Buyer Intent Data
Article | September 11, 2023
When a package arrives at your doorstep, you get excited as a child, no matter what age you are! Some people express their excitement, while some are really good at hiding it. But inquisitiveness and curiosity are natural feelings.
Imagine building up these feelings in the mind of the decision-makers of businesses that you are targeting. So, yes, you will stand out in the crowd and, they will notice the gesture, no matter how small or big it is!
Coming back to the point, we are talking about the strategy of direct mails in account-based marketing. This strategy has proved to be a success for many organizations practicing ABM.
So what exactly is direct mail in ABM and, are there any successful ways or ideal examples to follow? Let us see in detail.
What Is Direct Mail in ABM?
We are aware that account-based marketing is a strategy that involves targeting, personalization and conversions. But what happens when we make tangibility a part of the above process?
Well, the results are impressive.
An Infotrends report stated that the e-mail response rate increased from 7.5% to 9.5% with a multi-channel ABM strategy.
But, the biggest challenges of ABM are delivering a personalized customer experience, choosing the target accounts, and deciding on the correct content.
Thus, direct mail can help you deal with the challenge of delivering a personalized customer experience.
A direct mail strategy delivers personalized objects, messages, and more to the targeted organization’s decision-makers. The best part about direct mail is that you can get as creative as you want. Plus, it ensures that the top team notices your efforts.
“Direct mail is the new black in B2B. There is nothing more personalized than a handwritten note with a personalized direct mail that is fully customized for your prospect or customer.” - Sangram Vajre, CMO of Terminus.
Let us have a look at the best ways to incorporate direct mail in your ABM strategy.
Ideas to Implement Direct Mail in ABM
Remember, no matter what personalized goodies you plan to send to the concerned people, ensure that:
You have a bold, clear, and obvious call to action.
Your message is short, simple, and direct.
Your strategy should be less is more.
You have added the extra personal touch in your mail.
Once you have devised the direct mail strategy, here are some things that you need to keep in mind before implementation.
Determine the Stage in the Buyer’s Journey
Before sending direct mail to your target account, know where they stand in their buyer’s journey. Let us consider these three stages.
Awareness Stage
If your buyer is in the awareness stage, you need to target all the organization’s decision-makers. Sending them goodies that get them together might be a good idea.
For example:
Send a box with a personalized message about your company to one and send the key to another. Or you could gift puzzles pieces to each one that needs them to come together to decode the message.
Demo Stage
Congrats! If you reached the demo stage with the target account. Now, if you’re finding it difficult to set an appointment with them, use direct mail to get their attention.
For example: Send them a box with a clock ticking and a surprise to be opened at some given time. As if a demo can be scheduled at that time and claim the gift!
2.1.3 Final Stage
You have closed the deal and are all ready to start the dealings. But some small things seemed to be stuck from the buyer’s end. This is where your research will prove handy. You need the search for a particular likeness about the decision-maker and lure them. It will help you get their attention and close all the pending work.
For example:
Send them a password-protected gadget and, they can access that only after the deal is complete.
2.2 Know the Decision-makers
It is an essential aspect in determining the direct mail that you need to send. You should be well aware of the receiver's likes, dislikes, hobbies, and personal traits.
Thus, use social media and everything possible from the sales team to create the best effect.
Determine the Factors for Conversion
Lastly, when the package opens, it should immediately connect to the individual. Thus, when you design or assemble the package, ensure that it connects immediately. Moreover, it should address the pain points and challenges and align with the company’s goals.
Thus, determine the factors that directly affect them and, you will provide the best solutions.
For example:
If you are a hiring agency, give them a complete puzzle with just one piece missing. And a couple of options for the missing piece. Once they fit the right piece in, your puzzle says, “Having trouble finding the right person, we will help your hire!”
And ensure that you send a personalized note to every individual along with the common goal of the message.
Benefits of B2B Direct Mail Marketing
No doubt, personalization will elevate your direct mail strategy, thus promising enhanced customer involvement.
But there are other prominent benefits of B2B direct mail marketing. Lets us have a glance at them.
Higher account engagement
Less wastage of resources
Higher win rate
Shorter sales cycles
Create strong connections
The improved success rate of ABM strategy
Ideal Examples of Direct Mail in ABM
Some organizations have nailed it correctly when it comes to direct mail marketing.
Here are a few examples.
The Perry Process
(Image Courtesy: Pinterest)
The Perry Process is a renowned company that deals with used machinery and equipment for 80 years and continues to do.
Thus, it wanted manufacturing companies to sell their unwanted and excess equipment in return for cash.
So keeping this message in mind, they included fake money inserts with a flyer that said, ‘Don’t throw away your money.’
Hence, it succeeded in sending across its message most realistically!
Schott Solar
Schott Solar is a company that produces solar panels. Their solar panels came with a 20-year warranty.
(Image Courtesy: D&AD)
To amplify the selling, they included a 20-year warranty calendar along with the solar panel. The calendar stuck out 60 centimeters from the wall, thus delivering the desired message!
Wrapping It Up
So no matter what business you deal with, innovation and creativity are the way to easy conversions!
