Five ABM metrics that matter – and how you can supercharge their meaning to your organization

Account-based marketing (ABM) success isn’t built on clicks and impressions alone. In fact those basic metrics often fall short of painting the full picture of ABM’s effectiveness. Context, in this case, is the real king. 

Taking a more focused and nuanced approach to measurement will not only provide for a richer understanding of your efforts, but will also help you better align with sales goals, improve customer experiences, and ultimately drive growth and retention in a more targeted and efficient manner.

Let’s explore the five pivotal metrics that can redefine success in your ABM strategies: 

Influence on deal velocity

Deal velocity – the speed at which opportunities move through the sales funnel – is a crucial metric that determines how effectively ABM efforts are influencing the decision-making process. 

There are really two ways to do this: improve the number of opportunities or improve your close rate. Since marketers can’t always influence the latter, it’s essential to boost reach and ensure that tailored content and targeted communications are driving decision-makers toward a quicker conversion.

How to refine your approach:

• Use data-driven insights to identify high-value accounts with the greatest potential for revenue, making sure to understand their specific needs, pain points, and decision-making processes.
• Create content that resonates with each targeted account, such as customized case studies, tailored white papers, or industry-specific reports.
• Utilize a multi-channel strategy to engage with accounts. This includes digital channels like email, social media, and web personalization, as well as offline channels like events and direct mail.
• Ensure that marketing and sales teams are closely aligned in their approach to targeted accounts. Regular communication and shared goals are essential for a cohesive strategy that moves accounts through the sales pipeline more efficiently.
• Engage existing customers as advocates to influence prospects within your targeted accounts. Testimonials, case studies, and referrals from satisfied customers can significantly accelerate deal velocity.

Customer lifetime value (CLV)

Enhancing CLV involves not only acquiring the right customers, but also nurturing and expanding relationships with them over time.  

One approach is to group accounts with at least two years of renewals together and see what similarities you find in their activities and needs, then funnel that knowledge back into your marketing programs. Do the same on accounts with multiple renewals regardless of length to discover which engagements and which values extract maximum ROI on your marketing activities.

How to refine your approach:

• Continuously seek feedback and adapt your offerings to ensure they remain relevant and valuable to your key accounts.
• Identify opportunities for cross-selling and up-selling within your key accounts. By offering complementary products or services, you can increase the overall value your customers derive from your business (as well as your revenue).
• Implement a customer success program focused on helping customers achieve their goals using your product or service. Regular check-ins, updates on new features, and ongoing support can reinforce their decision to continue doing business with you.
• Leverage ABM and CRM tools to automate personalized marketing campaigns, track customer interactions, and analyze data to gain insights into customer behavior and preferences.
  

Account churn rate

When it comes to tracking accounts that don’t renew, the “why” is often more important than the “what.” Begin with conducting detailed exit interviews on what was working and what needs improvement. Analyze past customer feedback and look at engagement patterns to understand why customers are leaving. These lessons can be applied to lookalike clients and future efforts to win back churned partners.

How to refine your approach:

• Develop a system to monitor the health of each account. Use metrics such as usage frequency, product adoption rate, and customer feedback to identify at-risk accounts early and take proactive steps to address any issues.
• Conduct regular customer surveys and encourage open communication to understand their challenges and needs.
  
• Implement loyalty programs or incentives for contract renewals and upgrades. These can include discounts, additional features, or customized services for loyal customers.

Stage-by-stage conversion rate

Evaluating the conversion rate at each stage of the sales funnel creates insights into where your ABM efforts are most and least effective. For example, establishing an automated attribution model that aligns each content piece and correspondence to a stage in the buyer journey can establish clear paths to sale, while also pinpointing the bottlenecks where market-qualified leads drop off.

How to refine your approach:

• Develop a content strategy tailored to each stage of the funnel. For the awareness stage, use educational and thought leadership content. In the consideration stage, focus on case studies, webinars, and detailed guides. For the decision stage, provide product demos, testimonials, and personalized presentations. Utilize A/B testing to refine messaging and tactics at each stage.
  
• Employ account-based advertising to target key accounts with personalized ads, ensuring that your message reaches the right decision-makers.
• Combine automated workflows with personal follow-ups to keep the accounts engaged throughout their journey.

Account penetration

You can only sell to the buyers you know – and if you’re not reaching the right decision makers, you’re never going to hit your goals. The deeper the account penetration, the more secure and potentially lucrative the account will be. 

This requires a multi-threaded approach to engage various decision-makers and influencers within the account, and plotting penetration (both on levels of seniority and number of touchpoints) against metrics such as total sales, deal size, ROI, and renewal percentage. This will give you a clearer picture as to the relationship levels needed to secure predictable long-term value.

How to refine your approach:

• Introduce initiatives and content relevant to other departments within the account. This could include webinars, whitepapers, or case studies tailored to the interests and needs of these additional departments.
• Engage in collaborative projects or partnerships to demonstrate commitment to a client’s success.
• Involve senior leadership in building relationships with top executives within the account. This can lend credibility and show a high level of commitment to the account.

Informa Tech delivers high-performing digital marketing services (including ABM solutions) across the customer journey. Learn how we can help you build your brand, earn trust, and drive demand.