Delivering a highly targeted approach to B2B marketing, marketing and sales teams across the globe have been racing to add Account Based Marketing (ABM) to their toolkits. And it’s easy to see why.

Seamlessly aligning your sales and marketing efforts, ABM can be a powerful part of your business with its ability to drive revenue growth, reduce customer acquisition cost, and enhance customer lifetime value.

But, the race to master ABM has seen many companies heavily invest in ABM software without a clear ABM strategy or understanding of how they will measure success. Then, a few months post-launch, the initial enthusiasm fades and is replaced by uncertainty.

Did the program work? Was it worth the investment? How did it affect the sales cycle?

The truth is, there is no shortage of expensive ABM software in the market, but not everyone needs it, especially when starting. To replace the uncertainty with excitement, all you need are the right tools and technology, together with a clear strategy.  

In this guide, we explore the tools and technology essential for running efficient ABM campaigns, along with the key KPIs and ABM success metrics you should monitor to gauge effectiveness.

The rapid rise of Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

In recent years, the digital marketing landscape has witnessed a fundamental shift in how businesses approach B2B marketing through the rapid rise in Account-Based Marketing (ABM). 

Unlike traditional methods that cast a wide net, ABM takes a highly targeted approach, focusing on individual accounts or high-value prospects. This personalized approach leverages data-driven insights to create tailored content and messaging, fostering deeper connections with key decision-makers. 

As businesses continue to embrace the power of data and personalization, ABM shows no signs of slowing down. But it’s the speed at which Account-Based Marketing marketing has risen that has caused problems for a lot of businesses.

With FOMO playing a big part, businesses have launched into ABM without first having a clear ABM strategy in place.

Without knowing what or how to track when it comes to their ABM campaigns, the initial excitement of launch is replaced by uncertainty just a few months later with little idea of the success of your marketing campaigns.

The secret to success lies in selecting the right technology stack. Your choice of tools can make or break your ABM strategy. A strong baseline tech stack, featuring platforms like HubSpot for comprehensive marketing automation and LinkedIn Sales Navigator for targeted prospecting, lays the foundation for effective ABM. However, to truly elevate your efforts, consider integrating popular ABM-specific tools like Terminus, Propensity and 6sense. 

These solutions empower you with advanced targeting, personalized messaging, and predictive analytics, allowing you to identify high-potential accounts, engage them with tailored content, and measure ROI with precision.

In the fast-paced world of ABM, the right technology stack isn’t just an advantage; it’s a must-have.

Measuring ABM success — target account coverage

Target account coverage in Account-Based Marketing (ABM) refers to the extent to which a company’s resources, efforts, and strategies are concentrated on a select group of high-value accounts that have the greatest potential to drive revenue and business growth. This concept is fundamental to ABM because it ensures that marketing and sales teams are aligned in their pursuit of strategic accounts. 

Businesses can deliver highly relevant messaging, content, and experiences to key decision-makers by focusing on a limited set of target accounts. This not only increases the likelihood of engagement but also enhances the overall customer experience. 

Target account coverage is crucial in ABM because it allows organizations to maximize their resources efficiently, achieve higher conversion rates, and ultimately, foster stronger and more profitable relationships with their most valuable customers.

Measuring target account coverage is essential for successful Account-Based Marketing (ABM). In order to measure your coverage effectively, start by defining a clear list of your target accounts. Then, assess how many of these accounts you have engaged with through your ABM initiatives.

Metrics such as account engagement levels, website visits, content consumption, and responses to personalized outreach can provide valuable insights. 

Additionally, consider the depth of engagement, measuring not just quantity but also the quality of interactions within these accounts. Regularly reviewing these metrics and comparing them against your total target account list allows you to determine your coverage rate. 

By continuously monitoring and optimizing your coverage, you can ensure that your ABM strategy remains on track to reach and engage the most valuable accounts in your target audience.

If you’re looking for an example of a business that improved its target account coverage using ABM, you only have to look as far as the multinational software company Adobe. Adobe adopted an ABM approach to enhance its engagement with enterprise-level clients. They started by identifying their top-tier target accounts, which included some of the world’s largest brands. 

Through extensive research and data analysis, Adobe’s marketing and sales teams gained deep insights into these key accounts’ needs, pain points, and preferences.

Adobe then crafted highly personalized content, messaging, and sales campaigns tailored to each target account’s unique challenges and goals. They leveraged various ABM tools and platforms to orchestrate multi-channel marketing efforts, including email marketing, social media, and account-specific webinars.

