What if you could see the revenue benefits of Account Based Marketing (ABM) replicated across the entire customer lifecycle? Delivering Account Based Experiences (ABX) is a new priority for businesses who want to build more dynamic and responsive sales relationships with their customers.
The great Andy Crestodina’s classic step-by-step guide to developing an Account Based Marketing strategy showcases how ABM tools and tactics are used to precision-target the right sales prospects.
“Account based marketing begins with identifying your ideal clients, then targeting this small, specific group directly. So, 100% of the audience is relevant. It’s automatic sales-marketing alignment. And it engages prospects earlier in their process before they go to Google...”
Source: Orbit Media
This is traditional Account Based Marketing, a framework for developing meticulously planned and executed outbound campaigns to attract a few choice pre-selected prospects.
As we pointed out in our previous blog on key Account Based Marketing tactics, ABM is like fishing with spears, where you "catch fewer fish …but every one of them is a keeper".
When leads are so valuable and hard to reach, ABM focuses expensive sales and marketing resources on capturing and converting best-fit, target accounts with long-term potential for growth.
But what happens to those leads after they have been converted? How can we enhance the customer experience, ensure we retain more 'fish' and keep developing deeper engagement with target accounts over time?
That’s where ABX comes in.
ABX extends the traditional ABM approach by integrating marketing, sales, and customer service efforts to deliver a more cohesive and personalised customer journey that stretches way beyond the initial sale.
It focuses on providing extraordinary experiences to customers throughout their entire lifecycle. Doing so helps transform prospects first into customers and then into long-term loyalists and advocates who champion your brand.
Through levering data, insight, and personalisation ABX looks to anticipate and respond to their changing needs, making your business the obvious choice for supporting growth and referral within their buying network.
The goal is to deliver a consistently excellent customer experience that nurtures key, long-term customer relationships, positions your loyal customers as the stars of your growth efforts, and ultimately drives revenue.
Using combined account management intelligence, internal analytics and intent data from third parties like Zoominfo - you can continue building customer journeys with target accounts that help, frame and support their ongoing exploration of the solutions within your business.
Utilising advanced analytics can help predict buying behaviours and identify sales opportunities before they become obvious to competitors. For example, by analysing past purchasing data alongside external intent data, companies can predict when a customer might need to reorder or upgrade a product, and reach out proactively with a personalised experience.
Combining internal customer data with external intent signals allows for more dynamic and effective segmentation of account lists. This can lead to more focused marketing and sales efforts, prioritising accounts that show real-time interest in specific solutions, thus optimising resource allocation and potentially increasing conversion rates.
With a deeper understanding of each customer's current solutions and pain points, companies can identify opportunities for cross-selling and upselling more effectively. In the manufacturing industry, for instance, if intent data indicates that a customer is exploring new areas like additive manufacturing or automation, the sales team can propose relevant products or services that complement the customer's existing setup.
Continuous monitoring of account health through holistic data can alert companies to accounts that are at risk of churn. Proactive engagement strategies can be employed to address any issues, improve customer satisfaction, and ultimately enhance retention rates. This might involve providing targeted educational content, special offers, or access to exclusive events that reinforce the value of the company's offerings.
Creating great Account Based Experiences extends the power of targeted ABM way beyond the signing of initial deals. If ABM is laser-targeted lead generation - ABX is about propagating leads for the long term. It’s about creating customer-centric service environments where customers are continually nurtured and supported with extraordinary experiences, so they don’t have to be 'hunted down' again in the future.