What Is ABX Marketing and Why Is It Important to B2B Customer Experience?

ABX marketing is a B2B marketing strategy that targets specific accounts rather than a broader audience. It involves creating personalized experiences for each account to drive engagement and build relationships. ABX marketing focuses on understanding the unique needs and pain points of each account and delivering tailored content and messaging to address them. It typically involves a combination of data analysis, technology and human touchpoints to create a seamless and effective marketing experience.

ABM vs. ABX

Many of you know about account-based marketing or ABM, a marketing strategy that focuses on targeting a specific set of high-value accounts or customers, and tailoring marketing and sales efforts to their unique needs and preferences. ABM is typically used by businesses that have a small pool of potential customers but a large potential value per customer, such as enterprise-level companies.

ABM can lead to higher conversion rates compared to traditional marketing approaches because it focuses on a smaller number of high-value accounts that are more likely to convert. It allows B2B marketers to focus their resources on the accounts that are most likely to drive revenue growth, resulting in a higher return on investment.

It is important to note that ABM involves a highly targeted approach to marketing, where B2B marketers identify key decision-makers within target accounts and create customized messaging and content specifically for them. This may also include personalized emails, social media outreach and targeted ads. The goal is to build strong relationships with these individuals and ultimately convert them into customers.

This traditional approach to ABM identifies valuable accounts and attempts to engage them, regardless of whether the timing is right, or if the individual decision maker is even interested in hearing from you. This kind of direct and, sometimes intrusive, customer experience could be disliked by some buyers.

ABX and the customer experience

The way companies go-to-market has undergone a significant transformation with the rise of ABX (account-based experience) marketing. ABX marketing is a customer-centric approach that completely rethinks traditional marketing tactics.

By combining the precision and targeting of account-based marketing with the engage-ability of inbound marketing, ABX enables companies to tailor their marketing efforts to each individual customer. This approach is rooted in a deep understanding of the customer at every stage of their buying journey.

In the buyer’s journey, ABX marketing can be used to engage potential buyers at different stages of the funnel, from generating awareness and interest to driving conversions and customer loyalty. By delivering a personalized experience that meets the needs of each buyer, B2B marketers can build stronger relationships with customers and improve their overall sales and marketing effectiveness. Customers are more likely to engage with and respond positively to marketing messages that are tailored to their specific needs and interests.

Intelligent insights are used to determine when and how to engage with each account, and what messaging will be most effective. This personalized approach ensures that every interaction with a customer is relevant and impactful, resulting in higher conversion rates and stronger customer relationships.

ABX is not a one-size-fits-all solution, but rather a customized approach that requires a deep understanding of each customer’s unique needs. Companies that embrace ABX as a fundamental aspect of their go-to-market strategy can differentiate themselves in the marketplace and drive long-term success.

By using ABX marketing, companies can tailor their messaging and content to the specific needs and pain points of individual buyers, creating a more personalized experience that is more likely to resonate with them. This can be particularly effective for companies with complex sales processes, where buyers may require more education and support to make a purchasing decision.

Implementing ABX correctly requires a significant amount of information, making it essential that the person in charge of your critical accounts is well-versed in all aspects of your business and clients. Furthermore, ABX can lead to a cultural shift within your organization, replacing disconnected departments striving for a common objective with a clear and concise roadmap towards achieving exceptional customer experience.

ABX strategy

The key to a successful ABX strategy is to focus on delivering a personalized and targeted experience for each account, while also leveraging a variety of channels to reach them. By doing so, you can build stronger relationships with your high-value accounts and drive more revenue for your business.

Businesses that adopt an ABX strategy can also eliminate accountability shortfalls within their organization and build a culture that prioritizes great customer service. But where do you begin?