The result was a remarkable improvement in target account coverage. Adobe not only established stronger relationships with these high-value clients but also saw an increase in deal sizes and a higher retention rate. This ABM-driven approach allowed Adobe to position itself as a strategic partner and solution provider, ultimately driving revenue growth and solidifying its reputation as a leader in the industry.

Measuring ABM success — target account engagement

Engagement is the heart of ABM. It’s not just about reaching your target accounts, but also about how they interact with your brand across various channels.

Representing the depth and quality of interactions between your business and the key accounts you’re targeting, engagement is not merely a metric; it’s a strategic imperative.

By closely monitoring and nurturing the engagement levels of your target accounts across a number of key channels, you can use the data to tailor personalized content and experiences tailored specifically to each account.

The key engagement channels include:

Content

Pivotal to building trust and credibility, content is a powerful tool to engage and educate target accounts, addressing their specific pain points and challenges. To measure content engagement effectively in ABM, you can track key metrics such as the number of downloads, shares, and comments on your content pieces.

By closely monitoring these engagement metrics, you can refine your content strategy and deliver more personalized and compelling content that drives deeper connections with your target accounts, ultimately leading to higher conversion rates and revenue growth.

Ads

Boasting the power of precision, ABM-focused ads allow you to deliver tailored messages directly to key decision-makers within your target accounts, increasing brand awareness and driving consideration.

To measure ad engagement in ABM, two crucial metrics come into play: Click-through rate (CTR) and conversion rate. CTR gauges the effectiveness of your ad’s messaging and creative, indicating how well it captures the audience’s interest. Conversion rate measures the percentage of ad clicks that result in a desired action, such as filling out a form or requesting more information. These metrics provide valuable insights into ad performance and allow you to optimize your ad campaigns for maximum impact.

Website

Tracking website visits from target accounts is a fundamental component of a robust Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategy. It provides critical insights into your high-priority prospects’ engagement and interest levels.

Analyzing the behavior flow of these visitors can reveal valuable patterns, helping you understand which pages or content they find most relevant. Equally important is tracking the time spent on your site by target accounts. A longer duration indicates a deeper level of interest and engagement. By monitoring these metrics, you can tailor your website content and user experience to better resonate with your target accounts, nurture their interest, and ultimately guide them towards conversion.

Email

With our inboxes bombarded with emails daily, personalization has become paramount. Enabling businesses to tailor their messaging to the unique needs and pain points of target accounts, personalization is a powerful tool for generating deeper engagement and stronger relationships.

To determine the effectiveness of these campaigns, it is important to track key metrics like open rate, click rate, and response rate.

The open rate indicates recipients’ initial engagement and interest level, while the click rate measures their willingness to explore further. The response rate is particularly valuable, as it reflects the quality of engagement and the likelihood of progressing towards conversion.

ABM influenced pipeline

Are you looking for a clear indicator of ABM’s influence? You only have to look as far as your sales pipeline. A growing pipeline post-ABM implementation? That’s a win!

That may sound simple, but to track and measure your ABMs influence on your sales pipeline you first need to understand what an ABM-influenced pipeline is.

An ABM-influenced pipeline is one that prioritizes high-value target accounts and aligns marketing and sales efforts to engage and convert these accounts effectively. With an ABM-influenced pipeline, you can focus resources on the most promising prospects, improving conversion rates and revenue outcomes. By tailoring content, messaging, and outreach to specific accounts, ABM ensures a more personalized and relevant customer journey, fostering stronger relationships and accelerating the sales cycle.

To measure and analyze success, start by tracking traditional sales and marketing metrics like lead conversion rates, deal velocity, and revenue generated. It’s equally important to assess the specific impact on target accounts, considering metrics such as the number of engaged accounts, the depth of engagement, and the progression of these accounts through the pipeline stages. Additionally, customer satisfaction and retention metrics should be evaluated post-sale. 

The results from ABM-influenced pipelines should be compared with those from non-ABM pipelines to measure their effectiveness.

Value of deals opened in target accounts

When it comes to ABM success, it’s less about quantity and all about quality. That’s especially the case when it comes to Deals Opened in Target Accounts because it directly ties the success of your strategy to your organization’s bottom line. Unlike traditional marketing metrics that may focus on lead volume, ABM prioritizes the acquisition of high-value accounts.

Representing the tangible impact of your ABM efforts, these deals show that you’ve successfully engaged and nurtured relationships with your high-value accounts. Higher deal values post-ABM also indicate that you’re reaching the right people and offering solutions that resonate.

Did you know that Deals Opened in Target Accounts often have a higher average deal size, making them even more valuable to your bottom line?

