Account-Based Marketing For Dummies

Sangram Vajre has quickly built a reputation as one of the leading minds in B2B marketing. Before co-founding Terminus, a SaaS platform for account-based marketing, Sangram led the marketing team at Salesforce Pardot. He has spoken on the topic of marketing technology around the world and is the mastermind behind #FlipMyFunnel.

• Introduction 1About This Book 2Foolish Assumptions 2Icons Used in This Book 4Beyond the Book 4Where to Go from Here 5Part 1: Getting Started with Account-based Marketing 7Chapter 1: Introducing the Basics of Account-Based Marketing 9Defining Account-Based Marketing 10Pouring leads into the funnel 10Moving away from lead-based marketing 12Flipping the Funnel 14Identifying your best-fit contacts 15Expanding contacts into accounts 16Engaging accounts on their terms 16Creating customer advocates 17Chapter 2: Making the Case for Account-Based Marketing 19Understanding Why B2B Companies Need Account-Based Marketing 20Measuring leads is no longer enough 22Maximizing your marketing efforts 22Starting the Conversation about ABM 23Investing your resources the right way 23Supporting sales productivity 23Influencing customer sentiment 26Driving More Revenue from Account-Based Marketing 28Generating qualified opportunities 29Closing more new business 29Preventing customer churn 30Chapter 3: Aligning Sales and Marketing 31Setting the Right Marketing Goals 32Changing the B2B game 33Creating a message that works for sales 35Driving Revenue through Teamwork 36Selling the dream 37Building your “A” team 38Renewing the Vows between Marketing and Sales 40Connecting to marketing 41Talking to your sales team 41Setting realistic expectations 42Playing to your strengths 44Chapter 4: Selecting Tools 45Understanding Marketing Technology 46Determining your MarTech needs 46Assessing your resources 48Building a MarTech Stack 48Defining your digital presence 54Setting Up Your Platforms 54Integrating your software 54Managing ABM tools 56Tying everything back to an account 57Types of Marketing Activities 58Advertising 58Social 59Events 59Direct mail 60Content 61Webinars 63Email 64Calls 66Part 2: Identifying Accounts for Marketing 67Chapter 5: Targeting Your Best-Fit Accounts 69Focusing on the Right Market 70Specifying the industry 70Sizing the company 71Segmenting by industry and company size 71Creating an Ideal Customer Profile 72Determining your ICP 73Crafting personas 74Understanding personas’ motivations 75Making a Value Proposition 76Differentiating value based on roles 76Tailoring your message 76Remembering everyone is different 76Building Your List of Target Accounts 77Starting with a tiered list of companies 77Applying your ICP to the company list 78Laser-focusing on best-fit 80Prospecting within accounts 80Chapter 6: Fueling the Account-Based Marketing Engine 81Managing Your Existing CRM Data 82Leveraging your customer data 82Comparing customers with your ICP 84Figuring out what you can use 84Obtaining New Data on Target Accounts 84Gathering the right data 85Acquiring correct company information 85Finding the right people in those companies 87Utilizing predictive analytics 89Creating New Accounts 91Completing a full profile 92Avoiding duplicate accounts 92Assigning new accounts to owners 94Protecting Data Quality 95Profiling your data records 96Determining whether your data is bad 97Updating account information 98Chapter 7: Qualifying Your Target Accounts 99Gauging Interest 100Comparing inbound and outbound activities 100Discovering BANT 100Asking the right qualification questions 101Intending to buy 103Converting Accounts to Opportunities 104Nurturing or converting 104Monitoring activities for buying signals 104Triggering at the right time 105Communicating with your accounts 106Qualifying a Revenue Opportunity 106Examining the account’s journey 107Agreeing on sales-ready opportunities 108Building a full view of an account 109Finding multiple opportunities within one account 109Part 3: Expanding Contacts Into Accounts 111Chapter 8: Reaching the Right People in Target Accounts 113Preparing Your Account-Specific Plan 114Finding the right stakeholders 114Enabling your champion 117Pointing out potential detractors 118Discovering your power sponsor 118Using Tools for Expansion 119Selecting the right software 119Avoiding manual data entry 121Continuing to expand accounts 121Adding Contacts to an Account 121Appending more contact data to accounts 122Writing out your organizational chart 122Working with new contacts during the sales process 123Identifying buying centers 123Chapter 9: Using Marketing Automation for Your Account Strategy 125Strategizing Your Expansion Tactics 126Nurturing for inbound vs outbound 126Monitoring marketing activities 130Filtering for the right contacts 131Advancing from initial touch to account nurture 134Learning the Fundamentals of Scoring and Grading 135Scoring based on activities 135Combining scores for a single account 137Grading based on best fit 137Flowing Data Back into Your CRM 138Integrating your platforms 139Assigning tasks and follow-up 139Determining the next steps 140Chapter 10: Distilling the Key Roles of “Smarketing ” 141Making Sales Your Marketing Team’s Number 1 Customer 142Reestablishing marketing’s mission 142Finding urgency among your accounts 143Providing air cover throughout the sales process 144Benefitting from “Smarketing” Alignment 146Going for your goals together 146Targeting accounts across all stages 148Lining up your pipeline 150Banking on Your Strengths 150Creating a sustainable process 151Serving and selling 153Greasing the wheel to revenue 153Part 4: Engaging Accounts