How to do ABM on LinkedIn ads?

Account-based marketing (ABM) has become an increasingly popular B2B marketing strategy in recent years. The goal of ABM is to target and engage key accounts, rather than casting a wide net to reach many accounts. LinkedIn ads can be a powerful tool for implementing an ABM strategy, allowing you to precisely target decision makers and influencers at your target accounts.

What is Account-Based Marketing (ABM)?

Account-based marketing (ABM) is a strategic approach that focuses marketing and sales efforts on a clearly defined list of target accounts. The goal is to fully engage and convert high-value accounts, rather than trying to generate a high volume of less qualified leads. ABM typically involves highly personalized outreach to key decision makers at each target account.

Some key characteristics of ABM include:

• Focus on a small number of high-value, strategic accounts
• Personalized messaging and content for each target account
• Marketing and sales alignment on target accounts
• Orchestrated outreach across multiple channels

ABM aims to tailor every interaction to each accounts’ unique needs and challenges. The goal is to build relationships with multiple stakeholders at the account to become a trusted advisor. ABM programs take time and resources to execute, but the payoff can be huge in terms of landing major enterprise deals.

Why Use LinkedIn Ads for ABM?

LinkedIn ads offer a powerful way to execute an ABM strategy for several reasons:

• Reach your total addressable market (TAM) – Over 675+ million members means you can likely reach all of your target accounts and titles on LinkedIn.
• Precision targeting – Target by company, job title, industry, skills, interests, and more to exactly reach your key buyers.
• Engage anonymously – Engage target accounts without revealing who is behind the ads.
• Build awareness – Raise brand awareness and establish thought leadership among target accounts.
• Trigger engagement – Drive prospects to gated offers and microsites to capture their information.
• Integrate with sales – Pass leads to your CRM and sales teams to continue personalized nurturing.

In short, LinkedIn ads allow you to get your messaging in front of your ideal customers exactly when they’re most receptive.

How to Set Up an ABM Program with LinkedIn Ads

Here is a step-by-step guide to setting up an effective ABM program using LinkedIn ads:

1. Identify and Research Target Accounts

The first step is to build out your target account list. Ideal ABM accounts have the following characteristics:

• Strategic value – Key accounts with growth potential.
• Size – Mid-market and enterprise level companies.
• Authority – The presence of key decision makers and budget authority.
• Need – Accounts with a business need your solution can address.

Conduct research on each account to identify the following:

• Key contacts – Decision makers and influencers.
• Firmographic data – Industry, size, location, technographics, etc.
• Buyer journey – Where they are in the buying process.
• Pain points – The challenges they need to address.

This account intelligence will allow you to craft relevant messaging and offers.

2. Define Goals and KPIs

Be clear on what success looks like. Common ABM goals include:

• Increased engagement at target accounts
• More sales meetings booked
• Shorter sales cycles
• Higher deal sizes

Define quantifiable KPIs to track performance, such as:

• Target account list penetration
• Target account engagement rate
• Leads generated from target accounts
• Opportunities created
• Revenue attributed to ABM

3. Create Personalized Campaigns

For each target account, develop a tailored campaign strategy:

• Messaging – Craft messages that speak directly to their needs and pain points.
• Content – Develop gated assets like whitepapers, guides, and templates to nurture accounts.
• Offers – Create exclusive offers and discounts to motivate action.
• Ad creative – Design ad creative that will catch their eye.

Personalized ads perform up to 10X higher than generic ads. Use what you learned researching the account to make the messaging highly relevant.

4. Prospect with Targeted Ads

Run LinkedIn ad campaigns targeted to your list of accounts. Leverage LinkedIn’s robust targeting capabilities:

• By Company – Target individual companies by name.
• Company Size – Target by number of employees.
• Job Title/Function – Target c-level execs, finance roles, IT decision makers, etc.
• Industry – Target accounts by their industry vertical.
• Interests – Target based on LinkedIn member interests.

Layer on multiple dimensions of targeting to hone in on your accounts. Test different targeting approaches and creative to see what resonates best.

5. Nurture Target Accounts

To turn prospects into customers you need a nurture plan:

• LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms – Capture lead details with customized forms.
• Lead Scoring – Score leads based on engagement metrics and attributes.
• Sequences – Set up automated email drip campaigns for lead nurturing.
• Integrate With CRM – Pass leads to sales teams for follow up and tracking.
• Sales Enablement – Provide sales the account intelligence and collateral they need.

Develop a multi-touch nurture plan tailored to where each account is in the buyer’s journey. Continue nurturing even after they convert to expand the account relationship.

6. Optimize and Report

Continuously track KPIs and optimize your ABM program for better results over time. Tactics to optimize include:

• Refine target account lists based on performance.
• Test new targeting approaches.
• Iterate on creative and offers.
• Double down on top performing strategies.
• Switch up underperforming strategies.

Report back regularly to key stakeholders on goal progress and ROI. Tie revenue won back to your ABM program efforts to showcase value.

Tools to Enable LinkedIn ABM

There are a wide variety of tools available to support LinkedIn ad-driven ABM programs, including:

Blending a tool stack allows you to execute a structured ABM plan while optimizing time-intensive tasks.

Measuring LinkedIn ABM Success

Measuring performance is crucial for optimizing your LinkedIn ABM approach over time. Key metrics to track include:

Engagement Metrics

• Impressions
• Clicks
• Click-through rate
• Comments
• Shares
• Leads or contacts generated

Engagement demonstrates your ads and content are resonating. Benchmark target thresholds to aim for.

Pipeline Metrics

• Sales qualified leads (SQLs)
• Opportunities created
• Deals won
• Average deal size
• Sales cycle length

These metrics indicate how your ABM efforts are impacting the pipeline and revenue.

Program Efficiency

• Account list penetration %
• Cost per lead
• Cost per opportunity
• Marketing sourced pipeline

Measure how efficiently you are reaching target accounts and converting them to pipeline.

Account Engagement

• Target account direct engagement rate
• Contact penetration at target accounts
• Target account influenced pipeline

These metrics demonstrate account-level engagement and your ability to influence deals.

Retention & Growth

• Account retention rate
• Account spend retention
• Account revenue expansion

For existing accounts, measure retention and growth to expand the relationships.

Conclusion

Combining LinkedIn’s targeting capabilities and audience reach with an account-based approach can yield major results. The keys are taking the time upfront to thoroughly research your accounts, craft hyper targeted campaigns, and stick with the program iteration after iteration to optimize performance. Measure both engagement and pipeline metrics to understand how your LinkedIn ABM strategy is moving the needle.

With a coordinated effort across marketing and sales, LinkedIn ABM can help secure and expand relationships with your most valuable target accounts. The highly personalized approach results in relevance and engagement with the accounts that matter most to your business.