ABM done right: case studies from the cutting edge

ABM to the rescue

HubSpot’s Not Another State of Marketing Report 2022 reveals that 70% of marketers have an active ABM program in place. Why? Because during an economic downturn (like the one we’re currently in), ABM’s ability to deliver maximum efficiency is unmatched.

 

Quality over quantity

One high-quality lead can be worth over 100 low-quality ones. That’s why ABM focuses on high-value accounts and personalized content to improve engagement, strengthen brand loyalty and optimize the impact of every marketing dollar.

 

The road to ROI

New research indicates that 76% of marketers saw higher ROI with ABM than any other marketing strategy. At BOL, our job is to make sure you capitalize on this opportunity.

  • Increased lead engagement
  • Increased deal size
  • Increased revenue
  • Improved brand reputation
  • Improved customer relationships
  • Improved loyalty

 

The ideal customer profile (ICP)

Every successful account-based strategy starts with identifying an ideal customer—the person (or people) whose challenges, needs and goals make them perfect candidates for a given product or service.

Client: Nearmap

Product: Geospatial mapping technology

The BOL Way: Leveraging insights from customer closed-won data, market research and interviews with stakeholders, BOL surfaced key insights that redefined the client’s entire ICP.

What we focused on

  • Firmographic data like verticals, annual revenue and number of employees
  • Behavioral data like lead source data, intent keywords and opportunity-type analysis
  • Environmental data relevant to a client’s business and needs

What we did

  • Collected, enriched and analyzed data
  • Established criteria for most-likely-to-purchase accounts
  • Synthesized intelligence, research and interviews to validate qualitative insight against quantitative research measures
  • Identified key attribute commonalities based on current business
  • Defined a scalable ICP that can be applied across verticals and markets

What we delivered

  • A collaborative ICP development workshop 
  • A robust ICP Reference Guide

 

Targeting

ABM heralds a strategic shift from spray-and-pray to a laser focus on the accounts most likely to convert. Creating a target account list (TAL) enables you to channel marketing dollars where they’ll make the greatest business impact.

Client: Neustar

Product: Real-time information and analytics for risk, digital performance, defense, telecommunications, entertainment and marketing industries

The BOL Way: BOL leveraged ABM tools and data to cut through the clutter and reach those who are most likely to buy, targeting engaged prospects at every stage, then expanding to entire buyer groups.

What we focused on

  • Intent signals from ABM platforms like 6sense and Demandbase 
  • Insights and tracking data from ABM platforms
  • Connecting marketing and sales to work toward shared goals

What we did

  • Pinpointed which accounts were actively consuming content related to particular topics to determine who was in-market. 
  • Tracked website visits and campaign engagement to see who was actively engaging with the brand.
  • Worked with sales teams to identify priority accounts. These may be accounts that they are looking to expand into or ones where opportunities have stalled and they are looking to reignite conversations.
  • Developed buyer groups that go beyond individual decision-makers. 
  • Connected intent and activity data to target accounts in different stages of the buyer journey with the content that is most relevant to them.

What we delivered

  • Buyer stage account targeting 
  • Intent data collection and utilization strategy
  • Sales and marketing alignment on lead scoring

 

Reach

To effectively engage targeted accounts, ABM strategies coordinate communications efforts across channels and every phase of the sales funnel—reaching prospects where, when and how they want to be reached.

Client: Forescout

Product: Automated cybersecurity solutions for top Fortune 100 organizations and government agencies

The BOL Way: Using our paid media expertise and ABM tools, we reached Forescout’s TAL across the web and achieved a mix of awareness through website promotion and lead generation with gated content.

What we focused on

  • Channels that will maximize Forescout’s ABM strategy and target account lists (TALs) 
  • Display/programmatic platforms that can reach TALs, engage them and drive them to the website
  • ABM tools that leverage intent-driven targeting on platforms like LinkedIn using third-party data

What we did

  • Integrated an ABM platform (6sense) with social media (LinkedIn) to reach targeted accounts across the web with a combination of brand awareness and lead gen
  • Leveraged TALs across new media partners including publishers, LinkedIn, Facebook, display and programmatic, many of which allow targeting by account
  • Created a bid strategy that combined CPM, CPC and CPL programs across media partners
  • Used historical data and ABM platform spend estimates to determine budget allocation and prioritize in-market accounts from a known list vs. others showing intent

What we delivered

  • A comprehensive media plan 
  • Intent data-based account prioritization
  • TAL targeting strategy
  • Paid media bid strategy and budget allocation

 

Orchestration

To create a successful ABM campaign, sales and marketing teams must be perfectly aligned—and coordinate their efforts to effectively engage and convert targeted accounts.

