If you are involved in sales, you’ve probably noticed that it has become a bit more challenging in 2023. Conversion rates are declining, previously successful strategies no longer yield the desired results, and customers are paying more attention to their budgets, among other things. For this reason, more and more companies are implementing signal-based marketing and sales.

What is signal-based marketing and sales?

Traditional cold calling used to be relatively straightforward: you defined a target audience interested in a particular product or service and tried to reach that audience in some way. Take, for example, email marketing:

In the 1990s and 2000s, sending a mass email to the CEOs of 10,000 companies would yield good results. Then, everyone started doing the same thing. This led to the introduction of personalization. Marketing experts began personalizing emails, addressing them as “Dear Mr. <Name>… Does <Company Name> need the XY product or service?” Eventually, this too became the standard.

Additionally, a vast number of marketing experts are reaching entirely wrong target groups, resulting in a flood of emails that no one paid attention to, not even the relevant ones.

The same goes for LinkedIn, cold calls, and so on. The GDPR and competition laws further complicate the task.

This is where signal-based marketing comes into play. Customer engagement in signal-based marketing is based on specific signals coming from the target company and the target person.

Examples:

• Company XYZ recently changed its address, so it is highly likely that the company needs certain office equipment.
• Startup Unicorn AG just completed a new funding round. They need to fuel their growth, so they will likely invest in sales and marketing. This is perfect timing for companies offering products or services in this segment.
• Schmidt recently changed jobs, and he was the decision-maker who “sold your product to the management” in his previous company. Therefore, chances are he will do the same in his new company.

There are numerous such examples. The task of management, particularly in sales and marketing, is to identify and capitalize on these signals.

Just as signal-based marketing leverages real-time data to pinpoint the right moments for engaging prospects, integrating a robust tech stack is crucial to align marketing efforts with fulfillment operations. As Rush Order highlights, “orders flow from your sales channels straight to your 3PL without manual intervention,” which not only streamlines the order process but also ensures that marketing-driven sales seamlessly translate into efficient order fulfillment. This integration ensures that the customer experience remains consistent, from receiving the right marketing signals to receiving their order on time.

Selling to the 3%

A well-known sales wisdom states that at any given time in any market, there are 3% of companies or individuals who are ready to buy a product. If you ask 100 random people on the street if they are currently thinking about buying a car, 3 people will say they are actively searching. Another 10 will say they are seriously considering it but it might take a while. The rest are either not interested, undecided, or already taken care of. The same goes for other industries and products: HR software, MacBooks, coffee machines, or yoga classes.

Who do you want to sell to? Companies that are already taken care of? Or have no budget or show no interest? Or rather to the 3% + 10% who are currently looking for your products or services? I think the answer is clear.

But how do you identify these 3%? The examples and technologies listed below are mainly applicable to B2B (like our entire blog and software).

Identifying Website Visitors

The simplest and safest way to identify companies interested in your product is to recognize the visitors to your website. When you see that a company has visited your website, viewed many subpages, and showed interest in your prices, this is one of the safest signs that the company is interested in your services. You can still wonder if the visit to your website was purely coincidental or if an employee of that company is applying to you. But the easiest way is to contact this company and offer your services. In the worst case, you’ll get a negative response. In many cases, however, you’ll achieve good results!

How does it work? For those who are not familiar with our product: Sign up for LeadRebel, link your website to our software, and you can immediately see which companies have visited your website, which pages they viewed, and who works in these companies.

You can use this data in your marketing campaigns (e.g., run targeted LinkedIn ads only for your website visitors) or engage in direct sales, create email marketing campaigns, and more. There are many use cases.

Signal-Based Marketing and Sales with Sales Intelligence Platforms

Sales intelligence platforms like ZoomInfo, Cognism, Apollo.io, and many others are neither new nor something you shouldn’t have heard of in 2023. If you’re not using any of these platforms in your marketing and sales activities, it’s high time you did.

Besides the many advantages these software solutions offer (data acquisition about companies and their employees, built-in marketing solutions like email marketing), you get another advantage: signals. These signals can be integrated into your marketing strategy.

Examples:

• Crunchbase provides near real-time updates on funding rounds, acquisitions, and mergers in the startup and tech industry.
• io offers information about companies and the people working there. You can, for instance, see the technologies they use, get information about job changes among employees, and follow important announcements, and more.

The costs of sales intelligence platforms vary widely. Some (Crunchbase, Apollo.io) are relatively inexpensive, while others (e.g., ZoomInfo) are more costly.

