Account-Based Marketing · ABM is a B2B demand generation strategy that enables your team to effectively prioritize resources based on the anticipated return of an account . It’s

Account-Based MarketingThe B2B Demand Generation Guide for SaaS CMOs

2

Table of ContentsTable of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2How to Use This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

ABM Primer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Intro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Flip the Funnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Blended Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Core Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Metrics that Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Four-Step ABM Framework . . . . . 10Step 1—Plan & Strategize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Identify & Prioritize Target Accounts . . . . . .12Develop Your Ideal Customer Profile . . . . . 13Outline Marketing Initiatives by Tier . . . . . .14 Select Channels & Personalization Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Content Customization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Create an ABM Playbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Step 2—Develop & Prepare . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Implement the Tech Stack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Create & Personalize Content . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Planning a Phased Rollout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21Reconnect Sales & Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . 22ABM Playbook Handoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Step 3—Launch & Implement . . . . . . . . . . 24Make Digital Advertising Personal . . . . . . . 25Incorporate Non-Digital Components . . . 26

Step 4—Track & Optimize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Measure Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Program Health Metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Coverage & Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Engagement & Reach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31Influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Program Impact Metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Optimize Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Bonus: Basics of MarTech for ABM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35Intro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Investing in ABM Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37ABM Tech We Recommend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41Solution & Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

About PMG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

3

While ABM may feel like an intuitive next evolution of your marketing and sales strategy, success for your brand will require a significant investment. So if you’re looking for a bootstrapped, growth-hacking approach, this may not be for you . That said, we do point out some key strategies that can result in quick wins for you and your organization .

This guide is broken out into four main sections:

• An ABM primer that serves as a quick introduction to important core elements

• The four steps to create, implement, and measure your ABM program

• A bonus section that goes into more detail about marketing technology (MarTech) for ABM

• A case study that shows real world ABM application for a SaaS company

Throughout this guide, you’ll also notice special callouts for how to incorporate MarTech into your program, and helpful quotes and stats that will lend context to the ABM strategy .

Now that you are up to speed, let’s get started!

How to Use This GuideFor those who are unfamiliar with the world of Account-Based Marketing (ABM)—welcome! We’re glad you’re here. In this guide, you will peek under the hood of ABM to see how it all works, while gaining practical how-to knowledge around implementation, strategy, and more .

4

ABM Primer

Account-Based Marketing is a strategic approach that coordinates personalized marketing and sales efforts to open doors and deepen engagement at specific accounts. – Engagio

5ABM Primer

ABM is a B2B demand generation strategy that enables your team to effectively prioritize resources based on the anticipated return of an account .

It’s all about getting the most impact through strategic, targeted campaigns . Simply put, resources are used to implement a unified, relationship-building program built specifically for a clearly defined set of target accounts within a market .

By default, ABM brings high-value accounts front and center for the Sales and Marketing teams to approach in unison . At its core, ABM provides a multi-touch, personalized campaign to engage your highest priority accounts .

Intro

Why ABM?• Faster, cost-effective customer

acquisition process • Shorter B2B sales cycle• Transparent path to ROI• Precise targeting to reach the

right leads at the right time

6ABM Primer

When it comes to ABM, it’s important to distinguish between “accounts” and “people .” The entire goal of an ABM campaign is to introduce a target company to your company’s offerings in a clear and actionable way . This often means creating content resources and relationship-building initiatives that target an entire segment of an organization . For instance, in larger enterprise-centric organizations, buying decisions are made by a group of people—not just by the highest-ranking C-level executive .

Engaging this cluster of decision-makers involves creating a series of touchpoints that are custom-tailored for multiple influencers within a targeted account. This steers your brand’s key buyer personas (and their circle of decision-maker influence) into your dynamic repository of inbound marketing content .

By using personalized campaigns designed around a target account’s business needs and pain points, the ABM model effectively flips the traditional sales funnel.

Flip the Funnel

Traditional Funnel

Lead-Based

Awareness

Interest

Marketing dollars spent throughout funnel

Consideration

Purchase

Customer Experience

FunnelAccount-Based

Engage

Advocate

Target, discover and spend wisely

Expand

Identify

Adapted from Terminus

7ABM Primer

The highest-performing companies take what’s called a “blended approach” to penetrating target markets and accounts . This allows for distinct strategies and tactics to reach three tiers of prioritized accounts, resulting in a more efficient resource allocation and broader scale of results . A blended approach also incorporates elements of brand awareness into your demand generation program .

Blended Approach

1:1

1:Few

1:Many

High Performers Significantly higher ABM ROI

Average Performers Somewhat higher, same or lower ABM ROI

73

37

One Type

17

42

Two Types

10

21

Three Types

Almost 85% of marketers who measure ROI describe ABM as delivering higher returns than any other marketing approach, with 42% citing significantly higher returns. – ITSMA

Types of Demand Generation

Adapted from DemandBase

8ABM Primer

Implementing an ABM campaign requires an understanding and appreciation of the level of effort and investment required to arrive at success . These campaigns involve an intricate level of collaboration and communication between your Sales and Marketing teams, as well as the folks managing the necessary MarTech tools .