Here are the key steps to getting started:

1. Identify and select target accounts: The first step is to identify and select the accounts that you want to focus on. Consider factors such as company size, industry, revenue, location and other criteria that align with your business goals.
2. Define your campaign goals: What do you want to achieve with your ABX campaign? Is it to increase brand awareness, generate leads or close more deals? Defining clear goals will help you measure the success of your campaign.
3. Understand the account’s needs and pain points: Next, it’s important to understand the needs, pain points and challenges of each specific target account. This can be done through surveys, customer interviews and data analysis.
4. Develop personalized content: Create content that is tailored to each of your target accounts. This content should address their specific pain points and challenges, and demonstrate how your product or service can solve their problems.
5. Determine the best channels: Identify the channels where your target accounts are most active and engaged. This could include email, social media or direct mail.
6. Create a personalized experience: Based on the insights gathered from the previous steps, create a personalized experience for each account. This can involve customizing messaging, content, and campaigns that resonate with the account’s specific needs and interests.
7. Engage with the account: Once the personalized experience has been created, engage with the account in a personalized way. This can involve various tactics such as targeted email campaigns, social media outreach and one-on-one conversations.
8. Measure and optimize: Finally, measure the effectiveness of your ABX marketing efforts and optimize your approach based on the results. Analyze metrics such as engagement rates, conversion rates and customer retention rates to identify areas for improvement.

The role of marketing technology in ABX

According to a recent survey of marketers who use ABM strategies, half (50%) said that technology is very important in measuring account engagement metrics and determining next-best actions and tactics. ABX marketing strategy also leverages data and technology to create a seamless customer journey across all touchpoints, from initial engagement to post-sale support and advocacy.

Technology plays a critical role in ABX marketing strategy for lead generation as it enables marketers to identify, target and engage with their ideal accounts more efficiently and effectively.

Here are some ways in which technology can be leveraged for lead generation in an ABX marketing strategy:

1. Account identification: Technology can help in identifying the most promising accounts by analyzing data from multiple sources like CRM, marketing automation, web analytics and social media. This data can help in creating a list of target accounts and identifying key decision-makers within those accounts.
2. Personalization: ABX marketing relies heavily on customized messaging, and technology can help in creating personalized content at scale. Marketing automation tools like Marketo, Pardot, and HubSpot can help in creating personalized emails, landing pages and other content based on the account’s specific needs.
3. Predictive analytics: Predictive analytics tools can analyze historical data and identify accounts that are more likely to convert. These tools use machine learning algorithms to analyze patterns in data and make predictions about which accounts are most likely to become customers. A few examples of the many predictive analytics tools available to B2B marketers include 6sense, Lattice Engines and Everstring.
4. Account-based advertising: Technology can be used to target specific accounts with advertising campaigns on social media, search engines and other platforms. This helps in increasing brand awareness and driving traffic to the company’s website. A few examples of the many B2B account-based advertising technology platforms available include Demandbase, Triblio and Kwanzoo.
5. Sales enablement: Technology can help sales teams to engage with their target accounts more effectively. Sales enablement tools like Outreach, Salesloft and Salesforce Engage can help in automating outreach, tracking engagement, and providing personalized content to prospects.

Overall, technology plays a critical role in ABX marketing for lead generation, helping marketers to identify, target and engage with their ideal accounts more efficiently and effectively.

Build a culture that prioritizes great customer service

ABM has been a game-changer for B2B marketers who have limited customers but high potential value per customer. ABX marketing expands the scope of ABM to include a wider range of accounts and customers, providing a personalized and seamless experience for customers across all touchpoints and channels. ABX takes a holistic approach to customer experience, building long-term customer relationships and driving revenue growth.

ABX is an effective way to improve the B2B customer experience by delivering personalized and targeted marketing messages that meet the unique needs of each customer account, optimizing the buyer’s journey. By following the key steps to getting started, businesses can eliminate accountability shortfalls within their organization and build a culture that prioritizes great customer service.

If you have questions, contact us to talk with one of our experts in research, strategy, creative, technology, data management and omnichannel marketing to build sustainable ABM programs that can scale with your growth. Whether it’s ABM, or an account-based experience (ABX) program, our team knows how to bring your ABM vision to life.