For B2B marketers promoting specialized solutions to a specific, concentrated group of typically larger, enterprise prospects, the concept of account-based marketing (ABM) is one that they should consider implementing – if they’re not already utilizing.
ABM is a targeted approach in which marketers communicate with prospect accounts as individual markets in their own right – or as “markets of one.” This approach can lead to more relatable messaging, engaging earlier in the sales process and squeezing more value from ever-scarce marketing budgets.
At the same time, customer advisory boards (CABs) can (and should) be a cornerstone of any successful ABM initiative. In fact, starting a strong CAB program can (and should) be the first step in implementing a robust ABM approach.
Here are five reasons why:
1. Focus on ideal accounts
Whenever marketers are tasked with acquiring new customers (and who isn’t?), the first step should be to examine your own existing customer base. Who are your top 25 (or 100) accounts by size (revenue to your company)? What industries are they in? Where are they located? How are they using your products and services and for what purpose? How long have they been customers? Have they renewed, perhaps several times? How successful have they been with your solutions?
CABs create an ideal environment to gather your best customers to better understand their businesses, their shared challenges and learn how to address unmet or future needs. CAB members are eager to share their experiences, pain points and desires with their colleagues from other companies and industries, in order to learn and bring best practices to implement within their own organizations. Understanding and ranking your own customers can be a first step in recruiting for your CAB.
2. Understanding buying processes
Larger accounts often utilize a more complicated buying process for acquiring products and services. This can involve not only product users, but also purchase influencers and financial or executive approvers. Vendors may be required to provide specific, detailed product demos, third party validation or reviews, ROI analysis and/or multiple customer references. As such, marketers may have several audiences they need to reach or appease if they are to capture mindshare, and numerous materials they need to provide in order to help sales make the deal.
Here too, CABs are an excellent resource to learn the inner workings of enterprise customers and understand how to replicate successful sales and purchasing processes in other desired, named accounts. Your CAB membership may be made up of one of these influential buying groups; ideally the executives that generate the purchase requirements themselves. In addition, understanding the influential “players” within your existing accounts can lead to understanding how to expand your product footprint within their companies – and cross- and up-selling your solutions and services within them.
3. Learning market influences
Marketers understand that there are usually numerous mediums and touch points prospects use to learn about your company, solutions and services. While these may include seeing your offerings in articles or other third-party publications, trade shows, online reviews or message boards, or search results, “word of mouth” or personal recommendations are often the simplest, most direct medium.
CABs can help B2B marketers understand how companies receive information, how they heard about your company and what were the biggest influences in their buying journeys. In addition, they can convey the methods and materials that they found the most compelling that you provided along the way – your website content, customer list, testimonial quotes or videos, online webinars, published reports, helpful articles or blogs, etc. Again, CABs are ideal mediums for understanding your existing customers in order so that you go out and acquire new ones just like them.
4. Alignment of sales and marketing
Too often, marketers and sales teams work independently without sharing data, feedback, campaign results and successes. Marketers often spend much and work hard to collect qualified leads, only to throw them over to sales without gathering feedback or learning the results of further outreach efforts. In turn, sales is often unaware of current marketing campaign activities or lead generation efforts, and may be surprised when leads do come in and not sure how to follow-up with them.
CABs create a “forcing function” for sales and marketing to understand their customers and buying processes, learn the methods that are best to reach them, and work together to create similar messages and materials to get new clients. Furthermore, CAB meetings themselves often uncover buying opportunities with CAB accounts directly, creating an impetus for immediate follow-up after the meeting to learn more or see a demo of a new or upcoming solution that they perhaps were previously unaware of.
5. CAB member advocacy
Enterprise customers are often risk averse, late adopters and desire to purchase established, proven technologies. The old phrase, “no one ever got fired for buying IMB” comes to mind and illustrates the mindset here. As such, third-party validation, detailed reviews, ROI-focused case studies, marquee customer lists, and lauding client references will be even more influential and crucial to the sales process and part of successful ABM initiatives.
CAB members are ideal candidates to be references to your prospects. After all, they know your company and products, are typically long-time users who have been successful with them, know your product development roadmap and have been invested and helped influence your company’s direction. CAB members can and are often very willing to help promote your company in many ways as strong advocates, including participating in case studies, videos, webinars, speaking engagements, social media and, most importantly, sales references.
CABs: The Secret Advantage in Account-Based Marketing
Account-based marketing is an approach that should yield great results for B2B marketers who implement and execute it successfully. But the first place to lay the ground work for a successful ABM program should be the creating of a robust, well-managed customer advisory board. After all, CABs will greatly help with knowing and understanding your enterprise accounts, learning how to reach and influence them, and getting them on your side to help gather and market – and sell – to new ones.
Ignite Advisory Group is the leading global authority on Customer Advisory Boards and Customer-Led Boards. Ignite’s proven methodology for managing and evolving Customer Advisory Boards includes a 4-stage process, encompassing 48 deliverables and measured by 20 metrics to deliver a clear ROI. To learn more about Ignite, visit our website, read our blogs, and follow us on LinkedIn. To find out how your company can benefit from Ignite’s CAB methodology and process, contact us today.