B2B营销人员的ABM内容指南（英文版）.pdf

The B2B Marketers Guide to ABM ContentTABLE OF CONTENT Contents Introduction Great ABM Strategy Hinges on Great Content Fundamentals of ABM Demand Generation vs. Account Based Marketing Scaling ABM with the Three-Tiered Approach The Content Framework The What: Strategic Context Getting Started with ABM Content Leverage Existing Content for Simple Customization Quick Wins Create New Content for Your ABM Strategy Assessing the Success of Your ABM Content Key T akeaways Your Next Steps 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13CHAPTER 1: IDENTIFY AND TIER TARGET ACCOUNTS 3 Introduction Today more than ever before, marketing departments are emerging as key revenue drivers whose work has measurable impact on companies bottom lines. As such, marketers have scrambled to prove their contribution, attaching their reputations to goals centered around increasing efficiency and generating leads. But these early measurements of successindividual leads, specificallyhave created their fair share of problems. Creating tons of content that doesnt get used and flooding the funnel with leads and opportunities who arent ready to buy arent the best ways to enable sales teams. So, what is? Two philosophies have emerged to tackle this question: Each one seeks to make marketers smarter about how they influence the bottom line, and theyre not mutually exclusive. Quite the contrary. As we attempt to implement strategies that bolster marketings impact, its clear that both strategies are essential to success and neither can truly thrive without the other. Effective marketers need ABM. Effective ABM needs great content. INTRODUCTION Content Operations A model that aligns the people, processes, and tools that plan, produce, distribute, and analyze content. Its how marketers, communicators, sales, and customer success break down silos, ensuring a more effective investment in content. Account Based Marketing (ABM) A strategic go-to-market approach that coordinates personalized marketing and sales efforts to open doors and deepen engagement at specific accounts. Great ABM Strategy Hinges on Great Content CHAPTER 1 “Content is the queen in the realm of ABM” Forrester The concept of content marketing is nothing new. It has taken the B2B world by storm over the last decade, opening up much-needed conversations about the crucial role that content plays in organizational strategy. But many companies have continued to operate the way they always havetreating marketers like ticket takers and working in silosjust with more content in the mix. Traditional content marketing is rooted in the top of the funnel, creating material that will draw in key audiences and prepare them to speak with sales. Its limited both in scope and effectiveness, leaving marketers struggling to have the impact they know they can. Content operations, on the other hand, significantly expand the idea of what contentand the teams that create itcan do. A content operation is the set of processes, people, and technologies for strategically planning, producing, distributing, and analyzing content. When well designed and implemented, it unifies the customer experience across all departments and channels and allows marketers to focus on authentic, resonant messaging that drives revenue and growth. CHAPTER 1: GREAT ABM STRATEGY HINGES ON GREAT CONTENTCHAPTER 1: GREAT ABM STRATEGY HINGES ON GREAT CONTENT 5 GREAT ABM STRATEGY HINGES ON GREAT CONTENT A content operation is the foundation that operationalizes the positive principles of content marketing across everything marketers do. Its the beginning, middle, and end that enables a team to see its entire content strategy as a coherent message one that covers all audiences and buying stages and is made up of assets that will provide value long past their publish dates. A content operation is greater than the sum of its parts. Its greater than the marketing team, too. The only way marketers can effectively implement Account Based Marketing is to expand their understanding of what it means to plan, produce, distribute, and analyze content. Thats because the scope of ABM extends to stakeholders across the organization. Account Based Marketing needs alignment between marketing and sales, as well as consistent messaging that communicates key themes and messaging throughout the buyers journey. Account Based Marketing needs a content operation. CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 2: FUNDAMENTALS OF ABM Fundamentals of ABM Demand Generation vs. Account Based Marketing Traditional demand generation is a lead-based, volume approach to marketing that relies on marketing automation to send emails to many leads. This works for transactional deals with one decision maker and a straightforward buying cycle. Heres when taking a traditional demand gen approach makes the most sense for you and your business: