Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is one of the most effective strategies for B2B companies. But as the market continues to evolve, these traditional approaches no longer fully meet demand.
Some things that changed in the past 2 years need special focus, as they came with a different reaction from the same customers to the same marketing approach.
Here is what made the need to change the approach:
- More people are involved now in B2B purchase decisions, typically up to 10.
- The modern B2B customers tend to be well-informed, doing this by themselves with online research, with no need to approach the company just to get some information. Google shows that 67% of the buyer’s journey is digital, without interacting with a salesperson.
- The buying journey isn’t a straight path anymore. 90% of B2B stakeholders have to repeat and turn back to multiple buying tasks.
This warns B2B marketers that many of their digital marketing frameworks are built on old facts that aren’t available anymore. There is a need to think bigger than just understanding the buyer’s journey.
Why an all-in-one strategy framework isn’t enough anymore
There are several reasons to quit the massive campaigns from your strategy. Starting with the simple fact that each business is different, with certain and particular needs, and many of them are now providing mixed services, which makes it hard for a single marketing framework to fit them perfectly.
Every business is different, with a different set of needs that the marketing framework has to accomplish. In this case, the broader the framework, the more resources (both financial and human) are required to implement it successfully. Those resources are wasted when a standard marketing framework is meant to fit into any organization.
A marketing framework that works in the given context focuses on the 2 or 3 most important capabilities and takes the best out of them. However, there are some specific B2B marketing frameworks that we identified as valuable, out of which you can extract different components in order to implement a successful campaign.
Our main focus, the customer, is at the center of attention of every service that needs to make a sale, and they get bombarded with information that is part of the rapid trend of evolution. The customer is also quickly changing their perception and interest, which means that marketers need to be as quick in their shift in ideas to address the right needs.
Usually, those massive marketing campaigns take months to start and end up as a patched plan that only requires more resources to adapt to the market supply. Those projects are known for postponed launches and exceeded budgets, which bring unsatisfactory results. The approach of marketing teams needs to freshen up, and this means focusing on shorter-period plans to implement, with constant feedback from their target audience.
Times change, so does marketing. Get Agile
Today’s digital transformation allows each industry, including marketing, to approach innovative ways to bring in more customers. Translated to marketing organizations, it means they need to become quick and approach short and effective campaigns.
Agile marketing means rapidly implementing data that is continuously collected, coming up with solutions in real time, seeing immediate results, and running through it again. Ideally, marketing companies can run multiple campaigns at the same time, with fresh ideas and approaches every new week or month.
What it does is break big projects into smaller segments that can be revised, managed, and implemented more easily with less effort. If the advantage is not obvious yet, let us name it: you do micro-campaigns that get immediate feedback, which allows you to adjust the strategy appropriately, addressing the right customer.
Agile marketing is an approach inspired by the IT sector, and this is why the focus is on continuous testing and data pulling. It is also about multiple updates between the departments, which is great for maximizing the efficiency of the campaign, as all the departments deliver their results and findings, and then establish together the next approach.
Implementing an Agile Marketing Framework
The process involved in the development of Agile Marketing is called Scrum, and it is created to maximize the performance of short-period actions to deliver long-term results. Those actions include improved communication processes and increased responsiveness of marketing activities. By receiving constant feedback, you can rapidly react to changes in the market and to customers’ new needs, and this only assures the success and high performance of the campaign.
Scrum is also a term implemented from software programs, and it has proved useful in developing digital marketing strategies. Its methodology allows teams to work better together, returning high-quality results delivered by transparency and adaptability factors.
Are you considering switching to an Agile Marketing Framework?
Get in touch with us to benefit from highly-performative digital marketing campaigns or enroll in the B2B ABM Interactive Bootcamp Coaching Program.
