Marketing to Account Based Marketing
Better, Effective
and Rewarding
Sudharsan Natesan
Head of Marketing, Middle East,
Africa and South Asia

Imagine walking into a prospect’s office knowing what
solution they need, why they need it, and when they will
be ready to buy. Imagine that, with this information, you
have an open, intelligent dialogue about why your solution
is the ideal fit – with the person who will actually make
the purchasing decision. And, imagine that you are not
only armed with the knowledge that makes you stand
out among your competitors but that you know that
your efforts are focused exactly on accounts with real
opportunities. Now imagine having this insight into every
prospect in your universe, and the impact that would have
on you beating your goals.
While many organizations may be investing in account-
based marketing (ABM) for top-named accounts, most
are still relying on a “one size fits all” sales and marketing
approach for the bulk of their prospect universe –
performing outreach to companies in a given market as if
they were all the same, with lackluster results.
This brings us to the question – What is Account Based
Marketing? Account based marketing is just like building
a relationship with someone. Account based marketing is
defined by Interop.com as “treating individual accounts
as a market in their own right”. Demand base definition
says “Account-based marketing is a practice that enables
B2B marketers to drive more revenue by focusing their
marketing and communications efforts on the accounts
(companies) that have the most potential to become
customers.”
Marketing to Account Based Marketing 2
Executive Summary
Account-based marketing
is a practice that enables
B2B marketers to drive
more revenue by focusing
their marketing and com
munications efforts on the
accounts (companies) that
have the most potential to
become customers.
- Demand Base

Why are companies embracing Account Based Marketing?
It represents a potentially significant improvement to the existing account
planning process.
It adds the “power” of marketing to the account development process.
It helps companies focus on their most important accounts and account
opportunities
It helps develop deeper relationships with a broader set of decision-makers
It has a high rate of return
Marketing to Account Based Marketing 3
The Account Based Marketing (ABM) Framework
How would you implement an Account Based Marketing
(ABM) program for B2B Marketing? What are the key
program phases and how does this differ from more
conventional B2B programs?
The program objectives (e.g.: penetrate complex
accounts? maintain profitable accounts? increase the
share-of-wallet?)
Select the suitable targets
Measures program effectiveness and achievements
Governance, i.e. how the program is organized and
measured.
An ABM program must first define its operational framework:
Account Based Marketing

Beyond the governance, we enter the key action of
the ABM, the analysis of the target accounts. Since
the account tactics must be very specific, the analysis
entangles the full profiling of the customer, gathering
all data for understand context and strategy: industry,
business targets, served markets and segments, key
financial indicators with trends, transformation and
operational initiatives, relevant competitors and product
and services.
Marketing to Account Based Marketing 4
Target
accounts
Select Account
& Account
& build
pofile
(Market,
Industry
Account)
& WS
Organize
strategy,
objectives,
opportunites &
target customer
contacts
Work with team to
map value prop to
objectives
Customize
existing
best practices
or define
1:1 ad-hoc
Tools
for customer
awareness
Assemble content,
& resources
Enable &
support delivery
Advocacy
(references)
and success
stories
Identify options &
available resources;
joint selection of
tactics & best
practices
1
2
3
4
4
5
6
CORE ACTIVITIES
Execute
Understand &
analyze
Plan &
define
ABM Framework
Program goals, account selection
criteria & governance
Understand & Analyze
Build integrated intelligence
complementing Sales, Presales,
Marketing and Market data
Plan & Define Plays
Define an integrated plan
discussing campaign options on
objectives and resources
Build & Personalize
Leverage existing company best
practice with customization,
personalization or if feasible,
define 1:1 ad-hoc events
Execute
Deliver and fulfill sharing burden
of delivery ( marketing/sales)
Measure & Review
Build and share references
The analysis must also consider our sales objectives,
the customer organization, the mapping of key decision
makers, and the relation with each of them (account We
coverage by both marketing and sales).
We should also add our historic data, our current funnel
of opportunities, our solution considering which product/
services are already used in which customer business units

The First Step
Marketing to Account Based Marketing 5
and where we have opportunities to growth our share-of-
wallet.
The next step is the planning and definition of the possible
account initiatives or marketing tactics to achieve the
sales goals. Normally this is done in a sale-marketing
joint workshop where both sales and marketing define the
respective roles pulling together the different skills in order
to define the effective actions.
The first step is to map the client’s needs (projects,
competitions or strategies) with the key value propositions
that the company can offer in terms of products, solutions
or services and the prioritizing the most important ones.
Afterwards, we assign a key decision maker and define
how to reach him with the right value proposition, be it a
new service concept, a solution, an architecture or a new
business case tailored for that decision maker role.
The company must define exactly each tactic, by
identifying: the initiative objectives, the used marketing
campaigns & tools and the needed resources (people, skills,
budgets, suppliers) for each program. Again, the peculiarity
of this approach relies on the synergy between marketing
and sales: normally tactics are based on delivering special
events and campaigns leveraging marketing formats,
but these are specialized to address a specific account
stakeholder, his/her buying behavior and his/her needs.