Low average sales price (ASP)usually about $20K or below Business-to-consumer (B2C) sales Large total addressable market Short sales cycles Few decision makers/stakeholders Single transaction sales ABM leverages new B2B marketing technologies is an account-based (hence the name), value approach to marketing that focuses highly personalized human touches on the most important people and accounts. Further, ABM works great when organizations are going after larger deals, where the deal cycle is complex and where closing requires building a relationship with key members of target accounts. This is a job that demand gen just wasnt designed for. Heres when taking an ABM approach makes the most sense for you and your business: High ASP Business-to-business (B2B) sales Smaller total addressable market Long sales cycles Many decision makers/stakeholders Many teammates involved on your team to make the sale Sales that have opportunities to upsell, cross-sell, and renew7 A recent research study by ITSMA (the B2B marketing pioneers who originally coined the term ABM) and the ABM Leadership Alliance found three distinct types of ABM that have emerged in recent years: One-to-One, One-to-Few, and One-to-Many. Using all three of these methods in tandem is known as a three-tiered approach and is key to to scaling your efforts. Tier 1: One-to-One ABM (“Strategic ABM”) In its purest form (as defined by ITSMA), ABM is about treating each account as a market of one, with dedicated resources and everything customized to serve that account. That takes time and efforta lot of it. For the largest accounts, with revenue potential of seven-figure deals or higher, a single ABM marketer can cover only a few accountsperhaps as few as three or four. Content created for accounts in this tier is highly relevant and catered to only for that one account. For example, if your team were targeting Salesforce, the campaign would include content specifically designed to help Salesforce based on what you know about their business, current obstacles, and primary objectives. These accounts get the “full” ABM treatment: deep research, a full account plan, personalized content, bespoke campaigns, and lots of one-to-one attention.Tier 2: One-to-Few ABM (“Scale ABM”) By necessity, the list of target accounts getting one-to- one ABM will be limited. The next tier widens up the scope a bit, letting you apply much of the focus and benefit of ABM to a broader list, while still maintaining a high level of personalizationat least, thats how it will feel for the customer. Weve found that a single rep is not able to handle more than a few dozen of these accounts at a time. These accounts get many of the benefits of one-to-one ABM, but wont get content personalized at the individual level. Instead of targeting a particular barrier a single company faces, the ABM team may write a white paper that addresses a common challenge for all accounts in a specific industry. Since there are more tier-two accounts, these accounts wont receive the same amount of time researching and sending personalized content for each account Scaling ABM with the Three-Tiered Approach CHAPTER 2: FUNDAMENTALS OF ABM8 but with a strategic taxonomy and segmentation, you can still create content that personally appeals to them.Tier 3: One-to-Many ABM (“Programmatic ABM”) The broadest tier covers all the accounts that you want to target but either dont have the resources or dont predict a high enough ROI to personalize and customize all content. These will often be smaller accounts and can be counted in the thousands. To execute on these, marketing automation is a must, which is why this type of ABM is often referred to as “programmatic ABM.” You may sometimes still use customized content based on industry or solution, but the majority of your content will rely on broad demand gen tacticsthese are the things that youre already used to doing. CHAPTER 2: FUNDAMENTALS OF ABM SCALING ABM WITH THE THREE-TIERED APPROACHThe Content Framework CHAPTER 3 Designing great ABM content follows the same fundamental rules that govern effective content strategy. Every piece of content (down to the last social media post) should be able to answer three key questions: 1. Who is it for? 2. What is the context? 