Thus understand your customers and give them what they want in a quirky style.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is direct mail in account-based marketing?
Direct mail is a tangible ABM strategy wherein products are mailed directly to customers. These products are personalized and have a direct marketing message.
Examples of such products are postcards, catalogs, personal goods, coupons, samples, and more.
What impact does direct mail create on the receiver?
A study by scientists reveals that if a person receives a physical product, it leaves a deeper footprint on the brain.
Thus, a direct mail strategy is sure to get you noticed by your customer. And the best part is that the more creative and personalized you get, the better impact it creates!
Can a simple postcard count as a direct mail strategy?
Of course, it can. If it sends a clear message of your marketing campaign, is personalized, and instigates the customer to take action, it is a successful direct mail strategy.
Always remember, the size or price of the direct mail does not matter, but the impact it creates does!
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Buyer Intent Data
Article | August 23, 2022
Have you browsed about account-based marketing and how successful it has proved for businesses? Do you wonder whether your business fits in the ABM strategy? And even if you practice ABM, what is to be done differently for your business?
Well, we have answers to all your questions.
As Clive Armitage, CEO at Agent3, said,“We have to act as the eyes and ears of marketing innovation for our clients; they trust us to help them navigate the pace of change in the way that the process of marketing is evolving.”
Thus, your marketing and sales team should be on the same page to deliver an excellent and personalized customer experience.
The implementation of ABM in different industries may be different but the challenges faced are somewhat the same.
The baisc challenge for ABM are personalization and quality content.
So, let us dig deeper into how ABM works for different industry segments. And also focus on how each industry should strategize for successful account-based marketing.
How Is ABM Different for Different Industries?
Every company has different products to sell to various companies. Also, if you sell the same product to distinct companies, you need a unique tactic for every organization.
Account-based marketing is crafting such individual approaches for every client that matters.
For example, if you are an advertising company and you need a luxury car brand account, your ABM strategy will be different for different car brands. It can also be designed differently for every decision-maker.
Thus, you have to be very focused and delicately plan strategies for the target account.
Apart from the people you target, also keep in mind the industry segment that you target. It will help to align strategies with both brands.
Now let us discuss some different types of ABM strategies that work for distinct industry segments.
Types of ABM Strategies (with Real-time Examples)
ABM is a beneficial strategy for all types of companies. But it works wonders for organizations that target large companies who have relatively long sales cycles.
According to the State of Account-Based Revenue Engine 2019 report, organizations saw a whooping 91% improved ROI post-ABM implementation.
Hence, let us see how different ABM strategies have their way of working.
Events
Events have proved to be the most successful of all the ABM strategies.
Once target clients accept the personalized invites to the events, the sales team can easily have in-person meetings. Also, a souvenir, gift, or a creative way of a follow-up meeting should be an incorporated strategy of the event.
Example:
Thomas Reuters is an organization that provides news and information tools for professionals. Their challenge was retention and expansion with their key accounts. Thus, they created an event opportunity for these accounts.
In these events, the top executives of the exclusive accounts could speak. And Thomas Reuters would quote them in whitepapers, blogs, and more.
It ensured that the sales team would be in contact with the key accounts all year round. Thus, it increased retention and built good relations.
Webinars
A webinar is an option when the physical presence of clients at a similar geographical location is not possible.
But a webinar allows curating a more personalized experience and at convenient times with less utility of resources.
Example:
HotJar Lightning Talks conference is a webinar hosted by HotJar. This webinar gives the speaker maximum of five minutes to address a particular topic. Thus, no long presentation but just a short glimpse of informative or marketing strategies.
Businesses participate in the webinar to present the challenges and solutions to their prospective clients.
Thus, HotJar had many B2B clients participating in the conference and, the idea became a big hit!
Direct Mails
Gifts, marketing material, and creative packages sent through direct mail are a success in ABM. However, account-based marketing requires personalization and direct mail is the best tactic to deliver that.
Example:
Billing Tree is a technology-driven payment processing organization.
It faced the challenge of scheduling meetings with the targeted accounts. Thus, they mailed 100 locked cases secured with two combinations of padlocks. These cases contained US$ 100 Amazon gift cards. Billing Tree gave the combination once they got the appointment with the account.
And once the client opened the case, the lid had a video player embedded in it that played the video pitch for the account.
Billing Tree generated an account engagement rate of 60% with the ABM strategy of direct mail.
Advertising
Personalized advertising has become an easy thing, thanks to IP targeting and re-targeting technology. It allows you to target the big fishes rather than the traditional wide net fishing.
Example:
DocuSign is an eSignature transaction management and solution provider company. It wanted to generate more traffic and click-through rates to form gated content.
The company executed personalized ad campaigns to the target accounts that contained industry-specific images, content, and peer logos. And with detailed web analytics, they targeted the accounts at specific times.
This personalized ads ABM strategy boosted DocuSign’s age views by 300% with a massive conversion rate!
Personalized Website Experience
Technology these days has expanded its horizons to provide incredible experiences, and personalized website experience is one of those. Once you get the technicalities right, your target accounts can have an out-of-the-world personalized experience when they visit the desired page or the website.
