Lead-Based Marketing is a marketing method often compared with ABM.
Lead-Based Marketing is an approach that conducts consistent marketing activities for a wide range of prospective customers, gradually narrowing them down to prospects with a high probability of closing orders.
On the other hand, ABM is an approach that narrows down target companies in advance, executes customized marketing strategies for the entire company, and gradually expands touchpoints.
While ABM starts from specific companies (accounts), Lead-Based Marketing differs in that it starts from a wide range of prospective customers (leads).
Which strategy to adopt depends on the characteristics of the product and the market.
ABM is suitable when high-value contracts or long-term relationships with large companies are important and you want to concentrate resources on a small number of accounts, whereas Lead-Based Marketing is suitable when it is required to find high-quality customers from among many prospects.
Differences Between ABM and Demand Generation
There is another method often compared with ABM called Demand Generation.
Demand Generation refers to the entire series of marketing activities in which the marketing department stimulates product awareness and interest among prospective customers, and increases their purchasing intent.
The difference from ABM is that it can approach a wider range of prospective customers and markets.
As implementing both strategies enables efficient and high-ROI sales activities, an increasing number of companies are adopting a hybrid approach that combines ABM with demand generation.
Three Benefits of Implementing ABM
What benefits does the implementation of ABM bring? Here, we introduce three major points.
1. Reduction of Lead Time
The first benefit is the reduction of lead time.
Because ABM is a methodology that involves selecting prospects before approaching them and focusing on building connections with stakeholders and key decision-makers, it is expected to deliver results within a shorter lead time.
In particular, for companies handling products with high unit prices that typically require a long time to close, practicing ABM can lead to a significant reduction in lead time.
2. Improvement of ROI
The second benefit is the improvement of ROI.
By effectively implementing ABM, you can reduce advertising and sales activity costs associated with lead acquisition.
Furthermore, it allows you to decrease outreach to prospects with a high probability of loss, enabling you to reallocate those resources toward high-probability customers.
Since you can focus your sales activities on customers more likely to lead to meetings and orders, you can expect an improvement in ROI.
3. Improving Customer Loyalty
The third benefit is the improvement of customer loyalty.
ABM involves identifying target companies and delivering proposals to stakeholders and key personnel that address their specific challenges. Ultimately, this leads to a customer-centric approach, making them feel that you are genuinely invested in their success rather than simply trying to make a sale.
While acquiring new customers is essential for business continuity, increasing repeat business and enhancing customer loyalty to improve LTV (Lifetime Value) is equally critical. Implementing ABM will have a significant impact on improving LTV.
Steps for Implementing ABM
Next, let us look at the actual process for implementing ABM. We will explain it in four major steps.
Step 1. Selecting Target Accounts
ABM is a marketing methodology that identifies high-value customers who will benefit your company based on pre-defined targets. Therefore, the selection of target accounts (companies) is the key to the success of your ABM initiatives.
When selecting target accounts for ABM, the primary criterion is whether the company will generate profit for your business. Use the following criteria as a guide to clarify your ideal customers.
- Large Corporate Scale
- High Potential for LTV Improvement Through Upselling and Cross-selling
- Companies in Growth Industries or Markets
- High Competitive Advantage Within the Industry and Large Corporate Size
Once you have identified your ideal customer profile based on these selection criteria, the next step is to find the key persons who are the decision-makers at those target companies.
Information on key persons can be obtained from sources such as executive and employee profiles on corporate websites, personnel change announcements, and securities reports.
Selecting target accounts requires information necessary for segmentation, such as industry, revenue, and number of employees, as well as broader industry data like corporate news and market trends. Ensure you have an environment in place where you can collect, integrate, and analyze high-quality data.
Reference Article: What Corporate Information Should Be Acquired for ABM? A Guide to Data Acquisition and Management Methods ▶︎
Step 2. Channel Selection
Next, analyze the channels (media) that the key persons at your target companies use on a daily basis to select the most effective channels. Examples of channels that can help you establish contact with key persons are as follows.
- Telephone (Direct Sales)
- Email
- Direct Mail
- Exhibitions
- Events
- Web Advertising
- SNS Advertising
- Transit Advertising (Taxi, Train, etc.)
- Television Commercials
- Owned Media
- Newspaper and Magazine Advertising
As mentioned above, in addition to direct telemarketing, various approaches that integrate sales and marketing can be considered.
Participating in exhibitions and events that allow you to build connections with senior-level executives, as well as effectively utilizing advertising strategies, can also be highly effective.
It is also important to understand the characteristics of your target companies and key persons.
For example, if the target company's business partners have their headquarters within the 23 wards of Tokyo, and considering that transportation is almost exclusively by taxi or train, placing transit advertisements within the 23 wards of Tokyo can be expected to create touchpoints with key persons.
Select the optimal channels for your company while also taking into account the characteristics of your products and services. Combining multiple channels can also be effective.
Step 3. Determining Content and Messaging
Once you have selected your approach channels, create the content and messages you will actually provide.
