I hear publishing executives and sales regularly state they need to offer ABM programs.  But when asked what ABM is, many don’t know.  They just say that advertisers are asking for it, so we must be ready to sell it NOW.

ABM is Account-Based Marketing.  ABM is a methodology that allows B2B firms to create a targeted list of accounts to reach and focus personalized marketing to that list using today’s technology platforms.  The goal of ABM programs is to increase the relationships between advertisers and prospects, not just supply leads to them.

According to the 2018 ITSMA ABM Benchmark Study, 45% of marketers see double the ROI from using traditional marketing tactics.  Over 64% of firms using ABM use a hybrid of ABM and traditional demand-based sales.

ABM programs work best for ad programs with the following specs:

–High value accounts, > $20K

–Longer sales cycle

–Sale that involves team buying

Ready to test out ABM???  Here are 3 internal steps to take when creating ABM programs:

1.  Establish ABM target list. 

–Have your sales department create the list

–Create an internal team to define a list

–and/or target outside leads to create a NEW list of prospects

–Advertisers might also have some leads you can use

2. Set your measurement goals.  Samples include:

–Contract size (most common are revenue-related goals)

–Increase in the number of meetings or online responses

–Longer site visits

–Increase in ad click thru’s

–Decrease in page abandon rates

3. Ideas to set up personalized marketing journey

–Create marketing efforts in conjunction with in-bound marketing and programmatic plans

–Re-purpose existing content to offer with a different message

–Shorten data collection forms, since you have some information on the targets

Part 2 of this post explore the benefits and risks to implementing ABM programs within your organization. 

The journey continues. Cindy