Content is as important to ABM as it is to the other pillars of B2B marketing we just mentioned. But how you ask? Well, here we go.
Content ABM-ified
It might be just as important, but ABM content is noticeably different. Let’s get that clear from the start.
Whatever your flavour and whatever the channel, there are some really cool opportunities when you think about life through an ABM lens. Areas where generic sacrifices are usually the order of the day as part of the daily dumbing down routine.
These exciting, newfound opportunities are ultimately driven from a place of philosophy. With the ABM methodology, less is more. It’s not about reaching your personas (typical customers) in the broadest sense, it’s about crafting the optimum message you can for each individual organisation. It’s about personalisation.
Video
Video has become a serious tool in the content marketer’s arsenal. ABM folks have picked it up, run with it and are now taking it out for dinner.
Rather than it being a generic YouTube piece, video through an ABM lens is really targeted. Usually this will mean creating one-off videos for individual companies. This can come at different stages of the ABM process.
Early on, video can be used as an interesting alternative to cold emails/calls. Sales and account teams can record videos quickly on their phone or work device to deliver a richer, more wholesome introduction in a way that cuts through the news of outbound email or telemarketing. They work as a good accompaniment to LinkedIn InMails, or prospecting emails. Especially if you’re trying to drive someone into your website.
Later on in the process, big tech companies are using persuasive animations and videos to collate the value they will provide as part of a more strategic approach to tenders and bid management. If you’re bidding for a million pound contract, why wouldn’t you spend a few quid on a bespoke video?
Blogs
Blogs are awesome. When you’re blogging through a content marketing or inbound lens, it’s all about traffic generation: bringing in as many of the types of people who may buy your product or service as possible. In the ABM game, we know that a few of our ABM accounts can make a big impact.
ABM website personalisation is a great way to give your existing blog an ABM content make over. Tools like our very own ABM for WP make it easy to add in specific paragraphs, images or call to action banners for specific companies. This allows you to hone in on what you know about a target account’s individual pain points or strategic objectives. We love it.
Case studies
A personal favourite of mine. If you’re going to head two important questions off at the pass with prospects, then these two fellows would be top of the list:
“Have you done this before?”
“Have you done this for a business like ours?”
These are typical questions as part of the B2B buying process, and ABM doesn’t change that.
Luckily, you can answer both of those in a well structured case study. The focus on ABM offers some interesting opportunities to evidence this in a cool way.
Different target companies will have different pressure points. They’re all going to be vary in their challenges, their objectives and their characteristics. As such, different case studies will resonate with them.
Often they will want to see case study content:
- In the same sector/vertical market
- From companies that are a similar size, whether that’s revenue or employees
- That are based in a particular region or geography
This allows you to factor this into your reference programme. You can make sure you are producing case studies that speak to these ABM needs.
If you want to get real fancy, you might even use specific language to engage with one of your ABM targets. So you’re illuminating pain points and strategic imperatives with the same words that the targets themselves use to describe it.
You can also think about getting case studies completed with, and deliberately shared by, peers within their network to make sure it gets read and ABM goodness can blossom from it.
Infographics
Infographics can be really cool from an ABM content perspective. Free from the suffocating constraints of internet rules, designers are free to craft something inspired that’s been lovingly designed for an audience of one.
You can hone the topic in on pain points that your target account has, and neatly link them back to your product or service.
Whether you brand it up in their colours, mention their name and get in some of those clear sales signals is up to you: personally I don’t think there’s anything wrong with making it perfectly clear to a business you want to work with them. You’ll almost certainly wow them with your professional approach and slick engagement strategy (avoiding the ‘not another cold call syndrome’). Caveat here is that you really need to have world class creative support. If it looks crap, you’re going to put them off.
Other content
Whether it’s white papers, webinars or wacky emails – there’s loads of ABM content we could cover here. Ultimately the principles are the same. Rethink the content in a bespoke and heavily personalised way that aligns perfectly with your targets accounts and the creative ideas are sure to start flowing.
We can help
If you need help ‘flowing’, or are looking for a full service ABM agency to fulfil on the creative side of things, we can assist. We’ve got years of experience doing this for a variety of different businesses so can help structure your thinking towards a direction of success and produce content worthy of a million pound contract.
Get in touch today to help drive forward your ABM vision.
