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Stages of the ABM Funnel

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A growing number of marketers are using Account Based Marketing (ABM) in their strategies. While there are many marketing strategies for startups, ABM is only for companies adopting a more revenue drive model. Even though traditional marketing funnels are successful, the key to gaining more revenue is through strategy. This tactic involves directing all marketing efforts to specific target accounts. It fills your funnels with as many leads as possible. In this article, we’re going to talk about the steps and implementation of ABM in your business: the ABM funnel.

4 Basic Steps That an ABM Marketing Funnel Follows

Applying ABM to your business is simple. You just need to follow these steps. Read through each step since they are all important.  

1. Align Your Team and Identify the Prospects

The first step in implementing ABM is to align your sales and marketing teams. Both departments must understand the same goals and metrics to work efficiently. Remember that you must only attract leads and prospects that will show an interest in your business. You can’t offer products that do not work with your target market. 

In fact, a report from Demand Gen stated that to adopt a truly focused approach, “18% of companies try to keep their accounts list under 50; 19% target a broad set of accounts, ranging anywhere between 1,000 and 5,000. For a truly focused ABM approach, the report found that 42% of companies try to keep their account list between 50 and 500.”

Next is to identify ideal customers. Since ABM only focuses on prospects that are most likely to buy, you need to be as detailed as possible. The best way to identify your buyer is to look at your current customers. Analyze and create a list of customers that are more successful than the other. Narrow them down until you are able to identify the specific customers. 

2. Personalize your marketing approach

Once you are able to identify your prospects, you can customize your marketing approach. Since each target market is different from the other, you need to make it appealing to your audience. You will use personalized campaigns to engage them specifically—you need to do some research on the prospects. 

When conducting research, you may talk to a CEO or CMO. Create a good marketing strategy and address all their questions. Learn what kind of platforms they use and what their needs are.  A survey by the CEB even found out that consumers were 40 percent more likely to become a customer if they perceive that the content was tailored to their specific needs.

3. Start marketing and engage with the prospect

After researching and planning different ways to market to your target audience, it’s time to engage with them. A study by SiriusDecisions found that 30 percent of marketers who employed an ABM approach generated a 100 percent increase in engagement with C-level prospects. So, if you want to meet new prospects, you need to build their trust. 

4. Ask them to refer you

Once you are able to build a good relationship, you can ask them to refer you to other prospects. This way, you can save money in your marketing efforts. If at all possible, it might even help to have a referral program. According to Alterra Group, 84 percent of marketers even said that ABM helps in retaining and expanding existing client relationships.

Conclusion

ABM is a good marketing strategy that allows you to target a specific audience and earn from them. Instead of creating campaigns for the whole market, you narrow your audience to those that will use or appreciate your product.  

Now that you learned about the ABM funnel, you’ll need to learn about the different types of ABM content. These can help you reach your prospects within target companies much more efficiently, from live content to personalized web pages. Learn more about ABM content with us today!

If you're ready to build a demand generation engine, Colony Spark can help.

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