Overall program costs vary in accordance with the initiatives your company chooses to implement, as well as the value of the accounts you’ll target. However, core principles are applicable across the board, regardless of the size of your ABM program:

• Create tight alignment between Sales and Marketing• Focus on long-term customer success, not just initial purchase• Personalize the experience using customer insights• Combine digital and in-person tactics

Core Principles

55% More pipeline opportunities

59% Greater understanding of program performance

67%More qualified prospects

70% Better Sales and Marketing alignment

83% Increased target account engagement with Sales

Top Benefits According to Account-Based Marketers - Demand Metric


9ABM Primer

When it comes to developing your ABM strategy, it’s easy to focus on vanity metrics . These generally include any and all marketing metrics that provide little or no insight into your lead-nurturing efforts within your ABM framework. We won’t distract you with those (we’ll do a deeper dive on holistic measurement a little later), instead, we’ll walk you through four key metrics you and your team should rally around .

• Marketing Qualified Accounts (MQAs): It’s likely the MQL has long been an integral part of your marketing efforts . Now that you’re evolving to an ABM approach, it’s time to embrace the MQA—an innovative marketing metric that will give you a complete picture of your ideal target account . In basic terms, an MQA should fit your parameters or standards of engagement with that particular account .

• Account Reach: This will tell you how many net-new contacts you are reaching within your ABM campaign . This is data that you can fine-tune within your MarTech stack that will give you direct insight into the core decision-maker group you are trying to reach, and the efficacy of your engagement within that group.

• Campaign ROI: While this seems like a no-brainer, many Account-Based Marketers get this wrong . This is largely due to the complex nature of an ABM-based strategy . In other words, there are no quick and easy ROI wins if your ABM lifecycle is months in the making . As a general rule, you should wait the length of your average sales cycle (or have some predictive sales analytics in place) before you start reporting on ABM ROI .

• Customer Retention Rate (CRR): Churn is the bane of every sales professional’s existence, but that’s also why your CRR is such a powerful metric . It ultimately proves that your ABM strategy pays off in the form of repeat business .

Metrics that Matter

10

Four-Step ABM Framework

11Four-Step ABM Framework

Step 1 — Plan & Strategize

ABM helps shift the advantage away from digitally empowered buyers by reapplying fundamental marketing principles like segmenting, targeting, developing rich customer insights, testing, aligning across channels, and acting in response to results .– Forrester

1Plan & Strategize

Establish account map and journey

2Develop & Prepare

Create program components and implement tech

3Launch &

ImplementExecute outreach

and promotion initiatives

4Track & Optimize

Track success and iterate


The first step in rolling out an ABM program involves Sales and Marketing defining which companies to target and engage. This list is based on a comprehensive combination of factors, including the perceived difficulty of breaking through to engage with decision-makers at a particular company, and the anticipated account value. This initial identification and ranking ensures that the most desirable accounts float to the top, and also clarifies their distinct attributes so effective strategies can be employed across the lifespan of engagement .

Due to the high level of investment, ABM initiatives should focus on accounts that have the potential for the greatest return, but are the hardest to penetrate. Your company’s revenue team should collaborate to group your target accounts into three tiers, based on priority .

Step 1 continued

Identify & Prioritize Target Accounts

As your ABM strategy matures over time, your company will want to consider investing in a system that is capable of analyzing Salesforce (or the like) to identify target accounts with a high degree of accuracy based on historical performance . This task can be completed manually, or through the use of MarTech options specifically dedicated to solving for ABM models.


Vertical Identify which industries or verticals best align with your overarching business development and growth goals .

Company SizeResearch ideal companies or accounts by size that would be a good fit for your marketing efforts and sales cycle .

RevenueUncover key revenue requirements for your ideal-fit customer. For instance, a prospective organization could be an excellent fit by industry and company size, but if they don’t have the revenue to support your technology solution you will end up draining time, money, and resources moving them down your ABM nurture path .

Customer BaseUnderstand your ICP’s customer base and how it could help your own product offering evolve and grow . Make sure you have a strong grasp on how your prospect’s business could impact your own business . This will affect how you create ABM content for a particular subset of accounts or industries .

LocationIs there a specific region where your ideal customer should be located? It’s important to identify this parameter as early as possible so you are allocating the proper non-virtual ABM resources appropriately .

Step 1 continued

Develop Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)


Consider the resources available for your ABM program and assign budgets to each tier of target accounts. It’s helpful to document all known constraints upfront to set expectations with all stakeholders who will be impacted . This will also guide parameters for the program as a whole, including an implementation timeline with milestones, goals and KPIs used to track success, and deliverables needed to launch .

Take time to think through what the account journey should look like . The account journey takes into consideration the experiences of multiple stakeholders at an organization instead of focusing on a sole individual . This journey should document and map out each touchpoint and opportunity you have to engage your targets .

