Content marketing is now yesterday's marketing buzzword. Today, the phrase on every savvy marketers' lips is 'account based marketing'.
It will, if you are to believe the army of self-proclaimed marketing gurus, deliver a better customer service, remove marketing silos, reduce the sales cycle, and increase in the bottom line. And if you're not doing it, more fool you.
Account based marketing is, as far as I can tell, nothing new. It is another name for key account management, or in plain English - marketing to clients or customers.
All marketers, and indeed anyone in business, will know that is is easier to win new sales from existing customers than chasing new ones. And in most cases, businesses will, almost without thinking and in often very subtle ways, be marketing to their existing clients and customers. It is called looking after your customers/clients.
Of course, it is sensible to have an integrated approach to marketing to existing clients and customers - and in my experience most firms do. And I'm all for creating new labels for marketing disciplines, if it encourages better practice. But sometimes, it pays to tell it as it is.
Account-based marketing is a natural extension of content marketing; the biggest difference is that you’re speaking and selling directly to specific accounts rather than a broader audience. This approach offers some important benefits, like: - Better customer service. Because you’re focused on specific accounts, you’re able to offer customized content, service, and interactions with your brand. - More united teams. When both sales and marketing are targeting the exact same accounts, they can work more transparently with each other because they have the same specific goals in mind. - Reduced sales cycles. As marketing sends resources to your target accounts, those prospective accounts will become more familiar with your brand and can see more clearly what working with you might look like, which can shrink the sales cycle.