What is important in ABM is to provide content that is optimized for each individual company.
Examples of content include email newsletters, webinars, company-specific events, white papers, and sales materials.
Thoroughly consider how to promote your solutions by aligning them with the specific challenges of each company, industry-specific issues, and the missions of key persons.
Step 4. Campaign Execution, Performance Measurement, and Improvement
Finally, conduct effective campaigns and sales activities tailored to your chosen channels.
When executing initiatives, do not simply implement them blindly; monitor your sales activities and campaign results so that you can analyze and improve them later.
While you can aggregate activity results using internal tools like Excel to keep costs down, ABM is an initiative where collaboration between the marketing and sales departments is critical. By utilizing a dedicated tool equipped with ABM functions, you can generate significantly greater results.
Reference Article: What Is an ABM Tool? Explaining Its Importance and the Three Benefits It Brings to Companies ▶︎
Key Points for Achieving Results with ABM
There are several points to keep in mind to achieve results with ABM. Here, we introduce three major points.
1. Develop a Strategy After Visualizing the Entire Market Universe
The first point is to develop a strategy after visualizing the entire market universe.
When selecting target accounts, if you do not grasp the entire market where your products can be deployed, you cannot select the optimal accounts.
There is a possibility that you may miss opportunities to approach potential customers who could actually utilize your products.
Methods for identifying the market universe internally include using the Corporate Number Publication Site or corporate registries, but it is a fact that building this data takes time.
By utilizing an external corporate database, you can grasp the market universe more efficiently. In particular, including the number of corporate data records and the variety of segmentation axes as criteria for adoption will enable you to implement more effective ABM.
Reference Article: Detailed Explanation of How to Proceed with ABM Strategy and Best Practices for Solving Challenges ▶︎
2. Organize Customer Data and Conduct More Accurate Data Analysis
The second point is to organize customer data and conduct more accurate data analysis.
Data analysis is always critical in the ABM workflow, such as when selecting target accounts, choosing channels, or creating content.
For example, by analyzing your existing customers in detail, you can identify companies with similar attributes or pain points and create content that effectively addresses their specific challenges.
By cleansing and consolidating your customer data to eliminate outdated or duplicate entries, you can perform highly accurate data analysis. By improving the precision of your data analysis, you can execute ABM initiatives that are more aligned with real-world conditions.
3. Facilitate Collaboration Between Sales and Marketing Departments
The third point is to facilitate collaboration between the sales and marketing departments.
To achieve success with ABM, it is essential to establish a system that allows for immediate outreach once high-value customers have been identified.
One effective measure is to introduce tools that allow the sales department to view the results of data extraction and analysis performed by the marketing department in real time. We should build an environment that fosters seamless communication between the sales and marketing teams.
Reference Article: What Are the Three Challenges to Solve for ABM Success? Introducing Data Utilization as the Key to Solutions ▶︎
Streamline ABM with uSonar
Implementing ABM involves various critical points and considerations, such as data integration to facilitate target selection and interdepartmental collaboration, operational maintenance, and environment setup for performance measurement. Achieving these using only internal resources requires significant effort.
There is a risk of concluding that ABM is ineffective if you attempt to implement it based on insufficient data. This leads to missed opportunities where companies abandon ABM entirely because they are unable to execute optimal strategies.
Introducing uSonar services may resolve many of these issues. uSonar solves the data-related problems that are essential for ABM success.
Leveraging a Database Covering Domestic Locations
uSonar maintains a vast range of corporate information, from large enterprises to sole proprietorships, and provides the LBC corporate database, which covers entities down to the branch and office level. By utilizing LBC, you can extract your priority targets in real time, not just at the company level, but at the specific location level, without omissions.
High-Precision Data Consolidation and Maintenance
To conduct ABM, it is essential that your corporate information is standardized first.
uSonar achieves high-precision data consolidation using a master database built on over 20 years of support experience. We quickly detect and maintain all changes, such as variations in spelling, company name changes, and address relocations.
Since information in integrated SFA systems is also updated automatically, you can reduce the internal resources required for data maintenance.
Analyze Customers with a Wide Variety of Corporate Attributes
uSonar assigns various corporate attributes to each company. In addition to basic attributes such as industry, location, and revenue, we have built qualitative attributes called "Stories" that summarize corporate characteristics and interests.
By utilizing these stories, you can analyze target companies from a more multifaceted perspective.
For more details, please feel free to contact us via this page.
Summary
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a marketing methodology that achieves high performance by targeting specific companies and key personnel for effective engagement. Implementing ABM offers numerous benefits, including shortened lead times, improved ROI, and strengthened customer loyalty.
However, practicing ABM requires clearly defined objectives and strategies, as well as comprehensive data collection and analysis. By visualizing the entire market through customer data and market analysis, companies can develop more precise and accurate strategies.
Through the practice of ABM, companies can build long-term relationships with their clients. If you are considering implementing ABM, please use this article as a guide to develop the optimal ABM strategy for your organization.
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