Programmatic ABM
Article | June 9, 2022
You’re overcomplicating it. You don’t need the studio lighting, you don’t need a $2000+ camera, you don’t need a full production crew. Actually, it can actually be more effective for your content to not use any of this. Keep reading to learn how.
By now, I’m sure you’ve noticed the rise of user-generated content (UGC). UGC is photos and videos created for your brand by customers, viewers, or followers. There’s so much beauty in this and throughout 2020, with everyone stuck inside their house, lots of companies had no choice but to make do with what they could. Sometimes this meant FaceTime photoshoots or videos that customers shot on regular iPhones. I am a huge fan of user-generated content and most consumers are, too.
Let’s unpack the beauty of why this is such a beautiful and effective form of content on both the customer side as well as the business’ side.
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Buyer Intent Data
Article | October 7, 2022
B2B marketers use account-based marketing (ABM) to generate business because it allows them to drive focused account-level interactions. These interactions are a result of relevant and customized messaging. Today, the messaging focuses on not just one decision-maker but a group within the target account that green lights a buying decision. This natural evolution in ABM implementation is called buying group marketing (BGM). It isn’t a new concept but keeps evolving. B2B marketers are religiously implementing BGM in their ABM strategy to get a competitive edge and to keep up with the changing trends in the ABM industry.
Carefully created buyer personas are used to create hyper-personalized campaigns for buying group members. In this sense, BGM is a person-centric marketing approach, differentiating it from an account-based marketing approach.
While talking about buying group marketing, Dmitri Lisitski, CEO and Co-Founder, Influ2, a B2B targeted advertising solutions provider, said,
"Buying Group Marketing will empower B2B marketers to achieve greater precision by extending this approach more holistically across their programs."
How Does BGM Drive Revenue?
Revenue factors into every effort that aims to increase sales numbers, retain customers, and engage prospective customers. Let us look into how BGM drives revenue in the B2B domain.
Closing the Gap Between Sales and Marketing
Organizations struggle to bring sales and marketing teams together. They max out their budgets to make it happen, but more often than not, they do not get the expected results. Additionally, their marketing automation platform doesn’t make the connection between the multiple leads coming from the same account. This lack of insight can affect the performance of the entire demand management process, such as sales, revenue development, and customer organization.
Buying behaviors are constantly shifting. It is crucial to use a fresh approach that enables the teams to connect directly with the target accounts’ decision-makers, offering them just what they need through effective campaigns and driving revenue is crucial.
In the buying group framework, marketing and sales align their goals and operations, share important insights on buyer personas, orchestrate messaging for campaigns, and collate data from platforms such as CRM and sales engagement tools to successfully find common ground for approaching a buying group. They are no longer stuck on one side of the MQL wall but are involved in every stage of the conversion process. As a result, they guide specific buying group members to make a buying decision and generate revenue.
Putting Buyer Experience on Top
In a Forrester survey, 94% of respondents said they sold to buying groups that had three or more individuals, while 38% said that they sold to groups of 10 or more.
Purchase decisions in large enterprises are never restricted to one individual. The bigger the purchase decision, the bigger the buying committee. The bigger the buying committee, the larger the pool of buyer personas that need targeting.
For example, if the HR department of a growing organization realizes that it needs a new human capital resource management system (HCRM) to manage its HR-related processes, then a buying group is created to choose a new system. When this group goes to the market to find a solution, it becomes a potential lead for HCRM providers, and the lead is called a demand unit. Targeting this demand unit with not just the HCRM but also a travel and expense solution (T & E) is possible with BGM.
In BGM:
Every step in the buyer’s journey is based on buyer personas and presents value to the buying group.
Every demand management process focuses on the buying group.
Through this approach, multiple types of selling opportunities can be explored. All this effort appeals to different buying group members in different ways and will push them to get in touch with the sales team and make a purchase decision.
Offering Solutions to Pain Points
Information designed precisely to complete the purchase should be provided to every member of the buying group committee. Interestingly, before making a purchase decision, members of the buying group will explore the content of different solution providers. According to a recent study by Dimensional Research, 90% of buyers thought that positive online reviews of a product or service influenced their buying decision. This is just one type of information that the buying group members will consume before they make a buying decision.
With the help of real-time intent targeting or cognitive product targeting, it is easier to understand the customer’s intent through channels like websites, apps, and email. The terms searched, specific or broad, can point to the needs and requirements of a member of the committee. Once the intent is clear, buyer personas can be segmented and targeted with prescriptive content that talks about solutions to their pain points and how the expected results are achieved. For example, if a C-level buying committee member displays a high level of intent activity, then it is highly likely that he or she is looking to make a strategic investment. Such an opportunity will be ready for sales conversion in a couple of months.
How Should You Implement BGM on Sales Funnel?
