Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) face a massive task. They have to bring in leads, nurture them, hand them off to sales, and are held accountable for the outcomes of those interactions. With so much going on, prioritizing the most important and most likely to convert prospects is a must.
Not only can good lead management mean less wasted time in pursuing unqualified leads, but it can also speed up your company’s responsiveness to answer questions for qualified prospects and become a part of their initial consideration set.
Learn how account-based marketing for B2B companies using HubSpot can streamline processes, save time, and lead to a higher ROI.
First, let’s define account-based marketing (ABM). This strategy involves focusing efforts on the most lucrative and likely to convert prospects and customers. With an ABM strategy, marketing teams build personalized experiences to improve relationships, close more deals, and ensure long-term business growth.
By building tailored buying journeys for customers, all communication, content, and campaigns speak directly to them, thereby resulting in greater ROI and more likely customer retention.
Some key principles you’ll find in ABM include:
When you engage these principles effectively, you’ll experience these benefits.
Having the right tools for the job is essential when considering an account-based marketing strategy. HubSpot is one of the leading marketing software options for approaching lead generation and nurturing ongoing customer relationships using account-based marketing.
Here’s how to engage in a HubSpot account-based marketing strategy to begin seeing better results from your efforts.
To personalize your marketing with the depth ABM requires, you’ll need to outline your audience clearly and get to know them with incredible depth. This exercise can also help you outline what a high-value account looks like and why it’s a good match for your products and services.
HubSpot offers tools for filtering new leads based on criteria such as company size, industry, interactions with your company, completing actions, etc. Perhaps there is an especially successful account you have that you wish you could have several more of. Look for similar characteristics in new prospects to work toward duplicating that success.
Now consider what your target audience might need to know to make a purchasing decision. What makes your business stand out from competitors? What social proof can you provide that makes the prospect feel like you are the best solution because you’ve helped others like them?
While building your strategy, consider several factors.
When the customer transitions from your marketing team to your sales team, they shouldn’t see or feel a difference. With a good hand off, sales will know everything marketing knows about the customer and be prepared to continue the experience the customer is used to.
The better your marketing and sales teams are aligned before starting a campaign, the smoother the hand off will be. Sales should spend some time familiarizing themselves with primary marketing materials so they know what a customer has learned by the time they become a sales-qualified lead. And marketing needs to know what sales are looking for in a sales-qualified lead. Documenting all information in HubSpot, where both parties can see the details, is a wise move.
You can’t just set up a buying journey and let it run. Each customer is unique and will have differing needs and interests. Personalization will help make each customer feel special, unique, and heard. Some key personalization areas include the following.
HubSpot enables everyone to see how campaigns are performing and where there is room for improvement. Before starting a campaign, outline what success looks like and then review the data regularly to make adjustments and stay on track.
Within HubSpot, you can track these crucial metrics.
You can also customize the metrics you want to follow based on what matters to your sales and marketing teams. Use the data to inform decision-making about organizing campaigns moving forward.
Building an ABM strategy requires time, expertise, and a deep knowledge of your customers. That strategy alone can consume a lot of your time and attention, leaving little time for setting up HubSpot.
Even when you do have the time to complete the HubSpot setup, it’s complex and challenging to execute if you aren’t a frequent system user.
That’s why working with a HubSpot Platinum Partner can be the key to success. If you don’t see the value of HubSpot, that doesn’t mean it’s the wrong system for you; it just might not be set up to meet your needs adequately.
Diaz & Cooper provides tailored solutions to help CMOs achieve their goals and maximize their resources. To identify marketing improvement areas, complete the Growth Gap Analyzer. Or talk with a Diaz and Cooper team member about data-driven B2B business growth.