\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n Download Business Resource \u2013 Account-based Marketing Guide<\/strong><\/p>\n Not sure if ABM is for you or want to know how to do it better, our ABM guide is your companion.<\/p>\n Access the Account-based marketing briefing<\/a><\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/p>\n Despite the fact that companies recognize the need for sales and marketing alignment, the reality is that a lot of B2B companies struggle with this. In fact, 90% of B2B marketers <\/a>admitted that aligning with the company's sales team is one of the main reasons why they are not able to reach their goals.<\/p>\n Sales share the same sentiment. According to a study done by Terminus, less than 1% of the qualified leads that marketers pass to them are those that they can convert into paying customers. As a result, B2B businesses lose at least 10% of their potential annual revenue.<\/p>\n Source: <\/em>Terminus<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Amidst the finger-pointing, one thing is clear: the cause of lack of sales and marketing alignment arise because these two teams are on different pages. Marketing focuses on building relationships with potential clients while sales concentrate on getting the accounts.<\/p>\n That said, if your business is struggling because of sales and marketing misalignment, the solution is to get these two teams on the same page by sharing a common goal, which is generating revenue.<\/p>\n This is where account-based marketing comes in to help.<\/p>\n Account-based marketing (ABM) has experienced a stellar revival. According to the 2017 State of Account-Based Marketing Survey<\/a>, 81% of B2B marketers said that they are currently using ABM. This is a stark contrast from the 49% of B2B marketers just the year before.<\/p>\n So what is account-based marketing?<\/p>\n Smart Insights defines account-based marketing<\/a> as \u201ca strategic approach that coordinates personalized sales and marketing efforts to target specific accounts for new businesses and create deeper and broader relationships with existing customers.\u201d<\/p>\n ABM seems to be a new marketing buzzword, but it is not. On the contrary, it has long been used by B2B companies, primarily by those that market to organizations where multiple stakeholders are involved in the buying decision process. ABM helps B2B businesses connect with all the stakeholders within an organization, allowing you to address their needs and increase your ability to make a sale.<\/p>\n With an increase in B2B sales teams focusing more on critical accounts to bring in revenue, and the advent of new automation tools, more and more businesses are now utilizing different techniques to create and implement an ABM strategy<\/a>, including startups and small business owners.<\/p>\n Regardless of size, the majority of B2B companies today have either started using ABM or are seriously considering it. Those that have already started using it highly recommend it, calling it a \u2018must-have' for any B2B business:<\/p>\n Here are some of the reasons why:<\/p>\n One of the enormous benefits Account-based marketing offers is the ability to provide your business with a more strategic and cohesive sales and marketing alignment. That's because ABM requires both your sales and marketing teams to work closely together from identifying target accounts to developing communication and outreach strategies, and agreeing on the metrics to use to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns.<\/p>\n According to a report published by TrackMaven, 40% of sales and marketing professionals<\/a> say that one of the top challenges they face is that they use different metrics, especially when it comes to ROI.<\/p>\n The differences between can make evaluating the effectiveness of a campaign extremely difficult, especially when it comes to tracking your ROI. Since every single campaign you launch involves a great deal of time an effort, it\u2019s crucial that you see whether or not you\u2019re getting an ROI on them.<\/p>\n Majority of those that use account-based marketing list generating revenue as their top priority.<\/p>\n Both teams need to create a definite set of metrics that gear towards achieving sales and marketing alignment. This, in turn, keeps one team accountable to the other to ensure that each of their unique needs to meet this goal. This is why, according to Celsius International, businesses that use ABM generate 208% more revenue<\/a> for their marketing efforts compared to companies that don\u2019t implement ABM.<\/p>\n Although inbound marketing creates content based on your business\u2019 buyer persona<\/a>, ABM takes this personalization to a whole new level by narrowing down the focus even further by developing content and strategies centering on the needs and wants of key decision-makers to help move them further down the buyer\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n No doubt, account-based marketing significantly helps you align your sales and marketing teams. The question is, how to do it?<\/em><\/p>\n We have asked ten top CEOs on to share their best tips for using ABM to help you align your team<\/p>\n \u201cTransparency has become another industry buzzword you hear everywhere. Yet, there are just a few companies and their leaders that actually practice transparency. This lack of transparency results in a global epidemic of mistrust. Share the good, the bad and the ugly. Also, don't keep that information until the annual company anniversary or another event where you are forced to make a speech. You can host bi-weekly team lunches, publicly share your revenues and other financial data, send a weekly\/monthly corporate newsletter to your team informed of the wins and the odds.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Ariel Chiu, CEO of Wonderstruck Events<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cIn the heady rush to adopt new clients, every new one got their customized schedule. My team members had to be briefed on each account as they were brought in to handle specific projects. This naturally caused delays, communication breakdowns, and frustration.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I solved this by adding a lot more structure to our system. This began with establishing a weekly work period (based on our company time zone) and a process that accounts for the lifespan of every assignment. We decided to organize ourselves based on something called \"Scrum<\/a>,\" a method that was initially designed for teams managing software. Like software management teams, what we do is best broken into small, specialized tasks that fit into larger goals.