We have already established the importance of buying group engagement in driving leads through the sales funnel. When sales and marketing teams share insights, marketing becomes effective and tangible. Now, let us take a look at BGM implementation in the sales funnel:
Top of the Funnel
While targeting a buying group at the top of the funnel, the focus should be on creating awareness and understanding the demand of the target account. Social media ads and relevant landing pages that act as lead magnets can help achieve this goal.
Middle of the Funnel
For buying groups in the middle of the funnel, engaging and educating the groups is imperative. Posting relevant content on social media handles can foster interaction with the members. LinkedIn messages from sales development representatives with ad and landing page support are effective.
Bottom of the Funnel
Conversations that lead to conversion start when the buying group is at the bottom of the funnel. In this stage, the account executives present members with compelling content that addresses their pain points and influences them enough to make a purchase decision.
While executing BGM, B2B marketers should begin by understanding the business needs of the target account and create a comprehensive marketing strategy to address these needs. Orchestrating a holistic experience for the buying committee through high-quality, relevant content is the next step. Achieving a strategic, operational and practical alignment with sales will ensure success and higher conversions.
Amplitude Drives 5.6x ROI on Ad Spend with Influ2’s Help
With Influ2’s person-based advertising, Amplitude, a digital optimization system provider, focused 100% on advertising to key decision-makers within its target accounts. Influ2 used engagement insights to create and execute personalized and attributable B2B marketing. The result was a 5.6x ROI on ad spend.
Last Word
ABM marketing has evolved with the help of buying group marketing. Implementing BGM with an account-based marketing strategy can create lasting relationships with target accounts, retain existing clients and bring new leads.
FAQ
What are the three important tenets of buying group marketing?
The three important tenets of buying group marketing are understanding the needs of the target account, attaining sales and marketing alignment, and creating a holistic marketing strategy that addresses the pain points of the target account.
How is buyer experience different than customer experience?
Customer experience focuses on the existing customers in the pipeline, while buyer experience focuses on the prospective customers’ complete buyer journey.
How can you engage top-of-the-funnel audiences in buying group marketing?
You can engage top-of-the-funnel audiences through social media ads and relevant landing pages that display content relevant to the needs of the target account.
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Buyer Intent Data
Article | March 6, 2023
If you’ve been keeping up with new terms in B2B marketing, by now you’ve likely heard of account-based marketing (ABM). The term itself has been around for years, but with recent advances in technology, this tactic is now being adopted at a much larger scale than ever before. Still, surprisingly, I find that many B2B marketers are in the dark when it comes to ABM. So here’s a quick look into the future of B2B enterprise marketing, and why I think account-based marketing will be one of the biggest revenue drivers for B2B businesses in the very near future.
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Account Based Execution
Article | July 8, 2022
Third-party cookie restrictions or outright bans were an inevitable step in the evolution of data protection. As a result, B2B marketers are preparing for a cookie-less future in which third-party data will no longer direct them to potential clients. They must now prepare new tactics to execute account-based marketing (ABM) strategies.
Abhi Yadav, the founder of Zylotech, states that ABM strategies greatly depend on trustworthy data: “We believe the foundation for any successful ABM program lies in the ability to “trust” your data. This requires scalable, repeatable processes for data management and governance across all people, accounts, and activities.”
Abhi Yadav, the founder of Zylotech, states that ABM strategies greatly depend on trustworthy data: “We believe the foundation for any successful ABM program lies in the ability to “trust” your data. This requires scalable, repeatable processes for data management and governance across all people, accounts, and activities.”
In light of the demise of third-party cookies, where can B2B marketers turn for reliable information? Let us find out.
First-Party Cookies
When it comes to potential customers, first-party cookies are the most dependable source of information. These cookies assist in monitoring audience behavior when they visit our websites and engage with our content. Based on recent interactions, first-party cookie data will produce more relevant content.
Data Points
When developing ABM strategies, delve deeper into first-party data and use locations and keywords. B2B marketers can then contextualize the content and figure out what prompted the viewer to interact with it in the first place.
Tracking Technologies
Tracking technologies like reverse IP tracking are legal and can aid your ABM campaigns. This technology enables businesses to conduct reverse IP searches and access the top-level domain data that IP produces. The name of the business hosting that IP and the other details of those who registered the business IP can be accessed. Using this information, B2B marketers can develop an effective target list and pursue the target accounts with personalized content.
Contextual Advertising
Contextual advertising displays advertisements to website visitors based on the content they are currently viewing. As a result, the visitors find these ads relevant to their needs and are more receptive to them.
ABM Success Requires Reliable Data
Using primary data sources will provide direct feedback on the relevance of your content based on interactions with potential clients. As we enter this first-party world, you must remain agile, with new ABM tactics ready to guide clients toward successful partnerships.
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