Seasoned marketers have seen the rise and fall of several marketing trends, but one that’s withstood the test of time and proven itself as a crucial tactic for securing large organizations as long-term customers or clients is account-based marketing.
Account-based marketing is a strategic approach where sales and marketing join forces to focus on a specific group of stakeholders. With account-based marketing, the ultimate goal is to create full visibility of your buyer’s needs and build strong relationships with particular groups and targeted accounts.
ABM campaigns focus strategically on the accounts you’re targeting, what you want to say to them, and the way and channel in which you want to share the information.
The benefits of using account-based marketing are that you can target entire groups based on accounts which will improve lead conversions. If multiple salespeople are targeting different leads from a single company, using ABM takes a more personalized and strategic approach to combine the departments’ efforts to win the account.
Using these strategies can streamline the way you win new customers as well as help you nurture existing, high-value relationships with current customers.
How Video Can Improve ABM
When implementing new marketing strategies, there’s always an opportunity to incorporate current trends and tactics. For instance, the rise of video content over the past few years has created a chance to use the medium in creative ways, even in areas like account-based marketing, where it may not be evident how to use it correctly.
When using video in their ABM strategy, a lot of companies are opting to create personalized messages for their clients explaining their processes to nurture the relationships. Video can also be used in to drive engagement and increase awareness within the company on the account by building thought leadership and giving them more insight into processes within your organization.
Additionally, hosting private events, open only to people within that account, like webinars or online workshops using video can continue to build brand awareness, nurture the account and increase conversions and the likelihood of the relationship continuing long-term.
Consider an IT buyer at an organization you’re targeting who is in the market for a product or service in your niche. Creating a personalized video for this person that addresses their needs and specific concerns within their organization will increase the likelihood of moving that organization through your funnel.
Your top-of-the-funnel lead-generation videos will be too promotional. Your thought-leadership videos are probably too broad or too visionary. Almost certainly, no video presents the exact information this customer wants in the order he or she would like to get it. That would be the ideal customer experience. Not introductory explainer overviews, but spot-on videos that explain one thing well. Short and to-the-point. Some could be 10 seconds long. Some could be a minute long.
When trying to target new accounts, your standard top-of-funnel videos will be too generic and promotional for someone looking to make a significant change by working with you. While your other video content is still stellar, to secure large accounts, you need your strategy to be incredibly personalized to the potential buyer. Every customer’s needs are going to be different and using customized video to target specific accounts will set you up for success more so than sending them generic content used to promote your company to the masses.
The buyer wants to know how you will help their exact problem, with specific information directly related to their needs. Not general introduction or explainer videos, but solutions unmistakably relevant to their situation.
These videos can still be short and to the point, and don’t necessarily need to be high-quality production. They need to contain the necessary information to let the buyer know it was created specifically for them.
Here are four examples of amazing account-based marketing videos that companies have used to execute campaigns targeting specific organizations. These videos demonstrate how you can incorporate multimedia content into your ABM campaigns at virtually any stage. When implemented correctly, videos like these can wow potential customers and propel them further down your sales and marketing funnels than using static, traditional strategies.
Vidyard’s ABM Email Campaigns Let Their Accounts Know They Care
Since email marketing is proving to be just as strong as ever, many companies are incorporating videos into their emails to maximize click-throughs and conversions of their campaigns. When using account-based marketing, it’s a great idea to use video emails to further connect with clients and customers of specific accounts. The key to using email videos with ABM is to maintain a high level of personalization.
Vidyard used video in their account-based marketing email campaigns during the holidays to wish their clients a happy holiday season with personalized greetings that spoke to them directly. The email was eye-catching, and it’s customization included each recipient’s name added a personal touch that was memorable and shareable.
INVIDEO’s Personalized Message to Cross-Sell an Existing Account
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikKr7JJCUAo
Using videos with account-based marketing doesn’t have to stop at the attraction phase. You can use videos throughout the entire lifecycle of a customer. This animation by INVIDEO demonstrates one way in which they create personalized videos for customers throughout their entire lifecycle. They’ve created a video for Beth that outlines her specific options and timeline for retirement as she considers the best way to plan her financial future.
Brite Content’s Video Ad Sequences Targeting Specific Audiences on YouTube
Brite Content worked with Epipheo to create a series which demonstrates an effective way of using videos in a sequence meant for specific accounts. These videos were initially built for YouTube being the first touchpoint of the campaign. The goal was to drive awareness, engagement, and conversions. Brite used their own targeting software to expose the video to their desired audience on YouTube in a specific order that made sense to that account.
Account-based marketing ensures that you’re creating programs that are built to attract, engage and convert critical accounts that will be an optimal fit for your organization. It establishes intentionality between marketing and sales that makes sure the two departments stay aligned on which accounts they’re pursuing and how they plan on working together on engaging and closing those key accounts. ABM also provides marketing and sales a more streamlined approach to sharing the right information that’s going to help convert prospects into paying customers.
While account-based marketing is an excellent solution for some, There are a few challenges that exist when building a process that works. Most of the obstacles happen because, with ABM, you’re not targeting people who have come into the sales funnel yet, which makes the process somewhat of a gamble.
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