TLDR:
By the time accounts first visit a website, it’s too late. Figuring out actionable intent requires marketers to deliver ads to individuals and accounts by linking up account-based data service provider to intent data. Marketers should also make sure they’re targeting the right people at the right accounts and determining whether those people or accounts are taking action on advertising efforts.
Marketers can identify the buying committee when prospects use for the correct keywords and research the right topics. In these instances, the prospects unintentionally demonstrate strong indicators that they belong to the buying team. That’s how marketers can get intent data using AI.
But even if marketers identify the right accounts and the right professionals inside of those accounts, it doesn’t mean that they reach them in time necessarily. They need to get ahead of the competition. One way to do that is through coordination of intent data and account-based DSPs. That way, the first time individuals from the buying committee show intent, the account-based DSP can handle it appropriately with relevant advertising. This provides an edge to account-based efforts.
Reaching the right people at the right time matters little, though, if marketers are tracking useless vanity metrics. Contrary to what many executives believe, marketers shouldn’t favor measuring CPMs and CTRs. Unfortunately, many B2B marketers are even told to monitor those metrics specifically.
It’s somewhat of a poison-pill. This is because the actual metric that matters for marketers practicing ABM and similar approaches is the business impact. And that usually means metrics such as target account reach, on-site target account engagement, and target account CPE, are key.
Perfectly sensible. If prospects aren’t engaging with content, how successful is that content, really? Other things to watch out for include which accounts make it to the website, and how many of those accounts get translated to the pipeline.
Having said that, there’s nothing wrong with measuring CPMs and CTRs. It’s just not the most efficient way to measure. Marketers and executives can still believe they’re measuring something that counts, but the downside they’re not achieving the results they could be if they were focusing on truer measures of engagement.
Original article from MarTech Today on 18 April 2019.
