By Brandon Redlinger Posted April 20,
2020 In Account Based Marketing
19 experts weigh in on what you should be doing right now to get
results and hit your goals
There’s
one thing that’s on everybody’s mind right now – it goes by many names, but
most of us know it as the coronavirus or COVID-19.
In its
wake, it leaves political unrest, economic downturns, and market instability.
It’s had a palpable impact on the purchasing behaviors of businesses — the top
priorities of companies have drastically changed from what they were just two
months ago. A company that was in the market for new software could now be
merely trying to survive.
Many
companies tout values of agility, disruption and innovation. In the coming
weeks and months, that will truly be put to the test as we enter these
uncharted waters.
In a
world of uncertainty, revenue teams are being asked to step up. However, many
are left with the question of “how?”
That’s
why we used a lifeline and called in the experts. We asked them two pressing
questions:
1.
What tactic should B2B marketers be doing right now to hit their
goals during the COVID-19 crisis?
2.
How should B2B marketers be planning their programs and
strategies for the rest of 2020 and beyond?
This post
covers the first question, and our next post will cover the second question.
As you’ll
see, Account-Based Marketing is
more relevant and effective than ever before. Everything ABM stands for – team
alignment, personal and relevant messaging, multi-channel interactions,
full-funnel activities, etc. – is what’s working right now.
Many
answers from the experts reflect this assertion.
What tactic should B2B marketers be doing right now to hit their
goals during the COVID-19 crisis?
|
Practice Vice President, Gartner
|
First,
consider focusing ABM programs on accounts that are currently showing signs of
being in-market, either via anonymous first-party web engagement or third-party
intent data. In addition, there is a natural tendency to focus on lower-cost
engagement channels in an effort to save money, yet solely cutting channels for
the sake of cutting will dramatically impact performance. Therefore, you must
be selective when making channel decisions.
For
example, from our report Adjusting Your Account-Based Marketing Program in an
Economic Downturn, respondents with the higher pipeline lift were more likely
to leverage SDRs to send personalized emails, conduct social outreach and make
phone calls than their counterparts who reported lower pipeline lift. These
channels should absolutely remain part of the engagement strategy.
|
President Heinz Marketing
|
Honestly,
the only channel that isn’t available right now is in-person meetings. Virtual
events, direct mail, cross-channel digital, the telephone – they are all still
alive, working and productive from what we’ve seen in the field the past couple
weeks.
This is
also an opportunity to double-down on the precision of your ABM programs – who
you are targeting and why, which messages are being shared, when, and why, as
well as how tightly you are coordinating communication between your sales and
marketing teams. This is also a great time to increase investment and leverage
non-lead systems to accelerate ABM impact. Account engagement systems, intent
data, sales engagement tools and more.
Some
messaging guidance: How is yours an essential business for your customers right
now? How are you creating clarity, guidance, direction and tangible value to
help your customers navigate through and succeed in this environment?
|
CEO, Engagio
|
Revisit
your target account lists. Some industries (e.g. Oil & Gas, Restaurants,
and Travel & Tourism) are hit negatively by this crisis and are unlikely to
be investing, while others (e.g. Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals) are
booming. Also, smaller companies are more likely to be cutting budgets than
larger ones. Revisit your target account lists with this lens to ensure you are
focusing your limited ABM budgets on the accounts most likely to be able to
act.
|
VP Consulting Services, Inverta
|
Many
marketing organizations have doubled down on customer retention, up-sell and
cross-sell strategies, often leveraging incoming intent data signals. It’s been
difficult to acquire net new business during this economic downturn for certain
industries, so a renewed focus on the customer base and expansion programs
within the base are picking up steam.
Additionally,
ABM marketers need to support the elongation of sales cycles within their
target accounts. Treat every target account like an early stage opportunity,
and deploy tactics to keep that opportunity relevant until companies are ready
to invest again. This includes regular, exclusive virtual innovation and
thought leadership events, custom content, and offline tactics like outbound
calling and creative direct mail that acknowledges the home environment for
most account contacts.
|
Senior Analyst, Marketing Practice, TOPO
|
We’ve all
lost events, and mostly lost direct mail. It almost kills me to say it right
now, webinars have taken off and stayed high. Everyone’s webinar calendars are
through the roof. You used to do one every two weeks. Now maybe you do two
every week. Another tactic we’re seeing increase is our SDR outbound. And the
companies that have had outbound SDR prospecting as an important driver of
pipeline historically are a little better off. We’ve certainly seen some
drop-off in terms of efficiency, so making certain that we double down there
will be important.
Now,
beyond the tactics, we all have numbers that we have to hit. But we have to
reevaluate those numbers so we can put our plan together to move forward and
keep us on track with the right tactics.
|
Cofounder, Chief Analyst, TOPO
|
I agree
with everything Eric said, and we can’t forget about going account-based,
because everyone has to be very targeted right now. But there’s been this
interesting evolution of what seems like 10 years happening over the last four
weeks.
