Persona-based marketing really looks at data segmentation as its main focus for generating content for different decision makers and influencers in customer lifecycle management. For example. when targeting K-12 institutions as a software developer of an educational platform, your buyer personas may include superintendents, edtech buying consortiums (NY does this, for instance), principals; and the influencers may include teachers, students, and perhaps even PTA groups, if they are involved with new technology purchases or adoptions within a school district. It's also used by electronics manufacturers as well that sell direct or through distributors into businesses. With persona-based marketing, not every persona that is targeted with marketing content is a viable buyer. Most are information seekers and will eat up valuable production time creating digital content assets for their insatiable appetites. But, it is all good in the long run because these people are very vocal within their own organizations if they really like what you have to offer.
With both styles, your market strategy for reaching out to customers is based on a few firmographic segmentations to start: industry/vertical markets, revenue, location
With ABM, you can create more personalized content and experiences for your target accounts which can help to improve your email marketing results and to close more deals.
ABM examples:
The content delivery channel and content types are the same as well:
Account-based marketing targets key accounts or the accounts likely to generate the most revenue. This strategy is both good and bad.
It's bad if you are the customer who is considered "too small" by the sales department, you really like the product or service that a company is offering, and really wanted to be courted by the salesperson for that sale. ABM is bad for manufacturers that produce both consumer and professional product lines. You could be a small design firm who'll buy fewer than five high-end professional products and never be considered as a multi-seat opportunity sale.
As the product or service provider using ABM, you are dismissing or ignoring potential sales opportunities from 'smaller' entities like the 4 million small businesses in the US. It's hard to say if account-based marketing is truly different from persona-based marketing. It really only has one exception and that is the targeting of named accounts (top 50 enterprise accounts, Fortune 100 companies, regional markets). The methodology and analytics is nearly identical to persona marketing. Is that enough to switch from Pardot or Salesforce Marketing Cloud to Marketo? The jury is out.
ABM examples:
- Segment your list based on the targeted accounts. This will allow you to create more personalized content and experiences for each account. Example: you could create a segment for your top 100 accounts and send them a monthly newsletter with content that is relevant to their industry or company size.
- Use dynamic content to personalize your emails. Example: use dynamic content to personalize the subject line of your email or to include the recipient's name, company, or service address in the body of the email.
- Send targeted emails based on the account's stage in the buying cycle. Use ABM to send emails to accounts based on their stage in the buying cycle. Example: send an email with educational content to accounts that are in the early stages of the buying cycle, or follow-up a sales call with a demo video offer or case study to accounts that are in the late stages of the buying cycle.
The content delivery channel and content types are the same as well:
- What: white papers, case studies, videos, blog posts
- Where: website, mobile, email, PR/advertising, offline (events, conferences)
Account-based marketing targets key accounts or the accounts likely to generate the most revenue. This strategy is both good and bad.
It's bad if you are the customer who is considered "too small" by the sales department, you really like the product or service that a company is offering, and really wanted to be courted by the salesperson for that sale. ABM is bad for manufacturers that produce both consumer and professional product lines. You could be a small design firm who'll buy fewer than five high-end professional products and never be considered as a multi-seat opportunity sale.
As the product or service provider using ABM, you are dismissing or ignoring potential sales opportunities from 'smaller' entities like the 4 million small businesses in the US. It's hard to say if account-based marketing is truly different from persona-based marketing. It really only has one exception and that is the targeting of named accounts (top 50 enterprise accounts, Fortune 100 companies, regional markets). The methodology and analytics is nearly identical to persona marketing. Is that enough to switch from Pardot or Salesforce Marketing Cloud to Marketo? The jury is out.
