Persona Marketing vs Account-Based Marketing

Thanks to the rise of Marketo and its plethora of early adopters, the company has pushed the concept of why to switch (from Pardot, Eloqua, etc.) with Account-Based Marketing. The content language of which speaks to the many pain points of commonly used marketing automation tools. The fact of the matter is that both concepts require a lot of content to be created just to make a decent waterfall or drip marketing campaign.

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

Account-Based Content Marketing

These are just a few examples of account-based content. The key is to create content that is relevant and engaging to your target account. By doing this, you can build relationships, educate them about your products or services, and ultimately drive them to take action.

• A white paper that addresses a specific challenge faced by your target account.
• A case study that highlights how your product or service has helped a similar company to your target account.
• An infographic that provides valuable insights into your target market.
• A webinar that features a thought leader in your industry.
• A blog post that answers a frequently asked question about your product or service.

Tips for creating effective ABM content:

• Start with a clear goal in mind. What do you want to achieve with your ABM content marketing? Do you want to generate leads, build relationships, or drive sales?
• Target your content carefully. Make sure your content is relevant to your target accounts. Consider their interests, needs, and pain points when creating your content.
• Use a variety of channels. Don't just rely on one channel to distribute your content. Use a variety of channels that are likely to be used by your target accounts.
• Track your results. It's important to track the results of your ABM content marketing campaigns so that you can see what is working and what is not. This will help you to improve your results over time.