For any company in the B2B segment, one of the biggest challenges is having the ability to find good customers and close deals. And while many of the companies are already familiar with inbound marketing and, more recently, with account-based marketing, it may not be entirely clear the role of both strategies and how they can complement each other in order to contribute for business growth.
Therefore, in this article, we are going to review the two concepts, understand the differences and, above all, understand that inbound and ABM can be complementary approaches.
Inbound marketing is a strategy with the goal of attracting, converting and satisfying/delighting customers through quality content that is relevant, useful and targeted to their needs.
Account-based marketing is a highly targeted approach that is based on an alignment between the marketing and sales teams with the purpose of creating personalized experiences for accounts identified as being of high value (rather than individual contacts).
ABM has a much more restricted "target" than inbound, as the customization of content and tactics goes to the industry level of the target accounts or even the account itself (customization of content to a specific company).
When we implement an ABM strategy, we already know which are the target accounts we want to reach and all efforts are directed towards winning those accounts. In the case of inbound marketing, we don't know exactly which prospects we'll impact in the attraction phase, although all actions are aimed at our buyer personas (people who have the profile of our ideal customer).
First of all, both inbound marketing and account-based marketing depend on a deep knowledge of our target audience. All the knowledge about who are your buyer personas, what are the strategic keywords of your business, which content topics to develop and the communication channels to use is fundamental to any of the strategies.
Furthermore, in an ABM strategy you can use the same channels you already use with inbound and can capitalize on the content already produced, and you will only have to customize them even more to the reality of your target accounts.
Both approaches are focused on delivering a relevant experience across the entire purchase funnel, and in many cases ABM can help accelerate this purchase decision process when an inbound strategy is already in place.
In addition, both help to promote customer satisfaction and loyalty, and ABM can further leverage this retention by focusing on specific accounts and their particular reality.
In conclusion, inbound marketing can help you attract the right customers and then account-based marketing helps to accelerate the buying decision process and ensure a relevant and personalized experience.
Ultimately, both strategies will allow you to close valuable accounts for your business. Using the two approaches as being complementary, will allow you to develop a more robust and effective strategy.
Do you want to know how inbound marketing and account-based marketing can be used for your growth strategy? We will be happy to help you!
Content originally posted on July 2021.