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Our work week ends with a meeting attended by everyone. At this meeting, we take the time to go through all the tasks that were assigned for the week and discuss them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Adam Steele, CEO of Loganix<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cOne of the challenges of marketing nowadays is avoiding making potential consumers feel like you are spamming them. This is where you need to tailor your content to the needs and wants of your target audience: some of this can be done by trial and error because you'll gain a better understanding of these needs and wants over time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Aaron Haynes, Founder of Fenix Pro<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cOur attention spans have gotten much shorter over time. According to a survey by Microsoft, the average attention span<\/a> has fallen to eight seconds, down from 12 seconds in the year 2000. This is a shorter span than a goldfish, so remember this next time you are writing content.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n You have mere seconds to grab the attention of your website visitors, so it's crucial that you include your most valuable pieces of information in your first paragraph. When you address the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How at the very beginning, you increase the odds of that visitor converting, even if they don't consume the entire piece of content.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n When done right, that information-packed first paragraph can satisfy the reader enough that they convert on an exit-offer or immediately jump to your call-to-action.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Michael Tario, Founder, Tario & Associates<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cIncluding a client's success story in your marketing can send you referrals two ways. First, the client will typically share the marketing piece on social media, introducing your company to his or her friends and family. This can send highly qualified leads, in a sense, they are already comfortable with your business because of the close connection. Second, success stories show that your company is good at what you do. In our case, someone might see our marketing and refer a friend to use that is in need of a real estate agent.<\/p>\n Featuring clients and sharing your company\u2019s success shows that your service solves the problems a potential new client is facing. You can attract reputation-based referrals from people you don\u2019t even know if the marketing featuring previous clients is done right.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Steve Kappel, President of Coldwell Banker Kappel Gateway Realty<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cIf you have been building an email list since day one, which every business should, then you can pool your subscriber list to see what they are interested in reading about. This can be your most valuable source of content ideas, as these are the people that are most likely to purchase your product or service soon. You can send out a simple, \"What are you interested in reading about?\" email, or use a survey app that integrates with your email provider. This strategy helps you create content that your buyers will engage with, which can then lead to additional purchase conversions down the line, increasing the lifetime value of each customer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Matthew Willens, Founder of Willens Law Offices<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cRather than spreading your marketing budget thin across several advertising channels, in the beginning, pick the one or two of the most active options, and dedicate the majority of your budget and time mastering those.<\/p>\n Paid advertising like Facebook ads and Google AdWords allows you to see precisely how much ROI you are generating. When you are dealing with measurable results, you can then scale your efforts and experience serious growth. Then, as your revenue grows, so can the number of different marketing channels you use.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 John Morgan, CEO of Stillwater Dwellings<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cYou could have the best product or offer the best service, but if your target customers don\u2019t know you exist, you will never survive. There are multiple ways to place your offer in front of your ideal customer with paid ads offering an instant solution<\/p>\n Facebook ads allow small business owners to place a particular offer in front of a highly-targeted audience. Facebook's massive user base combined with their extensive targeting options makes it possible to start attracting customers and generating sales on day one.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Scott Grossman, Managing Partner of The Grossman Law Firm, LLC<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cIf your ad is enticing and clever, you might receive a click or engagement \u2014 and if your offer is irresistible, you will see conversions. Now, a Google AdWords campaign allows you to place your ad directly in front of users that want your service or product. AdWords allows us to target potential clients that are looking to speak to a local lawyer immediately. With proper keyword selection and ad copy that offers a solution to their problem, we can generate leads that convert at a high rate.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Sales](\"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Sales-and-marketing-alignment--700x254.png\" "\\"Sales")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Qualified](\"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Qualified-leads-700x525.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhat is account-based marketing?<\/h3>\n
![\"Account](\"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/AMB-2017-report-700x839.png\" "\\"Account-based")
<\/a><\/p>\nBenefits of using account-based marketing<\/h3>\n
![\"benefits](\"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/benefits-of-using-account-based-marketing-700x291.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nIncreased sales and marketing alignment<\/h4>\n
Synchronized metrics to increase revenue<\/h3>\n
![\"using](\"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/using-different-metrics-ROI-700x199.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Account-based](\"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Account-based-marketing-survey-2017-700x842.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMore personalized communication<\/h4>\n
Sales and marketing alignment tips using ABM<\/h3>\n
1. Encourage transparency during team meetings<\/h4>\n
2. Have an organized system in place<\/h4>\n
3. Personalize your content<\/h4>\n
4. Fine tune your articles and blog posts<\/h4>\n
5. Use success stories and case studies<\/h4>\n
6. Gather data from your email list<\/h4>\n
7. Choose distribution channels wisely<\/h4>\n
8. Maximize your Facebook ads<\/h4>\n
9. Don\u2019t forget Google AdWords<\/h4>\n