Step 1 continued

Outline Marketing Initiatives by Tier

1:Few Accounts

1:Many Accounts

1:1 Accounts

Acc

oun

t A

ttra

ctiv

enes

s

ICP Fit



With a clear understanding of the types of marketing initiatives used for each account, choose the channels that will best deliver the content and drive action at each point in their journey . Determine the appropriate balance of paid and owned channels based on budget, available tools, timelines, and goals .

Uncover opportunities to personalize each element of the account journey for top tier accounts. Don’t underestimate the power of a unique, customized experience . Given the resources and opportunity, when you take the extra step to personalize, you have a chance to delight your target, and earn their attention (and business) .

Ideally, your target account will strongly sense that you are already a part of their world . You're not outside the velvet rope trying to bribe your way into the party . You're already there, mingling with people who matter in their industry . Position yourself to be seen as an insider .

Step 1 continued

Select Channels & Personalization Activities


Content customization has been known to terrorize teams because of the threat of resource drainage . While this absolutely can occur, it can also be avoided with proper planning . This is where the earlier exercise to assign accounts to tiers becomes really useful to ensure your resources are directed at the right accounts .

Step 1 continued

Content Customization

1:1

1:Few

1:Many

HIGH

Low

Inve

stm

ent p

er A

ccou

nt

Create and execute highly-customized programs for individual accounts

Create and execute lightly-customized programs for clusters of accounts with similar issues and needs

Leverage technology to tailor and personalize marketing campaigns for specific, named accounts at scale

Points of CustomizationContent• Titles• Cover pages• Background images• Industry jargon

Digital Advertising• Targeting parameters• Ad creative• Offers• CTAs

Web Content• Content hubs• Headings• Images• Conversion points

Landing Pages• Copy• Images• Testimonials• CTAs



An ABM playbook is the end deliverable of strategic exercises that direct the overall efforts of your program . A robust and meaningful playbook is comprised of layers of strategy and tactics developed in partnership by Sales and Marketing . Using tiered target accounts as the base, you can overlay marketing initiatives, channels, and personalization to get a detailed, yet complete view of your program .

Step 1 continued

Create an ABM Playbook

© 2017 goTransverse LLC - Confidential & Proprietary

Campaign #1 :: Extension Through Digital Ads

In addition to promoting these assets via

marketing automation, digital ads targeted to the

vertical and role (CFO, CPO, VP Product) will

also be employed to drive lead generation.

The sales team will also be enabled with small

graphic snippets from each asset in order to

conduct compelling follow-up activities that link

their communications to content the prospect

has already engaged with for maximum impact.


PROGRAM

STRATEGY THANK YOU


Media Recommendation :: 3-Mo. Pilot Program

PMG recommends goTransverse employ a series of tactics over a range of social, display, and native placements, with the added push of direct mail,

for a 3-month time period. This time frame allows goTransverse the ability to test, learn and optimize.

u Employ a consistent

3-month effort

in each area,

optimizing based

on results

u Test elements

individually or

consecutively to

create an annual

plan

u Track KPIs closely to

determine if/where

engagement is lost

u Keep higher-

performing

elements active

and continue to

optimize

u Adjust audience

targeting and

utilize high-

performing plan

elements for other

verticals


Content Audit & Recommendations

Below is an assessment of the content currently available for campaign use, as well as recommendations to address gaps, and increase vertical

relevancy for the XaaS customer, based on their stage in the buyer’s journey.

S a a S Ve r t i c a l

P o s i t i o n i n gAw a r e n e s s

C o n s i d e r a t i o n

C l o s e

I n t e l l i g e n t B i l l i n g f o r

Yo u r C l o u d B u s i n e s sQ u e s t i o n s / I s s u e s

Q u e s t i o n s / I s s u e s

Q u e s t i o n s / I s s u e s

With its ability to automate subscriptions

AND usage-based services in near real-

time, goTransverse’s intelligent billing

solution offers a unique automation

platform for monetizing cloud services.

Now you can track and dynamically bill

for anything you can measure at global

scale—power usage, data usage, disk

storage, etc. With goTransverse, you

can bundle, price and charge for a

myriad of use cases, including: user

activity, access levels, provider services,

and contractor services. The intelligent

billing system is able to process usage

allowances, overage charges, or issue

denial of service notifications per the

terms outlined in your master services

agreement. Finally, you have a platform

designed with the agility and elasticity

needed for your dynamic business.

• Subscription-based billing isn't meeting our revenue needs, is

there a better solution?

• We're having a hard time finding a subscription pricing model

that doesn't undervalue our product, or create adoption

barriers.

• Pricing and billing is slowing our time-to-market with new

products and features, how can we accelerate that?

• What are the benefits of usage-based billing?

• How difficult is a usage-based model to implement?

• How do we educate and migrate our customers if we move to

usage-based?

• What impacts does a usage-based model create on revenue

recognition?

• What transparency will I have into performance if we move to a

usage-based model?

• What benefits does goTransverse offer over other providers?

• Where does goTransverse rank in terms of industry

validation?