70% of organizations
say the biggest pipeline roadblock is that people don’t want to take meetings.
People are gradually realizing the implications of everything that’s changed
over the course of three or four weeks. I don’t think we understood how drastic
it was going to be.
But what
we have to ask is, “Did your buyer’s definition of value change?” If you can’t
discern that, it doesn’t matter what channel you use. No matter what, we must
be constantly calibrating against our buyers’ new definition of value. It’s going
to be really interesting to see what’s going to continue to work, because we’re
getting reports of people with thousands of webinar registrations, but what if
what people really want is to talk to someone?
|
CEO, LeadMD
|
Everyone
should be re-casting target account lists to focus near term efforts on
accounts that first, are still in a financial and environmental position to
acquire solutions, and second, also have mission-critical problems solved by
the solutions they can provide.
|
CMO, Sendoso
|
ABM
marketing should be focused on hyper-relevant messaging. Every single touch
point from SDR touch, to direct mail / gifting, digital ads, etc. need to be
relevant to the times and lean in on the prospects’ true pain points at this
moment. The companies that do this best will emerge as the winners, as they
will gain the ear of their customers and prospects and will become the vendor
of choice when budgets free up.
|
CMO, TechTargeet
|
Tactically,
solution providers must determine how best to help their clients both
rationally and emotionally. They will redouble efforts to clearly explain their
value to their clients in meaningful, understandable and realistic terms. All
actors must work with clients to “keep the faith” by delivering on promises and
responding quickly and transparently to issues as they arise.
Companies
that have yet to establish a significant retained base obviously need to stay
focused on creating momentum, even as they take significant steps to reduce
tactical sprawl and waste. They must accept longer sell cycles while committing
to developing more meaningful engagement early in the process — to build their
cases more completely with key supporters and detractors across the actual
buying team.
In
contrast to volume-based lead gen, this is a time for more comprehensive
opportunity identification – or better, opportunity creation — and management,
for complete Sales and Marketing alignment around the diverse needs or
interests of the buying team. Without a doubt, those companies that improve
their ABM skillsets more proactively will be better able to rapidly proliferate
them to more scalable hybrid-ABM practices as conditions normalize.
|
CMO, MarvelMarketers
|
The key
to any good strategy, including your ABM strategy, is to consider your goals,
your clients’ needs and mindfulness of the underlying environment. In the era
of COVID-19, I recommend one effective pivot in strategy:
Direct
changes in messaging or offering: Organizations who take bold steps in making a
stance for the collective good. For example, Kentucky Fried Chicken suspended
their “Finger Licking Good” Slogan to reflect their support of the broader
health and safety of the public.
Tons of
organizations opened up their products for free or at a steep discount, knowing
helping a potential customer today is not just good for future business, but
even for the broader good. (Zoom, Google, tons of universities etc.)
|
Senior VP, Conculting, ITSMA
|
We’ve
already made the shift to digital – we had no choice – so that’s necessary but
hardly sufficient. Here are four specific ways that we can work for greater
impact during the current crisis.
1.
Continuous review. This is above the actual tactics, but we need
to invest more time every week to make sure that we’re staying current with
this sensitive and rapidly changing situation. Also, we must keep up with our
own business leadership to ensure that we’re completely in sync and aligned.
This even extends to all the little details, like the exact content, the
messaging, the tone, etc.
2.
Multi-channel communication. Even though we’re all digital right
now, multi-channel still rules. A combination of inbound (which is still
important), social, outbound, direct and targeted, and don’t forget Sales
support – we need to work even more closely with Sales.
3.
Personalization. ABM is all about personalization, but in good
times, it’s easy for us to take a few shortcuts. Given how fast everything’s
changing, more research, real customization, and deep personalization with our
outbound is required to be relevant.
4.
Collaborative innovation. Think about much more personalized and
customized solutions, and invite our customers and prospects to collaborate
with us. It also means different kinds of collaborative innovation internally,
so working differently with Sales, working differently with delivery, etc.
|
CMO, Lessonly
|
Continue
with highly personalized direct mail. You will be surprised how effective it
can be. Individuals are willing to give out their home address for great direct
mail.
|
VP of Marketing, Vidyard
|
I’m
seeing a lot of organizations having great success with virtual events during
the COVID-19 pandemic. Consider hosting your own online event offering a deep
level of value in topical areas that you know are important to your target
accounts! When sourcing speakers, don’t forget to recruit individuals from your
target accounts whenever possible. Not only will flattery get you everywhere,
but it gives you a unique opportunity to build a relationship at a time when it
matters more than ever. For tips on how to run your own virtual event, check
out www.vidyard.com/blog/online-events.
|
Director of Field & Customer
Marketing, Pendo
|
COVID-19
is forcing marketers to completely rethink their messaging. The stories that
worked before the crisis will fall flat with prospects that are consumed with
far more than the business goals they decided on at the beginning of 2020. It
requires a lot of listening – from your customer success team, your sales team,
and your customer community, to understand what challenges and acute pains are
consistent across the personas and industries you target.
