In the ever-evolving realm of digital marketing, leading B2B enterprises are increasingly focusing on pinpointing the ideal accounts. The goal is clear: avoid expending resources and effort on potential clients who show little to no interest in their offerings.
The growing trend among these businesses is to embrace account-based marketing (ABM). This approach is distinct from casting a wide net in the hope of capturing a few interested parties. ABM hones in on those prospects that are most likely to align well with the company's products or services, methodically organizing this group into a prioritized list and developing a tailored engagement strategy for each.
A LinkedIn survey involving B2B companies reveals a telling trend: over 80% intend to increase their ABM budget in the coming year. Moreover, a significant majority already recognize ABM as a crucial element of their sales and marketing initiatives.
At the heart of any ABM campaign lies the target account list. So, what exactly is this list? Essentially, it's the foundational step in deploying a targeted list marketing approach. In its simplest form, it's a comprehensive catalog of all the accounts that a company aims to target.
The journey to craft a Target Account List can be complex. Over a third of marketing teams consider it a major hurdle in executing an Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategy. However, this effort is worthwhile; about 87% of marketers acknowledge that ABM yields a greater ROI compared to other marketing strategies.
ABM adopts a "reversed funnel" strategy, focusing on a narrower set of potential clients. Hence, the critical step in this approach is the careful selection and ranking of your target accounts.
How do you refine your list of potential clients? Your Target Account List should align with your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) – a detailed representation of the kind of customer who would most benefit from your offerings. Given that your sales team can't pursue every lead, your ICP helps in filtering which leads are the most suitable matches for your business.
For teams new to ABM, ICPs are invaluable tools. They don't just assist in identifying accounts that align well with your business; they also help in pinpointing the issues you aim to solve, ensuring your product meets your customers' needs, and establishing a blueprint for future sales efforts. This method inherently synchronizes your product, marketing, and sales teams under a unified operational model.
It's important to differentiate between an Ideal Customer Profile (the type of company you're targeting) and a User Persona (the specific individual or kind of individual within that company you intend to engage). While both are beneficial, the ICP is essential for developing an account-based marketing strategy.
To develop an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), initiate by assembling a comprehensive roster of your existing clients. Refine this list to spotlight those who have derived maximum benefit from your offering. Begin with clients who have committed to the largest agreements or expanded their contract scope post the initial deal. Consider including those who frequently refer new clients. For SaaS businesses, prioritize clients exhibiting high engagement levels.
With your top client list in hand, identify shared attributes. Look out for these key characteristics:
After gathering these insights, you can shape your ICP. Each ICP is unique, but here's a foundational example:
"Our perfect client is a SaaS enterprise based in North America, embracing a subscription revenue structure. It's in the expansion phase, primarily serving small to medium-sized enterprises."
There are numerous templates available for ICP creation, but it’s entirely feasible to craft one independently. Once your team reaches a consensus on an ICP, you can begin populating your target account list with specific enterprises.
Before diving into the creation of your Target Account List, it's crucial for your sales and marketing teams to align on the overarching objectives. Are your sights set on broadening your clientele, or are there more specific ambitions in play? This could range from acquiring notable brand associations for marketing leverage to re-engaging with former clients who have shifted to competitor services. Establishing a clear goal is essential, as it will guide your selection of accounts to focus on.
The quality of your list is directly proportional to your conversion success rate. It's important to leverage both firmographic and technographic insights. Firmographic data helps categorize companies based on attributes like industry, location, client base, or annual revenue, enabling you to segment them into relevant groups for your business needs. Technographic data, on the other hand, delves into the everyday technology stack of a company. Utilizing both data types assists in determining whether a company matches your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). These insights can be easily accessed through various tools designed to compile such information.
Keep in mind, however, that the firmographic and technographic data you collect might not always be current. Therefore, it's also beneficial to gather information about companies that are actively seeking products or services like yours. This kind of in-the-moment data can provide valuable insights into which companies are viable targets right now.
Ideally, your Target Account List should include prospects that have already shown some level of engagement with your brand, whether through visiting your website, downloading your resources, or participating in your events. Such pre-existing interest can significantly increase the likelihood of successful conversions.
After compiling a comprehensive list of potential accounts, the next step is to refine it. Utilize your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) as a filter, identifying traits shared by your top customers. Integrating this master list into your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system simplifies this narrowing process.
Determining the perfect match among these potential accounts isn't always straightforward. For instance, an account in the appropriate sector might display a smaller yearly recurring revenue compared to your usual clientele. While this doesn't automatically disqualify it, such a factor places it lower in the order of priority.
It's impractical to engage with every potential client on your list, necessitating a process to rank them by priority. The goal is to channel your team's efforts towards those with the highest likelihood of becoming sales. A tri-level system is generally the most effective approach.
Tier 1: These are the companies that align perfectly with your business's offerings. They typically share many characteristics with your current top clients.
Tier 2: Companies in this category meet most of your established criteria. They bear a resemblance to your existing clients, albeit with one or two notable variances.
Tier 3: Likely the broadest category, these companies represent more speculative opportunities. While they merit some attention, they should not command a substantial portion of your resources or time.
As you assemble your target account list, it's crucial to conduct consistent alignment meetings between sales and marketing teams, ensuring a unified approach to target account selling strategies. Particularly if this is your organization's initial venture into an Account-Based Marketing (ABM) campaign, investing time to clarify commonly used terms is vital. Often, different departments within the same organization may use varied terminologies to describe identical concepts.
After segmenting your list into various tiers, the sales team should commence their targeted account selling efforts. Regularly touch base to verify the practicality of the list for the sales team's outreach (such as ensuring the list isn’t excessively long or overly time-consuming); early-stage adjustments are typically more manageable and effective.
These essential metrics serve as prime indicators of your Account-Based Marketing (ABM) campaign's effectiveness.
It's crucial to regularly update your target account list and tiering approach every three months. This allows for adjustments based on team changes, integration of new insights, and updates to your selection criteria. Aim to renew no more than 20% of your target account list each quarter, providing sufficient opportunity for accounts to interact with and react to your engagement efforts.