If you’re running ABM campaigns, metrics always matter. Whether you’re reporting back to the C-suite or demanding clients, you have to be able to put hard numbers to what’s happening with target accounts.
To lay the groundwork, agree on SMART goals with marketing and sales teams, and decide which scale is best for your ABM campaigns. You should also have relevant content aligned to funnel stages and personalized for the key roles within target accounts.
ABM flips the typical sales funnel by choosing specific accounts instead of casting a wide net to potential prospects, but the content funnel remains the same by educating target accounts through top-, middle-, and bottom-of-funnel content.
Remember: you can’t measure everything, so focus on key marketing metrics that will enable you to measure what matters and be able to adjust accordingly.
Are you luring in the right targets?
The top of the funnel is all about lighting that spark of interest in target accounts, especially to gain the trust of key roles within accounts that can help in influencing the decision-making process.
Ideally, you should split engagement metrics by key decision-makers and influencers within the accounts as you gain contact information.
Is your content hitting the mark?
The middle of the funnel is where you can make or break a deal. Since B2B sales cycles are typically long, ABM helps build confidence in a product or service and establishes trust with the sales team.
The middle of the funnel is where you can truly see how invested the account is with you, or make tweaks to improve performance.
Are target accounts taking the desired actions?
They’ve made it to the bottom of the funnel, but it’s not time to celebrate just yet. This is where we can really get into the nitty-gritty of measuring and reporting. By this point, you should have a wider map of key roles within the target account, which enables more in-depth measuring of what’s happening across the account.
(You probably have a blocker or two as well – but all the best things have haters – keep pushing forward.)
If you try to measure everything, you end up measuring nothing (it’s like taking a highlighter to an entire page in a book). Keep it succinct; you can always choose different metrics in other campaigns once you’ve established a baseline.
Although these are all marketing metrics, sales alignment is imperative for successful ABM programs. Marketing and sales can stay in the loop through choosing goals together and keeping communication open throughout each campaign.
Clunky technology can be a huge time suck if ABM tools are not set up correctly. Streamline with an intuitive CRM along with connected marketing automation, reporting, and advertising tools.
To get more specific, you can tier conversions by giving more weight to accounts that are lower in the funnel or give more weight to your higher-tiered accounts that have been predetermined by marketing and sales goals.
ABM campaign planning and implementation can be complicated. Break it down into manageable steps with our practical guide, Success in ABM Campaign Planning: A Workbook.