Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is no longer just a martech buzzword or gimmick. The strategy has since transformed the way in which B2B marketing and sales is done. According to a study conducted by ITSMA, 84% of marketers agree that ABM drives higher ROI than other forms of marketing. But for ABM to succeed, sales must be involved in the process from the beginning.
The idea of having your sales and marketing team work together isn’t groundbreaking, but you’d be surprised at how companies don’t think to align the departments to better position the sales team to grow pipeline. ABM improves communication between sales and marketing, which essentially, enables sales teams to track accounts and capture data to best understand what patterns and behaviors make a good lead. Which begs the question, why should your sales team support account-based marketing?
ABM Allows Salespeople To:
- Start more in-target conversations – Account-based marketers reach out to a targeted list of prospects. This allows sales to focus on warming up potential customers rather than just anyone who shows interest.
- Reach prospects at the right time – Rather than fly blind and rely on cold outreach, ABM insights give sales teams visibility into target account activity. You don’t need personally identifiable information to use first and third-party intent to monitor when companies show heightened levels of interest in your product or service.
- Reach prospects with the right messaging – Gain an understanding of the specific topics your targets are researching and offers they’ve responded to on your website. Oftentimes, your ABM team can provide scripts so that your initial outbound messaging/offers are relevant to the prospect’s interests.
- If you’re an inside sales rep focused on SMBs – You’ll get scripts depending on the segment.
- If you’re an enterprise sales rep working high-value accounts – You’ll see which topics your specific accounts are interested in.
- See higher response rates – If you reach out to in-target people at the right time with the right messaging, they’ll want to respond.
- Get more support while you meet with prospects – Account-based marketers provide air cover throughout the purchase journey. On Triblio, marketers can automatically trigger ads and web personalization campaigns when prospects progress to the next stage in pipeline so that they’re always getting the most current and consistent messaging.
- Get happier prospects and customers – Prospects aren’t getting bombarded with random marketing offers or sales calls. Instead, they’re getting offers that they’re actually interested in, and that makes for happier prospects and customers.
While ABM is a strategy that your entire organization needs to adopt, the support and adoption of the sales team is critical for your account-based marketing program to succeed.
Next Steps
One of the most important things to do to get your marketing and sales teams on the same page and get your organization set up for account-based marketing is determining your metrics of success. Setting up a framework to choose the optimal level of personalization, messaging, and channels for each target audience is key, which is why we created a guide that presents a roadmap for executing award-winning ABM programs. The guide covers proven models for account segmentation, examples of award-winning ABM campaigns, and includes ABM essentials checklists and worksheets. Download the Essentials Guide to ABM and see what steps are needed from start to success. Download Now!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joanne Mason
Senior Marketing Specialist at Triblio
Joanne is responsible for the strategic planning and execution of sponsored conferences and custom events for Triblio along with managing Triblio’s social media activity, as well as assist with the development and distribution of marketing communication.