Video has revolutionized Sales enablement. It is certainly true here at strategicabm where we have embedded video into our entire Account-based Marketing and Sales Enablement strategy.
Video is not new, I hear you say. Yes, you’re right. But what is new is the way it can be used, the video technology (and ease of use) combined with great analytics.
Using video as part of your Account-based Marketing strategy is certainly a fresh perspective and can really drive engagement in your Target accounts.
In the latest episode of Let’s talk ABM, Tyler Lessard, Chief Marketing Officer at Vidyard, shares how video can help to support your ABM efforts and drive engagement and provides some great ABM tips to apply to your programs.
In the interview (full recording here), we discussed:
- How Vidyard got serious with Account-based Marketing
- The steps Vidyard took to scale ABM
- How video can support your ABM strategy
- Tips on how to succeed at Account-based Marketing
So let’s dive into how Vidyard does ABM and how it sees its clients harnessing video as part of their ABM strategy.
6 ABM tips from Vidyard's Account-based Marketing strategy
1. Use ABM to unify your teams
Before you get stuck into the types of content you want to promote and the channels you use, you need to focus on the foundations of ABM.
You have to ensure you have the basic pillars of support within your organization.
This means financial backing, sufficient in-house resources, a ‘decent’ tech stack, and business-wide buy-in.
And this buy-in starts with Marketing and Sales alignment.
This is such an integral factor to your overall ABM strategy, and although it is something we may all say we have, you really need to be honest about how much collaboration you’re getting between those two teams.
Because it isn’t just a case of ‘checking a box’. If you’re not brutally honest with yourself about how aligned your teams are, it’s your organization and your ABM program that will suffer.
“One of the things that was really, really important - and I encourage all of you to think about - is to ensure that when you implement the strategy and you implement the technologies - be honest about it being a collaborative project between Marketing and Sales” - Tyler Lessard, VP Marketing & Chief Video Strategist at Vidyard
And this can’t be a one-sided struggle. Both teams need to hold each other accountable for their part of the program, and each team needs to have certain responsibilities.
That means that, just as Marketing must rely on Sales to follow up on certain MQAs, Sales also need to rely on Marketing to deliver those MQAs.
By setting these expectations and building this collaborative framework, your teams will be able to bounce off each other and your ABM program will really start to take off.
2. Leverage tech to scale and automate your program
Once you have that initial alignment in place, it’s then time to focus on leveraging the right tech to enhance your program.
This can be anything from your CRM, to automation software, to more creative tech that enables you to produce and deliver content.
This doesn’t mean you invest in dozens of different tech platforms in the hopes that these will increase your chances of success.
In fact, when it comes to ABM, you’re better off starting with a small but effective tech stack, and expanding on it as and when you need.
But having that foundation there to support your ABM program will no doubt help later down the road when you’re looking to scale and automate your processes.
“Two to three years ago we started to see some of these Account-based Marketing technologies really start to come into their own. And I think that was a big part of the catalyst for it. Because you started to see technology that would enable you to scale an Account-based Marketing approach” - Tyler Lessard, VP Marketing & Chief Video Strategist at Vidyard
3. Use video to empower your Sales teams
Now you have those foundations in place, you can start to look at the more creative and engaging side of ABM.
Content.
With the rise of social media and the transformation of digital marketing, the different types of content you can use to engage your audience are endless.
You can use blogs, social media posts, polls, surveys, pictures, voice notes - the list goes on.
But if there is one content format that you should be looking to leverage as an ‘ABMer’ - it’s video.
Why?
Because it’s one of the most engaging pieces of content out there.
In fact, the top three most effective content types for B2B are webinars (64%), videos (60%) and blogs (60%).
So how can you start to integrate video into your ABM strategy?
Use it to humanize your brand.
Customers don’t like to engage with faceless brands. It feels cold, distanced, and lacks sentiment and meaning.
