Here at Ice Blue Sky, there have been many times over the years where we sit down to brainstorm how we can engage, acquire and retain that list of dream clients. After some trial and error, we have come up with 5 essential tips for creating a successful account-based marketing campaign.
Make It Memorable
It’s obvious that a prospect is more likely to remember your company if you send them something creative, and different from what they’re used to getting. Your target account is more than likely getting sales-y emails all the time. You want to stand out. We have found time and time again that the traditional direct mail approach is always effective. Make it relevant to their commercial interests. Make it fun!
A great creative example of this is what GumGum, an applied computer vision company, did to win over the business of T-Mobile. GumGum’s CMO took to researching the buying committee, starting with the executive leadership team, and found T-Mobile CEO John Legere is a big Batman fan. They used this intel to develop an idea that made the CEO part of the GumGum story. The result was a comic book – T-Man and Gums – created by their team of editors, writers, illustrators, and letterers. They shipped 100 copies to T-Mobile and its agencies of record, and long story short, they won over the account.
Don’t Expect Too Much from the Prospect
Don’t be disheartened if you don’t get a response, and don’t let it stop you from following up with them. It also helps to set their expectations of communication with a plan. For example, reach out first via direct mail to introduce yourself, and let them know you’ll call them in a weeks time and all you ask is that they take your call. This gets your foot in the door and increases the chance of having that first conversation.
Provide Credibility of Your Understanding
Acquiring your dream customer should be like getting a new job. You want to show your knowledge of the company, the industry, and tailor your CV and interview answers to appeal to them. To do this, you must do your research. Like showing a new employer your value to the company, you must show why, using hard facts, your solution is relevant to them.
Follow Up, and Follow up Some More
To keep your business in your prospect’s mind, you have to be consistent with your communications. But this doesn’t have to be limited to emails and calls. Try sending them something interesting and relevant in the post, with a personalised note. Your communication frequency should be more of a drip-feed than a one-shot.
Target More Than One Person
Start with a few accounts you want to target. Keep each campaign relevant and differentiate between decision-makers and influencers. A consistent, personalised, wide-spread campaign will get you the results you are after.
Account-Based Marketing is one of the services we provide. We can work with your sales team to identify the key organisations and people you want to reach, as well as create original, research-based content and creative engagement strategies to ensure you start conversations with the right people. With significant ROI levels, you can’t afford to ignore ABM, and when you’re communicating complex technical concepts it’s an absolute must.