Your
prospects no longer have the luxury of talking about “nice to haves.” They’re
spending all of their time shifting their focus and efforts to what’s most
critical to their success and survival during a dramatic economic and cultural
event. Every touchpoint should be human-centered and the story you tell has to
connect the dots between the pain they are experiencing right now and how your
product is a must-have in helping them move forward.
|
CMO, InsideView, Author
|
We ARE
focused on top customers right now, trying to make their lives easier. We’re
testing a “have family dinner on us” with meaningful DoorDash gift cards — for
a new customer thank you, expanded engagement, and so on. We’re starting with
25 large accounts and a few people per account. The account manager is doing
the distribution, with marketing driving the program.
|
Director of Client Services, DigitalPi
|
Behind
every account is still a person, and during this time of uncertainty we have to
appeal more than ever to the human-to-human connection. Account Based Marketing
isn’t just about targeting the company, but the individual people who are
working from home and blending their work and home identity for that company.
What is that person’s pain point? What are their struggles? How can they be
seen and acknowledged as people? How do I venture outside to find groceries and
still feel safe? Toilet paper, hand sanitizer and masks are on everyone’s
minds.
People
are yearning for more human connection while being isolated. Now’s the
opportunity to really let your marketing creative juices flow and be bold and
try unorthodox ways to bring humanity and human connection back. Direct mail
campaigns and trying something different with engaging small group webinars are
just a few tools in your marketing tool belt to really take advantage of.
|
Partner, Winning by Design
|
Right now
teams are challenged with the need to balance leading with empathy and keeping
the light on in their business. ABM is a great approach in 3 key areas:
1.
Retargeting and personalization: Our customers are finding that
building pipeline right now is hard and teams are struggling to keep up
“business as usual.” Using an account-based selling model allows teams to
personalize outreach and avoid insensitive cold calls to companies that may be
experiencing layoffs, reduced budgets, and grim forecasts. Instead focus on
accounts or segments of accounts that are less affected or are experiencing
growth in today’s climate.
2.
Focusing on customer expansion: Shifting prospecting efforts and
beefing up underserved customers to focus on helping their own customers to
retain and potentially expand existing customer relationships.
3.
Moving to digital: And lastly, on the execution side, my clients
are shifting to digital alternatives to continue to educate and engage with
prospects, and being creative to still offer a similar level of value and
impact even when in-person isn’t an option. Overall our clients who are hosting
high-value digital programs are seeing significantly higher show rates right
now of between 40-55% with great quality attendees as well.
|
CEO, DemandGen
|
While one
could argue whether now is the best time to kick off a major new ABM initiative
for pursuing new customers, it’s without question that now is the ideal and
essential time to kick off an ABM program to your installed base. The best way
to ensure revenue stability during this period is to focus on reducing
attrition and to drive revenue growth within your installed base. You have the
account names, the contacts, and they have already purchased from you, so
focusing on demand expansion instead of demand creation is an easier path to
revenue. With people working from home, it’s even harder to reach people by
phone, so you’re going to have to level-up your email and content game.
Successful
ABM is all about targets, engagement, activation, and measurement (TEAM). Marketing
should collaborate with Customer Success and come up with a list of both the
most valued customers and ones at risk. Your outreach to them can be as simple
as a check-in, or deeper engagement through direct mail (to their home
address), and virtual meet-ups. Training and coaching are great services to
provide to clients and should be the focus of your content. To get through
tough times, stick to your core competencies and help your clients get more
value from your products and services through adoption.
|
CMO, Uberflip
|
There are
a few tactics that marketers should exercise to hit their goals given the
current landscape of COVID 19. First, when a marketer finds a channel that
works for them, it’s imperative they convert that engagement into pipeline and
revenue. To do this, marketers must serve up highly engaging content
destinations where content is curated and personalized to the prospect. The
more content a prospect consumes, the quicker trust and credibility is built
and the quicker they convert to pipeline and revenue.
Next,
personalization is essential, regardless of channel or strategy. Failure to
provide a personalized destination (such as a generic landing page or form)
will not only result in less pipeline and revenue, but CAC costs will increase
as marketing and sales are tasked with re-engaging prospects. Lastly, during
this time of likely budget restrictions, the focus needs to be on better
converting existing leads and opportunities, versus acquiring net new.
Do you
agree with the experts?
What are
you doing to hit your goals during the COVID-19 crisis?
Stay
tuned for our next post where our experts answer the question “How should B2B
marketers be planning their programs and strategies for the rest of 2020 and
beyond?”
Brandon
Redlinger is the Director of Growth at Engagio, the Account Based
Marketing and Sales platform that enables teams to measure account engagement
and orchestrate human connections at scale. He is passionate about the
intersection between tech and psychology, especially as it applies to growing
businesses. You can follow him on twitter @brandon_lee_09 or connect
with him on LinkedIn.
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