How To Map Target Accounts for Account Based Marketing
What is Accounts Mapping
Account Mapping is the process of sorting out accounts you want to go after. Analogically account mapping is that small screw of your ABM machine, which might not look important when in place, but when removed, the entire machine losses efficiency, or worse, breaks down. Account-Based Marketing is an expensive venture. Every account targeted should have a high probability of converting in the future. Account mapping resolves this by analysingWhy Should you Map Target Accounts
While developing the list of right accounts to target, identify the key players within the account who make decisions on buying your offering. This is an ongoing process, as it’s critical and there are different approaches to building out of white space. In some cases, your sales and marketing teams have accounts with whom they have strong relationships and close links, while most of the times, they have accounts they would love to pursue. Relationships apart, there is an art of mapping the accounts and delivering the set of relevant messages to close the deal. You need to start with understanding the business challenges the account is facing, the decision-making process in the organization, and then knowing who makes such decisions. Effective account-based marketing strategy fundamentally requires you to have an in-depth understanding of the target account and their pain points. This is the same foundation, although in a bit more detail, that you need for developing the marketing personas.The Key Person
This process of account mapping involves asking yourself a few questions like:1. Which decision-makers to target within the target accounts?
In the b2b arena, 6-7 persons on average are involved in the buying process of a company. Their roles in influencing, blocking and decision making vary and so should your approach.2. What do they care about?
Identifying their problems, challenges, and pain points you can personalize your marketing strategy by providing a specific solution to the specific problem, as a result, you get to establish a solid relationship with each decision-maker.3. What is the best way to reach them?
Depending upon the roles, industries, and possible restrictions, find out the preferred channel where they consume information whether its mobile, email or the web.4. When doing different types of content work best?
Based on their location or the amount of time they had a relationship with your organization, you may determine what approach works best. The right content at the right moment is gold when it comes to ABM for driving the revenue pipeline. You also need a plan for ongoing education and persistent engagement that align with these key personas as the frequency is also the key part of the equation along with mapping your accounts. Documenting these for your list of target accounts is important, so as of whether there’s a trend across your target accounts.Engaging Key Person
Once you have the account information mapped, here are some tips on engagement with the key personas from the successful ABM stories.Take a multi-channel approach when engaging with the prospects.
Every channel you consider has some strengths as well as weaknesses. Combining all the possible channels and leveraging their strengths is the smart way to go.Talk to them like a human, not a bot.
Spend some time listening to them, understanding their functions and establishing a foundation of the persona rather than reading the same sales script during each conversation.
Organize internal communication within your teams while ongoing engagement with the accounts.
Real-time alerts to help your team members to react and act accordingly is essential. On Intandemly platform, we provide a communication tab under each account, identical to Slack to share information across the team.
In account-based marketing, there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach. Whether you are dealing with existing clients or new prospects, creating the marketing personas of stakeholders and map out a communication process is key to your ABM implementation. In the end, your goal is to ensure that the right people are receiving the right messages to help them understand the value your offering is bringing to their organization and how it will solve their problems.
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