As we discussed in our previous blog, Account-based marketing (ABM) continues to grow in popularity in the B2B community. And if you’re using HubSpot, you're in luck. HubSpot offers a powerful suite of tools that can help streamline your ABM campaign.
In this blog post, we'll walk you through the essential steps for running an effective Account-Based Marketing campaign in HubSpot.
What is Account-Based Marketing?
Just to recap, ABM is a strategic approach that focuses on identifying, engaging, and converting high-value accounts. Instead of casting a wide net and attempting to attract as many leads as possible, ABM zeroes in on the accounts with the highest potential return. This targeted approach can lead to better alignment between marketing and sales teams, increased efficiency, and higher return on investment (ROI).
Setting Up Your ABM Strategy in HubSpot
Here's how to get started with ABM and HubSpot:
- Establish your ABM team: Collaborate with your sales and marketing teams to create an ABM team that will work closely together throughout the campaign. Assign roles and responsibilities and ensure open and clear communication channels.
- Configure your HubSpot account for ABM: Navigate to your HubSpot account settings and enable the ABM tools. This will activate features like target account home and custom reporting.
Identifying and Prioritising Target Accounts
The next step is to identify and prioritise your target accounts.
- Build your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): Work with your sales and marketing teams to develop a detailed ICP. Consider factors such as company size, industry, location, annual revenue, and any other relevant criteria that define your best-fit customers.
- Identify potential target accounts: Use HubSpot's Prospects tool to find companies that match your ICP. You can filter prospects based on various criteria, such as location, company size, and industry.
- Prioritise your target accounts: HubSpot gives you the ability to segment your target accounts by tier, enabling you to quickly identify the highest priority accounts.
Creating Personalised Content and Messaging
An essential component of a successful ABM campaign is creating personalised content that resonates with your target accounts.
- Map out your target account's buying journey: Understand the decision-making process, pain points, and motivations of your target accounts. This will help you tailor your content and messaging to address their specific needs.
- Develop personalised content: Create targeted content for each account or account tier, focusing on their unique challenges, industry trends, and key decision-makers.
- Personalise your website: Use HubSpot's Smart Content features to create personalised website experiences for your target accounts. This can include displaying customised CTAs, dynamic content, and tailored landing pages based on account attributes.
- Craft account-specific email campaigns: Leverage HubSpot's Email Marketing tools to develop personalised email campaigns for each target account or account tier. Use personalisation tokens to customise subject lines, greetings, and content to make your emails more impactful.
Executing Multi-Channel Campaigns
To maximise your reach and engagement, deploy your ABM campaigns across multiple channels. For easy reporting and monitoring, create HubSpot campaigns and link all your marketing assets to it.
- Utilise social media: Use HubSpot's Social Media tools to create targeted social media campaigns for your target accounts. Monitor engagement and track the performance of your social efforts.
- Implement targeted ads: Leverage HubSpot's Ads tool to create and manage targeted ad campaigns for your target accounts on platforms like Google Ads, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Use account-specific targeting options and retargeting to ensure your ads are reaching the right audience.
- Incorporate direct mail: Integrate offline channels like direct mail into your ABM campaigns. HubSpot's Direct Mail integrations can help you manage and track the performance of your direct mail efforts.
- Employ account-based webinars and events: Host webinars and events tailored to the needs of your target accounts. Use HubSpot's Webinar and Event integrations to promote, manage, and measure the success of these initiatives.
Leveraging Sales Enablement Tools
Next, equip your sales team with the necessary tools and resources to effectively engage with your target accounts.
- Create account-specific sales collateral: Develop tailored sales presentations, case studies, and proposals for your target accounts. Use HubSpot's Sales Content tools to organise and share these resources with your sales team.
- Utilise sales sequences: Automate follow-up efforts and ensure timely engagement with target accounts using HubSpot's Sales Sequences. Customise sequences based on the account tier and individual contact roles within the target organisation.
- Monitor account engagement: Use HubSpot's Activity Feed, Workflows, and Sales Notifications to track engagement and interactions with your target accounts, helping your sales team prioritise their efforts and respond promptly.
Measuring and Analysing Campaign Performance
You can’t improve what you don’t measure, so make sure to track the performance of your ABM campaigns to optimise your strategy and demonstrate ROI.
- Set KPIs and goals: Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) and goals for your ABM campaign, such as engagement rates, pipeline generated, and deal velocity.
- Monitor performance in real-time: Use HubSpot's ABM Dashboard and custom reporting features to track your campaign's progress and performance against your KPIs.
- Analyse and learn from your data: Dive deep into your data to identify trends, patterns, and areas for improvement. Use HubSpot's Reporting tools to create custom reports and visualise your findings.
Iterating and Optimising Your ABM Campaign
ABM isn’t a set-and-forget strategy, so we recommend continuously refining and optimising your ABM campaign to maximise its effectiveness.
- Conduct regular reviews: Schedule periodic reviews with your ABM team to discuss campaign performance, challenges, and opportunities for improvement.
- Test and optimise: A/B test your content, messaging, and tactics to identify the most effective strategies for engaging your target accounts.
- Adjust your target account list: Regularly update and refine your target account list based on new information, account engagement, and conversion rates.
By following these steps and leveraging HubSpot's powerful tools, you'll be well on your way to executing an effective account-based marketing campaign that drives results for your organisation.
Need some help? Aamplify specialises in helping B2B companies in creating ABM strategies, optimising HubSpot, and accelerating growth. Drop us a line here for a no obligation chat.