ABM + CRM — 3 HIGH LEVEL KEYS FOR SUCCESS:

Account-Based Marketing has been a strategy, well, forever. At least since the first CEO said, “I want someone to go win the XYZ account — they’re a perfect fit for our product!”. However, over the years it’s evolved — and for the better. The current playbook involves joining CRM data with a personalized outbound marketing strategy, specific to the brand being pursued..

Account-Based Marketing has been a strategy, well, forever. At least since the first CEO said, “I want someone to go win the XYZ account — they’re a perfect fit for our product!”. However, over the years it’s evolved — and for the better. The current playbook involves joining CRM data with a personalized outbound marketing strategy, specific to the brand being pursued.

When undertaking or setting up your own org’s ABM efforts, here are some high level tips to keep in mind.

Everyone in a Sales & Marketing team has a role. Looking back in time, when I got my start in marketing 10+ years ago, I loved that the software company I was working for in N.Y.C. always integrated “Sales & Marketing” into the same department. It made sense: All team members are using CRM & marketing tools for different reasons. It’s important from a Project Manager perspective of how each key player is using the functionality and to build out and design ABM functionality for personal customization for every end-user individual on the team. Some might be looking more into lead generation-based reporting, others might just want high-level dashboards for statistical use. But, no matter how their efforts are being driven toward the target account, you’ll want to ensure they’re all empowered by, and learning from, the data.

Let’s be honest, B2B marketing can be very technical, and much of it is hooked up to a CRM. The most important factor is to make sure all outbound email communications are being sent out properly. For instance in Pardot, this initially means ensuring assets like DNS keys and website tracking code settings are working. This also means making sure open & click through rates are healthy and other things like spam complaints are at a minimum. Remember that anything below 95% in terms of a delivery rate isn’t ideal.

Another key consideration is how Web-to-Lead settings are configured. To use Pardot as another example, that could mean taking a Pardot form and pushing it onto a native landing page — or the reverse, taking existing web form functionality and plugging it into the system using Form Handlers. The latter is great if you’re trying to maintain existing form UI / UX properties already configured onto a website. Going that route will likely involve working with your web development team to make sure the “Form Handler Code” is installed properly into the back-end of your content management system, the form actions are pushing correctly, etc… So — depending on how responsive and agile your WebDev team, compared to how often you’re likely to make tweaks and updates to your efforts, can help you make the call which choice is right for you.

Once you’ve got those three things locked down, you can always explore Salesforce’s specific ABM product lines and their additional information on ABM best practices! Pretty soon you’ll be targeting, engaging, and winning those accounts you’ve always had your eyes on!

And we’ll see you in the cloud.