on Their Terms 155Chapter 11: Generating Velocity for Sales 157Accelerating Your Pipeline from Click to Close 158Launching a pipeline acceleration campaign 158Executing with your sales team 160Focusing on the right deals 161Advancing Opportunities to Closed-Won Deals 163Nurturing throughout the buying process 164Selling value, not product features 164Converting opportunities 165Growing Revenue Using ABM 166Creating clear metrics 167Linking your ABM strategy to revenue 167Turning opportunities into deals: a case study 168Chapter 12: Personalizing the Buyer’s Channel 171Mobilizing Your Message 172Working outside of business hours 172Networking in-person and online 174Ensuring your message resonates 176Advertising on the Right Platforms 177Building your advertising campaigns 178Pushing the envelope 181Changing your message at every stage 183Automating stage-based advertising for every opportunity 185Launching form-free 186Engaging on Social Media 187Connecting with your contacts 187Following accounts 189Sponsoring posts 190Chapter 13: Developing Content for Campaigns 191Creating a Content Library 192Storytelling and its importance 197Taking an ABM lens to your content 199Producing content by industry vertical 200Basing content on personas 201Humanizing Content 204Demonstrating thought leadership 205Addressing wants, needs, and pain points 206Personalizing your message 207Developing a brand identity 207Reaching Through Technology 209Employing a content strategy 209Delivering content on the right channel 212Cross-promoting your content 212Measuring your content’s effectiveness 213Chapter 14: Executing ABM: A Playbook 215Centering a Strategy 216Listing your accounts 218Progressing accounts to the next stage 219Planning your tactics and activities 221Coordinating Your Efforts 231Strategizing your content 231Launching advertising campaigns 232Assigning “smarketing” tasks 233Ranking Your “Smarketing” Success 235Winning with new revenue 235Learning from mistakes and opportunities 236Brainstorming new ideas 236Part 5: Turning Customers Into Advocates 237Chapter 15: Elevating the Buyer to Customer Journey 239Prospecting to Contacts 240Furthering opportunities through the pipeline 241Closing the deal 241Establishing a Customer Journey 242Adopting your technology 242Engaging end-users 244Continuing education 245Selling to Existing Customers 245Landing and expanding accounts 246Cross-selling in the account 247Upselling new or upgraded products 248Chapter 16: Valuing Customer Advocacy 249The Rising Influence of the Customer Voice 250Providing customer joy 250Surprising your clients 251Establishing relationships 252Making Your Customers Your Marketers 254Getting your customers talking 254Interviewing your customers 257Driving referrals and references 259Reaching new contacts 261Event marketing with your clients 261Building buzz 262Engineering Product Development 263Reviewing your existing product 263Asking for input on your product roadmap 264Factoring in feedback 265Chapter 17: Aligning Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success 267Nurturing Never Stops 268Advertising to your customers 268Advocating for your users 269Promoting customer content 270Collaborating with Customer Success 272Thinking of customers as prospects 272Producing effective customer case studies 274Sharing best practices 276Planning Your User Conference 276Picking the right venue 277Treating your clients like VIPs 277Programming the best content 279Partnering with sponsors 279Announcing new product developments 282Part 6: Putting It All Together 283Chapter 18: Measuring the Success of Campaigns 285Setting Key Performance Indicators 286Attributing metrics at the account level 287Comparing cost per click 291Showing impressions 292Expanding your audience 293Engaging accounts 294Testing Your Campaigns 295A/B creative testing 295Trying new content 296Combining your offers 297Knowing You Aren’t Wasting Money 297Budgeting the right amounts 298Attributing advertising spend to revenue 298Showing engagement in the buyer journey 299Chapter 19: Tracking Metrics for Every Account 301Ongoing Account Maintenance 302Delivering reports and results 302Creating a review process 304Executing on tasks 305Gauging Potential Opportunities 306Limiting the margin for error 306Anticipating future needs 307Building an engagement report 307Providing Value Add 308Living up to expectations 308Continuing to improve 309Part 7: The Part of Tens 311Chapter 20: Ten Reasons B2B Companies Need Account-Based Marketing 313Doing the Math 314Needing a Strategy 314Focusing on Sales Productivity 315Utilizing Your Technology Stack 315Prioritizing Tech Investments 315Building New Skills 316Leveraging Customer Experience 317Treating Clients Differently 317Developing ABM Relationships 318Measuring More Than Leads 318Chapter 21: Ten Obstacles Facing Account-Based Marketing 319Measuring Leads as Success 320Blasting Emails Too Quickly 320Expecting to Engage Every Time 320Relying on Marketing to Do It All 321Sending All Leads to Sales 321Asking for More Leads 322Not Paying Attention to Customer Retention 323Forgetting About Your Customer Advocates 323Selling Instead of Serving 323Changing the C-Suite’s Assumptions 324Chapter 22: Ten Account-Based Marketing Blogs to Read 325MarketingProfs 325ClickZ 326Funnelholic 326Business2Community 327CustomerThink 327MediaPost 327Heinz Marketing 328Chief MarTec 328MarketingLand 329MarTech Advisor 329Chapter 23: Ten ABM Thought Leaders to Follow 331Jill Rowley 331David Raab 332Craig Rosenberg 332Jon Miller 333Chris Engman 333Ann Handley 333Matt Heinz 334Megan Heuer 334Scott Brinker 335Jim Williams 335Index 337