ABM (Account Based Marketing) is a marketing system that has dramatically developed BtoB marketing in the United States.
In recent years, it has been attracting attention in the Japanese marketing field as a strategic marketing method to support sales departments.
Building a demand center is essential to achieving results with ABM.
What role does a demand center play in ABM operations?
In this article, we will provide a detailed overview of ABM and explain how to build a demand center, which is the key to ABM success.
What is ABM (Account Based Marketing)?
ABM is an acronym for account-based marketing.
It is a strategic marketing method in which a company’s sales and marketing departments work together to focus on important clients (target accounts) that they would like to pursue in the future and aim for sustainable profits.
In order to advance ABM, it is necessary to select clients and devise measures tailored to each individual’s needs, which takes too much time and man-hours.
It used to be said that it was difficult to operate successfully, but in recent years, the spread of digital tools has led to automation, and more and more Japanese companies are adopting ABM.
◇Advantages of incorporating ABM
In ABM, we select high-value clients that will bring benefits to our company, and then create the optimal approach that meets the needs of each client.
By clearly distinguishing between clients that should be proactively approached and those that are not, it is possible to conduct effective marketing only to companies that can be expected to have a higher LTV (customer lifetime value).
◇Disadvantages of adopting ABM
ABM requires collaboration between sales and marketing departments.
However, the clients that sales departments see value in are not necessarily the same clients that are expected to be effective from an ABM perspective.
Before starting ABM, it is first necessary to introduce the idea to the sales department, but it is important to understand that it may be difficult to gain buy-in and it may take time.
What is the “demand center” that is essential for ABM success?
A demand center is an organization that acquires, nurtures, and selects prospective customers to provide to the sales department.
These are also called “demand generation.”
Demand centers play a very large role in ABM operations.
ABM requires various customer data such as client transaction history and purchase history.
Accurately managing and utilizing this huge amount of data, so-called “data management,” is one of the roles of a demand center, and is essential for demand generation.
The demand center mainly performs the following five processes.
1.Lead generation
<br/> Gather information on prospective customers who are the company’s target through exhibitions, web advertisements, etc.
2.Data Management
We carefully examine data, such as linking companies and individuals and deleting identical information.
3.Lead nurturing
<br/>Using carefully-scrutinized data, we approach potential customers all at once via e-mail, etc. in order to lead them into formal customers.
4.Lead Qualification
<br/> Narrow down the demographic that is likely to become your company’s customers.
5. Lead to Order
<br/> Prospective customers narrowed down through the previous processes are provided to the company’s sales department.
It is no exaggeration to say that the success of ABM depends on the demand center.
The higher the quality and appropriateness of the information from the demand center, the more the company will be able to achieve customer acquisition results.
Why is it necessary to build a demand center?
There are two main reasons why it is necessary to build a demand center:
◇Creating sales opportunities
<br/> No matter how many tools and knowledge your sales team has, if there are no sales opportunities, you will not be able to sell.
The key people who place orders for products and services are usually systems management, design, and research departments located deep within the company.
However, because sales is a sector that is difficult to approach, it is currently difficult to create sales opportunities.
The solution to this problem is the role of a demand center, which collects potential customers, examines them, selects them, and then hands over the information.
Since customer development and selection have already been completed at the demand center, sales staff can effectively approach narrowed targets.
◇Avoiding missed deals and misunderstandings
<br/> In many companies, the sales and marketing departments take different approaches to prospective customers.
If this continues, problems such as missed projects and misunderstandings may occur unless information is thoroughly shared between departments.
Building a demand center can prevent these mistakes.
This is because the streamlined process of approaching only customers acquired, nurtured, and selected at the demand center prevents coordination errors between departments from occurring.
summary
◆ABM is a strategic marketing method that aims for sustainable profits by focusing on and making optimal approaches to high-value clients that will bring profits to the company.
◆The demand center is an organization essential to the success of ABM that acquires, nurtures, and selects prospective customers to provide to the sales department.
◆The construction of a demand center leads to the creation of sales opportunities and the avoidance of collaboration mistakes, and has been attracting attention in BtoB marketing in recent years.