Signal-Based Marketing and Sales through Web Crawling

It doesn’t always have to be a ready-made solution available. Sometimes you can be creative and create a solution yourself quickly and inexpensively to generate data and signals.

Web crawling can be one of these methods. You don’t have to buy data from third parties; you can acquire it yourself. If you have in-house web developers, even better. If not, you can find external experts who can take on the task for you.

A simple use case: If you operate a staffing agency and are looking for companies posting specific job listings, you can acquire these data externally from relevant data providers or create a crawler for specific job platforms yourself. This way, you receive a daily list of companies and contacts. If a job posting serves as a signal to you that this company might be interested in your service, you’ve developed a cost-effective and straightforward tool that provides you with fresh signals every day.

Another example would be crawling a freelancer platform. Let’s say your company specializes in web development, design, translation, etc. Leads in these industries can be quite expensive when generated through Google Ads. Other sales methods are not always very effective due to high competition in the industry. However, if you find out about project announcements in a timely manner through crawling and send an email to the company or contact the person on LinkedIn who posted the announcement (whether automated or manual), you’ll appear on the radar of your potential customers earlier than your competitors.

Signal-Based Marketing and Sales: Summary

In 2023, we have more sales tools available to us than ever before. CRM systems, email marketing platforms, sales intelligence software, VoIP tools – the list is long and includes thousands of high-quality tools. This technological advancement in the industry simultaneously presents a significant challenge. Now, everyone can quickly and affordably automate their sales or marketing. However, when everyone uses the same tools and techniques, it leads to oversaturation. The same individuals, whether CEOs or department heads, receive dozens of emails, LinkedIn requests, or calls every day. Attention spans decrease, and so do conversion rates.

To continue to be successful in 2024, you need to appear in potential customers’ inboxes when the relevant service is needed. If your product becomes relevant to the customer right now,if the company is currently looking for your solution, you should strike. But how do you know if the timing is right? By using signal-based marketing methods.

Image Source: https://datagma.com/how-to-use-lead-prioritization-for-business/

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Account Based Marketing Guide: Introduction

In our last article about ABM we gave some quick introduction into the topic. Recap: Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a strategy that has gained significant popularity in recent years, particularly among B2B marketers. It is a targeted marketing approach that focuses on building relationships with a specific set of high-value accounts, instead of targeting a broad audience. In this article we would like to present more in-depth account based marketing guide.

ABM involves creating personalized marketing campaigns for each account, which can include personalized content, targeted ads, and customized outreach. The goal is to engage with key decision-makers and stakeholders within the target accounts, and ultimately drive revenue growth and customer loyalty.

Best Practices for Account Based Marketing

Implementing ABM requires a thoughtful approach and careful consideration of several factors. Here are some best practices to consider when doing ABM:

1. Identify the right accounts – The success of ABM depends on selecting the right accounts to target. Consider factors such as revenue potential, industry, and fit with your company’s offerings.
2. Understand your target accounts – Once you have identified your target accounts, do your research to understand their pain points, challenges, and buying behaviors. This will help you create personalized content and messaging that resonates with them.
3. Align sales and marketing efforts – ABM is most effective when sales and marketing teams work together to engage with target accounts. Ensure that both teams are aligned on goals, messaging, and tactics.
4. Create personalized content – ABM involves creating customized content and messaging for each target account. This can include personalized emails, targeted ads, and customized landing pages.
5. Measure and optimize – Like any marketing strategy, ABM requires measurement and optimization to ensure success. Track metrics such as engagement, conversion rates, and revenue generated, and adjust your approach as needed.

Here are some additional considerations for implementing ABM:

1. Focus on building relationships – ABM is about building long-term relationships with high-value accounts. Focus on providing value, solving their pain points, and building trust.
2. Use multiple channels – ABM requires a multi-channel approach to reach and engage with target accounts. Consider using channels such as email, social media, direct mail, and events.
3. Leverage data and technology – ABM requires a data-driven approach to identify and engage with target accounts. Use data and technology to personalize content and messaging and measure engagement and conversion.
4. Align ABM with overall marketing strategy – ABM should be aligned with your overall marketing strategy and goals. Ensure that your ABM efforts are integrated with other marketing channels and tactics.

Implementing ABM requires careful consideration of several factors, including identifying the right accounts, understanding their pain points, aligning sales and marketing efforts, creating personalized content, measuring and optimizing, and building long-term relationships. By following these best practices and considerations, marketers can implement ABM successfully and achieve their marketing goals.

