Account-based marketing (ABM) is a key method for both B2B marketers and sales professionals.
For companies that utilise ABM, they tend to generate more revenue with their marketing efforts than those who don’t incorporate the strategy. ABM is effective as it aligns the sales and marketing teams with the business objectives, which opens the door for turning key leads into customers. The alignment between teams saves considerable sales cycle time, and you can also target the customer profiles that matter.
The benefits of using ABM are there for all to see. However, the effectiveness of a campaign is ultimately down to getting the balance right. You want to maximise the ROI with your efforts. To do this successfully, it’s necessary to use ABM metrics.
Yet which are the key metrics you need to track with your account-based marketing and sales? There are various metrics you need to track and measure at every layer of the funnel. Let’s take a closer look at them.
Top of the funnel KPIs
Engagement rate
It’s important to assign an action that defines engagement. When this action is completed, it counts as engagement. This could be, for instance, someone clicking on a certain webpage on your website.
The calculation for engagement rate is simple. It first begins by measuring the number of times an action is done, and this is calculated against the number of leads you have targeted.
Digital ads CTR
The click-through rate (CTR) of your digital ads is one of the most important ABM KPIs to track. This shows you the number of people that have clicked on your adverts once they’ve viewed them, and the amount of interest the ads have ultimately generated. Additionally, you can learn how engaged your audience is across devices, products, personas, location, sales stages, and more.
White space
White space is not something you want with an ABM campaign. This is a gap that separates the information you are searching for and the available information about each account. The larger the amount of white space, the more it will distort your campaign and its overall effectiveness. Less white space, however, helps with fashioning communication that’s more fruitful and targeted.
Middle of the funnel KPIs
Sales cycle length
When adopting an ABM approach, one of the biggest advantages is reducing the sales cycle time. While this will happen naturally, it’s important you measure the sale cycle length in an effort to optimise the process. For instance, the level of personalisation is a big differentiator in your capability to lessen the sales cycle time.
Note: the sales cycle length can also be measured at the bottom of the funnel.
Touchpoint completion rate
ABM is a tactic used for large prospects where there are multiple touchpoints and decision-makers involved. As a result, each one needs to be checked. Due to being a somewhat individual measuring statement, it’s necessary to incorporate an average touchpoint for every account and calculate the completion rate.
What touchpoints make the most sense? Here’s a quick list during the ABM process:
· Email open rate
· Initial meeting
· Proposal
· Term sheet
· Sale completion
Bottom of the funnel KPIs
Average selling point
In general, ABM delivers a higher selling point on average. Not only are you dealing with fewer clients when using ABM, but you’re also going after more targeted accounts. This means the selling probability is greater. By measuring the average selling point, you gain a more accurate picture of an account’s close rate – and whether it is higher or not.
Account conversion rate
As with all other marketing campaigns, there is one metric which needs to be tracked with your ABM campaign: conversions. These conversions are, in the end, the main measuring point of your campaign’s success. Once you gain that initial data about your conversions, you have a measuring stick to build from with future campaigns.
The importance of avoiding manual tracking
Along with the aforementioned metrics, there are others that are also worth your time. These include:
· ROMI
· LTV
· Churn rate
There’s just one issue with tracking these metrics: the manual process of doing it. When going with a standard approach, you need to invest a significant amount of time measuring all of these statistics – the type of time that can hamper the overall efficiency of your ABM campaign.
Fortunately, there is a solution. With the use of the Free Sales Metrics Calculator and other tools from HubSpot, you can make the process of tracking metrics an easy one. By eliminating the laborious nature of manual tracking, there’s much more incentive to gain all of the insights you need. You won’t cut corners and decide to opt against using certain metrics in an effort to save time. You’ll gain a complete picture to maximise your ABM campaign’s effectiveness.
If you’re looking to build an account-based marketing strategy for yourself, ProsperoHub is ready to help you through every step of the process.
