This is an article ‘Easily Create An SEO-driven Account-based Marketing Strategy’ by Marc Primo Warren
Ever since businesses started to adopt digital technologies, priorities for marketing strategies have drastically changed. While some still struggle to take on a trial and error approach, things are becoming more precise with account-based marketing (ABM) methods. We now know better how to talk with product and content savvy consumers and just how to create appealing marketing materials that tell them how each business can best meet their needs.
Without an effective account-based marketing campaign, efforts might fall short in broadening the reach and only confine efforts among more minor and loyal audiences. The main objective is to grow your audiences and engagement while boosting your Google ranking. Applying some accounting elements to your marketing can do this without a hitch.
What is Account-based marketing, and how does it work?
This type of online marketing strategy is relatively new to marketers, but more have already seen its potential to tap more of the right audiences. Account-based marketing involves identifying specific marketing categories and groups using data-driven insights that can help you develop customized or personalized ad campaigns. It's an outline of your buyer personas to help you create the appropriate content, SEO, and marketing materials to effectively address every customer journey on your inbound flywheel.
For most elite marketers, creating an account-based marketing strategy starts by breaking down each step of your campaign. These may also include identifying potential marketing partners, like how e-wallet providers can work with merchant stores for payment convenience programs or how mobile phone repair shops can tie up with smartphone brands. This tactic helps broaden each partner's reach in niche markets with similar audience groups.
Of course, this scenario's main challenge is integrating the two brands' marketing styles, content, and designs. Collaboration is always essential in any partnership, but with ABM strategies optimized with SEO, proper content management is crucial for both brands to agree on to keep the partnership unique.
Why do businesses need to adopt an ABM strategy?
This year, over 94% of businesses claim they have already adopted ABM strategies, and 65% of these companies said their campaigns were more successful than other competitive brands. However, its effectiveness lies in how digital marketers replaced the traditional marketing funnel with the modern inbound flywheel to identify-engage-land and expand.
ABM strategies tend to take a more personal approach when communicating content with target audiences. One glaring difference between ABM strategy and inbound marketing, though, is how more active ABM strategies are than the passive flywheel.
With well-defined customer journeys, identified buyer personas, and clear customer touchpoints, ABM strategies bring out more human elements that the right crowd can relate to and appreciate. And thanks to today's digital technologies, it's easier to get your message on various platforms now more than ever.
Among the benefits ABM strategies offer a business include more reliable guides, efficient research (especially in building significant audience profiles), quick turnarounds in building trust online, faster results in managing lead generation efforts, a tighter sales funnel, and improved brand authority in due course.
For blue-chip brands and conglomerates that operate globally, ABM strategies can help keep everyone in the loop regarding marketing campaigns and the various customer and cultural profiles. It makes things easier in terms of managing complex supply chain issues and helps in identifying potential partners for collaboration.
Getting the most out of your ABM strategies
In one recent study, 42% of companies found that ABM strategies churn in a significantly higher ROI than other marketing approaches they have launched in the past. One main goal is to make things easier for your target audiences to find what they are looking for, what they want to learn about your brand or product, and help them make positive purchasing decisions.
ABM strategies marry both sales and marketing methods to engage target buyers and increase the chances for conversion with tailor-fit content. However, businesses should be careful not to waste their marketing spend on futile ABM campaigns due to inefficient SEO.
To jumpstart your SEO-ABM strategy, here are four steps you have to accomplish first:
1. Identify buyer personas to target
Create a database of specific accounts categorized according to which part of the inbound flywheel they are so you can personalize your SEO content. Identify key accounts by consulting your sales team. You may have to develop a dedicated set of ads and messaging, whether business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-customer (B2C) accounts.
2. Create company profiles via research
You can better address what key decision-makers want and need by conducting thorough research on a business's niche market, company size, and even competitors. Ensure you factor in their revenue, marketing share, and other relevant details such as mission, vision, values, organizational structure, and website content. It may be a lot of work, but you can increase your chances of converting if you address the boss's pain points head-on.
3. Develop the right content
One study on B2B buyers shows that a whopping 95% prefer shorter content formats dedicated to their company's needs and wants because they help them with their purchasing process.
Present case studies similar to your B2B targets and content culled from your customer relationship management so they can see how many firms engaged your services after visiting your website. Giving your target audience what they need to learn about you and showing them how you can address their pain points should always be the first goal in your ABM strategy.
4. Apply SEO to your ABM strategy
Lastly, SEO significantly pushes your strategies in how it helps you learn more about your target audiences, competitors, and potential B2B partners. Develop your call to action statements and keywords in a way that they speak to specific audiences. If you can address each one's particular pain points, there's nowhere to go but up in your ABM campaign.
Aside from this, SEO can also help you generate more leads from those who visit your website and how they behave while doing so. Knowing these data-driven details is imperative in creating unique and personalized customer journeys that strike a chord and turn into conversions.