• What customer success stories in our space can

goTransverse point to?

• What does a pilot program with goTransverse look like

(support)?

• What sort of ROI can we expect to see, and when?

E x i s t i n g A s s e t s



• Intelligent Billing & Revenue Explorer (Web Experience)

• 15 Signs You Need a New Billing Platform (Tip Sheet)

• 5 Reasons Usage-Based Billing is a Smart Choice

(Infographic)

• Innovative Business Models that Increase Revenue (White

Paper)

• An Executive Guide to Intelligent Billing Platforms (Buyers Guide)

• 21 Steps to a Smarter Billing Model & Platform (Checklist)

• Go Beyond Subscriptions (Demo Page)

• Forrester Wave 2017 (Analyst Report)

N e e d e d A s s e t s ( f o r D i s c u s s i o n )N e e d e d A s s e t s ( f o r D i s c u s s i o n )

N e e d e d A s s e t s ( f o r D i s c u s s i o n )

• The Best Billing Models for XaaS Companies

(Infographic/pull from Buyers Guide and Rating Tip Sheet,

focus on Rules)

• How XaaS Companies Can Maximize Profits with Flexible

Product Bundles (Tip Sheet)

• Things XaaS Companies Should Consider When Choosing a

Billing Platform (Rework 3 Keys to be XaaS-Specific)

• Build or Buy? Considerations When Establishing a XaaS Billing

Platform (TCO Calculator--can be repurposed for other Verticals)

• 10 New Things XaaS Companies Can Measure with An

Intelligent Billing Platform (Mini-Ebook w/Analytics--can we

repurposed for other verticals)

• XaaS Customer Success Stories (Addressing Key

Differentiators/Stand-alone Case Study Design--Qty 2)

• goTransverse for SaaS (Solution Brief)


Typical title:

CFO at a mid-sized

or private equity firm

Other titles:Chief Accounting Officer, VP of

Finance or Controller at a larger

company, where the CFO may

not be directly involved

Role:Decision Maker

Profile:53 years old

20+ years of experience, including a

stint at a Big Four firm

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting

MBA in Finance

Media Strategy :: Audience & Geographies

For the purposes of this campaign, goTransverse

should target CFO,s, CIOs, CTOs and VPs of

Product at B2B companies, located within key tech

hubs such as San Jose, D.C., Baltinore, Seattle,

Raleigh, San Francisco, Austin and Boston to

maximize its spend. A geo-targeted approach may

also be helpful to goTransverse’s overall paid media

strategy, whereby the focus could be on geos where

“Fast Company” leaders are located. goTransverse

should pilot tests in these markets prior to making a

full investment.

Recommendation: Outline the customer journey

and map content to the conversion path.


Campaign Target

Priorit iesgoTransverse is currently in the process of

finalizing its target account list for the SaaS

vertical. Once complete, for the purpose of

gathering key learnings over the course of this

pilot program, goTransverse plans on deploying

Tier 2 strategies to address the breadth of its list,

and selecting a small subset (approximately 3-5)

accounts, with which to trial a subset of Tier 1

activities, including account-level targeted digital

ads and personalized web experiences, utilizing

their chosen ABM platform (either Terminus or

Trbilio).

Tie r 1 : 1 -10 accounts

Cr i te r ia : Perfect ICP fit, similar to

highest value customers.

LOE: Fully-customized, account-level

messaging, marketing plans and programs.


Cr i te r ia : Strong ICP fit, but a lower lifetime value.

LOE: Lightly-customized programs and campaigns

for clusters of similar accounts.


Cr i te r ia : Fit most ICP criteria.

Worth pursuing, at a lower cost.

LOE: Tailored marketing campaigns leveraging

technology to target specific accounts at scale.

I nv

es

t me

nt

pe

r A

cc

ou

nt

H IGH

LOW


Select Marketing Channels & Activit ies

Underlined below are the recommended activities for goTransverse to test within the context of this program, targeting the XaaS vertical.

Tier 1 (1:1)

• Digital ad personalization by company

• Web/content personalization by company

• Private events, roadshows, webinars

• High-touch direct mail (multiple roles)

• 1:1 outreach at every level (i.e. exec)

• Customized assessments/analyses

Tier 2 (1:Few)

• Digital ad personalization by use case

• Web/content personalization by use case

• Semi-private events, roadshows, webinars

• Direct mail (champion & decision-maker)

• 1:Few outreach with sales automation

• Customized collateral by use case

Tier 3 (1:Many)

• Digital ad personalization by vertical

• Web/content personalization by vertical

• Vertical-focused live events & webinars

• Direct mail (engaged decision-maker)

• 1:Many outreach with marketing automation

• Vertical-focused collateral

I N D I V I D U A L I Z E D

C U S T O M I Z E D

S E G M E N T E D & P E R S O N A L I Z E D


VERTICAL CONTENT

& CAMPAIGN PLAN


Awareness Stage

Consideration Stage

Decision Stage

Media Approach :: Goals & KPIs

Paid media should serve the purposes of both

introducing prospects to the goTransverse brand,

and of course, lead generation through consistent

exposure throughout the buying cycle. Metrics like

Cost Per Click, Cost per View Through, Cost Per

Lead, and Cost Per Qualified Lead can be used to

track progress and optimize performance over time.

