Is ABM different for B2B SaaS?

Here’s a breakdown

  1. Digital-first strategy
    B2B SaaS ABM is inherently digital. It thrives on online channels such as email marketing, webinars, content marketing and online product demonstrations. Your goal is to engage your target accounts where they spend a significant portion of their time: the internet.
  2. Product-centric
    Unlike traditional B2B ABM, where the focus might be on broader solutions or services, B2B SaaS ABM is all about showcasing your software’s features and how they directly address specific challenges or opportunities within your target accounts. You’re demonstrating how your SaaS can be the solution they’ve been searching for.
  3. Trial-driven
    Many SaaS companies offer free trials or freemium versions of their software. B2B SaaS ABM often revolves around getting your ideal accounts to sign up for these trials, as it’s a critical step in the customer journey. It’s like letting them test-drive a car before they commit to buying it.
  4. Data-led
    Data is your compass in B2B SaaS ABM. You constantly measure and analyze metrics such as conversion rates, customer acquisition cost and user engagement to fine-tune your strategy. If something’s not working, you adjust your course based on the data.
  5. Long-term focus
    The goal isn’t just to make a sale. It’s about building long-term relationships. You’re not in it for the short term; you want your customers to find ongoing value in your software and keep renewing subscriptions.

Tools to help identify ICPs

  • LinkedIn Sales Navigator helps you identify potential ICPs by searching for specific job titles, industries, and company sizes. You can also track key decision-makers’ activities to better understand their needs and preferences.
  • ZoomInfo offers a comprehensive database of company and contact information. It enables companies to build detailed ICPs based on firmographics and technographics, helping to identify the right accounts.
  • Clearbit provides data-enrichment services that can enhance your existing leads and accounts. It helps you gather valuable insights on your ICPs, such as company size, technology stack, and industry.
  • HubSpot‘s CRM and marketing automation tools include features that allow you to define and segment your ICPs. It helps you track interactions and engagement levels to fine-tune your ABM strategy.
  • Pardot is a Salesforce product with lead scoring and grading capabilities. It assists in identifying ICPs by assigning scores based on criteria that align with your ideal customer characteristics.
  • DiscoverOrg (part of ZoomInfo) delivers a vast database for B2B sales and marketing intelligence. It’s a valuable resource for finding ICPs and building detailed target account lists.
  • Datanyze is an intuitive Google Chrome Extension that allows users to access B2B contact information, such as email addresses, direct dial phone numbers and company details, from social media sites such as LinkedIn.
  • Demandbase is an ABM platform that helps companies identify and reach their ICPs through account-level targeting. It provides valuable insights and personalization options for marketing campaigns.
  • Google Analytics might be primarily known for website analytics, but can offer valuable data on the characteristics of your existing customers. This information can inform your ICP definition.

Software that maps accounts and identifies targets

  • Salesforce offers robust CRM capabilities for tracking and managing accounts. It allows you to segment and categorize accounts, making it easier to identify and target specific ones.
  • Leadfeeder helps ‘turn page views into pipeline’ by tracking website visitors to identify potential target accounts. It also provides insights into their interests and activities.
  • Terminus is an ABM platform that assists in identifying and targeting high-value accounts. It offers features such as account segmentation and personalized messaging.
  • Triblio is an ABM platform that helps to identify and engage high-value target accounts through personalized content and multi-channel campaigns. It offers tools for precise account targeting, content personalization, and in-depth analytics to drive more effective and efficient ABM strategies.
  • Vainu is a B2B sales and marketing intelligence platform that provides detailed company data and insights. Vainu continuously updates its data, providing users with real-time insights into companies, industries, and market trends, which is invaluable for staying current in fast-paced B2B environments.
  • 6Sense is an ABM platform that uses AI and big data to help B2B companies identify and engage with their ideal target accounts. It provides predictive analytics and behavioral insights, enabling businesses to prioritize and personalize their marketing efforts for maximum impact and improved lead conversion.
  • Google Analytics can help analyze website traffic and provide insights into which companies are showing interest. This information can guide your target account selection.
  • Segment is a customer data platform that allows you to collect and manage customer data, helping identify and target accounts based on user behavior and engagement.
  • Bombora provides intent data that helps SaaS companies identify accounts actively researching topics related to their solutions, making them prime targets.
  • HubSpot offers lead management tools that help identify and nurture target accounts through lead scoring and segmentation.
  • Demandbase gets another mention – as a dedicated ABM platform that provides account mapping and targeting features, it helps companies focus on high-value accounts through account-level targeting.
  • ZoomInfo also gets a second shoutout, as it offers data enrichment services that can help identify target accounts by providing detailed firmographic and technographic information.
  • Madkudu offers predictive lead scoring and account scoring capabilities. It helps SaaS companies prioritize target accounts based on their fit and potential.
  • LinkedIn Sales Navigator allows you to search for potential target accounts by applying various filters, such as company size, industry, and job titles, on LinkedIn’s vast network. While it can help refine your ICP, it also helps you uncover specific high-value accounts that are a great match for your solution.
  • Turtl. Us again. If you’re producing resource-rich long-form content, Turtl shows you exactly who is reading what, for how long and how many times. Turtl integrates with every leading CRM, meaning you can automate content journeys and lead scoring based on engagement triggers. This is invaluable for marketing operations and identifying exactly who is warming towards buying,

ABM content for SaaS

Tools to distribute and launch ABM campaigns

SaaS tools that measure effectiveness

Turtl takeaway: Free guide to ABM with Turtl

Have you heard of these SaaS ABM examples before? If so, how? Did you sign up for a trial…  How did they communicate with you during your trial? Was your content journey personalized? What’s the follow-up like once you’ve completed your trial? How do they engage with you? Do you feel like you can get in touch with them with any questions, as you go? Do you know how to get in touch with them?

You are their ICP – use your trials as an opportunity to assess their ABM  tactics, and what elements (if any) persuade you to trust and purchase from them.

As you can see, there are a lot of platform choices available for B2B SaaS businesses looking to up their ABM game. While the above list is non-exhaustive, it spotlights some popular options that are worth your time of day.

Our best advice? Carve out time in your diary (sales and marketing teams) to trial these solutions and put them through their paces. Find the time to establish your technology toolkit for identifying, personalizing, distributing and measuring your ABM campaigns. Without it, you’re flying blind, wasting time – and flinging money at the wall.

We could list more ABM benefits, but we’ll let our tech do the talking instead.

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