The rate at which marketers have moved towards an account-based marketing (ABM) model is quite surprising. I remember when ABM was the ultimate buzz word at the Marketing Nation Summit a couple years ago. Many of us were wondering ‘Will this thing stick?’ or ‘Is this just a fad that will go away by next year?’ But it’s 2018 and ABM has become even more popular in the B2B world as marketers are seeing value in targeting accounts, not just leads. In fact, in recent research from SiriusDecisions, “93% of marketers consider account-based marketing (ABM) extremely important or very important to their overall organizational success.”
With any marketing strategy, the number one question you are going to be asked is what the performance of your campaign is. And for any marketer who has built an ABM strategy from the ground up, you know that it takes time for the programs to get up and running—let alone start showing ROI. With any marketing strategy, the number one question you are going to be asked is what the performance of your campaign is. And for any marketer that has built an ABM strategy from the ground up, you know that it takes time for the… This is why you need to track different metrics at each stage of the funnel to start showing success—even if you’ve just started.
Here are some key marketing metrics I like to track at each stage of the funnel to measure or predict success.
Top-of-Funnel
Engagement by account: Tracking the rate at which leads within the accounts you are targeting are completing a specific action. This action could be coming to your website, opening your emails, engaging with your social posts, receiving and responding to direct mail, the list goes on. You’ll be able to identify which accounts may be closer to buying if they have increased engagement—or find the accounts that might not have any idea who your company is with little to no engagement—so you can tailor your marketing and messaging.
White space: Where are you lacking contact information or engagement within your accounts? Set a goal of how many relevant contacts you want within each account to start tracking this. Ultimately, your goal will depend on size of company and number of personas you are targeting. Being able to fill in the blanks of those key contacts within your buying committee will set your entire sales cycle up for success.
Middle-of-Funnel
Meetings within your accounts: Are your marketing campaigns creating enough engagement and interest within your top accounts where your sales team has productive meetings or engagements? At this stage, you’ll start measuring the success of your marketing campaigns by moving leads quickly to sales. You’ll also want to be measuring the quality based on how those meetings or engagements go—and if they move along to the next stage.
Bottom of Funnel
ASP: One of the main benefits of implementing an ABM strategy is a higher average selling point (ASP) because you are honing in on and providing a more personalized journey to higher-value deals. This is an excellent place to do a quick gut check on whether or not you’ve done a good job at choosing the right accounts to target with your marketing activities. In addition to ASP, you should see a higher close rate within ABM accounts. In the same recent SiriusDecisions report, “89% of respondents have increased their close rate using ABM, and one in four increased their closed deals by more than 50% for ABM accounts versus non-ABM accounts.”
Customer
Churn rate: If you are focusing your ABM strategy on your post-sale audience (which I totally recommend), an important metric to track is churn rate. How many of your target customers are churning? Is that at a slower rate than your baseline? It should be! As you all know, ABM is less about the number of accounts or leads you are reaching and more about the quality of the relationship you have with fewer accounts. You’ll generate a better understanding of your customers by creating a more meaningful relationship, thus decreasing churn rate.
On top of all of these funnel metrics, another important thing to measure is conversion rates. If you are targeting the right accounts (and the right person within that account), with the right content at the right time, you should see an accelerated journey through the funnel or buying journey. It’s important to set a baseline ahead of time so you can see this increase in velocity.
What are your key marketing metrics to track when running ABM campaigns? Comment below!