Client: A fortune 500 FinTech

Product: Financial technology

The BOL Way: In a rapidly evolving SEO landscape, BOL takes an evolved approach: account-based SEO (ABSEO). By prioritizing SEO activities that drive the most targeted account traffic and engagement, we enable smarter, faster, data-driven decisions.

What we focused on

  • Quality over quantity: A highly researched and tightly verticalized 1:Few approach to creating SEO content
  • Bulletproof SEO best practices for every piece of content
  • TAL-specific blog content that targets high-value accounts in ways that feel more natural than paid placement

What we did

  • Instead of targeting organic search terms based on total search volume, we flipped the script by optimizing SEO content around hyper-specific topics that target accounts the client cares about 
  • Crafted pages brimming with value for real people searching for topics likely to qualify them for enterprise service consideration
  • Drove awareness, assisted sales enablement and improved SEO fundamentals.

What we delivered

  • Curated topic list based on client knowledge and keyword and market research
  • ABSEO content strategy briefs for each article based on extensive topic research
  • A series of evergreen ABSEO articles, which compared to ads are cheap to create, run 24/7, and can speak directly to ICPs

 

Content and Media

ABM relies on hyper-personalized content to engage and create meaningful connections with targeted prospects—and relies on hyper-targeted media buys to deliver that content to the right person at the right time on the right platform.

Client: CareMetx

Product: Digital hub solutions that support patients throughout their healthcare journeys

The BOL Way: From conducting deep primary research to constant testing and analysis, BOL harnessed the power of customer and competitor data to carve out a clear space for unique, hard-hitting content—and deliver that content through the optimal channels at the optimal time.

What we did

  • Conducted a detailed competitive analysis and created a campaign that visually stood out from pack and engaged prospects by directly addressing their unique pain points
  • Used photo compositing to deliver an ownable, cost-effective look and feel that aligned with a limited marketing budget
  • Leveraged ABM intent signals to focus marketing efforts on specialty pharmaceutical companies actively seeking a new hub solution
  • Delivered an asset ecosystem that drove prospects from LinkedIn to a custom landing page—where gated content was used to capture contact information—and retargeted visitors with nurture emails and sales calls
  • Tested and analyzed media buys over time, turning off the ones that didn’t perform and amplifying the ones that did

What we delivered

  • An empathetic creative campaign that stood out in a competitive landscape
  • Highly targeted media informed by intent data
  • Lead nurturing campaigns with personalized content

 

Tech enablement

A flexible, extensible technology stack is critical to running ABM programs at scale—and ensuring you get in front of the right accounts in the most optimal ways.

Client: Lytx

Product: Video telematics products that help commercial and public-sector fleets improve driver safety and business productivity

The BOL Way: With a holistic approach designed to optimize enterprise-wide alignment, BOL enabled Lytx to connect their ABM and CRM platforms, giving sales and marketing teams a single tool to access customer data.

What we did

  • Ensured reporting reflected actual pipeline and revenue numbers attributed to campaigns
  • Set up custom CRM fields that could be used in 6sense segmentation
  • Increased the visibility of buyer stage/intent within the CRM

 

Sales enablement

From aligning stakeholders to personalizing content to creating a unified sales journey, successful ABM campaigns remain laser-focused on improving sales outcomes.

Client: Neustar

Product: Real-time information and analytics

The BOL Way: Breaking bad habits of trying to “sell,” at BOL we believe that we instead need to understand our audience, find an original insight that speaks to them and then use that to empower sales.

What we did

  • Identified accounts and prioritized efforts
  • Analyzed and mapped the complete customer journey
  • Delivered a full spectrum of content, from call chat scripts to video concepts to landing pages

 

Analytics and reporting

As one of the most complex data-driven marketing strategies out there, successful ABM relies entirely on operational execution and marketing analytics.

Client: Lytx

Product: Video telematics products

The BOL Way: Breaking bad habits of trying to “sell,” at BOL we believe that we instead need to understand our audience, find an original insight that speaks to them and then use that to empower sales.

What we focused on

  • Account web activity
  • Account ABM performance
  • Salesforce data

What we did

  • Blended CRM and 6Sense account data
  • Leveraged Tableau to visualize the impact 

What we delivered

  • An analytics dashboard showing that 65% of open pipeline and 67% of closed-won business was influenced by marketing activities
  • The ability to drill down into touch type activity
  • Illustrated touch type journeys by opportunity

 

BOL = ABM

For years, BOL has been at the forefront of ABM strategy. We work closely with a broad range of clients to align teams, optimize marketing dollars and deliver measurable business success.

Get started today. Speak to one of our ABM experts.

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