Unpacking Account-Based Management – The Secret to Great B2B CX

In the world of B2B, customer experience (CX) is more than simply meeting customer expectations; instead, it has become an essential differentiator between B2B organizations. Recent studies show that 80% of B2B buyers expect a buying experience more like B2C with individualized interactions and service. This expectation shift, along with the projection that CX will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator in the B2B space, is driving companies to prioritize CX.

As businesses aim to distinguish themselves from their competitors, retain their most valuable clients, and drive higher revenue growth, CX becomes an integral part of B2B interactions. B2B CX has its unique challenges, though, often making it more difficult than in B2C CX to deliver a consistent and personalized experience.

This is where Account-Based Management (ABM) emerges as a critical foundation and strategic approach that aligns marketing campaigns and sales efforts to provide personalized customer experiences that resonate with high-value decision-makers. Utilizing ADM can have significant results: approximately 87% of B2B marketers say that ABM delivers a higher ROI than any other type of marketing. Additionally, businesses that implement ABM strategies report a 208% increase in revenue from their marketing efforts.

What is Account-Based Management (ABM)?

Account-based management (ABM) is unlike traditional marketing strategies in that it is a targeted strategy that treats individual prospects as their own market and delivers highly focused, individualized messaging. In short, ABM is about identifying potential high-value customers and dedicating specific resources and efforts to engage them through precise, personalized messaging. While conventional marketing techniques aim to attract a large number of customers, ABM focuses first on the most promising prospects.

While the goal of traditional B2B marketing often involves mass email campaigns, social media ads, and broad-based marketing to cast a wide net and attract a high volume of leads, ABM focuses on a select group of high-value accounts with the most significant revenue potential. Therefore, the messaging and content of ABM marketing strategies are much more tailored to each customer, creating a more relevant and engaging CX.

Creating an ABM Strategy that Enhances B2B Success

Since B2B customers are increasingly expecting a customer experience like that of a traditional B2C CX, ABM is uniquely positioned to help businesses enhance their B2B CX through personalized and targeted interactions.

1. Focus On High-Value Accounts

To effectively focus on a smaller number of high-value customers, ABM strategies require selecting the right customers that match the company’s ideal customer profile (ICP) and have the highest revenue potential. Then, identify key data, including their unique business challenges, industry-specific trends, decision-making processes, and stakeholder needs.

To identify and prioritize these high-value accounts, businesses should:

• Develop an ideal customer profile (ICP) by defining the characteristics of ideal customers and their habits, such as industry, company size, revenue potential, and buying behaviors.
• Align the selection criteria using feedback from both marketing and sales teams.
• Use data and analytics tools to identify accounts that match the ICP.

2. Execute Personalization at Scale

Using the insights gained about specific high-value customers, ABM enhances B2B CX through its delivery of personalized content. In fact, about 70% of B2B buyers said they are more likely to choose a vendor that provides individualized content relevant to their needs over businesses who prospect through broad, wide-reaching marketing tactics.

ABM encourages businesses to craft highly personalized experiences for each target account, including tailored content, personalized emails, custom landing pages, and even events or webinars, that speak to each customer’s unique goals and pain points.

3. Align Sales and Marketing

For ABM strategies to be successful, marketing and sales must form a collaborative team with shared goals and consistent, compelling messaging. Organizations with tightly aligned sales and marketing teams achieve 24% faster revenue growth and 27% faster three-year profit growth. For the customer, benefits of this collaboration include:

• Consistent Messaging throughout their journey, reducing confusion and building trust.
• Seamless Transitions between marketing and sales, ensuring they feel valued, heard, and understood at every stage.
• Collaborative Engagement Strategies, leading to more effective and personalized interactions with them.

4. Focus On Metrics & Data-Driven Strategies

Data is an essential part of a successful ABM strategy, from identifying the right prospects and their unique needs to crafting personalized experiences to measuring the campaign’s effectiveness. ABM metrics focus on account identification, customer behavior insights, and predictive analytics.

• Data points such as industry, company size, and past decisions can tell businesses which are the most appropriate prospects for ABM strategies. CRM systems can track and store data from past interactions with customers so all decisions are consistent and informed.
• Through interactions and analysis, companies can gain crucial insights into behaviors and preferences in order to deliver timely and relevant B2B experiences that resonate with current needs.
• Companies can then use analytic tools to measure the ABM campaign’s effectiveness and predictive analytics to forecast future needs for each B2B customer, allowing them to offer solutions before problems arise.

5. Remember It’s About Long-Term Relationship Building

ABM lays the framework for long-term relationships with high-value customers by nurturing deep trust and loyalty through continuous, meaningful engagement. This long-term approach to relationship-building is the cornerstone of exceptional B2B CX. It additionally enhances the business’s reputation on the market through word-of-mouth advertising and increases the potential for expanded business opportunities.,

Challenges & Considerations

ABM is an incredible tool for enhancing B2B CX; however, its implementation is not without challenges. Some potential challenges and areas for consideration include:

• Time & Cost: ABM can be time-consuming and costly for small businesses or those with limited resources. These businesses can consider implementing a pilot program that focuses on a limited number of high-value customers to refine processes and prove the effectiveness of ABM. Automation tools can also help reduce cost.
• Personalization at Scale: In larger organizations, it may be challenging to maintain personalization across multiple accounts, manage multiple complex campaigns, and ensure consistency across these campaigns. These businesses can consider a tier-type structure based on revenue potential, e.g., a one-to-one approach for the highest-value accounts, a one-to-few approach for mid-tier accounts, and a one-to-many approach for lower-tier accounts. This structure facilitates scalability while maintaining personalization. Designated ABM teams can also oversee strategy, execution, and measurement across departments.
• Technology & Data Management: Poor quality, out-of-date, or sequestered data limits the effectiveness of ABM and can lead to misinformed decisions and a potentially messy CX. Businesses can invest in robust data management practices, including cleansing and updating data regularly, integrating data across departments, and using advanced and predictive analytics.
• Measuring ABM Success: For organizations new to ABM, tracking relevant account-level metrics can be challenging. Companies can consider clearly defining KPIs that align with ABM goals, including engagement, deal size, and customer satisfaction, regularly reviewing campaign performance, and making iterative adjustments such as refining content, adjusting messaging, or experimenting with new engagement tactics.