How to Make Your Marketing Work Harder for You During Challenging Times

Stuck in a rut with your targeting strategy? We get it — it's easy to stick with what you know. But if you don't adapt and evolve, you could lose out on budget, headcount, and your goals.

We know that times are tough, but that doesn't mean you can't achieve efficient growth and boost your sales. In fact, in the face of a challenging economy, it's even more important to make your marketing work harder for you. To do so, you and your team need to be hyper-targeted and personalize your marketing efforts.

Here, we'll explore five ways you can make your marketing work harder for you.

Your strategy should involve tailoring marketing and sales efforts to the specific needs and preferences of individual accounts. This can include creating customized content, developing personalized marketing campaigns, and tailoring sales pitches to the specific needs and interests of each target account.

Throwing spaghetti at the wall won't cut it anymore. To run efficient campaigns, you need to analyze current lead quality, sources, and channels to find where they all overlap. That's where ABM comes in — it allows companies to operate ongoing and future campaigns with better precision and automation at scale, and achieve targeted results and maximized ROI at every stage of the funnel.

Here’s how to get it done.

1. Fine-tune your lead scoring.

Oldie but goodie, right?

Many marketers still use the spray-and-pray method for acquiring leads. But in today's climate, a more nuanced approach is needed. Enter 'ABMified' lead scoring. Traditional lead scoring has led to highly-engaged but poor-fit leads, leaving sales teams unhappy. You want to ensure that you're targeting the right leads who fit your ideal customer profile (ICP) from your target account list (TAL).

To attract and convert the right leads, you need to prioritize fit over engagement in your lead scoring. By targeting your TAL and pushing them to become MQLs faster, you can achieve better results and grow your customer base with ease.

 2. Pay attention to quality over quantity.

Can anyone on your team name the top three lead sources that consistently produce the highest volume of quality accounts? If not, this task should be a priority.

It can be challenging to identify where your high-quality leads come from when you use more than one platform to identify target accounts. If you narrow your focus by managing and optimizing your advertising strategies from one platform, you can save time, streamline your efforts, and see results faster.

3. Identify low-risk channels that work.

Which channels does your current strategy rely on the most? Are they free or at a minimal cost?

From social media to email marketing to PPC advertising, it's important to use the right channels to reach your target audience where they're most active. This includes search engine optimization (SEO).

By optimizing your website for search engines, you'll increase the likelihood of appearing in front of your target audience when they search for keywords related to your products or services. Make note of which channels require the most resources to reach, build, and maintain audiences to save on budget.

4. Reach peak performance.

Notice where your list of high quality channels overlaps with your list of high investment channels. Where does it align? And where does it mis-align?

You'll want to maximize your advertising investments by reallocating budgets to higher-performing channels based on cross-channel performance data.

5. Boost spend on select channels only.

Now that you know exactly which channels are worth investing in, you can confidently execute account-based advertising to engage your targeted audiences. Putting those both together will help you optimize campaign ROI and conversion rates, driving near-term impact and creating bigger results from the top of the funnel down.

If you want to go pro with this strategy, you can also automate your MQLs. Lead generation experts use account based platforms, like RollWorks, to implement the following ‘Auto-MQL’ steps:

And just like that, you’ve got a fully automated and ABMified marketing strategy that will identify and nurture the highest possible ROI leads!

The results should be almost immediate.

Blending ABM with Lead Generation is Vital

Blending ABM with demand and lead generation isn't just a good idea — it's essential for success in today's challenging business environment. By taking a more targeted approach to your "one to many" programs and combining it with a higher volume of qualified leads, you can achieve quick and impactful wins.

As we move towards smaller, more versatile teams, demand generators will need to have at least a basic understanding of ABM. This approach is not only more efficient, but it also serves the unique challenges facing modern businesses. So, if you want to achieve mastery and drive growth, it's time to embrace a more targeted approach that blends ABM with demand and lead generation.