For account-specific Account Based Marketing program, everything needs to be customized. Every engagement needs to be customized as per the challenges incurred by your target account and the strategies & strategic priorities of your target account.
In order to fuel your Account-specific ABM Program where you might be chasing after 10 or fewer accounts, you need to have a custom insight program in place that delivers a highly customized account experience for your target accounts.
How does simple, desk-based research form a part of empowering your account-specific Account Based Marketing program?
Here are ways how custom research empowers account-specific ABM:
Custom research forms a part of your Account-specific ABM Tactics
According to Forrester’s Q1 2018 Global B2B Marketing ABM Survey, your Account-specific ABM tactics may include custom account research as well as custom account content/events. This demonstrates the importance of having a customized insight program in place especially if you are adopting an Account-specific ABM strategy to win accounts. Custom research supports other Account-specific ABM Tactics too, such as manual engagement with target accounts as well as formulation in your marketing and engagement strategy.
Account-specific insights empowers your Custom Content
A crucial element of Account Based Marketing is highly customized Content Marketing that generates demand, interest and awareness for your products and services. If leveraged properly, account-specific insights that is also specific to the industry which the account operates around empowers your custom content with understanding. In addition to understanding of the business challenges and strategic priorities of your target account, Account-specific insights add an element of empathy which empowers customer obsession.
Research Empowers Account-specific ABM with alignment
Sales and Marketing alignment is brought about by traditional research. Traditional research clarifies the attributes of companies that Sales and Marketing teams are focusing on selling into. The integration of Sales and Marketing is also brought about by traditional research, if both teams are looking at the same information then there is unity brought about in terms of level of data and insight. Research is a valuable tool to bring forward Sales and Marketing alignment which delivers forward real business results and long-standing customer relationships.
Conclusion
Custom research empowers all levels of Account Based Marketing in their depth of personalization and customization but especially for account-specific ABM, custom research forms the crux of the overall tactics as well as supporting other tactics within account-specific ABM. In sum, custom research is important for empowering Sales & Marketing alignment as well as delivering customization at scale.