Account-Based Marketing (ABM) – Targeted Marketing for B2B Companies
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a strategic approach in B2B marketing where individual companies (accounts) are treated as markets. Instead of directing broad campaigns at a large audience, ABM focuses on individually selected, particularly relevant corporate clients. The goal is to develop highly personalized marketing and sales measures for these key customers to optimally exploit their potential.
ABM is particularly effective when it comes to complex, consultative products with long sales cycles and multiple decision-makers – typical for many B2B markets. The focus is not only on a single contact but on the entire buying center within a company.
A successful ABM process begins with the selection of target accounts. Criteria such as company size, industry, revenue potential, or strategic importance play a role. Subsequently, tailor-made content and campaigns are developed – such as individual white papers, personalized landing pages, or exclusive events. Sales and marketing work closely together to deliver coordinated and relevant messages at the right time.
A key advantage of ABM is efficiency: resources are targeted at the most promising customers, which increases the success rate. Moreover, ABM strengthens customer loyalty as communication is precisely tailored to the needs and challenges of the respective company.
Technology also plays an important role – for example, through CRM systems, marketing automation, or personalization tools. Platforms like HubSpot or Salesforce offer special features for implementing ABM strategies.
Overall, ABM enables a deeper customer relationship, higher closing rates, and better ROI – provided it is strategically thought out and consistently implemented. In contrast to this is Customer/Contact Based Marketing (CBM).