and your ABM strategy should be agile enough to adapt to these changes.

Tip #7 - A/B Testing Value Propositions

By testing two to three variations of each message, you can discover appeals and incentives that resonate with distinct groups within the same role and seniority level.

In cases where the target company might not be large enough to segment by job titles or seniority due to LinkedIn’s filtering limitations, marketers need to think creatively about how to approach personalization and segmentation.

Alternative Segmentation Strategies:

  • Use Broad Segments:
    Instead of job titles, consider using job function and seniority or even adding member skills into the mix.
  • Focus on Common Pain Points: 
    Leverage the common challenges or objectives identified in smaller organizations. 

    For example, if most employees are likely involved in decision-making due to the company's size, tailor messages that address broad business benefits that resonate across multiple roles.


As discussed earlier, knowing the top objections by vertical can guide the creation of content and ads that preemptively address concerns. 

This is particularly useful when precise job title segmentation is not feasible.

Tip #8 - Set Aside Time to Ideate

In the fast-paced environment of account-based marketing, it's imperative to carve out dedicated time for creative thinking and experimentation. 


By blocking out time on your calendar, preferably during quieter hours like Friday afternoons, you ensure that you have the space to think deeply and creatively about your ABM strategies.


Regular ideation sessions allow you to review current insights and performance data, enabling you to develop new approaches and refine existing ones.

Light bulb meme illustrating idea prioritization.

Pro tip:
Leverage Experimentation and Documentation:

Incorporate a structured approach to experimentation. 

Try out new ideas on a small scale to assess their effectiveness before rolling them out broadly. 

Keep detailed records of your experiments, including:
- Hypotheses
- Execution details
- Outcomes. 

This documentation enables you to capitalize on effective strategies and avoid past mistakes.

Tip #9 - Streamlining the Process with Templates

Keeping detailed and organized documentation of ABM activities, such as experiments, outcomes, and insights will save you lots of time & effort in the long run. 


It can be as simple as using Google Docs with structured headings and a table of contents.


Consistent documentation helps in creating a reliable record that can be referenced in reports and strategy meetings. 

Leveraging Design Templates

Design templates allow marketers to quickly generate new versions of ads or content without starting from scratch each time. 


By standardizing the design elements, teams can focus on tweaking the messaging and content to better align with the target audience’s evolving preferences.


Using templates also ensures that all materials produced are aligned with the brand’s visual identity and messaging guidelines.


Effective Use of Templates and Documentation

Develop a range of design templates for different types of content and ads. 


This library should include templates for social media posts, email campaigns, and other marketing materials that are frequently used in ABM campaigns.


Regularly update the documents with the latest results from A/B tests, data analysis insights, and feedback from sales and marketing teams to maintain accuracy and relevance.


Confirm that all team members are trained on how to use the chosen documentation and templates effectively. 


With the design templates in place, focus on iterating on the creatives frequently.


Especially in smaller audience segments where ad fatigue can set in quickly.

Tip #10 - Don’t Skip Google

While (ABM) often focuses on direct and personalized communication channels like LinkedIn, incorporating Google Ads into your Demand Gen strategy can heavily reduce the overall cost per acquisition (CPA).


The Strategic Use of Google Ads

Google Ads allows you to address specific queries and pain points that your prospects are actively searching for. 


By focusing on these queries, you can position your company as a solution provider right at the moment of need, effectively answering potential customers’ questions through targeted ads.

Often, niche or less competitive keywords related to specific industry questions or problems can be much cheaper than more general, high-intent keywords. 

For example, targeting a specific industry debate or a lesser-known feature comparison can capture relevant traffic at a significantly lower cost.

This, not only increases brand awareness but also positions your company as an authoritative and helpful resource.


Creating content that addresses these queries and promoting it through Google Ads can drive highly targeted traffic to your website, increasing the chances of conversion.


Practical Tips for Implementing Google Ads 

  1. Work with your sales and customer service teams to pinpoint the questions and topics that commonly arise during the sales process.
     
  2. Use these insights to guide your keyword and content strategy for Google Ads.
    Develop content that answers these questions comprehensively. 
    This could be in the form of blog posts, FAQs, or educational articles. 
  3. Use the identified keywords to set up Google Ads campaigns. 
    Start with a lower budget to test the effectiveness of your keywords and ads. 
    Monitor the performance and adjust your strategy based on the results.
Funnel diagram for B2B account-based marketing google ads tactics focused on addressing objections.

Conclusion:

In this article, we discussed the significance of Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategies through 10 practical tips and tactics to get the most out of your marketing efforts.

We explored the value of a long-term engagement strategy, emphasizing the need to build relationships through educational content and gradual interactions, rather than taking a direct approach.

Effective ABM involves understanding target accounts' specific needs and behaviors, employing analytics for better targeting, and continuously iterating on creative content to maintain relevance and combat ad fatigue. 

Bookmark this blog as your comprehensive guide for your next ABM efforts to make sure your strategies align with the overall company goal.

If you’d like to reach out or get more weekly tips, please connect with Brandon via Linkedin.

Resources for mastering B2B advertising

If you’re serious about mastering B2B advertising then you definitely need to join 1,000+ B2B marketers leveling up their paid advertising skill sets in AdConversion. 

Here’s 4 reasons why you should consider joining. Every one of our on-demand courses are:

✅  100% free access.

✅  Taught by vetted industry experts.

✅  Have workbooks, resources, and templates.

✅  Less than 10 minutes per lesson.

We believe every marketer should know how to scale paid ads so they can:

  •  Scale their ideas
  • Level up their careers
  • Make a positive impact

Click Here to Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers Today and start leveling up your advertising skill set.

Takes < 90 seconds to sign up (seriously we timed it 😂)

Silvio Perez
Want to level up your B2B advertising skill set?
AdConversion was created to help B2B marketers master advertising with free courses, articles, resources, and templates created by the world best practitioners.
☝️Takes <  90 seconds
Share
This is some text inside of a div block.
copy

Join 1,000+ B2B marketers leveling up their paid advertising skill set! 🚀