Each Prospect is Unique
Technology buyers have high expectations for their
potential vendors and partners. They expect that you’ve
done your homework – that you know their business and
their pain points, and that you have a viable solution to
their pressing needs. Walking in the door with a “one to
many” message – and hoping the selling points resonate –
puts you on the fast track to jeopardize the deal.
So often we see companies fall into the trap of assuming
that one signed. Client in a particular vertical means
that their business challenges are the same as other
organizations within that sector. But, one win does
not translate to widespread market knowledge. Not
every organization is the same. They each have unique
organizational structures, IT infrastructures and budgeted
initiatives that deserve unique attention.
Marketing to Account Based Marketing 6
ITSMA Account Based Marketing Framework
Program Planning & Pilots
Program Oversight
- Strategy - Objectives
- Staffing - Operating Model
- Funding
Integration with Marketing & Sales
Account Selection
Piloting
Metrics Definition
1
Account-Specific Planning
& Implementation
Understand & Analyze
Define & Select
Plays
Build Sales & Marketing
plan
2
Program Assessment
& Growth
Program Assessment
- Metrics
- Team
- Accounts
Program Oversight Assessment
Program Scaling
Company Wide Integration
3

ABM allows you to get a true blueprint of your market,
providing answers about who is buying – as well as not
buying – and the purchasing behaviors and business drivers
behind those decisions. By knowing where the buying
cycles are, you can deliver a message that addresses actual
business needs for the targets with the most pressing
opportunities. There’s a reason why organizations that
implement ABM best practices see a 15% increase in
marketing-generated leads moving to pipeline.
Forward Planning
Planning is vital. How you segment accounts will influence
your approach and allocation of budget. It’s all about
balancing ABM to blend quick wins with long-term growth.
Your organization needs to plan a long-term strategy to
win or grow a handful of the largest accounts. And think
hard to figure out what you do to support the business
with developing named accounts. Use the right tools to
approach industry segments and most importantly, don’t
forget post-sale engagement for up-sell and cross-sell.
ABM Strategies
Megan Heuer, VP and Group Director of SiriusDecisions,
outlined four subcategories of ABM campaigns:
Large-account marketing
This approach involves assigning dedicated resources to
the biggest customers or extremely high-value prospects.
Due to the complexity and size of these accounts, you
organization should target them with a customized
proposition suited to their needs. From a sales point of
view, the accounts may have labels like global, strategic or
large enterprise. You should always use this approach when
15%Increase
Marketing-Generated Leads
moving to pipelines
Marketing to Account Based Marketing 7

a large share of growth is contingent upon delivering results
in a very small number of companies, and when sellers can
benefit from customized marketing help.
Named-account marketing
This approach involves targeting a mixed list of current
customers and prospects. The list of accounts per sales
rep is usually between 10 and 50 often is usually assigned
by geographic territory. Sometimes named-account lists
include large accounts, but usually these named accounts
are the next tier down in terms of current and potential
value.
Your organization should choose this approach if the sales
model delivers business growth from a defined universe
of specific accounts. Broad-based demand creation is not
as effective since it doesn’t discriminate between named
and unnamed accounts. On the other hand, if the named
accounts are more of a guideline for sales than a mandate,
and any account that presents opportunity will get sales
attention and credit, this approach is unnecessary.
Industry- or segment-account marketing
This approach involves targeting companies in a defined
segment or industry. This model works when a company
sells to markets or segments with only a few, well-defined
customers, so the market itself imposes a segment-
account-based model. This can also be effective for
entering new markets or new buying centers where there is
a list of target accounts and broad-based marketing will not
be effective.
Marketing to Account Based Marketing 8
Account 2
Account 3
Account 1

Customer marketing
This approach involves supporting the post-sale experience
and relationship with your customers. Every company
needs systematic, relevant customer marketing support.
The approach will be a case-by-case basis according to
business model and product, service or solution.
Customer marketing focuses on the non-selling
interactions and communications that support better
customer engagement, loyalty and advocacy. It supports
retention, cross- and upselling efforts by creating a
positive environment throughout the customer lifecycle.
Components range from analytics and monitoring to
retention nurturing, advocacy and reference development.
Marketing helps sales or partners efficiently and cost-
effectively maintain a relevant dialogue with customers.
Account Based Marketing (ABM)
tactics for success
Develop prospect-specific offers
One key to account based marketing is relevance and
personalization. There are likely a small number of target
accounts in a typical ABM program so campaigns and
offers need to deliver high conversion rates. One idea is to
personalize content marketing efforts by creating offers
that are built specifically for a particular target account.
Develop “sales” offers designed to get meetings
99.9% of marketers create offers that are designed to
generate leads from webinars and whitepapers. The “sales”
offer is an offer designed to help inside sales or sales get
prospects to agree to a meeting.
E.g.: free technology assessments or free security audits.
Marketing to Account Based Marketing 9

