Account-based marketing (ABM) can help you close high-fit, high-value prospects into customers and then expand their engagement with your company over time through a highly-tailored approach.
While ABM strategies are most commonly associated with tactics like paid advertising and direct sales outreach, they can be implemented across multiple channels and tactics.
Here are four ways you can incorporate ABM into your website strategy:
1. Build Specific Site Pages for Top Target Accounts
A lot of research goes into identifying the specific goals and challenges of your target account so you can create custom content that resonates with them. You can build web pages with that content so when members of your target account visit your website, they receive a personalized experience.
“I almost think of them as like microsites,” says Principal Inbound Strategist Alyssa Lowry. “You can either integrate them into your site as a page that would show up when a prospect types in your homepage URL or they could be used to drive to from a paid campaign or an email campaign that you’re sending to that audience.”
For example, you could create an alternate homepage that tailors your value proposition around the target account’s unique pain points, with testimonials and trustmarks from companies similar to theirs. Or you could build a solutions page that specifically calls out all the criteria they’ve mentioned they’re evaluating.
2. Curate Resources Based on Events Attendance
Events provide great opportunities to engage with target accounts in real time, but how can you keep the momentum going once the event ends? Follow-up with curated content.
“What marketers are now missing from in-person events is the direct contact with potential customers. One way to replicate that is through event follow-up initiatives. If you can do that at the company level, you can be more tailored in your message,” says Manager of Web Strategy Kelly Molloy.
“As a byproduct of their event attendance, you already have some information to help you personalize beyond any research you’ve done,” Alyssa points out.
For example, if you know what sessions members of the company attended, you can put together a resource library with educational content that builds upon the topics they’ve shown an interest in. Or, if they spoke with a member of your sales team, you can create a custom webpage reiterating the important points of your conversation. Be sure to include trustmarks like relevant case studies that can help build your credibility and move the contact forward in the sales process.
3. Create Chatbots Based on Target Account Pain Points
Not all ABM content on your website has to live on a webpage. Chatbots can also be used to enhance the experience of target accounts.
If you know what solutions an account is evaluating and what challenges they’re working to overcome, you can create a custom chatbot that addresses them by company name and guides them to relevant information.
“Where I’ve seen chatbots be most effective is on pages that are in the consideration or decision phase because typically the pain points you’re trying to address are obstacles to closing a sale or competitive differences between your product and another product they’re considering,” Alyssa says.
For example, you can place a chatbot on a solutions page to guide the user to case studies about similar companies. Or, if you know a prospect uses a competing solution, you could have a chatbot that links to a comparison between your offering and the competitors’.
4. Build Content Focused on Existing Customers
In addition to using ABM to acquire new target customers, you can also use it to expand your existing key accounts. One way to do so is to create content targeted to existing customers, focusing on helping them get the most value out of their current engagement and guiding them toward upsell opportunities.
“You can speak directly to how the current company is leveraging your product or services, the benefits they provide, and if you can get a quote or review from someone who works at the company, you can really connect it to make it more grounded,” Kelly says. “It’s essentially a sales pitch. You’re trying to convince the decision-makers that it’s worth renewing or purchasing additional services with your company.”
“The other way I’ve seen it handled, taking a step back from the actual decision-making, is identifying areas of the platform that are underutilized by current customers and showcasing those products through either case studies or ROI calculators to drive demand before getting into the details of cost or upsell pricing,” Alyssa adds.
Fostering internal champions who’ve fully adopted your product and have experienced value firsthand can go much further in renewal conversations than just a sales pitch.
When Should You Use ABM on Your Website?
ABM can be a highly effective strategy for business growth, but its highly tailored nature means that it shouldn’t be the only strategy you employ.
“It’s ultimately a high-risk, high-reward play. Your ABM strategy is really only as good as the intelligence you have around these accounts,” Alyssa says. “We really need a compelling reason for separating these accounts out as opposed to folding them into our general inbound strategy.”
To determine if it’s worth using an ABM strategy for an account, Alyssa recommends thinking through these questions:
- How significant is the potential revenue you could gain from your account?
- Are their challenges unique enough that they couldn’t be addressed with your existing persona-targeted content?
In addition to whether or not you’ll recoup your investment into creating personalized content, you also need to consider whether or not you have a way to get that content in front of its target audience.
“You need to think about ABM holistically,” Kelly says. “Don’t only think about the pages you’re going to build. Make sure you think about how people will get there and how you’ll measure the success of the ABM campaign you’re running.”
If you have no conversion path in place for target accounts preceding and following the specific content resources you can create, that content likely won’t drive the results you want.
The conversion path you need to plan extends beyond just marketing too. ABM requires buy-in from sales. If your marketing and sales strategies aren’t aligned around who should be targeted through your ABM strategy and how to guide them through the entire buyer’s journey, you’re not ready to start doing ABM.