Example:
Savi provides sensor analytics solutions for organizations. Their main client bases are the ones that give critical decisions based on the location and status of people. Thus, Savi has to deal with private and government organizations.
Therefore, as a part of specific marketing and sales strategy, they personalized their home pages differently for different clients.
Thus, when government organizations the homepage was:
And for the corporates, the page was:
Ways to Implement ABM
According to the 2020 State of ABM Report, 94.2% of respondents have successfully implemented this marketing strategy.
Thus, you too can implement account-based marketing with these simple steps.
Identify your high-value clients.
Conduct extensive research on those clients.
Strategize your personalized ABM campaigns.
Implement the account-based marketing strategy.
Analyze the campaign regularly.
Importance of Personalization
Personalization is a crucial part of account-based marketing. Your extensive research about the clients helps you craft unique, creative, and personalized content for them.
A personalized experience ensures an enriched and engaging customer experience.
If a campaign exclusively provides solutions to pain points, clients become customers for life. It also helps to develop good relations.
Remember, account-based marketing is not only about conversions but also about creating brand awareness and relationships.
As Andy Bacon, VP Consulting at Momentum, has quoted, “ABM is all about building better quality relationships; the ROI will follow.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Do different industries need different account-based marketing strategies?
The meaning of account-based marketing is to provide tailored solutions to exclusive clients. So yes, different industries will require different ABM strategies.
One should use distinct and personalized approaches to target different people of the same organization. However, you have to ensure that the marketing message is the same for all, despite the personalization.
What are the different types of account-based marketing methods?
The different types to implement ABM strategies are:
Events
Webinars
Direct Mails
Advertising
Personalized Website Experience
Social Media
What role does personalization play in ABM?
ABM is all about personalization. The more personalized your content is, the more likely the chances are for conversion.
Imagine someone selling you a product designed just for solving your problems. You do not even need convincing if it is the answer to all your pain points. That is the same way in which ABM works.
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Buyer Intent Data
Article | October 7, 2022
Intent is an indicator that an account is interested in a certain topic, based on the content consumption of people within an organization. I know that sounds a bit abstract, so let’s look at how it actually works. Let’s say that Gio is looking at some content on marketing attribution. Gio is a Marketing Operations Specialist at Whale Enterprises, and he’s considering buying some new software. Gio’s research is creating intent data that can be tracked by intent providers, who can then let marketing attribution providers know that Whale Enterprises is showing intent to buy a marketing attribution solution.
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Core ABM
Article | July 13, 2021
ABM is Agent3’s heartland. It’s what we do best. And if you’re a regular reader of our website, you’ll be in no doubt about how strongly we feel about our commitment to ‘true’ ABM, ie, an approach that treats key accounts as markets of one.
Why? Because it works: according to ITSMA, almost 85% of marketers measuring ROI say that ABM outperforms other marketing investments and research by Alterra Group backs this statistic, revealing ABM had higher ROI than other marketing activities.
So when marketers come to us asking for pilot ABM programs on, say, 8-10 accounts it’s little wonder that the results we achieve soon means they’re asking us to ramp up that ABM activity to 50-100 accounts as interest in ABM within their organization is suddenly piqued.
And therein lies the challenge for many.
To scale a ‘true’ ABM program effectively without compromising on the key fundamentals it encompasses involves the alignment of many moveable parts: technology and resourcing are fundamental considerations, but then there’s also the decision about which accounts to include and why, and establishing clear objectives for the program.
It’s not straightforward, but if this is a challenge you’re grappling with currently, be reassured by the multiple survey results available online that you’re certainly not alone.
And it’s for this reason we chose to discuss the topic at last week’s B2B Marketing Ignite USA event with a panel of esteemed marketers: Carrie Feord – Global Head of ABM Industry Clusters, Servicenow, Giovanni Di Natale, senior manager, enterprise and ABM Marketing, Pure Storage and Vera Tatro, strategic account-based marketing, AMER, Splunk. It was great to sit down with these ABM leaders to explore some of these challenges and provide some perspective on how best to successfully navigate them.
In the session, we covered:
1) How people define ABM at scale and where the line is drawn in terms of defining the difference between 1:few/1:many ‘ABM’ and good account-centric demand generation from Product, Solutions and Industry Marketing teams. We also discussed whether certain compromises need to be made as you pursue scale.
2) How to enable teams in the field to scale with ABM: the panel shared successes they have had as well as highlighting ‘banana skins’ teams need to avoid in terms of developing ABM resources/playbooks/templates/toolkits which can then be activated by a growing team of ABMers and Field Marketers. We also discussed ways to embed a ‘build once, use again’ mindset while still being true to the ideals of ABM.
3) Clarification of roles within ABM organisations across marketing when it comes to scaling and succeeding within ABM – the panel discussed what skillsets and roles they see as being important as organizations shift from being small-scale ABM pilots to broader programs.
As you can probably imagine, it was a lively session and audience feedback would suggest we hit upon some very real challenges, so it was great to hear first-hand from the panel about their own experiences, successes and learnings.
If you missed it, I highly recommend carving 30 minutes out of your day to watch, and if you have any feedback or comments, we’d love to hear!
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