All ABM-ers are interested in the tactics that others are using. What’s working for them? What isn’t proving as effective? How does that compare with what we’re doing? So, no ABM benchmarking study would be complete without a look at the range of tactics in use, and the preferred tactics by type of ABM.
In our own study, we found that large, complex organisations tend to use a similar overall list of tactics, but emphasise more high-touch activities for Strategic ABM and more online activities for Programmatic ABM — with a shifting blend for the types of ABM in between these two extremes.
The top five tactics overall
When looking across all tactics in use today, the most popular is to provide an extra special experience for top customers and prospects through events. This is matched by activities that engage executives in top accounts, whether these are advisory board meetings, briefing sessions, or exec to exec meetings. Third comes innovation workshops. All of these top three are opportunities to have rich conversations and explore possible collaborations for mutual value.
In fourth place overall comes bespoke landing pages, so useful for getting custom or curated content across to buyers and influencers in a way that is both relevant and personalised.
Further surround sound is achieved through email marketing in fifth place (usually driving to bespoke landing pages and those event registrations) and also through paid social media to get targeted messages across.
Variations by type of ABM
It will be no surprise to know that different types of ABM rely on a slightly different blend of tactics. So, at the most resource-intensive end of the scale, with Strategic ABM, we see bespoke videos in the top five, complementing those VIP event experiences, executive engagement, innovation workshops and bespoke landing pages. The beauty of these videos is that they can be used as part of all of these other top tactics.
Deal-based or pursuit marketing is similarly high touch, with innovation workshops around specific opportunities taking the top spot, followed by executive engagement. Paid social media helps to create awareness of key messages, as does digital advertising, also in the top five for this type of ABM. Lunch and learn sessions are also popular, used to engage wider buying groups or target audiences, perhaps within a specific function in the customer or prospect.
At the least resource intensive end in Programmatic ABM, online tactics are prevalent, with email marketing, digital advertising, webinars and organic social media in use. Webinars provide a great way of delivering valuable experiences without the cost of in-person events. In fifth place for this type of ABM comes hospitality.
So, what happens in the middle of the blended triangle, when ABM-ers are engaging a group of accounts in a cluster or segment? I find it interesting that the mix of tactics used looks most like deal-based or pursuit marketing (albeit with VIP event experiences in place of lunch and learn sessions, and with digital advertising higher rated). This reminds me of a conversation I had with an ABM programme leader recently, who compared their cluster ABM approach to a campaign around a specific opportunity, just with more accounts in the frame.
We’ll look at each type of ABM in more detail in the final quarter of 2024, so stay tuned for a deeper dive on the tactics ABM-ers rely on. Hopefully you’ll find some inspiration as you start building your own plans for 2025.
Highlights from our full ABM benchmarking survey can be found here: http://bit.ly/3YhzJBX