Recommendation: Establish campaign objectives,

target audiences, creative/content, and KPIs prior to

selecting media vendors.


Campaign # 1 :: Marketing/Sales Automation

Software isn’t the only thing you can develop in sprints. Meet agile revenue development.

Strategy:

• Address CFO and CPO/VP Product roles, with a singular

message.

• Communicate the value of agile billing to supporting

revenue goals.

• Simultaneously, communicate how agile billing provides

flexibility to experiment with new product offerings and

bundle.

• Introduce the concept of usage-based, or hybrid billing

models, as a better alternative to subscription.


Campaign #1 :: Suggested Content & Cadence

Touch 1:

• Intelligent Billing & Revenue Explorer (Existing)

Touch 2:

• 5 Reasons Usage-Based Billing is a Smart Choice (New)

Touch 3:

• Best Billing/Rating Models for XaaS Companies (New)

Touch 4:

• 3 Things XaaS Companies Should Consider When

Choosing a Billing Model (New)

Touch 5:

• Innovative Business Models that Increase Revenue (Existing)

Touch 6:

• Forrester Wave 2017 (Existing)

Touch 7:

• goTransverse for Xaas (New)

Touch 7:

• Customer Success Story #1 (New)


Media Recommendation :: Channel Placements

Good

Better

Best

Social (LinkedIn)

$11,250$18,750

$18,750

Targeted Display

$20,000$36,000

$50,000

Native Ads

$12,600$12,600

$21,000

Direct Mail

$5,000$10,000

$10,000

Campaign Length3-6 months

3-12 months3-12 months

Budget Total

$48,850

$72,350

$99,750


VERTICAL PAID MEDIA

CAMPAIGN OPTIONS


goTransverse

ABM Campaign

Strategy

XaaS Pilot Program

© 2017 Transverse LLC - Confidential & Proprietary


Objective

Develop targeted

messaging, as well as

a campaign strategy,

focused on a high-

priority vertical for

goTransverse, XaaS.

Utilize the XaaS

campaign strategy for

pilot program to test out

the effectiveness of

Account-Based

Marketing (ABM).

Implement best practices

and technologies that will

allow goTransverse to

scale ABM across its

verticals, augmenting air-

cover programs.

Increase marketing and

sales alignment, as well as

effectiveness–attracting,

engaging, converting,

retaining, and growing

new, high-value accounts.


Step 2 — Develop & Prepare

77% of consumers have chosen, recommended or paid more for a brand that provides a personalized service or experience.– Forrester

1Plan & Strategize


2Develop & Prepare


3Launch &



4Track & Optimize



The right marketing technology stack is essential to developing and executing successful ABM strategies and programs . Begin by documenting your existing tech stack so you can pinpoint any gaps that need to be filled. Once you have selected the tools, you’ll need to establish your program and create an implementation plan to get the technology in place prior to launch . There are literally hundreds of tools you can use to help execute an ABM program, but it’s important to try and at least cover your foundational needs to ensure success .

1. Your first priority should be implementing a marketing automation platform that allows your company to become more organized and programmatic with its efforts .

2. Next, consider an ABM orchestration platform to coordinate activities spanning Sales and Marketing within top accounts .

3. Finally, layer account and lead insights and personalization (ad/web) on top of your company’s CRM for hyper-targeted programs .

To learn more about MarTech, check out the special bonus section on page 35 .

Step 2 continued

Implement the Tech Stack

Later, as you become more advanced in ABM, predictive analytics can be considered to expand your list of target accounts .


With the account map and journey documented, it’s time to shift into execution mode and create the core suite of content and assets needed to launch your program. You’ll need to finalize your campaign messaging, then produce the content you’ll use to develop personalized iterations for your tiered target accounts .

Step 2 continued

Create & Personalize Content


Depending on your timeline, a phased approach for production might ease strain on resources and create opportunities to learn and optimize early on . The approach you take can vary widely based on the complexity of your program and content library . Here is one potential approach:

Phase 1 Begin with the content and channels that will serve as first or early touchpoints for your targets . This content can include display ads, retargeting, social, and demand generation content (blog posts, videos, infographics and case studies), and the associated landing pages and email content needed to nurture these new leads .

Phase 2 The next wave of production is centered on content that will continue to push leads towards close, like white papers, ebooks, and webinars .

Phase 3 The most important area of focus is sales enablement . Your Sales team needs a robust library that speaks to each persona at each stage of the buyer's journey so salespeople have a solution for every lead, regardless of where that lead is in their decision-making process. This area often doesn’t get enough attention as it’s easy to oversimplify, so we’re going to talk through this in more detail .

Step 2 continued

Planning a Phased Rollout


Let’s hear it a little bit louder for the people in the back: There is no ABM strategy in existence that will net ROI without the support of an empowered Sales team .