Measuring the success of your ABM efforts are as simple as comparing deal values pre and post-ABM.

If you’re looking to increase deal values, start by deepening your understanding of each target account’s unique pain points, objectives, and industry challenges. Craft tailored content and messaging directly addressing these specific needs, positioning your solution as the ideal fit. Collaborate closely with the sales team to ensure seamless communication and alignment throughout the engagement process. Leverage data analytics and predictive modeling to identify upsell and cross-sell opportunities within the account.

Influence on outbound initiatives

A common mistake many businesses make is thinking of ABM as an isolated strategy. When used to complement, rather than replace your outbound marketing, ABM can enrich outbound strategies by ensuring that the right message reaches the right people at the right time.

By aligning ABM with outbound marketing, businesses can strike a balance between broad reach and focused engagement, resulting in a holistic marketing approach that maximizes both quantity and quality of leads and ultimately drives revenue growth.

When you’re looking to measure the success of your outbound activities, focus on key metrics like response rate and conversion rate. It’s also important to monitor the engagement rate, which assesses the depth of interactions with your outbound content and messaging. The revenue generated from outbound initiatives and the lifetime value of acquired customers are crucial indicators of success.

Did your sales cycle shorten for accounts in your ABM program?

One of the biggest benefits of a well-executed ABM strategy is its ability to shorten the sales cycle by accelerating progression through the funnel.

ABM streamlines the sales process by focusing on high-value target accounts and delivering personalized content and messaging. When your marketing and sales teams work in tandem to nurture these accounts, it accelerates their progression through the funnel. With ABM, prospects receive the right information at the right time, addressing their specific pain points and objections. Because targeted accounts are more informed and engaged, sales cycles tend to be shorter. 

Measuring the length of the sales cycle both pre and post-ABM involves careful tracking and analysis. Before implementing ABM, establish baseline data for your typical sales cycle duration. This can be done by tracking the time it takes for leads to progress from initial contact to conversion. Post-ABM, continue monitoring this metric for the same accounts or a comparable set of accounts. You can then compare the two datasets to determine if ABM has had an impact on sales cycle length. The reduction in post-ABM sales cycle duration indicates that ABM strategies are effectively accelerating decision-making and closing deals.

To further shorten the sales cycle using ABM strategies, you can:

1. Leverage Personalization: Continue refining your personalized content and messaging to directly address your target accounts’ specific pain points and needs. The more relevant your communications, the quicker prospects will move through the funnel.
2. Align Sales and Marketing: Maintain strong alignment between your sales and marketing teams. Ensure they collaborate seamlessly to promptly provide consistent and timely follow-ups, addressing any questions or concerns.
3. Implement Multi-Channel Outreach: Use a mix of channels to engage with target accounts. Combine personalized emails, social media interactions, webinars, and direct outreach to maintain a consistent presence and reinforce your value proposition.
4. Utilize Marketing Automation: Implement marketing automation tools to streamline processes and deliver timely content and nurturing sequences. This ensures that target accounts receive relevant information at critical decision points.
5. Data-Driven Insights: Continuously analyze data and engagement metrics to identify bottlenecks in the sales cycle. Use these insights to adjust your strategies and prioritize efforts on the most efficient and effective tactics.
6. Account-Based Advertising: Invest in account-based advertising to retarget and re-engage accounts that have shown interest but may have stalled in the sales process. This can reignite their engagement and shorten the cycle.
7. Sales Enablement: Provide your sales team with the resources, training, and content they need to effectively engage target accounts. Equipped with the right tools, they can guide prospects more efficiently.
8. Regularly Review and Refine: ABM is an iterative process. Continually review your strategies and outcomes, seeking opportunities for improvement. Regularly fine-tune your approach based on what you learn to keep shortening the sales cycle and driving faster results.

Offering organizations the tools and strategies to foster deeper, more meaningful relationships with their most valuable customers, the rapid growth of ABM shows no signs of slowing down. As technology continues to advance, we can expect even more sophisticated data analytics and AI-driven insights to power ABM strategies, enabling businesses to identify and engage target accounts with unparalleled precision.

For businesses looking to leverage the power of ABM, there is no shortage of expensive ABM software in the market, but as we’ve shown, not everyone needs it, especially when starting. It’s all about simplicity at the start, using the right tools and technology, iterating on campaigns for ongoing improvement and tracking/measuring effectiveness along the way. 

How do I get started?

If you need help implementing ABM initiatives for your business, or want to develop a strong strategy, talk to the team at Farinella. We are a client-first creative communications agency with a 30-year track record of delivering work that inspires connection and drives business. Let’s talk!