Account-Based Marketing (ABM) platforms and tools continue to be a sought-after solution in SaaS and B2B marketing. And for good reason. You need to get in front of the right decision-makers in B2B marketing — people at high-value accounts who can pull the trigger on your (probably expensive) product. But those decision-makers are hard to reach.
That’s where account-based marketing platforms come into play.
I always talk about “Account-Based Everything.” Your whole organization should be thinking about accounts — which companies are the best fit and most likely to buy your product. But developing ABM campaigns can be challenging: they take a long time to create and see ROI, it’s hard to narrow down the accounts to target and the content needed to spark engagement, and ABM strategy takes a lot of resources. You have to be willing to grind to build your outbound engine.
As the VP of Growth Marketing at HG Insights, my team’s responsibility is all things growth. That includes demand generation, content marketing, email, you name it, and we use an account-based marketing philosophy for everything. Despite the challenges of ABM, we’ve seen tremendous success by implementing the right ABM platforms into our marketing strategy.
What are ABM Platforms & Tools?
ABM platforms and tools have become essential for executing ABM in 2023. However, it wasn’t long ago that they didn’t exist.
Engagio (founded by Jon Miller, who also founded Marketo) was the first true ABM platform, which came to market around 2016. This shows you how new the market is. Up until then, automation was limited to marketing emails — even sales automation tools like Salesloft and Outreach.io were just beginning. Marketing and sales teams had to put in the work — writing emails, following up, then following up again — it was a slog to execute multi-channel tactics on target accounts. Account-based marketing software changed all that.
ABM platforms enable orchestration across marketing channels to create personalized experiences in content, advertising, and email. This is something most marketing automation tools can’t do (although some marketing automation tools can now, that’s due to catching up with the innovators.) By utilizing ABM tools, you can execute ABM best practices at scale, which will lead to higher ROI on marketing efforts, since you’re targeting your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) accounts (or you better be.)
Benefits of Account-Based Marketing Tools
In B2B, we’ve always marketed to businesses. But the working world has changed dramatically in the past few years, and in 2023, we need to market to people. So the benefits of ABM can’t be overstated. Account-based marketing tools enable you to:
- Target prospects at the account level based on your TAM and ICP
- Tailor messaging and content to the unique needs of each account
- Use lead scoring to prioritize leads based on their likelihood of converting
- Create a more effective sales process to increase your chance of success
5 Account-Based Marketing Platforms & Tools
While account-based marketing platforms run the gamut in terms of quality, capability, and pricing, there are several that a B2B marketer simply can’t execute their ABM strategy without. Here are the top ABM tools that the HG Insights’ marketing and sales teams use every day to target accounts, and the up-and-coming ABM platforms that are making waves in the industry.
1. Best for Account-Based Advertising: RollWorks
RollWorks is the ultimate wingman if you’re looking to land a big account. The account-based marketing platform is designed to help you identify, engage, and convert high-value accounts through targeted ad campaigns. RollWorks offers a ton of benefits for ABM, such as account scoring and audience matching, and the platform has excellent analytics and reporting — you can easily see which ads are working, which are not, and use those insights to inform your ABM strategy.
But, nothing is perfect, and RollWorks has its own set of challenges. While the ABM platform offers robust advertising capabilities, it can take some time to master. But if you’re willing to put in the effort, the rewards are well worth it. RollWorks helps create effective ABM campaigns by providing access to rich account-level data and allowing for a more personalized approach to marketing and sales.
2. Best for Account-Based Sales Tactics: Dux-Soup
Dux-soup is a LinkedIn automation tool that helps businesses generate leads, build connections, and grow their network on social media. With Dux-soup, you can automate many of the repetitive, time-consuming tasks associated with LinkedIn prospecting and outreach, such as sending connection requests, personalized messages, and follow-ups.
Perfect for sales teams, the ABM platform also allows you to extract and export valuable data from LinkedIn profiles, such as contact information and job titles, to create targeted lead lists. Dux-Soup integrates with most CRM systems to streamline the sales process and improve overall efficiency.
3. Best for Direct Mail: Sendoso
No, direct mail isn’t dead, and Sendoso is proof. The ABM platform makes it easy to create, manage, and track a wide range of sending campaigns, including direct mail, handwritten notes, and custom gifts.
The benefits to Sendoso are many. For one, you can establish a personal connection with customers and prospects, which is essential for building long-term relationships. Sendoso also reduces the time it takes to execute direct mail campaigns and provides reporting features, so you can measure the impact of your ABM strategy.
At HG Insights, we use Sendoso to send gift cards, swag, and even branded cupcakes to high-value accounts. A personalized gift goes a long way in sticking in the hearts and minds of your customers and prospects. We’ve seen a lot of success using Sendoso to go the extra mile.
4. Best for Web Personalization: Mutiny
Mutiny is an account-based marketing tool that allows you to personalize website content for your target accounts. Imagine you could send any prospect, from any industry, to a landing page that speaks directly to their specific pain points and interests. Voilà! Mutiny does that.
By leveraging data and analytics, Mutiny delivers customized website experiences to each visitor and helps tailor messaging and content to their specific needs and interests. In short, Mutiny takes the manual labor out of building personalized web pages. This ABM tool is an excellent resource if you want to create a customized Buyer’s Journey and enhance your ABM campaigns.
5. Best for Account Targeting: HG Insights
I’d be doing you a disservice if HG Insights wasn’t included in this list. With the world’s largest database of Technology Intelligence, HG Insights shines as an ABM tool for sales and marketing teams to execute both their Go-To-Market and ABM strategies. The HG Insights Platform delivers advanced account intelligence to uncover your TAM and ICP, and hone your target account list based on their tech install and IT spend data.
With the addition of LinkedIn Connector, an integration that brings HG’s data into LinkedIn, you can get more specific about your Ideal Customer Profile, which allows you to get an even better, more relevant audience list. That way, you can create ads that are specific to your best-fit customers and ensure those ads are seen by the right prospects.
Without the data to build your audience list, your ABM campaign will never be successful. And that’s where HG Insights comes in — providing detailed account data that includes technographic, firmographic, and Functional Area Intelligence in any industry. In short, HG allows you to see the competitors your target accounts are using, what products they have in their tech stack, and what they spend on them. It’s a game-changer for ABM campaigns.
The Importance of ABM Platforms
It’s clear that ABM is a must for B2B marketing — it can increase revenue, generate high-quality leads, and align sales and marketing on strategic objectives and touchpoints along the customer journey — but pinpointing the right ABM platforms for your company is less obvious. Before making any purchasing decisions, ensure that the ABM software you’re considering fulfills the key functionalities you require and integrates with your existing tech stack.
If you want to discover why HG is a game-changer for ABM strategy — reach out! We offer advanced account and sales intelligence to help you launch successful campaigns, and our team is standing by to answer any questions you may have.
