The power of B2B digital advertising in ABM initiatives

Strong strategies are a hot topic in the B2B lead generation space. This approach, called account-based marketing (ABM), allows sales and marketing teams to refine carefully selected high-value suppliers, which ultimately leads to an excellent return on investment (ROI). In fact, according to a Forrester survey, it was found that 72% of B2B companies have visibly improved their performance since adopting ABM.

So what if we take ABM to the next level? Supporting ABM with digital advertising can double this targeted approach, providing an opportunity to build highly personalized customer journeys.

If you're unfamiliar with one or both of these strategies, it can be difficult to jump into them.

But by learning how to combine ABM and digital advertising, you can support your business with campaigns that require little to no time to identify leads and ultimately yield high ROI. Seems like a formula for boosting business growth and getting ahead of the competition, right?

Based on our client experience, if executed correctly, a combination of ABM and digital advertising is exactly what can be achieved.

Let's explore the basics, benefits, and necessary steps for successfully using ABM and digital advertising together.

The relationship between digital advertising and ABM

For those unfamiliar with the ABM concept, this strategy targets specific high-value accounts rather than setting up a large-scale marketing net to acquire high-quality prospects. 84% of B2B companies that have adopted this strategy report higher ROI when using ABM compared to other marketing campaigns.

This approach also leads to better collaboration because sales and marketing teams can work together to determine what qualifies as a high-value supplier.

Digital advertising, on the other hand, uses ads and social media platforms to quickly reach the intended audience. Each platform has advantages and disadvantages, and the types of campaigns you can run are also different. In ABM's efforts, audience targeting functions play a role in digital advertising. Depending on the platform, digital advertising can be used to directly reach target companies and key stakeholders.

If digital advertising can be successfully incorporated into ABM initiatives, we can enhance mutual performance and bring revolutionary implementation results. This is mainly due to the fact that both ABM and digital advertising have succeeded with personalization and customer-focused approaches. By working together, the two can create experiences that deeply resonate with target customers and establish a business as a reliable partner.

Use of digital advertising in ABM

There are multiple ways to incorporate digital advertising into your ABM strategy. Here are the most common methods.

1. Remarketing campaigns — This type of campaign helps keep your brand in mind for target accounts that may already know about your company. These types of campaigns can be used to retarget website visitors or, depending on social platforms, to retarget users who have responded to content or previous ad campaigns. Common ad types used in these campaigns are display ads and in-feed social media ads.
2. Accurate audience targeting — This approach is commonly used on social media advertising platforms. The most popular B2B business is LinkedIn ads. The platform is unique in that it can target specific companies and even specific roles within those companies. You can also upload a list of target accounts directly to the platform.

Here's an example of using both of these methods:

Manufacturers of bolting technology use LinkedIn ads to target specific oil and gas companies they've determined are high-value customers. Use LinkedIn Ads to distribute ads directly to decision makers at these oil and gas companies. Next, create a remarketing campaign to retarget individuals who responded to or clicked on the initial ad. By always keeping your brand in mind like this, you can always keep your brand in mind while establishing yourself as an authority in the industry.

Learn how digital advertising can help ABM's efforts. It's not just targeting the key stakeholders in the target account. It builds relationships with these individuals and fosters familiarity at multiple stages of the customer journey. If you can reach the right people at the right time like this, not only can you get the most out of your marketing efforts, but you'll also be able to develop more meaningful and personalized relationships with your prospects.

The critical role of personalization

Personalization is at the heart of ABM and can be a game changer when applied to digital advertising. By customizing ad copy and creatives for each target account, you'll increase your chances of attracting customer attention and eliciting engagement.

Therefore, researching the buyer persona of the target account is essential for a successful ABM campaign. You need to have a deep understanding of your target customers. To run a successful campaign, you need to understand which platforms you spend the most time on, their weaknesses, goals, and interests.

With this information, you can create digital ads that are both educational and attention-grabbing. This is how you can secure your B2B business as profitable and trustworthy.

Use analytics to optimize your strategy

Analytics plays a critical role in any digital advertising strategy. This is especially true with ABM approaches where tracking and measuring implementation results is difficult.

Unlike typical campaigns, where clicks, impressions, or website traffic are key metrics to track, in ABM campaigns, engagement rates and conversion rates are stronger indicators of campaign success. This is because ABM campaigns are likely to have a significantly smaller audience.

Therefore, it can be said that ads with high engagement and conversion rates are high-performing ads that resonate with target accounts. You can use this information to create similar ads in the future.

A/B testing is essential to continuously make data-backed decisions to optimize ads and create more personalized ads. This process involves testing a single variable in a digital ad campaign to determine which version of this variable works best for your target audience. For example, variables include ad copy and ad images.

Introducing digital advertising into ABM plans

Successfully incorporating digital advertising into an ABM plan requires careful consideration and planning. Here are the key steps to include when making a plan:

1. Aligning sales and marketing teams — Aligning sales and marketing teams is essential for successful ABM initiatives. This collaboration is critical to setting campaign goals, identifying high-value vendor qualifications, and building a smooth handover process to prospects.
2. Account research — As mentioned above, a complete understanding of the target account is necessary for a successful campaign. The customer's buying process may differ from the previous target audience, so advertising campaigns should reflect this.
3. Creating an account marketing plan — This also requires sales and marketing to work together to identify key stakeholders for each account. We'll also determine what content needs to be created to best attract these individuals. You'll need to create a customized plan for each target account.

Achieving all of the above goals may seem like a daunting task, especially when it comes to breaking sales and marketing silos, but achieving this could pay off. You can expect more fine-tuned sales and marketing machines that deliver higher ROI.

Unleash the power of ABM and digital advertising

By customizing digital ads to target customers, you can increase engagement, increase ROI, and promote business growth. This strategy has paid off many times before.

But don't forget: sales and marketing teams need to have the same awareness. That means aligning goals, target accounts, and key performance indicators. I cannot stress this enough.

Are you interested in further acceleration with the ABM Flywheel? Consider Aspire's marketing experts who support inbound marketing strategies for B2B businesses.