ABM campaigns have become hugely popular over the last few years as an easy way to stand out among the 35 million Facebook posts that happen every minute.
If you’ve never heard of account-based marketing (ABM), it’s a new approach to lead generation. The goal is to find individual prospects who are more likely to be interested in your product or service. Then you design campaigns to engage with them directly.
The relationships formed through different types of ABM efforts usually turn these prospects into paying customers. Of course, that’s if you can avoid the account-based marketing errors that so many companies make.
Keep reading for the 5 most common ABM mistakes to steer clear of.
- Neglecting Personas
Personas are an itemized representation of your target market. They usually include things like age, income, occupation, and interests. Some companies go as far as designing a daily routine for the persona—but this isn’t always necessary.
Having a persona makes it easier to create content that resonates with your target audience. You can tailor your messages to their personality. - Creating Data Silos
Data silos are when specific information is available to a particular department within a company. No one has access to the same knowledge.
Silos of data may seem like a great way to protect customer privacy, but they usually harm your ABM campaign goals. When there are only a few people that can deal with a particular client, that’s inefficient.
Consolidate customer files into one location so they’re easy for everyone on your team to access. - No Accountability
Accountability is critical for success in any marketing campaign. This blog from Adobe Experience Cloud touches on why it’s so important.
Everyone on the team needs to know who’s responsible for creating an ABM campaign and what they’re expected to do. - Lack of a Clear Vision for Success
What are the goals of this campaign? What do you need to accomplish them? If you don’t know the answers to these questions upfront, there’s no way anyone else will be able to understand what needs doing.
Outline the steps needed to reach your goals. The more specific you can be, the better. For example, if you need to create a new persona, write down the data you’re looking for. - Not Being Adaptable
The market changes all the time, and you need to be able to adjust your strategy and tactics accordingly.
If your product or service has been doing well with one type of customer but not another, you should shift your focus. That might mean changing who your target accounts are or how much time you spend on each account during each touch point. Being able to make these kinds of changes quickly will help ensure that your ABM campaigns stay relevant.
Increase Sales By Avoiding These Account-Based Marketing Errors
ABM is a marketing channel that requires a lot of planning and care, but it can have great rewards if done well. Luckily for you, these account-based marketing errors are easy to avoid with the right approach.
Determine your target audience and how they fit into the overall picture of your business. Then, market on the channels they use most often.
If you really want to increase your sales, keep up with our business blogs. We’ve got a lot more advice on marketing that can help you reach your goals.
