• When designing a comprehensive account-based marketing (ABM) strategy, it is a key requirement to deliver advertising assets to audiences in specific accounts with custom messaging
  • Account-based digital display advertising allows marketers to generate higher clickthrough rates, web engagement and pipeline
  • Best practices for account-based digital advertising focus on areas such as piloting, testing and personalization

Any successful account-based marketer knows how important it is to get account-based marketing (ABM) program planning and execution right. A key execution requirement for many ABM programs is account-based digital display advertising. This means delivering advertising assets to audiences in specific accounts, with custom messaging and offers informed by your organization’s ABM strategy and customer needs. Based on many clients’ successful implementations of account-focused digital display advertising, here’s a list of the seven things to consider when launching your own effort:

 

Account-based Marketing Best Practices for Display Advertising

  1. Use a comprehensive ABM strategy. Account-based digital display advertising is most effective when deployed as part of a multi-channel ABM strategy. Organizations should resist the temptation to turn the digital display advertising campaign into a lead generation effort by posting gated assets on their website or landing page. It is more effective to use digital display advertising as an early step, followed by other efforts designed to deepen and broaden account engagement.
  2. Run a pilot. As part of a comprehensive ABM strategy, implement an account-based digital display advertising pilot and measure its results before committing to a long-term investment. The pilot should last for two to four months. Focus on defining clear goals and metrics, executing with strong creative tactics and content, and ensuring that results can be measured against a baseline.
  3. Go beyond new accounts. Most people think of account-based digital display advertising as a tactic for acquiring new logos. But this approach can also be successful with existing customers, if there is a need to reposition the brand into new buying centers or reach new individual buyers.
  4. Target the right accounts. Use a careful, data-driven approach to identify accounts that have a high propensity to buy, as well as the right individuals within those accounts. Consider using technologies like predictive analytics and intent monitoring to provide precision to account prioritization and buyer targeting.
  5. Test and learn. Organizations should run A/B tests to isolate variables (e.g. creative assets, messaging, landing pages) that drive incremental improvements. A culture of innovation, along with the use of testing and data, should drive advertising decisions.
  6. Personalize. Best-in-class advertisers often personalize account-based digital display advertising by industry, organization size, location, account/contact name, need or a combination of these elements.
  7. Change the target list. Organizations should rotate the target account list on the basis of response rates. They should be able to see an uplift in web traffic within two or three weeks of the initiative’s launch. If an account is not responding, marketers may want to swap in new accounts and perhaps revisit the non-responsive account at a later date.

To learn more about ABM program planning and execution, including account-based digital display advertising, join me and Kristin Farwell as we present the session, “SiriusLab: Assessing Business Requirements and Technologies for Targeted Account Program Planning,” at the 2018 SiriusDecisions Technology Exchange (TechX) on November 7 to 9 in New Orleans. For a preview of the session, click here. Be sure to also join my colleagues Matt Senatore and Jonathan Tam for their session, “Account-Based Marketing: The Complete Business Requirements Guide.”