In the last post, we started speaking about ABM tactics to employ for your one-to-many, aka Tier 3, accounts. The big shift between Tier 1/2 and Tier 3 accounts is the level of personalization and effort required to break into and close key accounts.
Personalization goes beyond your standard ‘first name’ ‘last name’ set up and delves into something deeper that really speaks to your clients and prospects. Since this should be reserved for those priority accounts, you should dedicate enough time to do something creative and meaningful.
The three main areas you should look to implement in addition to Tier 3 “one-to-many” plays are
Refining your messaging and content by industry, sector, account and executive insights
Personalized direct mail and gifting
Personalized hub pages or custom landing pages with dynamic content
Many of the plays you have used for your one-to-many approach can be used in one-to-one and one-to-many plays. The main difference here is that you want to really refine your approach. Keep in play the tactics that already work e.g. social selling, direct mail, webinars etc but refine each tactic, as opposed to using a one size fits all approach. With a smaller target list, you’ll be able to dedicate more resources to these plays.
Now, we’re not saying that you shouldn’t be researching all the accounts you’re working on. Simply that your tier 1 accounts deserve more of your time than tier 3 accounts. Time is a precious commodity, with it being such, reserve the most amount of time to dig deep into your tier 1 accounts to fully understand their sector, their industry and of course those individuals that make up the DMU (decision-making unit). You should feel so comfortable with your knowledge that they would swear you worked for them!
Phew, research is over. Now you can start putting your refined methods into play.
Create content that gives invaluable insights into your target account’s industry and their sector. This should also be refined by persona. Anything from blogs to videos speaking on the challenges they would face specific to them and how you can help. For those one-to-one accounts, you could create custom pages for the target account and executives that speak directly to them. It’s about letting them know that you have gone that extra mile to create something of value for them but more importantly: that you can help solve their problems.
Gifting and direct mail have come a long way from being an unmeasurable ‘nice to have’ to a play that can not only be tracked and measured but a hyper-personalized and essential channel for ABM. Everyone loves to be made to feel that bit special. It’s part of being human. We’ve seen everything from melting the heart of a CEO with personalized chocolates to giving prospects the easy choice of which webinar they will attend by offering them lunch to reward them for their valuable time.
Personalized hub pages can be created and unique URLs generated for your target accounts. You can even create pages on your website that are hidden to the general public but accessible to your teams and your target accounts. These pages can be a great place to place content specifically for the target account and their industry. Turning you into a trusted news source that your target accounts can come to. Track activity on these pages and prioritize accounts with the highest engagement.
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That wraps up all the tactics folks. You should now have a good grounding of what you can do and have a clearer idea of how you plan to start your ABM programs. Next up is how you set up your team and team structure.
For our full "How to Get Started with ABM" series, check the "What is ABM and how to get started" page and our detailed pages - all incl. videos:
Step 2 Building Your Target Account List
Step 4 Focusing in on Your Strategy & Goals