Tips On How To Choose A Channel For ABM Outreach

From optimum utilization of marketing budget to providing quality leads to sales, from a highly personalized content marketing strategy to bringing high ROI, Account-Based Marketing has raised the marketing game. But ABM’s targeted approach would produce favourable results only if it is matched by the right messaging channels. Efforts spent on selecting the right target accounts and gathering insights about key decision-makers would, unfortunately, go to waste if the personalized message isn’t passed through the right medium. 

Here’s how you can choose the best channels for your ABM program. 

The Only Constant Is Experimentation

When we say ABM is highly personalized, we mean it is unique to every company through and through. A one-size-fits-all handbook of best ABM outreach channels doesn’t exist. Therefore, the messaging channels vary from industry to industry and from target audience to target audience. As a result, experimentation and personalization are pivotal for account-based marketing. 

For instance, our ABM experts revealed that while email marketing works best for converting existing leads into Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL), it doesn’t seem to do the trick for wide outreach, unless the prospect is at the later stages of the buying process. On the other hand, the response rate for LinkedIn messages when sent from a credit profile is very high. 

Understand The Demographics

Social media platforms are excellent mediums for outreach. But the customer demographics of each platform are very different from one another. You need to understand which age group visits a particular site for how much time, and other such statistics. Pew Research Center’s social media fact sheet revealed very useful statistics about the demographics. 

A few of the statistics:

• 23% of US LinkedIn users visit the professional social networking site several times a week
• 44% of 25–30-year-olds and 37% of 30–49-year-olds use LinkedIn 
• Twitter is ideal for timely content, therefore B2B companies looking to leverage this platform need to have a well mapped out plan
• In terms of global reach, Facebook ranks high

Align With Testable Channels

Oftentimes, the success of an ABM pilot doesn’t transition smoothly during the full-fledged deployment process. It happens when companies are not mindful of the limitations of ABM channels at scale. 

A channel might produce impressive results on a small scale with a handful of target accounts and a few performance metrics. But it is important to note that at the pilot stage, most of the things are done manually and investment is low.

As we mentioned, the ABM channel selection process is dotted with rigorous tests and trials. Therefore, pick the ones that are testable and scalable so that your time and resources don’t go to waste. Here’s a checklist:

• Check if you can run A/B tests in order to gain insights and readjust the strategy
• Can the tests and results be automated or does it have to be done manually
• How seamless and scalable is the analysis, measurement, and reporting
• Does it offer enough reach to gain valuable impressions
• Does it offer reliable conversion opportunities
• Does the channel generate good lead data
• How seamless or complicated it is to integrate it with your existing tech stack like CRM

Implement The Learnings

After selecting testable channels, it is important that you put them to test and discover their scope and limits to the optimum. These trials and tests would unveil important information, which would allow you to further personalize the messaging and the channel. 

For instance, it is common knowledge that targeted content marketing is the best channel for generating targeted leads.  But experimentation reveals that within targeted content marketing, personalized infographics, ebooks, white papers, and third-party analyst reports generate the maximum leads for B2B businesses. Another great discovery is that amongst the broad-yet-highly-targeted reach campaigns, webinars generate the best leads. The secret to selecting winning channels is paying attention to the findings of experimentation and entering the narrow ends. 

The Final Call

Choosing the best ABM outreach channels relies heavily on experimenting and personalizing. The intention is not only to measure its reach and ability to generate substantial leads but also to determine the cost. If the cost-per-conversion is high, no matter how effective the channel is, it won’t be feasible in the long run. Especially when the ROI is low. 

For instance, if the average customer lifetime value (CLV) is $4000 and the customer acquisition cost (CAC) is around $5oo, there is a lot of room to play with outreach activities and channels. But if the gap between CLV and CAC is not healthy, then you risk exceeding your ABM budget. 

Study the price differences across all marketing and advertising mediums – be it conventional media platforms, social media, or broad messaging channels and measure their effectiveness. Gauge how it performs on all important parameters in the long run. For example, LinkedIn is an expensive option on a CPM and investment basis. But it also generates the most reliable qualified leads and the highest ROI for B2B marketing. On the other hand, ads on Facebook might be economical and require less investment. But it is not regarded as an effective channel for creating qualified leads for B2B lead generation companies.