5 ways to optimize your ABM strategy in 2023

70% of marketers followed Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategies in 2021. Gone are the days of selling to groups of customers. Instead, you need to strategically target your top prospects.  

You’ve likely already got an ABM process in place. But what worked in 2022 might not be as successful in 2023. Times change, so marketing strategies must follow suit. 

Here are five ways to optimize your ABM strategy in 2023. So, sit back, grab a coffee, and let’s dive right in. 

1. Create account-specific teams 

Build cross-departmental, account-specific teams to better target your highest-value prospects. Unite the content writer creating an eBook for a specific persona with the data analyst digging into what they’ve engaged with in the past, and the product lead who knows everything about their pain points.  

Group employees together according to the prospects they’re pursuing, not their job role. This ensures that each department is working in unison.  

2. Double down on personalized content 

No two prospects are the same, so you need to personalize your marketing and sales-enablement content for each account you target. When we say personalized content, we mean personalized. Not written for a specific persona in a particular industry but written for an individual buyer.  

Start by mapping out what individual prospects need. Brainstorm with your team to identify the prospect’s pain points and goals. Research how their company is performing and use sales insights to understand what makes them tick as individuals. Finally, link these insights to understand how your company can help them.  

Armed with these insights, you can create tailored content that rises above the noise. 

3. Don’t neglect offline efforts 

Online channels are just one tool in your armory. Consider how you can use offline efforts to make a human connection with your target persona.  

People buy from people. Striking up a conversation in person at an event will go further than cold-emailing prospects. While it’s tempting to go all in online, don’t forget the power of offline experiences. Take your prospects out for a meal. Invite them to a sports match, theater show, or whatever else they’re into.  

To be successful at ABM, you must think outside the box. You’re not going to grab your prospects’ attention and build trust by following the same tactics as your competitors. By investing in offline efforts and getting to know them on a personal level, you’ll develop far richer, mutually beneficial relationships. 

4. Become a retention machine 

It costs five times less to retain an existing customer than it does to acquire a new one. Retention is a high-performing company’s secret weapon. Selling to new customers is great, but it can be costly and time-consuming, especially in B2B. Selling more to existing customers, by comparison, is cheap and easy. This is especially important as we enter a sharp economic downturn.  

Start by striking up a conversation with your customers. Work out what made them convert—which messaging and marketing materials did they like, and which didn’t they? What moved the needle and convinced them to do business with your company?  

This has three benefits. First, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of how to target similar accounts in the future. Second, you’ll be able to produce high-quality case studies, which will enhance your ABM strategy when targeting new customers. Third, by engaging in regular dialogue with your customers, you’ll discover new ways to help them, which will lead to up sales.   

5. Fine-tune your corporate email signatures  

Email signatures are perhaps the single most undervalued marketing tool there is.  

Every single email you send presents an opportunity to reinforce what your company does and how it helps its customers. Consider it your ABM billboard. Email signatures are valuable digital real estate, where you can cherry-pick the stats, messaging, and resources to convince prospects your business has what they need. You can precisely target specific accounts and measure the ROI of every email signature template.  

Of course, designing and managing email signatures can be a complex process. Your IT team is busy enough as it is, so you don’t want to burden them with yet another task.

Platforms like Exclaimer allow organizations to customize their email signatures from one single location. Users don’t need to know how to code—they just need to log in and get started. It couldn’t be simpler.  

Learn more about the benefits of deploying Exclaimer throughout your organization, or get a free demo to see for yourself.