• by Jim Sampson , Op-Ed Contributor, December 6, 2017

For all of the talk about the power of account-based marketing (ABM) to target individuals, many are missing an important fact: It can work even better for groups of people within your existing client base.

Yes, these ultra-sophisticated technologies have brought about significant change in the way marketers are targeting and reaching high-value prospects. But, one often overlooked place that offers marketers an explosive opportunity is within existing accounts.

Simply put: You can use ABM to create ambassadors for your product or service within your client organizations. It allows for super-targeted individual conversations that can provide easier validation as to why their companies should do more business with you. These individual conversations then ladder up to conversations among the buying group.

This is crucial because influencing an entire group is the only way to close a business-to-business (B2B) deal. B2B decisions are high-cost, high-risk and high-consideration purchases. Typically, they are made by groups of six, seven or more decision makers. It can also take up to a year or more to evaluate and select a provider. That’s why ABM’s ability to bring a group to consensus cannot be understated.

Especially when you consider that both creatively and tactically, ABM has seen marked improvements in digital delivery of communications and the way we can nurture target accounts. These enhancements in delivering digital, personalized messages via traditional online units and, more importantly, the ability to customize the destination experience for users that engage with these units have grown remarkably in only a short period of time.

The tie-in from the creative delivery side to marketing automation platforms and to CRM systems means that we can now deliver, track, optimize and personalize every communication point in an entire communication ecosystem (e.g., a targeted group within an existing client company responsible for the decision as to whether or not to spend more money with you.)

Still, while the technology itself is pretty dazzling, it’s essential to remember that what it is actually allowing you to do is talk directly to people within the group. People aren’t impressed that you targeted them. But, they are impressed when they actually feel something and have a connection to your brand.

Without the emotional element, the precision of ABM today is powerless. You need to educate the target by engaging them in ways that not only play off their professional needs, but also through emotional needs. If you are able to truly make them feel something with your message, you’ve got yourself a deal. 

Here’s an example of what is now possible. Imagine a certain prospect within a high-target account that is a current client: They might value certain types of information versus someone else within the same organization. Based upon what that prospect does post-click, an entirely different dynamic messaging stream will be presented to them to serve up the relevant information that’s more likely to make them intrigued. 

This is precision unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. When you combine precision with feeling, you have the perfect ingredients for making B2B decision makers say “yes” to your product or service. 

ABM is truly powerful stuff and we are only just beginning to ignite all that is possible for targeting individuals and, more importantly, groups.