Use-Cases and Real-Life Examples of Account Based Marketing

Here are some real-life examples of companies successfully implementing Account-Based Marketing (ABM):

1. Adobe – Adobe used ABM to target a specific set of accounts in the financial services industry. They created highly personalized content and campaigns, including interactive microsites and personalized videos, to engage with their target accounts. This approach resulted in a 22% increase in pipeline and a 16% increase in deal size.
2. Terminus – Terminus is a leading ABM software provider that uses its own ABM platform to drive its own marketing efforts. They targeted a select group of high-value accounts in the technology industry, and used personalized ads, targeted emails, and personalized landing pages to engage with them. This resulted in a 200% increase in pipeline and a 33% increase in closed deals.
3. Demandbase – Demandbase is another ABM software provider that successfully implements its own ABM strategies. They targeted a select group of accounts in the B2B technology industry, and used personalized content, targeted ads, and personalized direct mail to engage with them. This resulted in a 40% increase in pipeline and a 70% increase in engagement with target accounts.
4. Cisco – Cisco used ABM to target specific accounts in the telecommunications industry. They created personalized content and campaigns, including targeted emails, ads, and direct mail, to engage with their target accounts. This approach resulted in a 40% increase in engagement with target accounts and a 30% increase in closed deals.
5. Microsoft – Microsoft used ABM to target specific accounts in the healthcare industry. They created personalized content and campaigns, including targeted emails, ads, and direct mail, to engage with their target accounts. This approach resulted in a 90% increase in engagement with target accounts and a 60% increase in closed deals.

These examples demonstrate the power of ABM when executed correctly. By targeting a select group of high-value accounts and creating highly personalized content and campaigns, companies can increase engagement, generate more pipeline, and close more deals.

Software and Tools for Account Based Marketing

To implement ABM successfully, marketers often use a variety of software and tools. Here are some of the best software for account-based marketing:

1. Terminus – Terminus is an all-in-one ABM platform that helps marketers identify, engage, and close high-value accounts.
2. Demandbase – Demandbase is a comprehensive ABM platform that offers account targeting, personalization, and measurement capabilities.
3. 6Sense – 6Sense is an AI-powered ABM platform that uses intent data to identify and engage with target accounts.
4. RollWorks – RollWorks is an ABM platform that offers account targeting, personalized ads, and sales enablement features.
5. Madison Logic – Madison Logic is an ABM platform that offers account-based advertising, content syndication, and lead generation capabilities.
6. Uberflip – Uberflip is a content marketing platform that enables marketers to create personalized content experiences for each target account.
7. Outreach – Outreach is a sales engagement platform that can be used to personalize outreach to target accounts and measure engagement.
8. HubSpot – HubSpot is a marketing automation platform that offers ABM features such as account scoring, targeting, and reporting.
9. Marketo – Marketo (now part of Adobe) is a marketing automation platform that includes ABM features such as account-based targeting and engagement scoring.

These software platforms can help marketers implement ABM successfully and achieve their marketing goals. But what are some of the most common use cases for account-based marketing? Here are several examples:

1. Targeting high-value accounts – ABM is particularly effective for targeting a specific set of high-value accounts, such as enterprise clients or strategic partners.
2. Account-based advertising – ABM can be used to create personalized ads and content for each target account, increasing the chances of engagement and conversion.
3. Sales enablement – ABM can be used to align marketing and sales efforts, ensuring that both teams are targeting the same accounts and engaging with the same decision-makers.
4. Personalization – ABM enables marketers to create personalized experiences for each target account, increasing the chances of engagement and conversion.
5. Cross-selling and upselling – ABM can be used to identify opportunities for cross-selling and upselling to existing accounts, increasing revenue and customer loyalty.

