Observations
How to Create Content That Attracts, Engages, and Persuades Key Clients
In traditional marketing, content is typically seen as a means of driving traffic and generating leads. However, in account-based marketing (ABM), content plays a much more significant role. Here, content becomes a strategic asset — a tool for influencing key business decisions within target accounts — rather than merely “information.”
In ABM, we don’t just “create content”; we develop targeted information campaigns aimed at shaping specific perceptions and prompting concrete actions from key decision-makers. This requires a deep understanding of the client’s business, strategic goals, and current challenges.
Without a carefully planned content strategy, ABM can turn into a chaotic collection of disconnected activities that fail to produce tangible results. Even if you identify target accounts perfectly, build a flawless communication system, and use the most advanced tools, all your efforts will be in vain without content that resonates with the needs and interests of your clients.
In this article, we won’t reiterate the well-known facts about the importance of content in marketing. Instead, we will explore how to create an effective content strategy for every stage of an ABM campaign, how to use content to build trust and authority, and how to measure its impact on key business metrics. We will reveal secrets for turning content into a powerful influence tool that will help you win your most important deals.
Why Without Valuable Information About Your Product or Service No One Will Even Consider Collaboration
Account-based marketing is built on the principle of providing value to target accounts at every stage of engagement. A key element of this process is content. Without content, ABM becomes a formal procedure devoid of real meaning.
First, content captures attention. In an information-overloaded environment, high-quality content helps you stand out and attract the attention of key decision-makers in target accounts. It’s not just “pretty pictures” or advertising slogans, but rather expert materials that demonstrate a deep understanding of the client’s business and challenges.
Second, content demonstrates expertise and builds trust. By providing valuable, useful information, you show clients that you are experts in your field and capable of solving their problems. This strengthens trust and lays the foundation for long-term relationships.
Third, content is a tool for engagement and persuasion. Through it, we can engage target accounts in dialogue, answer their questions, dispel their doubts, and convince them of the value of our product or service. We can then gradually move clients through the sales funnel, bringing them closer to deciding to collaborate with us.
Content Orchestration on the Path to a Deal
Account-based marketing is not a haphazard series of actions, but rather a carefully structured process in which each step aims to achieve a specific goal. Content plays a key role at every stage of this process. To succeed in ABM, you must create a “content map” that defines the type of content needed at each stage of the customer journey and how to create it as effectively as possible. So, what tools do we need to create this “symphony”?
- Awareness: At this stage, the goal is to capture the attention of target accounts and introduce them to the company. The following types of content are suitable:
o Expert articles in industry publications: Publish articles that demonstrate your deep understanding of the client’s business and offer solutions to their problems.
o Analytical reports and research: Share research findings and analytical reports that are interesting and useful to your target audience.
o Conference and webinar presentations: Present your company as an expert in its field by sharing knowledge and experience with target accounts.
Interest: Our goal at this stage is to generate interest in our product or service and convince clients that we can solve their problems. Suitable content types include:
o E-books and guides: Offer clients detailed guides and e-books that help them navigate complex issues and find solutions to their problems.
o Case studies and success stories: Share stories of other clients who have achieved outstanding results using our product or service.
o Webinars and online presentations: Conduct webinars and online presentations to demonstrate your product or service capabilities and answer client questions.
Consideration: At this stage, our goal is to convince clients that we are the best choice for solving their problems. Suitable content types include:
o Competitor Comparisons: Provide clients with comparative reviews of your product or service versus those of your competitors, highlighting your advantages.
o Customer testimonials and recommendations: Share testimonials and recommendations from satisfied customers that demonstrate the value of your product or service.
o Offer demo versions and free trials. Give clients the chance to try your product or service for free so they can experience its effectiveness firsthand.
Decision: At this stage, our goal is to close the deal and turn the client into a long-term partner. Suitable content types include:
o Individualized proposals and commercial terms Develop proposals and terms that match each client’s specific needs and budget.
o Personalized presentations and consultations: Offer clients personalized presentations and consultations where you can answer their questions and convince them that you are the best choice.
Creating an ABM content map ensures that the necessary content is available at every stage of the customer journey, increasing the likelihood of successfully closing the deal.
How to Create Messages That Perfectly Fit Each Target Account and Demonstrate Your Understanding of Its Unique Needs
In account-based marketing, content personalization is not just a “best practice” — it’s a prerequisite for success. In an era of information overload, clients ignore generic messages and pay attention only to content that is relevant to their needs and interests.
