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5 common mistakes to avoid in account-based marketing

November 18, 2023 | Jimit Mehta

Are you tired of your account-based marketing campaigns falling flat? It's a frustrating feeling, but you're not alone. Many companies make common mistakes when it comes to ABM that can ultimately lead to a lack of success. In this article, we'll explore five common mistakes to avoid in order to set your campaigns up for success. By avoiding these pitfalls, you'll be well on your way to creating targeted and effective ABM campaigns that drive real results for your business.

Failing to fully understand your target accounts

One common mistake that companies make in account-based marketing is failing to fully understand their target accounts. This means not having a clear and thorough understanding of the specific companies or individuals that you are trying to reach with your marketing efforts. This can include not having a deep understanding of their pain points, goals, and challenges, as well as not being aware of the decision-makers and influencers within the account.

Without a full understanding of your target accounts, it's difficult to create effective marketing campaigns that truly speak to their needs and address their problems. This can lead to a lack of engagement and ultimately, a lack of success for your ABM efforts. To avoid this mistake, make sure to conduct thorough research on your target accounts and continually gather insights and information about them as you progress through your ABM campaigns.

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Not personalizing outreach to each account

Another common mistake in account-based marketing is failing to personalize outreach to each individual account. While it's important to have a cohesive and consistent marketing strategy, it's also important to tailor your messaging and approach to each specific account. This means taking the time to understand the unique needs and challenges of each account, and crafting customized messaging and content that addresses those needs.

Failing to personalize outreach can lead to a lack of engagement from your target accounts. They may feel like they are receiving generic or irrelevant messaging, and as a result, may not be interested in what you have to offer. To avoid this mistake, make sure to take the time to tailor your outreach to each individual account, and aim to create a personalized and meaningful experience for each of your target accounts.

Neglecting to align sales and marketing teams

Another common mistake in account-based marketing is neglecting to align the sales and marketing teams. It's important for these two teams to work together in order to effectively reach and engage target accounts. The marketing team is responsible for creating the campaigns and messaging that will attract and engage target accounts, while the sales team is responsible for converting those leads into paying customers.

If the sales and marketing teams are not aligned, there can be a disconnect in the customer journey. Marketing efforts may not be effectively supported by the sales team, or the sales team may not be fully informed about the marketing campaigns and messaging being used. This can lead to a lack of consistency in the customer experience, and ultimately, a lack of success for your ABM efforts. To avoid this mistake, make sure to establish clear lines of communication and collaboration between the sales and marketing teams, and ensure that they are both working towards the same goals.

Not adequately measuring and tracking success

Another common mistake in account-based marketing is failing to adequately measure and track success. In order to determine the effectiveness of your ABM campaigns, it's important to establish clear goals and metrics, and to track your progress towards those goals. Without proper measurement and tracking, it's difficult to know what is and isn't working, and to make the necessary adjustments to improve the success of your campaigns.

There are many different metrics that you can track, depending on your goals and the specific campaigns that you are running. Some examples of ABM metrics include engagement rates, conversion rates, and customer lifetime value. By regularly tracking these and other relevant metrics, you can get a better understanding of the impact of your ABM efforts, and make informed decisions about how to optimize and improve your campaigns.

Ignoring the customer journey and buying process

Ignoring the customer journey and buying process is a common mistake in account-based marketing. The customer journey refers to the path that a potential customer takes as they become aware of a problem, consider potential solutions, and make a purchase. The buying process refers to the specific steps that a customer takes as they move through the journey towards a purchase.

By ignoring the customer journey and buying process, you risk creating ABM campaigns that are out of sync with the needs and expectations of your target accounts. This can lead to a lack of engagement and ultimately, a lack of success for your ABM efforts. To avoid this mistake, it's important to take the time to understand the customer journey and buying process for your target accounts, and to create campaigns and messaging that align with those steps. This can help to create a more seamless and effective customer experience, and increase the likelihood of success for your ABM efforts.

Final thoughts

ABM can be a powerful tool for companies looking to target specific accounts and drive real results. However, there are several common mistakes that companies make that can ultimately lead to a lack of success in their ABM campaigns. These mistakes include failing to fully understand target accounts, neglecting to personalize outreach to each account, not aligning sales and marketing teams, failing to adequately measure and track success, and ignoring the customer journey and buying process.

By avoiding these pitfalls, companies can set themselves up for success in their ABM efforts, and create targeted and effective campaigns that drive real results.

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