Track your account engagement & ROI - The Right Way

Welcome to the latest issue of The Funnel, your weekly guide to mastering Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

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This week, I’ll be covering these broad topics, in detail

1. Account Engagement & Progression
2. Revenue & ROI

Account Progression

Metrics to Review:

• Stage Advancement: Track how many accounts moved from one sales stage to another (awareness > consideration > decision).
• Time Spent in Each Stage: Identify accounts stuck in a particular stage or taking too long to move forward.

What it means:

• Scenario 1: Accounts stuck in the awareness stage for an extended period.
  • Interpretation: There may be a lack of relevant mid-funnel content (e.g., case studies or webinars) to move them to the next stage.
  • Action: Develop more mid-funnel assets like solution-specific case studies or personalized demos to show practical applications of your offering.
• Scenario 2: Accounts progress well initially but stall at the decision stage.
  • Interpretation: This could signal uncertainty about the ROI or fit of your solution, or a lack of executive buy-in.
  • Action: Bring in decision-makers early through executive-level content and personalized proposals tailored to their strategic objectives.

Engagement Increase

Metrics to Review:

• Content Engagement: Review content engagement across email opens, click-through rates (CTR), webinar participation, and social media interactions.
• Frequency of Interaction: Track how often decision-makers engage with your brand over time.

What it means:

• Scenario 1: Low engagement despite high content visibility (e.g., email opens, ad impressions).
  • Interpretation: The content may not be resonating or addressing account pain points effectively.
  • Action: Analyze the engagement trends, and adjust the tone, format, or subject matter of content to better address specific industry challenges or pain points.
• Scenario 2: Initial high engagement followed by a steep drop.
  • Interpretation: Prospects may have found early content engaging but lost interest due to repetitive messaging or irrelevant follow-ups.
  • Action: Introduce new content formats (e.g., video case studies, interactive tools) and provide deeper value propositions to maintain momentum.

Conversion Success

Metrics to Review:

• Sales-Qualified Lead (SQL) Conversion Rate: Compare the number of engaged accounts that convert into qualified opportunities.
• Meeting-to-Proposal Ratio: Measure how many sales meetings lead to proposals or further engagement.

What it means:

• Scenario 1: High engagement but low SQL conversions.
  • Interpretation: While prospects are interacting with your content, they may not see enough value to move to the decision stage.
  • Action: Review the qualification process and ensure that follow-ups provide clear solutions to account-specific challenges.
• Scenario 2: Good meeting conversion but low proposal acceptance.
  • Interpretation: The proposal may not be aligned with the account’s budget or strategic priorities.
  • Action: Use insights from previous interactions to refine your proposals, focusing on ROI and clear next steps.

Revenue Impact

Metrics to Review:

• Revenue Per Account (RPA): Measure the revenue generated from each ABM-targeted account.
• Average Deal Size: Compare ABM accounts’ deal size to those from other marketing channels.

What it means:

• Scenario 1: ABM accounts show smaller deal sizes than expected.
  • Interpretation: This could indicate that the targeted accounts may not have been the highest value or that your solution wasn’t positioned optimally.
  • Action: Revisit your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and refine account selection to target higher-value prospects.
• Scenario 2: High engagement but low immediate revenue.
  • Interpretation: Some accounts may require more nurturing before they generate large deals.
  • Action: Implement a long-term nurturing plan for these accounts, focusing on relationship-building and cross-sell/upsell opportunities.

Long-Term Relationships

Metrics to Review:

• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Track the projected lifetime revenue of accounts acquired through ABM efforts.
• Account Retention Rate: Assess the retention of ABM accounts over time.

What it means:

• Scenario 1: Low retention rates of ABM accounts.
  • Interpretation: ABM accounts may have been over-promised during acquisition, leading to unmet expectations post-sale.
  • Action: Implement ongoing customer success and support programs that align with the initial ABM promises and expectations.
• Scenario 2: High retention and long-term value but slow initial growth.
  • Interpretation: ABM efforts may be driving steady, long-term relationships rather than quick wins.
  • Action: Focus on expanding services and solutions with these clients, leveraging the trust and engagement built over time.

Cost-Effectiveness (ROI)

Metrics to Review:

• Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): Compare the cost of acquiring ABM accounts to other marketing channels.
• Overall ROI: Evaluate the ROI by comparing the total revenue from ABM accounts against the cost of running your ABM campaigns (ads, content, tools, and personnel).

What it means:

• Scenario 1: High CPA with low ROI.
  • Interpretation: Your ABM strategy may be too resource-heavy, or the wrong channels are receiving too much investment.
  • Action: Reallocate resources toward more cost-effective channels that are showing the highest engagement and conversion rates.
• Scenario 2: Low CPA but high engagement with low revenue.
  • Interpretation: Accounts may be engaging heavily but not converting into high-value deals.
  • Action: Focus on moving these accounts through the sales funnel with more personalized, high-touch sales outreach.

If you found value in this newsletter, you deserve a treat.

Check out the latest from our comic series:
The Marketing Tales