Common Mistakes during Account Based Marketing

While implementing an Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategy, it is important to be aware of some common mistakes that can hinder success. Here are some things not to do while doing ABM:

1. Don’t focus on too many accounts – One of the biggest mistakes in ABM is trying to target too many accounts at once. This can dilute your resources and result in less effective engagement. It’s better to focus on a smaller number of high-value accounts and create personalized campaigns for them.
2. Don’t forget to align sales and marketing – ABM requires close alignment between sales and marketing teams. Failing to align these teams can result in inconsistent messaging and poor execution.
3. Don’t create generic content – ABM requires highly personalized content and messaging. Avoid creating generic content that is not tailored to the needs and pain points of your target accounts.
4. Don’t neglect existing customers – While ABM typically focuses on targeting new accounts, it’s important not to neglect your existing customers. ABM can also be used to deepen relationships with current customers and drive upsell and cross-sell opportunities.
5. Don’t ignore data – ABM requires a data-driven approach. Failing to track engagement and measure results can result in ineffective campaigns and wasted resources.
6. Don’t use irrelevant channels – ABM requires a highly targeted approach, including using the right channels to reach your target accounts. Avoid using channels that are irrelevant to your target audience or that they are unlikely to use.
7. Don’t forget to measure and optimize – ABM requires continuous measurement and optimization to ensure success. Failing to track and optimize campaigns can result in missed opportunities and wasted resources.

In summary, to avoid the worst practices in ABM, it’s important to focus on a smaller number of high-value accounts, align sales and marketing teams, create highly personalized content, don’t neglect existing customers, use a data-driven approach, use relevant channels, and measure and optimize continuously. By avoiding these common mistakes, marketers can increase their chances of success with ABM.

LeadRebel & Account Based Marketing

LeadRebel is a marketing automation software that can help with Account-Based Marketing (ABM) in several ways. Here are some of the ways LeadRebel can help with ABM:

1. Account Identification – LeadRebel uses data analysis to identify the companies visiting your website, so you can prioritize high-value accounts and create personalized campaigns for them.
2. Lead Scoring – LeadRebel uses lead scoring to help you prioritize accounts based on their level of engagement and readiness to purchase. This can help you focus on accounts that are most likely to convert.
3. Sales Enablement – LeadRebel provides your sales team with notifications and insights about target accounts, so they can follow up with the right message at the right time.
4. Analytics and Reporting – LeadRebel provides detailed analytics and reporting on your ABM campaigns, so you can measure the effectiveness of your campaigns and optimize them for better results.

Overall, LeadRebel can help you implement an effective ABM strategy by providing you with the tools to identify and engage with high-value accounts, create personalized content and campaigns, prioritize leads, and measure and optimize your results.

Account Based Marketing Guide: Summary

In conclusion to our account based marketing guide: ABM is a powerful strategy that can help B2B marketers build strong relationships with high-value accounts and drive revenue growth. By using the right software and tools, marketers can implement ABM successfully and achieve their marketing goals.

The post Account Based Marketing Guide & How LeadRebel Can Help You with ABM appeared first on Leadrebel Blog.

Account-based marketing (ABM) is a business strategy with growing popularity among marketers worldwide. ABM turns your marketing and sales focus to the right prospects, and might decrease your expenses. This is because you’ll need less effort and fewer team members while focusing on only the right accounts.

An important focus of ABM is to identify targets who are interested in a certain product or service and then customize marketing campaigns and sales programs to meet the needs of these prospects and turn them into customers.  

What is Account-Based Marketing?

Account-based marketing (ABM) is a business marketing strategy that directs resources to attract specific target groups within a market. ABM coordinates the sales and marketing teams to work together and create personalized campaigns designed to engage each account. The campaigns are built in sync and altered to the needs of each account, which leads to more lead success and higher revenue. 

Instead of running broad campaigns, marketers and sales associates use account-based marketing to closely identify their prospects and then they create customized campaigns and messaging with the goal to encourage upselling and new leads. 

Five Use Cases of Account-Based Marketing

Account-based marketing begins with identifying your target accounts and then calculating a program that’s personalized to those segments. The chosen accounts will be the ones that add the most value to your company. Below are five use cases of account-based marketing:

• Events, webinars, and meetings

In-person events and meetings have always been considered the most effective ways to find and persuade target accounts. With account-based marketing, these events can bring you even more customers and a bigger client base. How does that work? With ABM you can make personalized invitations, host special VIP dinners, give out personalized gifts, and send personalized follow-ups after the event. 

• Marketing email

In the day and age where everyone is overloaded with emails and considers most emails spam without reading them, it’s the perfect time to introduce personalized direct mail. Since account-based marketing is more targeted, gifts and messages through direct mail can catch more attention and result in more successful leads, which will lead to higher revenue.

• Targeted advertising

Paid social media advertisements are a common way to catch the attention of accounts or at least trigger a memory in their head. Social platforms like Facebook and Instagram allow you to display your ads and messages. Even more important, you can target specific groups of people and personas to see these ads. With IP targeting and retargeting, your campaigns will be brought up on target accounts only, rather than on the whole web.

