Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
In today’s fiercely competitive B2B landscape, account-based marketing (known as ABM) has become a game-changer, allowing innovative companies to focus their marketing efforts on high-value accounts rather than only targeting a broad audience. ABM is a strategy centered on your marketing and sales teams collaborating to identify and engage with specific target accounts, creating highly personalized campaigns to drive conversions and revenue.
For entrepreneurs at emerging and enterprise brands alike, ABM offers an opportunity to focus attention on the target accounts you are best equipped to serve. A 2023 report by Gartner found that effective ABM strategies can increase pipeline conversion rates by as much as 14%.
Here’s the problem most leaders face with ABM: Traditional approaches emphasize expensive tech stacks and campaigns that only play the long game — which are often doomed to fail in environments that champion quick wins or a change in direction. The good news? With a “scrappy” strategy, even businesses with limited resources can harness the power of ABM to grow faster and smarter.
I recently spoke to Lauren St. Amand, EVP and head of marketing at StarCompliance, a leading provider of compliance software solutions to the global financial services sector, about how small businesses can leverage ABM.
“The reality is SMBs do not need to invest in the latest and greatest martech stack to get started with ABM,” she said. “Leveraging data analytics to measure the effectiveness of campaigns and optimize programs is an essential component of any mature ABM program, but you can start small by developing relevant organic content, leveraging low-cost digital tools like Terminus and even creating employee advocacy programs to help expand your brand via social channels. The key is to focus on quality engagement with a smaller number of high-value accounts.”
Let’s explore how you can scale your efforts, prioritize your resources and develop a successful ABM strategy without the need for extravagant tools or massive budgets.
Related: Account-Based Marketing is the Magic Wand of B2B Marketing
1. Prioritize your target accounts before you build out your tools
An effective ABM strategy always starts with focusing on the right target accounts. Rather than spreading your energy across a wide spectrum of potential customers, narrow your focus to the companies that have the greatest potential for growth. Identify accounts that are more likely to convert and those that align with your business goals.
Start by asking: What characteristics do your most successful clients share? Are there certain industries, company sizes or pain points you’ve solved effectively in the past? You don’t need expensive data tools for this — simple CRM data, LinkedIn research and a bit of intuition are often enough to get started.
PitchBook offers a perfect example of this strategy in action. Facing ambitious sales goals, it analyzed more than 2,000 accounts using data and machine learning to find those most likely to convert. By combining internal data with current metrics, it was able to prioritize and target the accounts that mattered most. As a result, PitchBook’s website visits from target accounts increased by 79%, and active engagement skyrocketed by 220%.
2. Identify trigger signals that indicate readiness
Not every account is ready to engage at the same time. This is where identifying trigger signals becomes essential. Triggers can include specific actions, such as visiting a key page on your website, downloading content or attending a particular event. By gathering and analyzing this data, you can prioritize accounts that are showing signs of interest and engagement, allowing you to time your outreach effectively.
For example, I used our 4D activation plays during a session at #B2BMX to create 26 sales opportunities. With 348 attendees registered for the session, I was able to leverage real-time data from the event app, which provided key information such as company name, job title and other sessions they attended. This data allowed me to target participants more precisely, reaching out to those most engaged and interested in my content. The insights gleaned from their behavior at the event directly informed my targeting strategy and helped create actionable sales opportunities.
3. Develop hyper-relevant messaging that speaks to pain points
Once you’ve identified triggers, it’s time to craft messaging that addresses the specific pain points of each account. This personalized approach is at the heart of ABM — broad, generic messaging won’t cut it. To do this effectively without overcomplicating the process, create modular content that can be quickly tailored to different accounts.
For instance, use case studies from similar industries to showcase how you’ve solved comparable problems, or craft personalized email templates that can be adjusted to reflect the latest news or company updates. This level of personalization makes your outreach far more impactful than a one-size-fits-all approach. A McKinsey report from 2023 found that personalized marketing can reduce customer acquisition costs by up to 50%, boost revenue by 5% to 15% and increase ROI by 10% to 30%.
Related: How to Turn Marketing into a Sales and Revenue Engine
4. Drive prospects to specific, action-oriented pages
Once you’ve grabbed the attention of your target accounts, guide them to landing pages that offer clear, actionable next steps. These pages should be product-specific and highly relevant to the prospect’s identified needs. You don’t need a high-budget web development team to make this work; tools such as Unbounce or Leadpages allow you to quickly build professional, targeted landing pages. For example, if you’re targeting a company that’s expressed interest in a particular product feature, your landing page should focus solely on that feature and include testimonials or case studies from similar businesses. This tailored approach increases your chances of conversion by offering a streamlined path for decision-makers to follow.
DocuSign exemplifies this approach. To ensure its most important prospects always saw relevant content, the company personalized landing pages and CTAs based on the prospect’s industry. This strategy led to a 22% increase in pipeline and tripled DocuSign’s click-through rates on industry-specific calls to action. By aligning the landing pages with each account’s needs, DocuSign effectively directed high-value prospects toward conversion.
5. Don’t overcomplicate — start small and scale
Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that ABM doesn’t need to be over-engineered. Start small by choosing a handful of target accounts and running pilot campaigns that focus on one or two channels. The advantage of ABM is its scalability. Once you see success with a few accounts, you can gradually expand your efforts.
“In a budget-restrained environment, ABM success hinges on strategic targeting, personalization and leveraging existing resources,” St. Amand said. “For example, instead of spending budget on new data acquisition, you can leverage your existing CRM data to identify pre-defined target accounts with your sales team. Even with a small ad budget of $1,000, you can create tailored retargeting ads with LinkedIn aimed at decision-makers in a small number of accounts that can generate high-value leads that convert into a major client.”
Related: What is the True Cost of Running Account-Based Marketing?
Unlock the power of ABM, one step at a time
ABM doesn’t have to be an overwhelming or costly endeavor. By focusing on key accounts, using free or low-cost tools and delivering personalized, targeted messages, entrepreneurs can build an effective ABM strategy with limited resources. Start with small, testable efforts and scale as you see results. In today’s B2B market, an efficient ABM approach can be the key to unlocking growth without the need for a massive budget.
By following these steps, you’ll be well on your way to implementing a successful ABM strategy that drives conversions and long-term success.
