Amplifying ABM With Visuals

While personalisation is the gold mine for a perfect ABM strategy, video is the best medium to achieve it The BillingTree team wanted to demonstrate how its payment processing solution could improve customer experience (CX). The marketing team chose to use direct mail with gift cards as an incentive to first connect with their customers. […]

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  • While personalisation is the gold mine for a perfect ABM strategy, video is the best medium to achieve it

    The BillingTree team wanted to demonstrate how its payment processing solution could improve customer experience (CX). The marketing team chose to use direct mail with gift cards as an incentive to first connect with their customers. Did it work? Well, the result wasn’t satisfactory. The missing component in their Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategy was video content.

    Realising it, the company collaborated with UviaUs and created a box that revealed a video player embedded in the lid when opened. The animated sales pitch video automatically played every time it was opened, and the company witnessed incredible results – from 60 per cent response rates to over 700 per cent ROI.

    Two years ago, HubSpot reported that 96 per cent of consumers had increased their online video consumption. It’s not surprising that an average viewer spends around 100 minutes a day watching videos.

    Moreover, nine out of ten customers want to see more videos from brands. And Cisco predicted that online videos would make up over 82 per cent of consumer internet traffic this year. Due to the increased value of videos, over 80 per cent of businesses have begun to use them as a marketing tool. Especially in ABM strategies, it could work wonders.

    The ultimate goal of ABM strategy is to acquire complete visibility of customer needs and foster long time relationships with targeted groups. Companies have used it for over a decade. A DemandGen report stated that only six among 100 B2B marketers did not use an ABM strategy. In recent times, digital advancements are fuelling the adoption of this strategy, and video content is a must.

    Nailing Customisation

    Generic video content is never the answer. Lead generation promotional videos, thought leadership videos and general video demonstrations about services or products barely fetch results.

    Consider this: Brite Content partnered with Epipheo to create video ad sequences that targeted specific audiences on YouTube. The goal was to drive engagement, awareness and increase conversion rates. Brite used its targeting software to show  its video to YouTube viewers in a specific order that made the most sense to particular accounts.

    Each customer has a different perspective, has different questions, and through it all, customisation is vital. While personalisation is the gold mine for a perfect ABM strategy, video is the best medium to achieve it. For instance, INVIDEO created a personalised video for a customer that displayed her specific retirement options while she contemplated the best plan for a financially set future.

    Experts recommend short, precise videos that explain specific services and products. They don’t have to be of high quality but contain information that makes leads believe it was designed specifically for them.

    Several types of personalised video content can fuel the ABM strategy. From follow up demonstrations, gifting and direct mail to custom playlists, video content can multiply the value generated from any ABM strategy. For instance, Vidyard, an online video platform, launched a personalised video campaign that included the viewer’s name in every scene. The click-through rate was 157 per cent more than the industry average.

    Many brands prefer one-to-one videos, but account-specific personalised videos can generate better results. Engagement rates can be scaled by focussing on a specific customer pain point, which takes considerably less time and resources. With added viewer analytics on the enterprise video platform, insights on which customers watched what video for how long can fuel the ABM strategy.

    While many sales teams use video content as personalised messages addressed to the customer, marketing teams need to embed their content into explainers, nurture campaigns, and other creative methods. Video content tools such as Loom, Vinyard and BombBomb can help brands amplify their ABM strategies.

    Exploring Methods

    In the digital era, inbox fatigue has become a common phenomenon. Custom video images can stand from the crowd, creating better attention and engagement rates. With video analytics to track customer behaviour, the strategy can be leveraged with tailored messages at the top of the brand’s sales funnel.

    Meanwhile, research states that adding video to email campaigns can increase CTR by 50 per cent and enhance open rates and subscription retention.  Instead of graphic-based content, experts recommend video content to strengthen engagement rates in email nurtures and introduce cold leads. ABM email nurture campaigns are sent out based on the customer’s behaviour. By tracking engagement, the customers’ actions trigger the ABM campaign to send out more personalised emails.

    Dynamic videos are another type of video content that works well with ABM strategies. They are animated advertisements that render personalised content to customers in real-time. Using integrated video tools, marketers can identify trending keywords to create more relevant content. Experts believe the combination of the proper programmatic targeting and dynamic video can repurpose media assets for ABM audiences effectively.  

    Podcasts are mostly considered an audio format, but creating a live stream video podcast can help marketers closely interact with decision-makers of target accounts. It will also help establish a discovery conversation where prospective customers directly address their pain points. Platforms like Stream Yard, ZoomInfo and SalesIntel can help set up video podcasts and build trust with leads. It can not only work well for a one-to-one ABM strategy; the podcasts resonate with listeners in other target account lists.

    Besides personalised video content, hosting private virtual events such as workshops and webinars can build greater awareness and engagement. The likelihood of increased conversions and loyalty is better.

    Creative video content can definitely be a gamechanger.

    Several marketing trends surface each year; some stick the landing, while some fade away. But ABM has successfully served businesses for the longest time, with some help from video content.

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