You might be wondering why it is better that only selected accounts will see these campaigns. Well, there is a pretty simple explanation to that, first of all, the more people see your campaign the more it will cost you, secondly, a person that is not your target persona will never follow the campaign, and lastly, by targeting specific accounts you’ll have a better idea of the turnover rate. 

• More personalized content

Just like with the other use cases, account-based marketing will let you make content that’s relevant to your target accounts and current customers. For example, if your target persona is at a young age, interested in social media, and loves trends, then your goal is to make trendy content, that being cool Instagram posts, reels, and relatable TikTok videos. 

• Constant product improvement

Pretty much any service or product out there has some pain points, whether that’s instructions on how to use it or questions about safety. With account-based marketing, you’ll be able to resolve these pain points even before a customer or lead realizes that they have trouble figuring something out. 

Business Benefits of Account-Based Marketing

There are a number of benefits associated with account-based marketing, but for some businesses, ABM might be the only good solution, while for others ABM might be combined with other strategies, in any way it will positively impact all types of businesses. Let’s take a look at the following benefits of account-based marketing.

• Personalized marketing approach. Instead of a generic message and approach, with help of ABM marketers create personalized messages for target accounts. 
• Sales & marketing alignment. Collaboration is always a sign of improved conversations and more successful projects. Since ABM requires the sales and marketing teams to collaborate, their collaboration will also positively affect other business aspects. 
• Shorter sale cycles. Personalized campaigns usually quicken up the sales process because all prospects are nurtured simultaneously. 
• Better ROI. Account-based marketing is measurable and 85% of marketers who measure their ROI have reported that ABM delivered higher returns than any other marketing approach.
• Fewer wasted products. With a clear understanding of what personas you need to target, you’ll need fewer products and fewer people to gain the same or even more customers. 

How to Implement Account-Based Marketing 

In order to get the most out of an account-based marketing approach, you’ll need to know some key rules, the following steps will guarantee you implement an effective account-based marketing strategy. 

• Create a demonstrative coalition between the sales and marketing teams 

Without a demonstrative and thriving marketing and sales team alignment, every account-based marketing strategy will fail. This is because an ideal customer buying experience requires a seamless transition from detecting the lead to finalizing the sale. 

Basically, to improve sales, the marketing and sales teams need to commit to clear communication and a mutual plan, a type of middle ground where both sides cater to each other. For example, the marketing team will only score leads that the sales team can conveniently sell to and vice versa where the sales team will develop a sales strategy based on the people that the marketing team can interest. 

• Carry out investigations to identify account personas 

Once you have created a demonstrative coalition between the sales and marketing teams, you’ll need to identify account personas that you want to pursue. There are many strategies to identify an account persona, some of which are:

• Determine the business intentions of an ideal customer.
• Calculate savings and spending patterns.
• Detect what tools the ideal customer uses.
• Consider the current level of business, size, and growth trajectory.

With all of these strategies in mind and with many more out there, after identifying an account persona, it’s important that both the marketing and sales team agree on it and follow up with a mutual plan. 

• Create a plan 

As mentioned in the step earlier, after the sales and marketing teams both agree on an account persona, they’ll need to follow up with a mutual plan. This includes having the marketing and sales teams work together to map out the prospects, what they are interested in, and what content they will produce to attract them. 

• Attract target accounts

Even after plotting a perfect marketing strategy, if you are new to the business you will need to attract accounts in other ways too. First of all, you need to determine where your target accounts are finding solutions now, basically, what companies are offering something similar to you and how are you better. After that, you find a database with these people’s information and contact them with a better offer than they are paying for now.

Another popular way to get your company noticed, includes handing out wavers, sending emails, or printing billboards, this can be done at events, on newsletters, targeted ad placements, and more. 

• Get the sales teams more involved 

As you build a relationship or at least a conversation with target contacts, make sure both sales and marketing teams are actively engaging and pursuing a strategy to influence the buying decisions. After a few hits and misses, the team will have an established strategy that works, which they can then use repeatedly to attract and retain customers. 

Account-based Marketing: Final Thoughts

Use account-based marketing to focus on prospective customers, you’ll notice how leads grow and expenses decrease. The long-term objective of account-based marketing is to help teams find successful leads, grow revenue, and lead every step of the way. The more advanced a marketing and sales team becomes with ABM, the more account-based marketing implementation there will be across all companies.

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