According to the ABM Leadership Alliance, one of the common challenges that arises when implementing ABM campaigns involves the Marketing to Sales handoff . As target accounts move through the buyer’s journey and shift out of the top-of-funnel (TOFU) marketing campaign phase and into the more bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) positions, your ABM strategy needs to address how best to empower Sales with tools that assist in creating a seamless transition in communication .

This challenge is overcome by ensuring your organization’s Marketing team places a priority on developing the resources, training, and content that Sales needs in order to effectively assist their leads with making a final purchasing decision.

Step 2 continued

Reconnect Sales & Marketing

SALES

MARKETING

Marketers implementing ABM are about 40% more likely to report alignment with their Sales team compared to marketers not doing ABM .– Bizible


It would be such a shame to work hard only to trip just steps short of the finish line! To ensure a seamless experience for your target accounts, it is critical that your Sales team has a detailed understanding of all the touchpoints with leads and how they are expected to follow up. Don’t just hand them a set of enablement materials and check out .

Just prior to launch, provide Sales with the ABM playbook so they have an at-a-glance view of each campaign and any associated actions they should take (with corresponding materials) .

Step 2 continued

ABM Playbook Handoff

“The best way to ensure your ABM campaign is successful is to coordinate Sales and Marketing activities, ensuring the buying process is seamless from start to end .”– Andrew Mahr, Triblio VP Client Success


Step 3 — Launch & Implement

By delivering personalized ABM campaigns at scale, marketers can improve click-through rates by nearly double and improve cost-per-clicks by nearly 30%. – AdRoll

1Plan & Strategize


2Develop & Prepare


3Launch & Implement

Execute outreach and promotion

initiatives

4Track & Optimize



Although robust tools make targeted digital advertising easier, you can get started without a new ABM tool by taking advantage of basic opportunities, like loading a contact list into Twitter or LinkedIn for paid social, to reach precisely the people you want. This is an efficient use of your paid budget as you can filter reach to those who matter most to you. It also presents an opportunity for micro-targeted campaigns with customized content upon click-through . This is just one more way to extend the personalized experience for your target accounts .

Pre-target prospects with personalized adsTargeted ads with messages customized to the account, use case, or vertical can be served up via display, mobile, social, or video . This limits marketing spend to its highest-value prospects, warming them up for Sales outreach .

Increase relevance with customized web experiencesMany engagement platforms include web personalization capabilities, enabling select incoming traffic to be segmented by account, use case, or vertical .

Step 3 continued

Make Digital Advertising PersonalIn a NewsCred experiment with Sponsored Content on LinkedIn, they found that for every $1 spent on program, they could expect $17.60 in new revenue.– Marketo


A true ABM campaign employs both digital and in-real-life approaches to capture and hold the attention of target accounts . In conjunction with digital advertising outreach, your team will need to have plans in place to communicate in-person via tangible, non-virtual methods .

Direct MailDirect mail is a fantastic way to introduce your company and start a conversation . The possibilities are endless, but the overall effort is rewarded with high impact and tie-in to your campaign .

Stakeholder OutreachWhile sales outreach is an essential element of any ABM strategy—other people at your company within roles that mirror those of your company’s target personas should also participate, particularly in outreach to the highest-value accounts .

EventsEvents come in all shapes and sizes . Consider high-touch events like a private VIP dinner or a thought leadership summit to provide value and create a deeper connection .

RoadshowsRoadshows are a compelling way to implement field marketing on the next level . You are able to meet your targets where they are and build momentum as you travel to each new city .

GiftsNo more junky swag that will get dropped in the nearest waste bin . Armed with an attendee list, you can send personalized, high-value gift baskets to target conference attendees . Sending gifts straight to their hotel room will help break past the chaos of the tradeshow floor.

WebinarsYes, while technically a virtual tactic, webinars are included in this section lest you think you can’t host an event because of budget or logistical concerns .

Step 3 continued

Incorporate Non-Digital Components

ABM orchestration platforms like Engagio can be used not just to map out “plays,” but in some cases, to track activity and engagement at the account-level, providing insight into when an account is “hot .”


Step 4 — Track & Optimize

97% of marketers surveyed say ABM has higher ROI than other marketing activities.– Alterra Group

1Plan & Strategize


2Develop & Prepare


3Launch &



4Track & Optimize



In order to have a solid understanding of performance, it’s essential to have tracking in place that measures the right KPIs . ABM metrics will look familiar to other KPIs used by Sales and Marketing, but there are some important differences .

Make sure to account for the range of reporting needs in order to run and optimize an ABM program, and speak to its overall performance. We’ve separated metrics into two sections:

Program Health Program Health provides a detailed breakdown that shows whether the strategies and tactics are working . These metrics are most useful at the campaign and target account level . Look at these metrics through the lens of the entire target account as opposed to the level of the individual lead—in this case, quality trumps quantity . Account context is key to interpreting these metrics, as is setting a baseline to show relative progress .

