Measuring content within an Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategy is like navigating a ship through uncharted waters — but with a finely tuned compass. Your content guides you toward your destination: successful engagement and conversion with targeted accounts.
Just as a ship relies on its compass to assess direction and progress, a marketer relies on metrics and indicators to understand how well their content is steering their ABM campaigns. Metrics such as engagement time, conversion rates, and pipeline influence serve as your needle, pointing you toward an effective content strategy.
Just as a skilled navigator interprets their compass’s readings to make informed decisions, marketers interpret content metrics to refine their approaches. In this article, we explore seven essential ways to measure the impact of content in your ABM strategy.
1. Account Engagement Metrics
One of the fundamental metrics for assessing content impact in ABM is account engagement. This involves monitoring the time spent by target accounts on your content and tracking various interactions such as:
- Time spent on the website or landing pages. Monitor the amount of time target accounts spend on your website or specific landing pages. Longer durations typically indicate deeper engagement and interest in your content.
- Click-through rates (CTR). Measure the percentage of clicks on links within emails, ads, or other marketing communications. CTR is a valuable metric to assess the effectiveness of your calls-to-action and the level of interest generated by your content.
- Content downloads. Keep track of the number of times target accounts download gated content, such as white papers, case studies, or ebooks. This metric helps identify the specific assets that resonate with your audience.
- Event attendance and engagement. If your ABM strategy involves hosting events, track targeted accounts’ attendance and engagement levels. This includes webinar attendance, conference booth visits, or exclusive event participation.
For example, suppose a survey reveals that one section of a webinar, a question and answer session with one of your product designers, provided especially valuable insights. According to your survey data, the other sections had less of an impact. Using this feedback, you can be sure to. Include at least one question-and-answer session in your next webinar.
2. Conversion Rates
To gauge the effectiveness of your ABM strategy, you can also measure the conversion rates from marketing qualified leads (MQLs) to sales qualified leads (SQLs) within your target accounts. Analyze how effectively your content is guiding prospects through the sales funnel. A high conversion rate indicates that your content is not only attracting attention but also driving prospects toward becoming valuable leads.
For instance, suppose your ABM campaign involves a series of nurture emails leading to a gated case study. In this case, you could measure the conversion rate by tracking the percentage of MQLs who progress to download the case study after engaging with the emails. A higher conversion rate for this kind of content indicates it’s effectively moving prospects through your funnel.
3. Customer Retention and Expansion
To gauge the effectiveness of your ABM strategy, you can also measure the conversion rates from marketing qualified leads (MQLs) to sales qualified leads (SQLs) within your target accounts. Analyze how effectively your content is guiding prospects through the sales funnel. A high conversion rate indicates that your content is not only attracting attention but also driving prospects toward becoming valuable leads.
For instance, suppose your ABM campaign involves a series of nurture emails leading to a gated case study. In this case, you could measure the conversion rate by tracking the percentage of MQLs who progress to download the case study after engaging with the emails. A higher conversion rate for this kind of content indicates it’s effectively moving prospects through your funnel.
4. Pipeline Influence
Pipeline influence involves tracking how content consumption correlates with the progression of accounts through the sales pipeline. This metric provides valuable insights into your content’s role in moving prospects closer to a purchasing decision.
To illustrate how pipeline influence works, let’s say you integrate your marketing automation and CRM system. Using this integration, you can track how accounts that engage with specific content progress through the sales pipeline. If an account consumes a product demo, for instance, you can monitor whether this leads to a scheduled sales call or a product trial, demonstrating the content’s influence on the pipeline.
5. Personalization Effectiveness
If your ABM strategy involves personalized content for specific accounts, you can measure response rates and engagement levels for personalized — versus generic — content. This analysis helps you understand how well your efforts to tailor content to the specific needs of each account are paying off.
One way to do this is to conduct an A/B test where one group of target accounts receives a generic email promoting your content, while another group receives a personalized version addressing their specific pain points. You can then compare engagement metrics between the two groups to evaluate the impact of personalization.
6. Social Media Metrics
You can track shares, comments, and mentions related to your content within your target accounts to leverage social media metrics. Social media metrics offer a real-time view of how your target audience receives your content. If your social media are improving over time, you know your social strategy provides additional channels for engagement and amplification.
For instance, you can share content on your company’s LinkedIn page and monitor the number of shares, comments, and mentions from employees of your target accounts. This gives you real-time feedback on how well your content resonates with your target audience.
7. Surveys and Feedback
Surveys, interviews, and focus groups can provide insights into the subjective impact of your content on the perception, knowledge, and decision-making processes of your audience. Use this feedback to refine and optimize your content strategy.
- The perceived value of the content
- Whether it addressed their specific challenges
- If they found it influential in their decision-making process
You can use this qualitative feedback to refine future content.
For example, suppose a survey reveals that one section of a webinar, a question and answer session with one of your product designers, provided especially valuable insights. According to your survey data, the other sections had less of an impact. Using this feedback, you can be sure to. Include at least one question-and-answer session in your next webinar.
8. Customer Retention and Expansion
To see how your content impacts customer retention and expansion, you should measure the engagement of existing customers with your post-sale content. High levels of interaction indicate your content is bringing ongoing value. It may also indicate you have opportunities for upselling or cross-selling.
Monitoring content engagement post-sale is crucial for fostering long-term relationships and maximizing customer lifetime value.
One way to measure whether your post-sale content encourages retention and expansion is to provide advanced tutorials and track engagement levels. For instance, you can keep track of how many views your tutorials have and how they progress over time. Shares are another valuable metric. If your customers share tutorials with their colleagues, they may feel the content offers insights valuable enough to help others.
Measure Content Using a Level-Playing Field
You’ll also want to make sure you’re doing an apples-to-apples comparison between the different kinds of content you’re measuring. For instance, you may have an exuberant salesperson who does a better job following up with prospects than the rest of your team. This could result in the content viewed by their prospects “converting” more leads. But at least some of the credit should go to your sales associate.
Similarly, if you’re comparing content performance, you may want to consider seasonal factors, such as the holidays or slow times for your industry. For instance, for some manufacturers, the summer months may be slower. At the same time, this could be the opposite in the hospitality industry. Content may perform better during high-buying seasons because your target audience may be more motivated.
Use Content Metrics for a Smooth ABM Journey
The journey through ABM waters is dynamic, with changing currents and unforeseen challenges. Likewise, the marketing landscape evolves, and external factors can influence the impact of content. Regularly calibrating your compass by adjusting content strategies based on measured results ensures that your ABM ship stays on course. In this way, you ensure you’re adapting your strategy to the nuances of each targeted account.
For help with your content strategy for your ABM, connect with an expert content strategist today.