“It's been this shift from kind of One-to-many video to truly One-to-one video and empowering those reps and supporting them and guiding them on the kinds of videos they could be creating to break into those accounts” - Tyler Lessard, VP Marketing & Chief Video Strategist at Vidyard
By introducing video to your Sales strategy, your leads will be able to put a face to your Sales reps, and the connection will feel a lot more intimate and a lot more real.
And you can play around with these videos and what kind of approach works best for your organization. You might decide to keep things simple, with just a basic introduction to help make the interaction more human.
Or maybe you can have a brainstorming session with your Sales and Marketing teams to come up with a really fun and helpful idea that really addresses that account’s pain points.
With video, the sky’s your limit.
And that’s the real beauty of being able to leverage this kind of content, because there’s so much freedom and flexibility to tailor the messaging to exactly what you want to achieve.
4. Don't just personalize. Hyper-personalize!
B2B marketing has evolved - and generic messaging simply isn’t going to cut it anymore.
If you want to successfully cut through the noise, you need to make sure your messaging is not only personalized, but hyper-personalized.
That means going beyond simply including the account name, and actually diving into the account and the challenges and opportunities that they are experiencing.
And this is where video comes in.
Because video gives your Sales reps not only the opportunity to introduce themselves in a more human and intimate way, but it also stands out, because your Sales team has put in that little bit extra effort to communicate with the account.
Of course, the level of ABM personalization used will depend on the tiering of the account - after all, you don’t want to be wasting loads of time and resources on an account that is less likely to close at the end.
“So, it is still built within a tiering model and those top tier accounts - which are a smaller number of named accounts agreed upon with the Sales team - they're the ones that are of course getting the greatest degree of personalization both from a Marketing campaign perspective as well as from a Sales outreach and engagement perspective” - Tyler Lessard, VP Marketing & Chief Video Strategist at Vidyard
So it’s your job as an organization to sift through the accounts and determine which ones are worth that extra effort and that hyper-personalization.
And ultimately, this exercise will vastly increase your chances of closing and retaining a new account.
5. Use analytics to track and power engagement
It’s great to produce these hyper-personalized videos for your target accounts, but if you aren’t analyzing the engagement, then it’s a wasted effort.
Regularly reviewing your video engagement is key to understanding your audience.
By using analytics, you can assess which videos were opened, how long they were viewed for, which parts of the video were watched, and so on.
And this level of insight is invaluable when it comes to planning your strategy, as you can adjust your messaging accordingly to maximize engagement.
You can then bring this data back into your CRM and other data tools, so that the entire organization has visibility of engagement levels.
“It's one of those interesting things with video as compared to other types of content where being able to know and track that, not only did they click play, but how long did they stay watching can become a very powerful kind of lead qualifier as part of your Account-based programs and and your broader Marketing programs” - Tyler Lessard, VP Marketing & Chief Video Strategist at Vidyard
6. Start small
With ABM, there shouldn’t be this immediate rush to get everything exactly where it’s supposed to be within the first few weeks, or even months, of starting your program.
After all, success can take time.
It’s best to start small and work your way up.
You certainly don’t want to overwhelm your team by going straight in with many big accounts. Try to focus on a select few to begin with, and once you have more confidence in your strategy and things start flowing smoothly, you can start to expand.
This also applies to your tech stack. Try not to get too caught up in how many supporting platforms you are using - where you can, it’s much better to keep your tech stack as refined as possible.
“Start small, right? So don't try to build a, you know, a tech stack with 20 different products, you know, all at once and then hit the go button. Start small, you know, focus on those named accounts and start to get your feet wet with different tactics and techniques you can use” - Tyler Lessard, VP Marketing & Chief Video Strategist at Vidyard
And remember: ABM can be a long and sometimes even grueling process - so don’t forget to celebrate those small victories along the way!
You can learn more about all things account-based in our Let’s talk ABM webinar series, where we hear the latest insights from leading ABM experts.
