Account-based marketing (ABM) has become a rising star in B2B circles. This targeted approach focuses sales and marketing efforts on high-value accounts. In this post, we’ll explore how ABM can also be leveraged to improve customer retention.
Why Retention Matters
It costs 5X more to attract a new customer than keep an existing one. Retention is also linked to higher lifetime value. That’s why retaining customers should be a top priority.
But many B2B brands still take a broad-brush approach to customer success. This lack of personalization can disillusion customers and increase churn risk.
The Power of Tailored Account Strategies
An ABM approach to customer retention focuses on understanding and engaging each target account as a market of one. Tactics include:
- Maintaining an always-on, customized nurture track
- Proactively educating about new features or integrations
- Providing access to resources, content and events
- Responding quickly to address concerns
- Conducting regular business reviews
- Celebrating renewals and upsells
Case Studies for ABM
HubSpot increased customer retention by 15% using an expanded ABM strategy that aligned Sales, Service and Marketing teams to focus on targeted in-app messages, special incentives and account health scoring.
After implementing a coordinated ABM approach, Mediafly improved customer retention by 25% in one quarter by assigning customer success reps to each key account.
Adidas saw a 5% increase in customer lifetime value by using ABM to align account mapping with customer lifecycle stages.
Expand ABM Across the Customer Lifecycle
To maximize value, evolve your ABM strategy to encompass the entire customer lifecycle. Identify at-risk accounts for additional nurturing.
Continue mapping expansion opportunities within retained accounts. And leverage account intelligence to tailor your re-activation approach for lapsed accounts.
By coordinating sales, marketing, customer success and other teams to map tailored account plans, retention improves.
7 Steps Small Businesses Can Make to Leverage ABM
1. Identify your ideal customer profiles and target accounts. Look at existing high-value customers and find similar organizations to pursue.
2. Do in-depth research on each target account. Learn about pain points, initiatives, key players. Build account-specific profiles.
3. Create personalized outreach for each account. Customize emails, social messages, ad campaigns for specific companies.
4. Provide valuable content to accounts. Offer tailored eBooks, webinars, event invites based on account needs.
5. Use marketing and sales tools with account-level visibility. Enable coordination between teams on account insights and activities.
6. Build relationships with key players. Identify influencers and engage them 1:1 via personalized outreach.
7. Measure account-level engagement and metrics. Track website visits, content downloads, conversions by account to optimize efforts.
The key is coordinating sales and marketing to take an account-centric approach. Start small with your top accounts and expand from there. ABM is about quality over quantity and can be very effective for small businesses.
Make Each Customer Feel Valued
In today’s commoditized B2B landscape, the personal touch is more valuable than ever. Help your company stand out by evolving ABM into a cross-team strategy to proactively retain your best customers.
Interested in amplifying retention with an ABM approach? Let's connect! We can assess your customer data and build targeted account plans to boost loyalty.
