Using Account-Based Content as Part of B2B Marketing Strategy

B2B marketers agree that content marketing is a vital part of their overall marketing strategy this year. In a recent survey from ON24, Market2Marketers, and Heinz Marketing, it was reported that 78 percent of the B2B marketers who were asked will use content to reach existing and potential customers.

One of the things that top-performing marketers believe leads to success is account-based content marketing, with 78 percent agreeing that it is more effective than traditional marketing approaches. However, only 39 percent felt that they were doing a good job of creating account-based content.

What is Account-Based Content Marketing?

Account-based content marketing uses content to target a specific customer or a small group of customers. Even though content that is written for other marketing campaigns may be used as account-based content, the purpose of account-based content is different than traditional content as it’s designed to reach a specific customer and not to increase brand awareness and general visibility. Account-based content must be individualized to the unique pain points of the targeted customer and their current needs.

Implementing Account-Based Content into B2B Marketing Strategies

The first step in leveraging account-based content is to make sure that your sales and marketing teams are completely aligned. They have to be ready and willing to collaborate and understand their shared objectives and KPIs. Here’s what comes next:

Identify targets – This step is why you need to have collaborative sales and marketing teams. The teams must work together to identify the companies to target, rather than developing personas. They will need to determine how many accounts to target, keeping in mind that to be successful, you can’t make the list too long because it will be difficult to create unique propositions for every target. Start with targets that you know will improve your bottom line.

Learn about targets – This is the research step. Successful account-based marketing involves taking a deep dive into the company you want to target. You have to understand the company, how it works, and what its needs are, to determine its pain points. One way to start developing a relationship with the company is to read its social media. Follow, like, and comment on its posts, showing that you are interested in the business. You will be able to gain important insights like when the business is active on social media, the types of content they like, and what their customers are saying. This will help you understand their pain points and what’s going on in their industry.

Develop unique content – Now that you understand your target and their pain points, you can begin to develop unique content for them. Keep in mind that you are only trying to reach the target, not any others, so the content has to be highly individualized. You may consider writing content that will show the company how your products or services will help mitigate an issue they are experiencing or a disruption that is causing the business to have issues. Another approach would be to develop content that might help them make their current operations more efficient or effective. The important thing to remember is that the content is created with this specific target in mind.

Use the right delivery channels – If you have done a deep enough dive into your target’s business, you should know which channels they use and will be most responsive to. Use these channels to deliver the account-based content. For each channel, you should have a strategy that delivers unique, individualized content that is relevant for the company.

Track and measure results – Tracking your results is more than simply looking at whether you closed the sale and what revenue is generated. Be sure that you also consider the engagement of the company with your content. If engagement hasn’t increased, then it may be time to review the content, the delivery channels, and the target to ensure that they are properly aligned. If you find that they aren’t, make the necessary adjustments, and try again.

Final Thoughts

The benefits of account-based content marketing – the ability to reach specific accounts that will boost your bottom line, potential higher ROI, and increased revenue – are pretty appealing to B2B marketers. A marketing strategy that includes account-based content provides a great opportunity to establish deeper relationships with the right customers and to deliver significant results to your company.