Use retargeting to keep your brand in front of
accounts
Retargeting is a great way to repeatedly engage a specific
account as employees from that account consume online
content. There have recently been some remarkable
retargeting innovations that are directly applicable to ABM
programs. According to Forrester, 75% of buying activity
happens before a “hand-raise” making retargeting a
critical part of the account based marketing mix. This data
really highlights how critical retargeting is for winning mind
space of your target accounts.
Personalize the account’s experience on your website
Given the targeted nature of account-based marketing, it’s
critical that ABM programs deliver high conversion rates.
Personalizing landing pages is one effective tactic for doing
this. Marketers should create account-specific landing
pages that display custom copy, images, offers, and forms
depending on the person or account that is visiting the
landing page.
Social Intelligence to Understand Needs and
Preferences of Prospects
As mentioned earlier, the key to ABM is personalizing
communications on the basis of current challenges and
initiatives. Since business organizations evolve quickly,
smart vendors always try to monitor trigger events and
changes directed at target accounts.
One common method is to subscribe to public information,
like Google Alerts. This can help you understand everything
that’s been happening at a company level. Another
effective strategy is to monitor social activity. Unlike
PR-driven posts or press releases, social data helps you
uncover what key prospects prefer and care about.
Marketing to Account Based Marketing 10
75%“hand-raise” making retargeting
a critical part of the account
based marketing mix
of Buying
Activity
Forrester

Building a List of Role Based, Legitimate Contacts
There are many vendors who create relevant lists on the
basis of responsibility or role. These lists can guarantee
that a contact is still active. Such lists allow account-
based models to integrate the company’s database with
appropriate contacts. At times, titles are insufficient to
provide extensive information.
With a relevant role based list, a company can easily
ask for specific roles like an employee in charge of IT
infrastructure’. Unfortunately, most business organizations
seed the database with a huge number of names without
considering data quality. Although these techniques might
work, it is less efficient. Your employees will have to spend a
lot of time hunting down relevant roles.
Teamwork between Sales and Marketing is essential
for Account Based Marketing to work
In order for Account Based Marketing to fulfill its potential,
both sales and marketing departments must be aligned;
working together towards a single objective. Without a
good working relationship between these two internal
divisions, ABM will fail.
Account Based Marketing works on the premise that both
sales and marketing are using single lead criteria. They
need to ensure there is parity throughout the funnel.
When targeting a single account, both departments need
to ensure their efforts are coordinated and integrated
with such a focused approach, alignment in the nurturing
process is more important than ever, particularly when you
are trying to develop individuals within organizations using
customized content.
Marketing to Account Based Marketing 11

Marketing can help Sales in the following ways:
Cross-sell
With enough information, the opportunity to cross-sell
becomes increasingly viable. The more you understand your
client’s requirements the better you can tailor the sale of
additional services into the overall package.
Up-sell
Up-sell becomes a much more fruitful opportunity
as a result of ABM. Both up-sell and cross-sell offer
opportunities for your company to introduce scalability
to your business offerings. With a deep understanding of
your prospect’s problems you can tailor your messages to
specifically target their pain points and resolve the issues
through an integrated strategy that reduces waste and
maximizes budget.
Loyalty/retention program
Once new accounts have been secured it is vital these
clients appreciate the commercial partnership. This needs
to be cultivated by targeting benefits designed to provide
additional value on top of the initial sales. The privilege
of being a client should be strongly communicated and
reinforced with exclusive opportunities.
Account hosted event
Hosting an event on your new account’s premises creates
the perfect opportunity to infiltrate and network from
within while maximizing the company’s reach. These events
can offer personnel from within the client the opportunity
to learn new skills. This not only improves integration and
communication between companies but also lays the
foundations for potential up-sell/cross-sell in the future.
Marketing to Account Based Marketing 12

References ITSMA
Marketing to Account Based Marketing 13
Finally – Account Based Marketing is
the Future
Account-based marketing is an important concept because
it can increase the efficiency of marketing processes,
accelerate the closing of business, and perhaps most
importantly, breakdown artificial barriers between sales and
marketing.
While ABM is a part of many sales processes focused on
existing accounts, it is equally valuable in identifying new
customers. The challenge for most marketing organizations
is to identify what parts of the process they can execute on
their own, and what must be done under the direction of
sales. Account-based marketing is most effective when the
senior-most selling and marketing executives lead it. If their
objectives are not aligned, or their commitment is lacking,
the program will be difficult to implement.
www.itsma.com/abm/
http://www.itsma.com/three-ways-to-apply-account-based-marketing-successfully/
http://customerthink.com/the_role_of_account_based_marketing_in_account_planning/
http://www.b2bmarketing.net/knowledgebank/customer-insight-marketing/features/
time-get-personal-account-based-marketing
http://www.lbdga.com/resources/#demand-generation
Sudharsan Natesan
Head of Marketing, Middle East,
Africa and South Asia