In a previous post, I covered how Account Based Marketing, with the right technology like web personalisation software at your fingertips, threatens to become new ‘truth’ in demand generation. When you know who a visitor is as they come to your website, you can dynamically serve them up relevant, timely content, which is cool. You also improve your engagement and conversion rates, which is cooler still.

But how do you do this if you don’t have or can’t afford the right technology?

Account based marketing without the right tech becomes low tech, or old school. You have to go back to basics. First, you need to select the target accounts that you want to win. These accounts should be with a specific segment or segments, rather than the product of a scattergun approach. You’re not going to win them all. In fact, you should target maybe 5 to 10 times as many as you’re looking to win. Then you need to do some basic research into all of them, as follows:

  • Who’s the decision maker and budget holder?
  • What’s their email address, and social media handles if you can find them?
  • Who else is on their team?
  • What are they trying to do with their business? What are their goals?
  • What’s stopping them from achieving their goals?
  • How can you help them overcome this barrier?
  • How can you demonstrate you’ve done it for other businesses that they can relate to?

Armed with this information, you can design tailored information for them based on their circumstances, industry, personality and stage in the buying process.

Where the right tech enables you to go to war in an automated fashion, on this traditional battlefield your weapon is the trusty email. People will open emails and act on them if they present actionable content that’s relevant and compelling. Then you need to nurture their interest with further, well-timed emails that guide them through the buying process and the starting point of getting where they want their business to be.