Small business owners are the lifeline of the hat industry – they wear so many every day. Not only are they heading a company, they’re finance leaders, hiring managers, and, of course, marketers. And with many hats come many decisions. Some they get right, others go wrong.
But there’s one easy choice they can make to see growth quickly and cost-effectively: adopting small business account-based marketing (ABM).

By focusing only on a selective pool of target accounts, resources are used super efficiently to bring in high-value prospects. Because of this – and many other reasons which we’ll explore below – account-based marketing for small businesses is a technique that’s sure to be the feather in their cap.

Does account-based marketing work for small businesses?

Yes, ABM definitely works for small businesses. With an ABM strategy, the pool of prospects is reduced to a select few that –  from research and analysis – you know you have a good shot at landing.

In doing so, costs typically associated with marketing go down, and more focus goes into creating customized collateral that resonates with readers. Account-based marketing for small business is all about quality not quantity. It goes against the more traditional approach of chasing down as many leads as possible and luring the relevant ones to the end of the funnel.

ABM is about drilling down into a few key target accounts’ intent, pain points, worries, and hopes –  so that you can serve delightful, insightful content. With traditional marketing, your prospect’s introduction to you is like a speed date.
With ABM, it’s a candlelit dinner.

5 benefits of ABM for small businesses

When done right, account-based marketing for small businesses can have massively positive impacts on lead generation, costs, sales, market position… the list goes on!

Check out these 5 benefits ABM can offer to small businesses:

1. Improvements to content output and outcomes

When marketing energy is channeled into securing those high-value, perfect-fit accounts, content output is focused, data-backed, and better quality. And better content brings better chances of closing potential customers.

By focusing on doing fewer things better, you’re maximizing how you use marketing resources.

2. Powerful relationship-building with prospects

Personalized marketing journeys create a connection from the first touchpoint. Using your deep knowledge of target accounts, you can prove you understand them through your content. Next, explain how your product helps realize their commercial goals.

3. Bridge the gap between sales and marketing

The Red Sox and the Yankees, Barcelona and Real Madrid, Sales and Marketing…why can’t they just learn to get along? But ABM can resolve one of these epic rivalries.

Account-based marketing for small businesses relies on sales and marketing to work together to build ideal customer profiles (ICPs)and select target accounts. ABM encourages collaboration between these teams and when they merge their invaluable insights, you’ll be chasing down the right prospects.

4. Less risk to revenue

As a small business, every revenue and resource decision you make needs to be carefully calculated – one wrong step can spell serious trouble.

Account-based marketing for small business steers clear of large-scale marketing methods, like mass advertising, that can be super expensive. And because you’re only pitching to the most promising prospects, there’s a much higher chance of seeing a return on that spend.

5. Clearer success metrics

With ABM, the target is small so, even though it’s tricky to hit, it’s much easier to see when you’ve nailed it. A clear, definitive list of accounts leaves no room for ambiguity – you either got the accounts or you didn’t.

And when you reel them in, there’s a very obvious boost to revenue and cash flow which makes the ROI of ABM much easier to measure.

7 proven ABM strategies for small business growth

With no time or budget to waste, every department needs to boost business growth from the second the clock starts ticking.  Marketing is no exception – but it can either be the Most Valuable Player or the benchwarmer of your growth strategy.

Here are 7 ABM strategies to help your small business blossom :

1. Build the right list of target accounts

Go spelunking through every and all kinds of data to figure out your ICPs for ABM. These will influence what target accounts you pursue.

Input from both sales and marketing teams is vital to this process. After all, they’re the people who can back up the data, as well as adding real-life market and prospect knowledge.

2. Shout your message from the right rooftop

Make sure you’re meeting prospects at the right place. Use intent data and social listening to figure out where they’re most active – and then spread your message there.

As well as the place, get the delivery method right. Try out various formats such as blog posts, videos, webinars, and social media posts, and take note of which ones stick.

3. Power up with personalization

Personalization is the heart of ABM – generic just won’t cut it. With personalization, you’re creating content that speaks directly to each account’s issues and interests. Use content to show them that you’re their knight in shining armor, galloping forward to save them from operation frustrations, sales sorrows, or customer confusion.

But there’s a key obstacle with ABM personalization: scalability. To overcome this, look to automation. Turtl’s Personalization Engine helps easily maintain customized content journeys as your target account list grows.

“Turtl has been an extremely vital tool for the ABM team at Jabra…Using Turtl’s Personalization Engine, we are now able to generate highly engaging, customized, customer-facing documentation in minutes – rather than hours. We’ve seen the amount of time it takes to deliver a piece of content decrease by about 80-90%, giving us time to focus on delivering additional value to our account teams and customers.”

Jamie King, Account Based Marketing Manager, Global Accounts at Jabra

4. Convert prospects to customers with customized journeys

To hike up the chance of conversion, develop detailed customer journeys for each target account. Map out prospect touchpoints (e.g. personalized email chains, lead nurturing streams), so that you can deliver relevant content at optimal points in their journey.

5. Standardize and structure your approach to ABM

Ensure consistency and alignment by establishing clear ABM metrics for performance, playbooks, and guidelines for your team. Team accountability is essential to running a smooth, scalable ABM machine.

6. Track campaign and content performance

It’s no use sending your ABM campaigns and content into the ether, and then closing your eyes and crossing your fingers. Metrics like read times, bounce rates, and interactions show you where what’s going right and what isn’t working.

Turtl’s Analytics Dashboard shows data and insights on ABM content performance. We also share AI-backed benchmarks and suggest recommendations for improvement.

7. Use data and insights to improve future ABM campaigns

ABM is all about iteration – the knowledge gathered from your data analysis helps refine future content and campaigns. To make your message even more impactful, mirror your target accounts’ language and respond directly to what you’ve learned are their deepest darkest hopes, fears, and desires.

How to tailor ABM to suit small business needs

Getting a small business off the ground is no mean feat. Competing priorities, limited resources, and tough markets to crack are just a few of the obstacles to overcome.

Let’s take a look at some key small business needs, and how to use ABM strategies to achieve them:

Need:
Maintaining cash flow

ABM technique:
Give priority to accounts that are most likely to convert the quickest (a tiering system can help with this). Be sure to include product-focused content in your campaigns to accelerate  opportunities from awareness to decision.

For these accounts, consider offering discounts or flexible payment options for a limited time to entice them to buy sooner.

Need:
Establishing your position in the market

ABM technique:
Take time to crystallize your value proposition. In doing this, your ABM messaging will come across as confident and trustworthy – strengthening your market standing.

On top of this, highlight your expertise by including thought leadership content and customer case studies in your ABM strategy.

Need:
Planning for growth

ABM technique :
For ABM that scales with your business, automation needs to happen. ABM tasks like content personalization, lead nurturing, or campaign tracking are resource-heavy. Automation redirects capacity across small businesses towards needle-moving activities.

With Turtl’s Personalization Engine, content is tailored for hundreds, even thousands, of accounts happens in minutes – making sure ABM grows smoothly alongside your business.

Turtl Takeaway

Whether it’s ABM for small business, or ABM for SaaS mega giants, every marketing team can have an impressive impact on commercial growth with this highly focused, resource-optimized approach.

With high stakes and low margins for error, small businesses don’t have the luxury of sampling many different marketing tactics to find the best fit. So why not give ABM a try to get it right the first time?

ABM has proven successful time and time again – so much so that it’s no longer an experimental way of converting target accounts. It’s a new-wave, here-to-stay marketing practice.

Want to make engaging, data-driven, and personalized ABM content?

Try Turtl FREE for 14 days!