Personalization in ABM is like bespoke tailoring. You consider every detail of the client’s “figure,” style preferences, and needs to create something that fits perfectly and highlights their uniqueness. So, how do you create such “haute couture” content for each target account?
- Use company details: Include the company’s name, industry, size, location, and other relevant information in headlines and content text. This shows customers that you know who you’re dealing with and that your messages are not generic.
- Address key decision-makers by name. Use their names in your messages. This creates a sense of personal communication and increases engagement.
- Highlight the client’s specific problems and needs. Show that you understand the problems the client is trying to solve and the goals they want to achieve. This convinces them that you can offer effective solutions.
- Adapt your content to the client’s industry and company culture. Consider the industry-specific details and cultural characteristics of the client’s company. This creates messages that are relevant and understandable to the target audience.
- Offer solutions that match the client’s specific requirements. Show them that your product or service can be tailored to their unique needs. Doing so will convince them that you are ready to provide a customized solution that perfectly fits their expectations.
How to Calculate the Effectiveness of Each Message and Ensure Your ABM Content Delivers Real Value
As in any other type of marketing, it is essential to measure the effectiveness of your actions in account-based marketing. Without data analysis, we cannot understand what works, what doesn’t, and how to improve our results. In this section, we will examine which metrics need to be tracked to ensure that your content brings real value to your ABM strategy. Which indicators help evaluate the effectiveness of content marketing in ABM?
- Engagement: This metric shows how actively target accounts interact with your content. Track the number of views, likes, comments, shares, downloads, and other actions that demonstrate interest in your content.
- Lead generation: This metric shows how many leads your content generates. Track completed forms, consultation requests, downloaded materials, and other actions indicating readiness for further engagement.
- Conversion: This metric shows how many of the leads generated by your content turn into customers. Track the number of deals closed with target accounts that interacted with your content.
- ROI (return on investment): This metric shows the revenue earned for each unit of currency invested in content marketing. Calculate ROI by comparing the costs of creating and promoting content to the revenue generated from acquired clients.
- Impact on Sales Cycle: This metric shows how content affects the length of the sales cycle. Does your content accelerate the decision-making process for target accounts?
- Increase in Average Deal Size: Analyze whether content affects the average deal value with target accounts. Does it help sell higher-value solutions?
By analyzing these metrics, you can determine which content works best, which channels are most effective, and what changes need to be made to your content marketing strategy. Remember, content marketing in account-based marketing (ABM) is a data-driven approach, not just a “creative process.”
“Traps” of Content Marketing
Creating an effective content marketing strategy for account-based marketing is no easy task. In their efforts to attract and engage key clients, many companies make common mistakes that result in their content going unnoticed and failing to deliver the desired outcomes. To avoid these “traps,” it is important to be aware of them and recognize them. What mistakes are most often made when creating content marketing for ABM?
- One mistake is creating content without a clear goal or strategy. Many companies start producing content without a clear idea of what they want to achieve. They fail to define their objectives, analyze their target audience, or develop a strategy for promoting the content.
- Ignoring the needs and interests of target accounts: Many companies create content that interests them rather than their target clients. They don’t conduct research, study their clients’ needs and problems, or adapt content to meet specific requirements.
- Lack of content personalization: Many companies produce generic content that does not consider the specifics of each target account. They don’t use client names, mention specific problems, or offer individualized solutions.
- Insufficient content promotion: Many companies create excellent content but do not pay enough attention to distributing it. They fail to use social media, email marketing, and other channels to share their content and capture the attention of their target accounts.
- They do not analyze results or optimize their content marketing strategy. Many companies do not track the outcomes of their content marketing efforts and do not adjust their strategy accordingly. They don’t analyze which content performs best, which channels are most effective, or what changes need to be made to improve results.
Avoiding these mistakes significantly increases your chances of creating an effective content marketing strategy.
The Key Lever of Influence
It’s important to note that ABM content is more than just a collection of “texts and images.” It is a powerful tool that allows you to win over your ideal client (and, of course, the deal). Content is the main lever of influence, helping you establish trust, solve problems, and offer valuable solutions to your target accounts. To succeed in content marketing within ABM, it is essential to:
- Create content that aligns with the needs and interests of your target accounts.
- Personalize content so that each client feels special and understood.
- Use different content formats to capture attention and maintain client interest.
- Promote your content effectively by leveraging all available communication channels. Analyze results and optimize your content marketing strategy. Stay aware of new trends and technologies and adapt your approach to changing market conditions.
Content is more than just a marketing tool. It is the foundation for building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with your most valuable customers. Use it wisely to achieve outstanding results in account-based marketing.