Program Impact Program Impact shows a topline view that communicates the business impact of program results . These metrics are most useful at the aggregate program level and unlike Program Health, have a natural focus on quantity or volume .

Step 4 continued

Measure Success

Companies that have implemented ABM experienced a 171% increase in their Annual Contract Value .– The ABM Leadership Alliance


While campaign and pipeline KPIs are incredibly important, you’ll need to understand the health of your ABM program at the macro and micro levels . Looking at the data in this way can also help to quickly uncover weaknesses that can be corrected .

These KPIs are very granular and dissect each aspect of the program to uncover strengths and weaknesses, and reveal which strategies are working . Simply, this perspective looks at whether you have complete information and if your program is causing your target accounts to take the desired actions . These KPIs fall under five main categories: coverage, awareness, reach, engagement and influence.

Step 4 continued

Program Health Metrics

Key Performance

Indicators


CoverageHow well do you know and understand your target accounts and the individuals you will be reaching out to? These foundational details have a direct impact on the success of your program .

• Completeness of organization chart• Number of up-to-date contacts within

the organization chart• Number of email opt-ins

AwarenessDo your targets know your company and what you sell? For a more relative view, look for an increase of visits/interactions over time, which indicates a higher percentage of individuals at your target organization who are aware of your company .

• Website traffic from target IP addresses• Number/percentage of individuals who

have had interactions with brand and content

Step 4 continued

Coverage & Awareness

Key Performance

Indicators


ReachIs your program reaching your target? In this case, reach measures the effectiveness of your tactics .

• Percent of target accounts that have engaged with your company (or have taken an action)

• Percent of engagements that come from individuals at target accounts

EngagementAre your tactics causing individuals to take action? Measure total engagement with your company at the aggregate account level .

• Website visits• Product usage• Social shares, follows, likes,

and comments• Email open and reply rates• Content downloads• Event attendance• Sales interactions

Step 4 continued

Engagement & Reach

Key Performance

Indicators


InfluenceIs your ABM program having an impact on sales outcomes? Look for correlations in your data to connect tactics to KPIs that are important to your company .

• How X (engagement, content, channel etc .) affects: – Sales cycle – Contract values – Lifetime value

Step 4 continued

Influence

Key Performance

Indicators


Beyond having a complete understanding of each component of your ABM program’s health, you’ll want to track KPIs that quickly and clearly communicate the business impact . Particularly for audiences outside of Sales and Marketing teams, focus on topline KPIs that are already established and familiar . These KPIs fall under three main categories: marketing revenue, pipeline influence and campaign engagement .

Marketing Revenue Measure Contribution• Marketing influenced

and sourced revenue• First-touch/source campaign ROI• Last-touch ROI• Campaign influence

Pipeline Influence Measure Impact• Visitors• Prospects• MQAs• SAAs• Won opps• Conversion rate between stages• Velocity between stages

Campaign Engagement Monitor & Diagnose• Impressions• Clicks• Reach• Form & landing page conversion• Paid advertising conversion

Step 4 continued

Program Impact Metrics

There are platforms that unify data from multiple ABM platforms to make your program tracking more intuitive and robust. Having all the data in the world is useless if you aren’t able to transform it into meaningful reports and recommendations .

Measure Contribution

Measure Impact

Monitor & Diagnose


Apologies upfront, ABM is not a “set it and forget it” program . However, by frontloading the work of establishing solid tracking for your metrics, you are empowered to continually learn and improve .

Review performance at the macro and micro level to gauge overall success and identify what to change or test . The simplest way to do this is to digest the entire account journey and look for outliers . Are there any elements that had an outsized impact, positive or negative? If yes, dig in to more deeply understand why .

Ultimately, once you have a good baseline for your ABM program, there are limitless opportunities to optimize.

Step 4 continued

Optimize Activities

Optimization

IterateIterate

Launch

Measure

35

Bonus: Basics of MarTech for ABM

36Bonus: Basics of MarTech for ABM

It’s not an exaggeration to say that MarTech has quickly become a dense jungle to navigate . With new and old solutions alike making tempting promises, how do you even begin to wade through the confusion and decide what your tech stack should look like?

Let’s break it down.

Thinking broadly, MarTech generally falls into one of the following categories:

• Infrastructure• Identification• Marketing• Sales Enablement• Measurement

While a thoughtful and effective ABM campaign can be run manually and managed piece by piece, companies that have chosen to invest a significant portion of their marketing budget into this highly-targeted and impactful marketing strategy will want to consider investing in ABM-specific MarTech.

