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Apr 22
Michael Gegg
Blogs, Strategy Development

What is ABM?

Chances are you’ve heard about account-based marketing (ABM) – but have you been wondering what it actually means? 

In essence, ABM is a marketing and sales strategy that focuses on specific clients and target accounts, offering them personalised experiences and content. It’s the antithesis to traditional inbound marketing, where a wide range of audiences are broadly targeted with just one message. On first glance this may sound like a lot of work, but ABM is not actually about redesigning the wheel. The strategy should not necessarily replace your broad-based marketing tactics, in fact, it can work in conjunction.

Professional services marketers are beginning to turn to ABM, as it offers a better means to truly engage and build strong relationships with target buyers. 

When a customer believes they are deeply understood, they are more likely to engage, and that is where ABM really comes into its own. 

So how can ABM help your firm?

Strong alignment between sales and marketing

Right now, your sales/consulting and marketing teams might be swapping the occasional report and catching up on a monthly basis, but mostly working in silos. ABM changes that. It’s designed to give both your sales and marketing teams the closed loop insight they need to coordinate, leading to true alignment between the departments. 

Aligning under the same goals and objectives with KPIs attached will help to unite the teams from the outset, meaning they are working towards a common goal.

Aligning under the same goals and objectives with KPIs attached will help to unite the teams from the outset, meaning they are working towards a common goal. According to Forrester Research, organisations with aligned sales and marketing teams see an average of 32% annual revenue growth, while less aligned companies see a 7% decline in growth, so the evidence is there.

It reduces waste

ABM begins with a significant amount of initial research – we shouldn’t kid ourselves that it doesn’t, but what it means is that once a key account is identified they have in essence already become a qualified lead. This targeted approach allows your team to focus their resources efficiently, engaging in strategies that are optimised for those key targeted accounts. 

A common analogy in ABM is that it is more like fishing with a spear, not a net. So although there is considerably less ‘by-catch’, the prospects you are engaging are considerably more likely to buy. ABM is essentially zero-waste marketing. 

It’s personal

Crafting personalised messaging for individual accounts rather than large faceless groups will result in a 6 times higher transaction rate

By its very nature, ABM gives your clients a personal touch. Crafting personalised messaging for individual accounts rather than large faceless groups will result in a 6 times higher transaction rate, proving that personalising content really pays off.

Customisation could is not just personalising a mass email campaign to address each client individually, it needs to go further than that. By identifying the key accounts you intend to target, you can not only customise messaging with those prospects, but also customise the service or programme you are offering to them. Once you have done the necessary research to determine the needs of each key account it’s then just a case of tailoring your messages and offers. This highly personalised service that speaks directly to your prospects needs, significantly increases the chances they will convert into clients. 

Shorter sales cycles

By targeting both sales and marketing efforts towards specific individuals, ABM can more effectively close deals in a shorter amount of time. Because of the highly targeted approaches you are making, it’s more likely you’ll have more prospects converting at a faster rate. 

It is said that the average B2B purchase requires over 5 people to formally sign off. This means grappling with a long, drawn out sales cycle. ABM differs as you are targeting accounts instead of individual leads – thereby addressing a number of the key decision makers together, thus shortening the cycle and streamlining the sales process.  

Account based marketing is an area where professional services firms can save both time and money whilst more actively engaging the target demographic. If you’d would like to learn more about ABM and how you can introduce it into your marketing approach, please get in touch.

Like
Account-based marketing (ABM), Marketing planning
5 minutes with… Jane O’Hara, Head of Marketing, Cirrus
April 21, 2020
South Thames Marketing releases new report: Standing out in a Crowded Market: 5 Ways to Succeed in Professional Services Marketing.
April 23, 2020

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South Thames Marketing@sth_thames_mkt·
4 Mar

We recently came across a useful infographic by Blog2Social which highlights the optimal publishing times for various social networks. In this blog we share some of the findings that we think are most useful for professional services firms http://ow.ly/8Dtn50DPHdF

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South Thames Marketing@sth_thames_mkt·
4 Mar

[THURSDAY THOUGHT]

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We recently came across a useful infographic by Bl We recently came across a useful infographic by Blog2Social which highlights the optimal publishing times for various social networks. In our latest blog (check out our website) we share some of the findings that we think are most useful for professional services firms
[THURSDAY THOUGHT] [THURSDAY THOUGHT]
A lovely testimonial from our client Tap’d Solut A lovely testimonial from our client Tap’d Solutions!

Tap’d is our oldest client who we’ve been supporting since 2016. Our work for Tap’d includes managing their day to day marketing, their calendar of events and we also undertook a major rebrand project and rebuild of their website.
Last week we were delighted to complete the build Last week we were delighted to complete the build of a new website for HR influencer Gemma Leigh Roberts! This was a fun project to work on!

#WebsiteDesign
[BOOK RECOMMENDATION] This week’s recommendation [BOOK RECOMMENDATION] This week’s recommendation is this book by @simonsinek. No matter what our field of occupation is, always thinking of the ‘why’ is so important. If you’ve not read this it’s a must for all areas of a business. Check it out on Amazon.
[THURSDAY - posted on a Saturday 🤦🏻‍♂️ [THURSDAY - posted on a Saturday 🤦🏻‍♂️ - THOUGHT]
Make sure that your campaigns are relevant, useful Make sure that your campaigns are relevant, useful and genuinely engaging. We’re here to help you cut through the noise.

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Do Monday’s get any better than when you receive Do Monday’s get any better than when you receive news that you have been named in @marketingb2b’s annual Top 100 #b2bmarketing agency rankings for the second successive year 🎉🎉🎉

A big thank you to all of our clients 👏👏👏
Happy Monday! Let’s get this week underway 👍 Happy Monday! Let’s get this week underway 👍
[BOOK RECOMMENDATION] This week’s Sunday’s rec [BOOK RECOMMENDATION] This week’s Sunday’s recommendation is this interesting read by Gay Flashman (@gflash01) ‘Powerful B2B Content’ does a great job of explaining how your content needs to create an ‘experience’ that your customers know they can trust. Worth looking up on Amazon!

#B2B #contentmarketing #bookreview #professionalservicesmarketing #professionalservices
Read our latest interview where we speak to Marisa Read our latest interview where we speak to Marisa Kacary, Managing Director – Brand, Marketing & Communications at our client AMS. Marisa discusses the company's recent major rebrand and shares some of her key learnings from the experience - she offers up some great advice, especially if you're about to embark on a similar rebrand journey. Visit our website to have a read! 

#Marketing #CMO #interview #professionalservicesmarketing #Professionalservices #rebrand #branding
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