Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a laser-focused marketing strategy designed to directly soothe the pain points and address the priorities of key decision makers within carefully selected accounts.
When done effectively, ABM can speed up your sales cycle and produce a much healthier ROI than traditional, scattergun marketing approaches.
The beauty of ABM lies in its agility. Along with developing an independent ABM strategy, you can also make good use of the core elements of ABM to enhance existing marketing techniques.
One such practice is ‘Social Selling’ – the perfect partner for ABM.
In a nutshell, Social Selling involves using social media to connect and engage with key audiences, immersing yourself in industry circles to uncover the topics prospects are talking about and tailoring your content and comments to engage their interest in these areas.
As with many aspects of ABM, Social Selling is not a quick fix, it’s an integral part of your ongoing ABM strategy that focuses on identifying and nurturing meaningful relationships with the people and brands that will benefit most from your products and services.
Social Selling happens across social media networks, but the most powerful platform for B2B marketers has to be LinkedIn. The site operates on the age-old business adage – ‘people buy from people’ – making it the perfect place to use an ABM approach as networks can be carefully curated and marketing messages highly personalised.
Keep in mind that good social selling involves gaining the trust and respect of prospects who, over time, will come to appreciate your opinion and understand your value before entering the sales funnel (in fact, a traditional sales pitch may never be required at all.)
Although ABM is a natural partner to social selling, the process of developing and implementing a robust social media strategy that goes hand in hand with common ABM practices can be complex and time consuming.
At Ambition ABM, we’ve helped a myriad of clients invest their time and efforts wisely on LinkedIn. Our top tips for successfully combining ABM and social selling are:
Carefully craft your online presence.
From a stellar profile to a professional headshot, from a unique tone of voice to making familiar language choices, it’s vital to build a strong, consistent and recognizable brand on social media. B2B marketers are bombarded with offers on a daily basis, so even with a thoughtful, tailored ABM approach, you must stand out from the crowd in order to make an impact.
Cherry pick your prospects
Thoroughly and thoughtfully investigate prospects before setting out to build relationships. Carefully selecting which companies might be warm to your offer, along with identifying the right person to connect with at each one, is an integral part of an ABM approach and will prevent you from chasing dead-ends further down the line.
Be relevant, helpful and consistent
Rather than directly approaching prospects, social media selling relies on getting noticed by the right people. You can do this by making personalised connections with promising partners, immersing yourself in industry circles, joining relevant groups and publishing engaging and useful content, along with commenting constructively on what others have shared. Avoid responding for the sake of it – play the long game, and dive in only when you have genuine insight.
Focus on the relationship, not the sale
ABM and social media selling are, in many ways, the perfect partnership – but both rely on hard work, rather than a hard sell. Engaging with key connections over long periods will help you establish the trust and credibility you need to forge mutually beneficial partnerships, so focus on nurturing a relationship rather than making a sale.
If you need guidance with an aspect of ABM, including putting together a bespoke social media strategy that delivers results, get in touch with the team at Ambition ABM.
Along with guiding you through devising and implementing your approach, we can help you identify the best social selling tools on the market to achieve your goals and identify where you need additional support.
