Driven by trends like SaaS, online marketing has become increasingly important over the years. And because of Covid, that importance has increased so quickly that many marketers are scrambling to catch up. Before Covid, enterprise marketers were slow to prioritize excellent online experiences because they had offline field events that allowed them to fairly instantaneously create personalized, relevant experiences.

But now that almost all of the purchase journey has moved online and there is no longer the realistic possibility of a scalable offline channel in our ABM programs, the question of how to achieve offline results (like trust, relevance and meaningful personalization) completely online has become THE question.

That’s why we collected some of today’s best online ABM strategies, and shared them in stories featuring the marketers who employed them––including companies like Vimeo, Dropbox, Rstudio, DocSend and more. You’ll see that creating great online experiences is not only possible, but also that there is a wide array of “ways-in”. Hopefully this will be useful to you in your own ABM program. You can download “10 Strategies to save your ABM program during Covid” here.

And of course, for all the TL;DR folks out there, below is a quick summary of what we discovered in conversation with the marketers we interviewed.

Strategy 1: Create amazing personalized web experiences

Making the most of your data - Radar invested in good data to get a clear picture of the personas and verticals relevant to their product. Then they used SDRs to help build a depth of information about their target accounts. In only about 3 weeks, Radar was able to build a database of hundreds of target accounts and deploy personalization at scale, leading to a significant increase in pipeline. In the guide we cover how Radar pulled this strategy off so quickly, plus the thinking behind it.

Bringing a fresh perspective to online experiences - As offline channels disappeared, Dropbox re-positioned their event managers as web experience managers who focused on producing high-quality content that reflected the entire purchase journey. This combined with an investment in the data layer––including 3rd party intent providers and using IP data to push relevant content––has consistently attracted and retained high-value audiences to their website. Starting small and scaling - RStudio identified a single industry that was adopting its product more rapidly than others. It then employed subject matter experts to create highly relevant persona-based experiences inside of their target. After seeing a high frequency and depth of engagement with their target, RStudio began building out the same strategy across multiple verticals.

Personalizing ROI - Instead of generalized value props, Gremlin focused on creating personalized ROI for each of their targets (calculated by vertical) clearly demonstrating the cost of *not* using their product. This helped targets see the company as a resource before even initiating the sign-up process.

Strategy 2: Lead with value

Equipping your customers with data-rich resources - DocSend gathered first-party data and created original reports to help its customers thrive in the market affected by Covid. The company created data-driven content that was highly relevant to specific personas, e.g., founders and sales people, and distributed that content both in-product and on its website, helping them increase conversion rates 2-5x. In the guide, you’ll learn details and tactics on how DocSend generated and distributed content for this strategy.

Finding how your brand can serve you and your customers - Before the pandemic, Vimeo was already a source of assistance for businesses who wanted a deeper understanding of the online video ecosystem. As more businesses needed an enterprise-ready online video solution, Vimeo began investing deeply in content and events that gave tactical and actionable value to this audience. By leveraging its already established brand, Vimeo was able to attract a new valuable audience and fill a need for them in a way that felt organic.

Strategy 3: Build strong alliances

Aligning sales and marketing - When the pandemic struck, the marketing team at Segment realized it needed even deeper collaboration with sales to drive a truly effective ABM program. The two teams worked together to create a curated target account list, to unify messaging and even to produce content. This lead to a more seamless process for building high-quality pipeline and ultimately creating revenue.

Making the most of your external network - For Outreach, a platform that serves sales professionals, offline channels are huge. When they lost the ability to gain introductions offline (and the implicit trust attached), they pivoted to a creative strategy that leveraged their partners to make introductions to targets. This helped the supplant the trust from person-to-person introductions with ‘built-in’ trust that comes from being introduced to a target by a partner who already has an established relationship. In the guide we cover exactly how Outreach went about this.

Strategy 4: Re-invent your events

Creating community around common challenges - As Segment re-thought its event strategy in response to the pandemic, it became clear that targets needed community more than ever. So, Segment curated virtual VIP roundtables that gathered executive leaders in a workshop environment that addressed their common challenges. This strategy helped Segment attract new prospects and create millions in pipeline. In the guide, we cover how Segment identified the right audiences and provided a valuable experience.

Bridging entertainment value with business value - After months of quarantine, it became clear that typical webinars had lost their zest with targets and become less effective at attracting prospects. Outreach created an original event format that blended a celebrity event with reps and prospects interacting. This not only attracted new prospects, but created strong connections for an eventual follow-up.

Download the guide to dig even deeper.