How to Transition to Proactive Abm

Talked to a current customer moving up market from transactional to enterprise sales. They got to $20M with a prosumer product running display ads on Facebook/IG/TikTok and selling to individuals. They tapped out that market, raised a ton of money, and now need to break into enterprise deals. Their instinct is to just run their same direct response ads play for these. Very unlikely to work for a $20k purchase vs a $20 purchase. When you're moving upmarket, your approach needs to change. It's not just about quick wins anymore, but building relationships and trust. Also the buyer might not come inbound. You're priming them to respond to outreach. Instead think of ads as a way to just attract people where the problem is top of mind. 1. Switch your focus from immediate sales to educating and building brand awareness. Use ads to nurture leads, not just generate them. 2. Be smart about list building. In this company's specific case, since they have such a large user base, I suggested they sort and group their users by companies and create a target list of decision makers where they have the most individual licenses. 2. Instead of "book a demo" ads think about promoting thought leadership. Encourage your leadership team and sellers to start posting more and framing the problem. Your content should speak to the specific challenges your ideal customers face. Boost this with ads. 4. Use intent data to reach out at the right time with relevant messaging. What ads do they click on, what posts do they engage with, what pages do they visit, what content do they consume? Use this info to tailor your message. 5. Don't rely on LinkedIn alone for outreach. It should work alongside your email and phone outreach. Keep in mind that enterprise sales take longer. Your LinkedIn presence should aim to keep you in potential buyers' minds throughout their decision-making process. Organic content talking about problems from sellers/execs + boost it with thought leadership ads + connect and outreach from the same person is probably the best way to approach ABM in 2024, at least on LinkedIn

ABM is a strategy, not a channel. You don’t need a $100,000 software to try a new strategy. Here’s how you can start running ABM (without buying 6sense): Don't get me wrong... ABM products are DEFINITELY valuable. But it PAINS ME when I hear marketers say they want to do ABM but are just waiting until their CMO approves new software. Building an ABM foundation starts WAY before you buy software, and people like 🔶🔸Mason Cosby🔸🔶, ✅ Tyler Pleiss ✅, and Andrei Zinkevich do a great job explaining this. Here are 3 things you need to run an ABM efficiently: 1. Target account list alignment The best ABM teams I know spend a TON of time choosing accounts and/or the account list criteria. Everyone in the team knows WHY they are working on the list of accounts they are working on. It shouldn’t be just employee size and region. Think about unique reasons customers come to you. For example, for us, has a new CMO, marketing teams that want to ungate their content, and marketing teams that use 4+ channels that usually come inbound to us. Naturally, these are all triggers and firmographics we use in our targeting/account selection. Spend time listening to prospect calls, talking to the sales team, and understanding these reasons before investing heavily into ABM tooling. 2. Lean in on creative ways to build relationships ABM at its core is 1:1 and 1:few relationship building. Now, it’s not just personalizing landing pages and ads. A lot of creative teams use podcasts, webinars, event programs, etc. to build these relationships This makes the ABM program efficient and also more enjoyable for the team (And everyone HATES personalizing the same page/ad for 100 accounts) 3. Simplify tracking One of the biggest pitfalls in ABM is over-complicating tracking. Determine a few key metrics before starting ABM - like account level engagement and/or pipeline, align everyone around the same metrics, and use your existing tech. If you are using HockeyStack, you can quickly set up an ABM dashboard (we also have a lot of templates that you can check out). If you are not using HockeyStack, I’d rely on your existing web tracking tech and a scrappy dashboard on your BI tool to measure account-level metrics TAKEAWAY: Treat ABM like any other strategy. Start small. Don’t just go out and invest $100K in tech. Especially before solving the root issue of ABM: Do marketing AND sales agree on WHY we’re going after a set of accounts? Then WHAT are those accounts? Then HOW will we build relationships with them? Only once you can confidently answer those questions, is it time to think about buying fancy tech. P.S.: LinkedIn has been a valuable resource for me to learn more about how others approach ABM. Who else should I follow for great ABM content?

Had a great call today that reminded me why so many SaaS companies are switching to Account-Based Marketing (ABM). If you run a SaaS business with a small market (under 10,000 potential customers), traditional marketing is probably burning your cash. What's Account-Based Marketing? It's simple: Instead of hoping the right customers find you, you identify exactly who they are and go directly to them. Here's how to do it: Step 1: Make a list of your perfect customers -- Who are the 100 companies that would absolutely love your product? -- Write down their names, not just vague personas -- Focus on companies where you know you can solve real problems Step 2: Find out what they actually care about -- Check their LinkedIn posts and comments -- See what content they engage with -- Identify patterns in their challenges You can quote me here, "You can't sell to imaginary personas." Step 3: Create content that solves their specific problems -- Address their actual challenges, not what you think they care about -- Show them multiple ways to solve those problems -- Explain why your solution makes the most sense SaaS tip: Compare "buying vs. building" to show your value. Step 4: Show up everywhere without feeling "salesy" -- Get your content in front of them across multiple channels -- Use targeted ads that don't feel like ads -- Build familiarity gradually Remember: Once they feel marketed to, they tune out. Step 5: Know when they're ready to talk -- Use website tracking like RB2B to see when target companies visit -- Set up alerts when key decision-makers download content -- Reach out personally when signals show interest -- Time your sales contact for when they're actually looking for solutions Don't abandon traditional marketing completely. The best SaaS companies use both approaches: 1. Use ABM for direct outreach to high-value targets 2. Use traditional marketing to build credibility and awareness Remember: Most buyers (70%) decide what to buy before ever talking to sales. Your content needs to influence them during that research phase. This takes time, but it works. I've got blog posts from 2019 that still bring in qualified leads every month. Good content is a long-term investment that pays dividends for years. Bottom line for SaaS entrepreneurs: When you sell specialized software to a specific market, don't waste money trying to reach everyone. Focus your resources on the exact companies that need what you offer. Have you tried ABM for your SaaS business? What results did you see compared to traditional marketing? ----------------- 🚀 𝗜 𝗔𝗺 𝗧𝘆𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗞𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘆 🔺 Marketing strategist, entrepreneur, & business mentor 🔺 Growing businesses through strategic marketing and ICP-driven content 🔺 Championing storytelling and marketing automation 🔺 Keynotes on GTM, content mastery, & AI/digital transformation 🔝 Connect with me