How to Distribute Personalized Content for Your ABM Program [cheat sheet]
Creating personalized experiences for your ABM program will help you get the kind of enviable engagement from target accounts that your boss will love. (More on that here).
But how will you ensure those target accounts see your content? Email marketing is our bread and butter, but it's certainly not the only distribution channel you have at your disposal when deploying your ABM program.
Here are five of the most common content distribution channels for ABM:
- Marketing email
- Paid ads
- Direct mail
- Social media
- Sales outreach (particularly email)
Being personalized in your outreach can mean different things depending on the channel. What may seem highly personalized and tailored on one channel could come off as insanely creepy on another.
So what can you do to you ensure your target accounts see the content you’ve produced just for them—without freaking them out?
Check out the charts below:
MARKETING EMAIL
Email is the most-effective content distribution method across the board. Personalization is a crucial component for ABM.
| ONE-TO-ONE | ONE-TO-FEW | ONE-TO-MANY |
|---|---|---|
| Personal email to single account with link to hand-picked content for that account based on their needs. | Personal email to each account with a single piece or collection of content selected for accounts with their profile. | Automated marketing email with personalization by persona or one specific attribute. Think segmented email marketing promoting a single piece or stream of content based on their profile. |
PAID ADS
Paid ads targeting named accounts can help garner the attention of your named accounts.
| ONE-TO-ONE | ONE-TO-FEW | ONE-TO-MANY |
|---|---|---|
| Custom digital ads for accounts that include their company name and push to a one-to-one content experience work great for enterprise companies. Avoid for smaller companies where the audience size is likely too small.
|
Custom digital ads based on the account profile that target IP addresses or company name (e.g. on LinkedIn or Facebook) and push to content. | Generic digital ads that target IP addresses or company name and push to content they may be interested in. |
DIRECT MAIL
While traditionally used for gifting, direct mail can be used to promote and distribute tailor-made content for ABM.
| ONE-TO-ONE | ONE-TO-FEW | ONE-TO-MANY |
|---|---|---|
| Pushing to online content from a direct mail play can work if the asset is highly customized to the account. Or use direct mail as the actual distribution channel and send a printed custom ebook or magazine with their face on the cover in the mail. | Sending lightly customized content directly to their office or pushing to highly personalized online content. | Get their attention with a gift and push them to content online. |
SOCIAL
Social is an interesting way to engage with target accounts, but for distribution, it can lack depth.
| ONE-TO-ONE | ONE-TO-FEW | ONE-TO-MANY |
|---|---|---|
| Tweeting at, messaging, or tagging a target account in content they might like, isn’t a bad strategy when you’re an actual person rather than a brand. | Resist sliding into your target account’s DMs to push tailored content.
|
Nope. Just don’t do it. Don’t mass tag, tweet, or message anyone to promote your content. Ever.
|
SALES EMAIL OUTREACH
While the type of content sales may send to target accounts will differ from marketing, their outreach is still a distribution channel for ABM content.
| ONE-TO-ONE | ONE-TO-FEW | ONE-TO-MANY |
|---|---|---|
| Personal email to single account with link to personalized collection of content hand-picked for that account based on their documented needs and profile. | Personal email to single account with link to hand-picked content specific to their profile and and needs. | Personal email to single account with link to content specific to their profile. |
Does the thought of creating hundreds of pieces of content for ABM keep you up at night? Check out our No-Fear Guide to Scaling Personalized Content for ABM.