Intro

CR

M

MA

S

DM

P

CMS

Tag

Management

Sales

Inte

ligence

Account

Insights

ContactDevelopment

Analytics

Testing &

Optimization

Busin

ess

Intellig

ence

Attrib

utio

n

& R

epo

rting

Live Chat

Data

Predictive

AnalyticsAdvertising

Social

Web

site

Co

nte

nt

Perso

nalizatio

n

Em

ail

Events

MEASUREMENT

SALE

S

ENA

BLE

MEN

T

INFRASTRUCTUREID

ENTIFICAIO

N

MARKETING

ABMTech Stack



When reviewing ABM tool capabilities, there might be some crossover with your existing MarTech stack, but there are likely several weak spots that could be addressed with a new tool to improve your ABM program strategy, execution, and measurement . ABM tools are used to:

• Identify targets and/or expand contact info for targets• Engage accounts through customized content and campaigns• Measure results and impact through attribution, and tie

campaign results back to revenue and pipeline metrics

After compiling your company’s level of investment and priority, your team’s capabilities, and existing MarTech stack, make a detailed wish list that identifies tools that fill gaps. With your wish list in hand, revisit your ABM strategy and the account journeys you outlined . Are there any components you feel unsure about or would be overly challenging to execute without a tool?

Once you have a clear understanding of your working state, simply narrow your list down to “must have” and “nice to have .” At this point, ensure you go back and update your ABM strategy to reflect your updated MarTech stack, and any constraints that have been identified.

Investing in ABM Tech

Identify Targets

Engage Accounts

Measure Results


ABM Tech We Recommend

Create coordinated plays between Sales and Marketing and understand account engagement at the department and role level via a heatmap, so Sales can strike when the iron is hot .

Leverage multi-touch marketing attribution and revenue planning software to align execution and measurement of business objectives .

Fully automate the ABM process, including identification of target accounts with the greatest revenue potential, and tie results to revenue-based account analytics .

Scale one-to-one account targeting for high-pipeline impact with hyper-targeted advertising, web, and sales plays .

Deliver account-based digital advertising to provide essential reach and coverage, with the ability to track engagement and progression of target accounts .

Use AI to analyze your Salesforce data and create personalized experiences for thousands of accounts with scalable one-to-one sales and marketing campaigns

Automated lead management that matches incoming leads against accounts to keep attribution clear and identify areas that need to be appended .

Discover companies actively researching your solution and utilize predictive models to prioritize your database at a global or hyper-segmented level .

Improve Sales efficacy with mapped org charts, contact information, and organizational change data .

Leverage sophisticated content hubs, lean forms, and data attribution to deliver integrated ABM programs across the entire funnel .


A successful ABM program requires a strategic approach and serious investment, but companies across all industries are witnessing that resource allocation to ABM can have tremendous ROI . If your team is able to reach higher quality leads within your most coveted accounts, and connect with them in a way that shortens the funnel, why bother with a

“batch and blast” approach and a hyperextended sales cycle?

Are you looking for a strategic partner to help apply ABM to your business? Reach out to PMG to learn more about how we can help your team drive demand and activate growth.

Conclusion

https://thepmgco.com/contact/

40

Case Study

41Case Study

goTransverse, a cloud-based billing solution for enterprise companies in IoT, media, utilities, cloud software, and more, was achieving accolades for its products but needed to increase market awareness and drive more leads, particularly in targeted verticals .

The company identified SaaS as a high-growth opportunity segment for their business and needed to define a programmatic method of ranking their top target accounts to drive demand within the vertical .

Situation

“PMG’s first-hand knowledge of the B2B tech landscape was invaluable in driving our transition to an Account-Based Marketing strategy.”– Allison Dancy, VP Marketing

42Case Study

goTransverse engaged PMG for assistance with defining an ICP for SaaS and developing a ranking system by which they could create three tiers of potential target accounts, based on that ICP .

Our team developed a comprehensive ABM strategy and campaign framework—including the development of a model to “tier” their target accounts—and performed a full gap analysis of the company’s MarTech stack including the recommendation of solutions .

We continued on to develop compelling B2B content and collaborate with their team on the launch of a demand generation campaign that resulted in a 23% decrease in CAC by the second month of the program—showcasing the power of a sound ABM strategy and well-executed plan .

From the development of an ABM framework and MarTech stack strategy, to the creation of a comprehensive B2B content marketing and demand generation campaign, our team collaborated with the client to reach SaaS leaders at high-priority accounts .

Solution & Results

We craft powerful narratives that help you build brand,

expressing your story in your buyer’s language.

We create captivated audiences that drive demand

across diverse marketing mediums and channels .

We combine creativity and subject matter expertise to

communicate the value of your groundbreaking technologies .

Tech Titans and SaaS Disruptors across the ecosystem choose PMG to tell their best stories .

About PMG

Branding & Messaging

Content Marketing

Digital Advertising

Email Marketing

Campaign Management

Event Marketing

GTM Strategy

Sales Enablement

Account-Based Marketing

Integrated Campaigns

hello@thepmgco .com

thepmgco .com

@thepmgco

605 Barnes StreetVancouver, WA 98661

© 2018 PMG . All rights reserved .

Ready to Tell Your Story?

mailto:hello%40thepmgco.com%20?subject=

https://thepmgco.com

https://twitter.com/thePMGco

Documents

Account-Based Marketing · ABM is a B2B demand generation strategy that enables your team to effectively prioritize resources based on the anticipated return of an account . It’s