Finding a helpful account-based marketing plan template can be a vital tool when launching a campaign. Since account-based marketing has so many moving parts and involves extensive research and preparation, it makes sense to take all the help you can get.
A quality template can act as a road map when launching an ABM marketing strategy and give marketers both new to ABM and those looking to refresh themselves on the basics a strong foothold. This guide will help you create an account-based marketing template so you can implement it across all of your account campaigns, adapting as necessary.
How to build an account-based marketing strategy template
If you want to create an account-based marketing template that’s both captivating and practical, there are a few steps you can follow to achieve your goal. If you’ve done your research, following the steps below should help you create the best ABM planning template for you and your business:
Step 1: select elements to include in your ABM plan template
Account-based marketing campaigns require a lot of prep to launch, so reviewing some of the most important elements is essential. To start, you’ll want to think about your short- and long-term marketing goals. This can help you understand where your account-based marketing campaign might fit into your overall business plan. Next, asking for a description of your target audience or buyer persona can help you understand who you’re talking to.
Some other elements to include here are:
- High-level marketing strategies and tactics
- Overview of the current market
- KPIs
- Budget
- Timeline
The goal of compiling these elements in your account-based marketing strategy template is to condense and organize all the necessary information needed to launch a campaign. Reviewing these elements before every campaign can help draw attention to any gaps in research and allow time to fill them in with any additional research.
Step 2: outline steps involved in your ABM planning process
Armed with your list of elements, now you can create a step-by-step outline of your ABM planning process. This outline should highlight the steps you intend to take with your account as you shepherd them through the ABM marketing funnel. That funnel (which you can view in our Account-Based Marketing Guide) is a great image to keep in mind as you build your outline.
Start with the processes at the identify stage, which is when you’re merely identifying your target audience. This stage is also considered your research stage, so take care to be specific about the kind of research you want to collect for any one account.
Next, dive into the processes you tackle in the engagement stage, which can include anything from the types of content you want to create to the particular way you want to build your microsites. Finally, you can address the land and expand processes, which may include some of the heaviest lifts in your campaign.
Step 3: set the cadence for your account based marketing campaign
Choosing a cadence for your account-based marketing campaign is kind of like creating a schedule. This is where you want to set your points of contact and how often you want your target audience to engage with them. It can be helpful to break your cadence down into segments, such as by which portion of the funnel they’re currently in. You don’t want to bombard people with too much information too soon, but you also don’t want to give them the chance to forget about you.
You can further segment portions of your cadence by the type of content. Social posts, for instance, are often fairly regular with postings several times per day. When it comes to email, however, multiple emails a day every day would likely be overkill. You’ll also want to consider your budget when it comes to cadence as well. If you only have enough budget for two or three pieces of video content, you’ll want to think carefully about when and how you roll it out.
Step 4: customize your ABM planning template for each new account
Customization is king and that applies to your account-based marketing plan template, too. Because every audience or client that you target is unique, your template should be, too. Some of the most important factors to consider are:
- How big your target is (i.e., a single company vs. a small demographic)
- What your overall goals are
- How those goals fit into your larger strategy
All of these things can have a dramatic impact on how you’ll want to structure your template.
Step 5: run your account-based marketing campaign
Once all the template groundwork has been covered, it’s finally time to launch your account-based marketing campaign. Host custom content on custom microsites, like those from Zoomforth, to make sure you can easily track your target audience. Relying on old landing pages can not only make data more challenging to track, but you could see a drop in conversion as well.
After your content is created, the next step is choosing the right channels to run it on. Be open to looking at more than just digital and out-of-home ad spaces and consider options such as in-person and virtual events, webinars, e-books, and blogs. The best campaign strategy will typically be an integrated approach.
Step 6: review and adapt your ABM planning template as needed
In some ways, finishing your template is just the beginning. Regularly analyzing your results and progress so you can make appropriate adjustments for improved performance is key. The long-term success of all your hard work relies on it. Closely tracking all the usual suspects (downloads, lead scores, email opens, etc.) can be a big help to see if the template you’ve created is doing its job.
Using a KPI scorecard might be a great help in this respect. It should allow you to easily share the campaign’s progress, keeping everyone on the same page. It also means it will be easier to pivot if you’re not seeing the overall results you want.
Check out examples of account-based marketing microsites built with Zoomforth
Zoomforth has tons of great examples of ABM microsites to inspire you. As a leader in the world of microsite creation and hosting, Zoomforth is one of the best ways you can get your ABM campaign off the ground. Every single Zoomforth site has access to real-time analytics, giving you plenty of data to study. You could be on your way to optimizing your campaigns in no time.
What’s more, Zoomforth makes it easy to keep all of your pages on brand and there’s no limit to how many pages you can create! So you’ll never have to worry about running out of space. Plus, design has never been simpler thanks to drag-and-drop tools and 18/5 support. Don’t wait — request a demo today.
