Account-based marketing and artificial intelligence are two of the biggest trends in B2B marketing today. What's interesting, though, is that you don't see a ton of discussions about how they work together. In fact, it seems like most people are focused on exploring each one individually, to the exclusion of the other.
But while they're both incredible tools on their own, together they can revolutionize how companies approach their B2B marketing strategy and generate more qualified leads than ever before. Here's what we mean:
ABM strategy
What is ABM? ABM stands for account-based marketing. It's a strategy that helps you and your team focus on building relationships with the most important customers in your business. It allows you to pinpoint who you want to work with in order to focus in on marketing directly to those accounts instead of casting a wide net to try to attract a wide range of prospects.
ABM gives you the ability to understand why they buy from you, and how they want to be marketed to: what kinds of messages are most likely to resonate with them? What kind of content do they like best? How frequently should we reach out—and in what ways? ABM can help answer these questions by giving sales teams access to all sorts of data about their accounts' buying habits, so that they can tailor their communication strategies accordingly.
This approach has been proven time and again as being one of the most effective ways for companies to drive revenue growth through digital marketing efforts alone.
If you are looking for more resources to learn about ABM, this blog outlines great courses and resources to help you skill up.
AI is a tool
AI can be a tool that helps you accomplish your goals. But AI is not magic and it’s not a replacement for good marketing. It will not do your job for you. The best way to think about AI is like any other tool: AI can help with the creative process, but it doesn’t magically make everything better by itself.
In fact, there are specific ways in which AI can hurt your marketing efforts if you don’t use them correctly! It might seem counterintuitive, but check out these examples of how this could happen so that you know what to watch out for when using any kind of technology or automation in your business (not just automated communications).
Harnessing AI is Just a Matter of Time and Patience
The good news is that the technology to implement AI into your marketing efforts is already here. You just need to be patient and embrace it.
The most obvious advantage of using AI in your marketing strategy is its ability to help you identify and engage with the right prospects at the right time. This means that when a prospect is ready for a sale, you can be there with a personalized offer that speaks directly to their needs. With continuous learning and data analysis capabilities, AI will also become increasingly accurate at recommending content for each prospect based on their preferences or past interactions with your brand.
AI will be able to do more than just target accounts. It will help with the entire marketing process, from planning and buying media, to writing copy and designing ads, to optimizing for conversions. AI will also be able to help with the entire sales cycle—from identifying qualified leads through nurturing them until they become customers (and then beyond).
As a result of all this automation, marketers can spend less time on busy work and more time building relationships with their clients. They can use their newfound resources toward account-based marketing campaigns that are hyper-targeted at specific individuals within a company rather than general messaging aimed at an entire organization.
AI and ABM Together = Powerful Marketing
AI and ABM are powerful individually, but together they can revolutionize the way companies approach their B2B marketing strategy.
ABM is a way to identify, engage, and nurture customers at all stages of the buyer's journey. It allows you to tailor your content and messaging to specific audiences based on their needs, interests and stage in the buying process. AI enables you to better analyze data such as customer interactions (both online and offline), campaign results, and other internal company information in order to determine which segments will respond best to each piece of content—and then activate those actions behind the scenes so that they don't require human intervention.
Together, these two technologies enable B2B marketers like you to have a more comprehensive view into what's happening with your audience. You can deliver highly personalized experiences across multiple channels from social media ads to email marketing to paid search advertising. These experiences are powered by data-driven insights from AI algorithms analyzing everything from website traffic patterns through sales conversion rates down through social media engagement metrics across different platforms.
Staying ahead of the curve
Having a solid business-to-business marketing strategy is important if you want your company to stay ahead of the curve. You have to work hard to identify key members of your target audience, then create engaging content that appeals directly to their needs. But there are so many things that can distract from this process: complicated technology, uncertainty about what kind of content will be effective, even the stress of finding new ideas and inspiration.
Luckily, two innovative new trends—account-based marketing and artificial intelligence—are helping companies make sure their B2B marketing strategies are always on point. With ABM, you know exactly who your clients are and where they’re coming from at all times; with AI, you’ll be able to automate many tedious tasks associated with content creation.
The future of B2B marketing is nothing to be afraid of. Instead, it is full of exciting new opportunities and technologies.
Learn how to break down the basics of ABM and put it into practice like a pro with this helpful guide.
Download the ebook: Demystifying Account-Based Marketing
