Data is essential to Account Based Marketing (ABM) for a number of reasons, but the most important one is simply that ABM can only work when utilised in tandem with (very) accurate data. When it comes to targeting a key account, marketers need to be completely confident that a customers’ job title, industry and workplace are 100% accurate. ABM revolves entirely around the concept of tailored communications to the individual, at scale, and data must inevitably be an integral part of that process.
Marketing need to ensure they are closely aligned with Sales at all times to ensure this operates smoothly, and to head off any inconsistencies between the Marketing Automation data and what’s stored in the CRM – although this shouldn’t be a problem if you have a well implemented, integrated and prioritised Martech Spine.
The better the relationship between Sales and Marketing, the more likely the data will be accurate and so aid in successful ABM lead generation. Sales have insight that Marketing don’t and vice versa; in working together, a better picture of the customer or company you are marketing to can be built, accompanied by strong, aligned data.
Data Management in order to measure ABM success
There are an estimated 3.5 million Google searches, 1 billion hours of YouTube views, and, on average, over four hours spent on our smart phones each day. As Marketers, we have way more data than we could ever hope to analyse, and with this wealth of data in front of us, it becomes difficult to know what to do with it all, especially when bogged down in ‘vanity metrics’ such as click throughs and open rates.
Often, we see marketers measuring all sorts of data without any plan as to what it actually means. The solution to this is to ensure your ABM strategy has a clear success metrics; however, it’s not just about having these in place, it’s about knowing which internal audiences want to see which metrics. Dashboards and reports are essential to this because they allow different areas of the business to have visibility of the success parameters they are interested in. If you’re interested in how Dashboards can aid in this, click here to download our guide on showcasing your value through reporting.
In order to effectively tailor ABM communications, organisations must assess the quality of the data they have and ensure they are only tracking that which is beneficial to the campaign objectives and strategy. Essentially, collating lots of data doesn’t mean anything unless you have the strategy to support that information. If you want to know more about ABM and its challenges, download our guide on the 5 Challenges to successful ABM.
