How to Choose the Right Content for Your ABM Campaign

There is constant debating within the marketing world about which strategies work best. No one will ever agree 100%, but according to 87% of account-based marketers, ABM is more successful than their other B2B marketing strategies.

Being successful with ABM isn't just about who you talk to, though. The content and messaging you use can make or break you, so don't just write something that sounds good and run with it.

Your content strategy needs to be calculated and data-driven. Use these tips and examples to choose high-performing content for your ABM campaign.

Types of Content You Need for Your ABM Strategy

When people think about account-based marketing, they often think of it as personal interaction like phone calls and meetings. While that is a cornerstone of ABM, you still need compelling and customized content to move prospects down the sales funnel.

For starters, these are the most critical types of content you should consider.

1. Landing Pages

You probably have a website full of information about your business and your product. When you have an ad or an email, though, you shouldn't link it to "just any page" on your site.

Customized landing pages allow you to speak directly to a customer or type of customer. You know how to appeal to them and encourage them to take the next step. Each link you give a prospect should come back to a precisely curated landing page.

2. Email Templates

Email is one of the first ways you'll get in touch with your prospects. That means your emails must have the power to reach a prospect, speak to their needs, and encourage them to learn more.

You want email templates that rely on messaging that has proven successful in the past. At the same time, the templates should be customizable enough that they don't feel like form letters.

3. Mailers

As digital marketing has become a key part of marketing, many businesses have abandoned direct mail. The truth is that digital marketing and direct mail complement each other well. You can use that to your advantage if you send well-crafted mailers to your prospects.

Mailers stand out and can be a great way to introduce future prospects to your product. You know who received them, so you can follow them up with an email a few days later to keep the conversation flowing.

4. Social Media Content

Social media marketing is surging today, and it's no surprise. The average adult spends nearly 2.5 hours each day on social media.

You can tailor your social media marketing to your target audience by catering your ads and content to the right people. For instance, you might network with people in your target industry so they see your posts which are meant to appeal to them.

No matter how many of the "right people" you network with online, though, your success will come down to the content you post.

5. Print Materials

In a well-planned ABM strategy, you'll interact with your prospects on a regular basis. When you meet with them, you always want to leave them with printed materials to review so you can stay on their minds.

The more compelling and attractive those printed materials are, the more likely you are to get a call back.

6. Presentations

In ABM, a presentation for your prospect company's decision-makers is your make-or-break moment. You have an opportunity to make a real impression and push the prospect toward a sale.

For that reason, your presentation's content needs to be direct, engaging, and enticing. That content combined with your own sales expertise can seal the deal.

Tips for Curating Your ABM Content

Now that you have a content creation to-do list, how do you make each piece of content stand out? Start with these tips for choosing and designing the content you need.

1. Choose the Right Mediums at the Right Times

It's true in relationships and it's true in ABM: how you say something is just as important as what you say.

As you move accounts through your sales funnel, use the mediums that are most successful at each stage. In general, you should start with less personal mediums and progress to more personal ones.

For example, when you first reach out to a target account, choose a distant medium like email or direct mail. If a representative doesn't know you or your brand, they're unlikely to spend their time on a face-to-face meeting. Taking 30 seconds to reply to an email is less of an investment for them.

As you communicate through email and get to know the representative, move on to more intimate mediums. Start making phone calls, then move to video chats. Finally, start taking the representative out for coffee.

The more impersonal mediums like email will get your foot in the door. More personal mediums will let you better gauge the person's responses to your messaging. it's all about choosing the right medium for the relationship.

2. Treat Every Interaction as a Learning Experience

Data is your best friend when it comes to any type of content curating and B2B marketing. You need to know what works and what doesn't, and all that data is yours if you track it.

Keep detailed records about the messaging and content you use and how it performs. Perhaps one email template has a 30% response rate while another's response rate is 8%. Look at the differences between the templates to see what's working and what isn't.

This goes for all the content and messaging you use. Perhaps you deliver a line during a phone call that seems to turn the conversation around. Make a note of it.

With this data in hand, you can focus on the content that seems to work and make continuous improvements to make it more effective.

3. Customize Everything

Customization is one of the most powerful assets you can have in your marketing strategy. The beauty of ABM, unlike other marketing strategies, is that you have a more firm understanding of who your audience is because you hand-picked them.

With that knowledge in hand, you can customize to your heart's content. Include specific statistics about your target company's performance and how you can help. Include the representative's name in all your communication to make them feel heard. 

Content to Make the Most of Your Account-Based Marketing Strategies

B2B account-based marketing is all about playing the long game. Throughout the course of that long game, though, every interaction matters. If you want to keep prospects on your hook, you need to choose the right content and keep it flowing.

These content tips can help you refine your account-based marketing strategies. If you truly want to take your sales through the roof, contact our marketing experts for help.