Effective content is the cornerstone of successful Account-Based Marketing (ABM). Whether in the form of emails, blog posts, case studies, or reports, content that speaks directly to the needs of key prospects is paramount for achieving better ABM results. A lot of work goes into creating ABM content at various stages of the buyer’s journey. Content that is based on in-depth research of the prospect and industry ensures that your efforts do not go in vain. That’s why more B2B marketers are taking their account-based marketing to the next level by integrating market intelligence with their content strategies.
Market intelligence allows you to look under the hood to understand the key issues that impact the market your customers play in, the top accounts that should be in your radar, and decision-makers in those accounts. It provides granular insights about buyer personas—their needs, behavior, responsibilities, among other signals to help marketing teams deliver the right message, to the right person at the right time.
Here’s how market intelligence can help you build a powerful ABM content plan that creates awareness, educates audiences, and builds credibility for your firm.
Buyer-specific insights for personalized engagement
Marketers must ensure that their communication triggers an action from buyers. How? They must really know the customer.
Shifting from generic to highly specific content is the key to higher engagement rates. This involves creating content that addresses a specific pain-point of the customer. Gathering insights about your customer profile—what their typical day looks like, the challenges they face in their job role, the questions they seek to answer at various stages of the buying journey—can support marketers in building content that adds value.
A study by the Information Technology Services Marketing Association (ITSMA) finds that 75% of executives will read unsolicited marketing materials containing ideas that might be relevant to their business. Hence, it’s important to be attuned to the kind of content collateral your target accounts are inclined to consume – be it emails, podcasts, interactive content, success stories, eBooks, case studies, web pages, research reports, slide shares, webinars, white papers, surveys, blog posts, videos, etc.
Building researched-based content
Decision-makers value content that offers advice and insight on topics they care about. However, insights without reliable data have little credibility. As W. Edwards Deming, a renowned engineer, put it, “Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.”
In cases when there’s little or no data available, consider partnering up with a market intelligence agency that can provide quantitative and qualitative research to support your content assets.
Repackage your existing content
Content marketing costs 62% less than outbound marketing and generates three times as many leads. However, starting from scratch can be quite overwhelming. Consider auditing your current content and stack them into different segments such as:
- Buying stage – Awareness, Interest, Consideration, Decision, Upsell/Repurchase
- Industry or Market
- Role of Decision Maker
It is a common practice among B2B marketers to distill their existing content into snackable pieces like informative whitepapers, infographics for top-of-funnel awareness, and engaging social media posts that can be seamlessly integrated into the buying stage communication.
Chalk out a cross-sell and upsell plan
‘Land and expand’ is a well-known model of Account-Based Marketing. It simply means that after a new customer signs up, the sales team must take the relationship to the next level by helping the customer see value in the company’s entire set of offerings and map them to the latter’s needs accordingly. Since Account-Based Marketing delivers customized communication addressing individual pain points and needs, thus deepening the relationship, it helps marketers effectively broaden the funnel and multiply revenue streams.
Furthermore, you can use this tactic to speak with different stakeholders within a target account, addressing specific needs basis their job functions or persona. Based on market intelligence insights you can position your offering in the most effective and relevant manner. For instance, when speaking to a:
- CTO – Highlight the need to adopt your technology offering
- CFO – Tell them how your solutions are cost-effective and can up their ROI
- CEO – Emphasize how your offering can maximize operational efficiency
Often, companies have certain service packages or product add-ons that are relevant only to a specific department. Using research-backed knowledge you can now address each department individually at every opportunity without going back to the drawing board.
According to ITSMA, 87% of marketers believe that ABM outperforms any other marketing channel. But getting it right requires that marketers work closely with sales and market intelligence teams. Doing so will help marketers gauge the true picture of the market and their buyer’s needs thereby increasing the productivity of sales teams.
Netscribes empowers global firms with account-based insights and content aimed at elevating their marketing effectiveness through a 360-degree perspective of their customers and markets. To find out more, contact info@netscribes.com.
