8 Expert Tips to Produce an Account Based Marketing Content Strategy

If you run marketing campaigns for a B2B company, chances are you have heard of Account Based Marketing.

Also called ABM, it is a marketing strategy meant to reach potential prospects within a target company. Instead of reaching out to an individual, ABM allows you to connect to a group of stakeholders.

This also explains why ABM requires close coordination between marketing and sales to succeed. Add to that content marketing, and you can produce excellent results.

But to make that happen, you need to produce precise content. This can be based on industry, roles and functions of your target decision-makers, or the size of an organization.

That said, here are eight tips that you can use to develop an Account Based Marketing content strategy:

Know Your Target’s “Who” and “What”

Sure, Account Based Marketing means that you are reaching out to a target account. However, every account is made up of a group of decision-maskers.

Before you build a content marketing campaign for a prospect, you need to know who you should target. You also need to identify their roles in an organization.

That’s because a piece of information that matters for a Chief Finance Officer may not matter for a Chief Executive Officer.

However, you should not rely on LinkedIn alone when scouring the Internet to target accounts. You should also look into a company’s annual reports, earning calls, social media accounts, and blog. Doing so can give you an insight into the key issues that a prospect is facing and how your products and services can help solve those.

Use an Account-specific Subdomain

This one is pretty basic but often overlooked.

Whenever you are driving a lead to your website, it would help to use a specific subdomain. Doing so adds a personalized touch. It also makes your prospect feel that you went the extra mile to create an online experience that is unique to them.

As such, it will be inherent for them to engage and interact. That’s called the “power of reciprocity.”

Build a Content-rich Microsite

In relation to the previous point, your account-specific subdomain must have the right pieces of content. This is where having a microsite can come in handy.

Think of your microsite as a content hub. This is where you will organize and present relevant content, third-party data, and resources that will be meaningful to your prospect.

That said, we recommend that you use an ABM platform that can help you build and measure your microsite’s ROI. This includes the number of site visitors, the most accessed content, and how they interact with your data.

Incorporate the Company Name

There is a reason personalization is integral in content marketing. One of which is that it compels your prospect to act.

But do not take our word for it. Let the numbers speak for themselves:

• 74% of consumers are frustrated when web content is not personalized.
• 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand that provides a personalized experience.
• Consumers view personalized content as essential.
• 85% of consumers are influenced to buy because of personalized homepage promotions.
• Personalized calls to action convert two times better than a standard CTA.

A straightforward way to personalize your B2B offer is to incorporate your prospect’s company name. Instead of saying “Learn How to Improve Company Efficiency,” you can say “Improve Efficiency at Oracle.”

Provide the Right Tools to Your Sales Team

As mentioned earlier, Account Based Marketing requires coordination between marketing and sales. As such, you must be providing your sales team with the right tools.

That’s because they will be the ones who will make the connection with your prospects.

Arm your sales team with guided conversations, including value-driven offers like a product demo. That way, they can get the prospects to respond to them and move them further down the sales funnel.

From there, your sales team can gather critical data about your target account. For instance, they can ask whether a prospect uses a competitor’s products and services and what additional features they would like to have.

Pitch a Web-based Presentation

A personalized, content-rich microsite is fantastic, but they are not meant to drive sales. Sure, they allow a prospect to navigate through your content and learn about what you can do for their business. However, it does not demonstrate how your products and services work.

This is where a web-based presentation comes in.

It is like a “virtual salesperson” that pitches your products and services in a linear, storytelling way. Doing so enables you to control your marketing message and pacing. For instance, you can include how your products and services work and how your prospect can make the most out of it.

Offer a Useful Client Experience

Here’s the thing: Prospect-to-salesperson connections do not always happen. That’s because there are target accounts that would like to gather more information before you can urge them to talk to you.

As such, it would be helpful if you could provide your ideal clients with the right tools and content that can support their exploration. This includes interactive white papers, assessments, and quizzes. Doing so can also enable you to accelerate a target account’s consideration phase.

Track and Measure Your Content

Just like with any content marketing campaign, you should always track and measure your efforts.

For instance, you can measure the engagement levels of each persona. That way, you would know which content fosters prospect-to-salesperson connection and generates sales.

On the other hand, you can tweak or eliminate content that does not produce results.

Still, keep in mind that your analytics will only work if you have well-defined goals and KPIs. So ensure that you have them in place before you run an ABM content strategy.

ABM and Content can Work Hand-in-Hand

The content tips listed above are some of the things you can do when building a content marketing strategy for your ABM effort. Regardless, the key here is to produce highly-targeted content.

Build a microsite or a web-based product demonstration that will be relevant to your target account. That way, your prospects will be compelled to interact with you. It will also enable you to guide them further down the sales funnel.

As a result, you can generate excellent ROI.