3. Where will it be distributed? The best content creators will all tell you the same thing: Never start working on a piece of content without knowing who its for. By now, you should already have target personas built out that inform your strategic planning. Remember, properly executed ABM is strategic and well thought outyour personas should follow suit. Include account day-to-day responsibilities and motivators, as well as major pain points and problem areas. What problems are they trying to solve? How does that relate to your organizations offering? What will convince them to buy? If youre not sure where to begin with building your personas or simply want to update the ones you already have, its easiest to start with publicly available information. Peruse LinkedIn profiles, annual reports, and materials your targets have authored or talks theyve given. Try to find organizational charts and get to know the industry in which they work so that you can speak with authenticity and pinpoint key pain points. In ABM especially, its important to tie these personas together to form buying centers. B2B purchase decisions are almost never limited to one or two people, so in order to sell the group on your solution, youll need to understand how to tailor content that helps these key decision makers come to a consensusboth around naming the problem and the solution. CHAPTER 3: THE CONTENT FRAMEWORK10 Personalization is built on your understanding of personas, of course, but becomes truly effective when your targets are placed in the context of their buying stage. Someone whos entirely new to your product and messaging needs very different content than someone whos finalizing a decision between two vendors. Wherever they may be, its important to meet people where they are and address the questions and concerns you know theyll have at that particular stage. Heres a simple breakdown of the buyers journey and the content appropriate for each stage: Awareness (“See”) At the outset, your prospect is just beginning to think about the issues in which your company specializes. They likely sense that they have some sort of problem but dont yet have the vocabulary to speak about it. Content Goal: Educate your audience. Share your unique philosophy about the issues they face and provide the framework and vocabulary they need to understand them. Content Types: Blogs Thought-leadership webinars Podcasts Ads Events Consideration (“Think”) At this stage, your prospect is beginning to consider their options. In part thanks to your educational content, they feel more confident in their ability to coherently speak about their problem and potential solution. Now, theyre beginning to investigate the tools and services that can help them. Content Goal: Showcase the impact your product or service has had on your prospects peers. Get them to envision an ideal future state. The What: Strategic Context CHAPTER 3: THE CONTENT FRAMEWORK11 Content Types: Case studies Product pages Testimonials Selection (“Do”) By now, your prospect has narrowed down their top choices. Theyre heavily involved with your sales team and are comparing offerings to figure out which is the best for their company. Content Goal: Empower your sales team to best position your offering in a way that is consistent with top-of-funnel messaging and personalized for the particular buying group. Content Types: Battle cards Data sheets Competitive analysis Demos Consulting materials Onboarding (“Care”) Congrats! Your prospect is now a customer. Theyre excited about their purchase, but arent sure what to do next. Content Goal: Keep your customers. Especially in the technology industry, its imperative you empower users to drive adoption and facilitate their success. Failing to do so puts renewal at risk. Content Types: In-app messaging Help articles Onboarding webinarsTHE WHAT: STRATEGIC CONTEXT CHAPTER 3: THE CONTENT FRAMEWORK12 Renewal (“Grow”) The contract has run out, and your customer is assessing whether their investment in your product has been worth it. They may need to make the case to leadership that your line item is worth keeping in the budget. Content Goal: Prove that your product is worth the investment, and better yet, convince customers that they should increase their investment through an upsell. Content Types: Pitch decks Case studies Product webinars Advocacy (“Celebrate”) Your customer is happy with your product! So happy, in fact, that theyre willing to advocate on your behalf. Content Goal: Build strong relationships with customers by elevating their voices and, in turn, helping them elevate yours. Content Types: Case studies Customer awards Customer-created content (blogs, social posts, etc.) Product sneak peaks Speaking opportunities (conference case studies, webinars, etc.) CHAPTER 3: THE CONTENT FRAMEWORK THE WHAT: STRATEGIC CONTEXTGetting Started with ABM Content CHAPTER 4 Now its time to start putting practice into action! As you can see, all content youd use in a normal marketing plan will be foundational to your ABM programs. But, as you know, one of the key tenets of ABM is personalization. Content in ABM is not one size fits all. However, not every piece of content has to be specifically created for each target account or key personathat approach wouldnt scale. Instead, it takes a balanced mix of content, with each piece falling somewhere on the content personalization spectrum, with simple customization on one end and hyper-personalization on the other: CHAPTER 4: GETTING STAR