Account-based marketing (ABM) has become a cornerstone strategy for B2B companies.
It allows businesses to focus their marketing efforts on a select group of high-value accounts, thus, increasing the likelihood of conversion and targeted growth.
However, managing a smaller number of highly targeted accounts requires a more strategic approach than nurturing a large pool of leads.
This is where Marketo’s Target Account Management (TAM) steps in.
TAM offers a dedicated solution to simplify ABM implementation and empowers businesses to craft and execute campaigns that drive success.
What is Targeted Account Management in Marketo?
Marketo’s Target Account Management (TAM) is a powerful add-on designed to streamline and supercharge your account-based marketing efforts.
Traditionally, Marketo considers records as people instead of specifying their status (leads, contacts). This makes it difficult to manage accounts within Marketo’s database structure. Marketers have to manually create numerous Smart Lists to link individuals to their respective accounts, which can be time-consuming and error-prone.
TAM simplifies this process by automatically linking individual records to their corresponding accounts. This eliminates the need for manual effort, thus freeing up marketers’ time and providing a more unified view of your target audience.
Components of TAM
TAM provides a comprehensive suite of tools that address the key phases of any successful ABM strategy. Let’s look at its three key components:
![TAM Components](https://www.grazitti.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Blog-Target-Account-Management-in-Marketo-1.jpg)
1. Target
Target helps you build your ideal account list with precision to bring opportunities with the highest conversion potential. It involves:
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Account Discovery
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Lead-to-Account Matching
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Named Account List
It is the process of identifying high-value target accounts that align with your ideal customer profile (ICP). For this, TAM uses CRM and existing Marketo data to discover accounts that fit your criteria (industry, size, location).
TAM ensures your marketing and sales efforts are truly unified. It automatically matches individual leads with their corresponding accounts to create a 360-degree view of engagement.
These are curated lists of target accounts based on predefined metrics such as revenue potential and previous business relations. This allows prioritization of marketing and sales efforts.
2. Engage
Engage helps you create and manage interactions with target accounts to build connections. It involves:
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Account-based Personalization
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Cross-Channel Engagement
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Account-specific Workflows
Tailor your content and messaging by transforming AI-based fit indicators into ABM filters with TAM. It helps resonate with the specific needs and interests of each target account.
TAM helps you orchestrate seamless multi-touch campaigns to reach your target accounts across all relevant channels (email, social media, website) and deliver a consistent brand message.
Automate key marketing touches using AI-driven workflows. Trigger targeted email sequences, nurture campaigns, and personalized web experiences based on specific account interactions.
3. Measure
The Measure component tracks and analyzes your TAM efforts to ensure they are driving the desired outcomes. It involves:
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Account and List-level Insights
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Account Engagement Score
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Pipeline & Revenue Impact
Gain a clear understanding of how your target accounts are engaging with your marketing initiatives. Track key metrics like website visits, email opens, and form submissions at both the account and list levels.
TAM assigns a dynamic score to each account based on their engagement level. This allows you to prioritize accounts that are most likely to convert.
Track metrics such as the number of opportunities generated, deal size, win rates, and the speed of deal progression to measure TAM’s impact. This helps optimize your ABM strategies and allocate resources more effectively.
How TAM Powers Account-Based Marketing
Marketo’s Target Account Management (TAM) is more than just an add-on; it’s a strategic partner for executing impactful Account-Based Marketing (ABM) initiatives. Here’s how TAM strengthens your ABM strategy across key areas:
Account Scoring
TAM empowers you to create up to five account scores based on various data points in Marketo. These scores (Engagement, ICP, MQL, Product Interest, etc.) are calculated from scoring fields like behavior, demographics, MQL status, and product interest. This allows you to prioritize accounts with the highest conversion potential.
Account Personas
Analyze account data and interactions to create detailed profiles for each target account. While TAM currently supports custom Salesforce picklist fields for personas, it already includes a Title Persona. This allows you to segment your audience based on factors like product interest, region, business unit, or source to enable targeted and personalized marketing.
Account Teams
Most organizations with an ABM strategy have dedicated stakeholders working on high-value accounts. TAM facilitates this by allowing you to create account teams within Marketo. These teams leverage Customer Owner fields in Salesforce (e.g., Account Manager, Client Success Owner) to share information cross-functionally. This fosters collaboration, leading to a more engaging customer experience and increased conversions.
Account Reports & Sales
TAM provides comprehensive account reports sent to your account team weekly. These reports showcase key metrics like account score, sales pipeline trend, engaged contacts, and “interesting moments” (interactions worthy of attention). This data helps you communicate the value of ABM by demonstrating its impact on pipeline generation, closed deals, and revenue growth.
Leveraging Marketo Features in TAM
Adobe Marketo offers powerful features that seamlessly integrate with TAM to supercharge target account marketing. Let’s take a look:
1. Touchpoint Tracking
![Touchpoint Tracking in Marketo](https://www.grazitti.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Blog-Leveraging-Marketo-Features-in-Targeted-Account-Management-Touchpoint-Tracking-1.jpg)
Marketo’s Touchpoint Tracking captures every interaction a lead or contact has with your brand across all channels. Within TAM, Touchpoint Tracking data can be used to:
- Identify engaged accounts by aggregating touchpoints across an entire target account
- Personalize marketing and outreach using individual touchpoint data of specific accounts
- Optimize account scoring by including touchpoint data points in your scoring model
2. Engagement Map
![Engagement Map in Marketo](https://www.grazitti.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Blog-Leveraging-Marketo-Features-in-Targeted-Account-Management-Engagement-Map-1.jpg)
Engagement Maps provide a visual representation of the typical customer journey, highlighting key touchpoints and decision points. TAM leverages these to:
- Analyze accounts within a target list to identify gaps in their engagement journey
- Create automated workflows within TAM based on an account’s progress through the buyer’s journey
3. Predictive Audience
![predictive audience in Marketo](https://www.grazitti.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Blog-Leveraging-Marketo-Features-in-Targeted-Account-Management-Predictive-Audience-1.png)
Marketo’s Predictive Audience utilizes machine learning to identify potential leads or contacts with similar characteristics to your existing accounts. Predictive Audience can be combined with TAM to:
- Identify new accounts to expand your target market
- Incorporate Predictive Audience data into account scoring models to prioritize accounts with higher conversion potential
The Bottom Line
Marketo Target Account Management is a crucial asset for engaging high-value accounts. While it facilitates account connections, it is essentially a foundational element of your broader account-based marketing. By thoroughly understanding its various aspects, your organization can optimize resources, improve customer engagement, and boost revenue significantly.