For chemical companies, simply casting a wide net with broad marketing tactics no longer delivers the sales growth required to thrive. To dramatically increase revenue and acquire new strategic accounts, a more targeted and orchestrated approach is needed - enter account based marketing (ABM).
Implementing strategic ABM enables chemical companies to concentrate sales and marketing firepower on the accounts that offer the most potential. Orchestrating personalized, omnichannel campaigns shortens sales cycles, boosts win rates, and maximizes customer lifetime value. This results in outsized revenue growth from your most desirable prospects.
Here's an overview of how to unlock the power of account based marketing and focus your chemical sales efforts on the accounts that will have the greatest bottom line impact. Follow these steps to implement a data-driven ABM strategy tailored to your specific offerings and ideal chemical customers. This strategic sales acceleration approach can become a primary competitive advantage.
What is Account Based Marketing?
ABM is a strategic approach that focuses marketing and sales efforts on a clearly defined set of target accounts. It involves thoroughly researching those accounts, crafting highly personalized messaging, and orchestrating tailored outreach campaigns across multiple channels.
The goal is to demonstrate to each target account that you thoroughly understand their business needs and can provide significant value. ABM initiatives are focused on specific individual accounts, rather than broader audiences. This allows for detailed tracking of engagement and optimization over time.
Why ABM Works Well for Chemical Companies
There are several key reasons why account based marketing is particularly well-suited for companies in the chemical industry seeking to increase sales and maximize revenue growth from strategic accounts:
Long, Complex Sales Cycles
The sales process in the chemical industry is lengthy and involves extensive technical evaluations. Prospects must thoroughly vet new suppliers, examine sample materials, conduct testing, and complete cost-benefit analyses. This results in sales cycles stretching six months or longer in many cases.
ABM enables chemical companies to nurture target accounts with helpful content and build relationships over time. The persistent, tailored outreach increases mindshare and trust throughout prolonged sales processes.
High-Value Purchases
Purchases of industrial chemicals, advanced materials, and related services often involve large order values and significant revenue impact. A single new account can mean millions in annual recurring revenue.
The substantial investment required for meticulously orchestrated ABM campaigns pays dividends when closing deals of this magnitude. The revenue generated from securing one major chemical buyer can fund years of focused ABM programs.
Cross-Selling Opportunities
Once relationships are established, additional sales of other materials and services become easier over time. Existing customers provide a fertile ground for upselling, cross-selling, and expanding the share of wallet.
ABM's account-centric approach helps identify needs across all departments and divisions of current buyers. This enables uncovering new applications for existing products and introducing complementary offerings.
Credibility Within the Industry
In the chemical industry, credibility and reputation play major roles in purchasing decisions. Securing business from major manufacturers or prominent companies can greatly elevate your brand in the eyes of others.
These "lighthouse" accounts act as endorsements and references that positively influence other prospects across the industry. ABM can methodically target and win over trend-setting organizations, leading to a halo effect attracting new business.
The combination of these factors make ABM an ideal fit for generating substantial new revenue growth from strategic accounts. The patience and resources required are well justified by the significant long-term gains.
Step 1: Identifying Target Accounts
The first step in implementing ABM is researching and identifying the accounts you want to target. As a chemical company, you'll want to identify major manufacturers or prominent companies that would benefit from your materials and services.
- Identify companies manufacturing products aligned with your chemical offerings by researching industry databases, patent filings, company profiles, and manufacturing data. This reveals accounts likely requiring your materials as inputs.
- Monitor competitors through media coverage, press releases, and other public information to uncover accounts currently buying from rival chemical suppliers. This highlights companies open to purchasing your products.
- Leverage cutting-edge intent data services to identify companies actively researching topics and solutions relevant to your chemical offerings. Accounts showing interest can be prioritized as primed for outreach.
- Tap into industry events and associations where key accounts congregate to facilitate introductions and referrals to qualified prospects already engaged in the space.
Ultimately you want to identify 50-100 target accounts for your first ABM campaign. An ABM account with 500-1,000 target accounts is best over time. Start small and expand the list as your program matures.
Need help building your targeted account list?
HEXNET will learn what products you are looking to sell, perform research with our data partners, comb patent filings and return a list of companies purchasing those materials. We then present this potential account list for an initial discussion to align on the ideal targets for your ABM program. Schedule a Strategy Session Today.
Step 2: Crafting Personalized Messaging
With your targets identified, the next step is creating tailored messaging that resonates with each account's needs. The content should demonstrate a deep understanding of their goals, challenges, and priorities.
Tactics chemical companies can use include:
- Case studies showcasing materials improving efficiency/sustainability for similar manufacturers
- White Papers on overcoming specific supply chain or manufacturing challenges
- Product specification sheets comparing performance metrics to competitors' materials
- Custom data analysis revealing insights from an account's operations data
- ROI calculators demonstrating potential cost savings from using your materials
The messaging should be highly customized and speak directly to each target account's interests. Personalization tools can help tailor website content for specific companies.
Step 3: Multi-Channel Outreach with Retargeting
Next you execute personalized outreach campaigns across multiple channels including:
- Targeted ads: Place digital ads on sites your targets visit. Use pixel tracking to enable retargeting: displaying your ads to target accounts who previously visited your site or landing pages. Retargeting helps stay top of mind.
- Direct mail: Send customized packages with relevant content, offers, and product samples. Include business cards and notes to contact your sales team.
- Email: Send personalized emails focused on each target's needs. Use merge tags to include specific details in subject lines and content. Send from sales reps they recognize.
- Social media: Connect with targets on networks like LinkedIn. Like and comment on relevant posts. Send personalized messages and content.
- Events: Sponsor or exhibit at industry events your targets attend. Ensure sales reps engage each contact. Follow up with further discussions.
- Phone calls: Have sales reps contact targets directly to discuss offers tailored to their needs. Note insights for further personalization.
- Web personalization: Use a data enrichment platform to identify key account when they visit your website. A personalized website experience will result in higher inquiry conversions.
The key is orchestrating your efforts to provide a coordinated, omnichannel experience. This demonstrates your understanding of an account's unique requirements and your persistence. Vary messages and offers over time to remain relevant.
Step 4: Measuring Performance
A key advantage of ABM is the ability to closely track results at the account level. Metrics to establish at the outset include:
- Website traffic and engagement from target accounts
- Assets downloaded, email opens, ad clicks from target accounts
- Sales conversations generated with target accounts
- Revenue won from upselling into existing accounts
- New customers acquired through target account outreach
Regularly review performance on both the overall ABM program and individual campaigns. Refine your targeting, messaging, and outreach based on response.
The Benefits of ABM for Chemical Companies
Implementing a disciplined account-based marketing strategy provides chemical companies with numerous advantages that lead to substantial new revenue growth:
Shortened Sales Cycles
The highly personalized, tailored outreach builds rapport and credibility with key decision makers early in the sales process. This increases mindshare and trust, expediting deal progression through lengthy technical evaluations and trial cycles.
Right Message to Right Accounts
ABM enables thoroughly researching each target account and crafting messages that resonate with their unique situation. This eliminates wasted time marketing broadly to irrelevant prospects.
Omnichannel Orchestration
Coordinating tailored touch points across multiple channels ensures your brand stays top of mind with key contacts throughout prolonged sales cycles. This demonstrates persistence and understanding of their needs.
Granular Account-Level Insights
Seeing engagement data and metrics at the individual account level provides a detailed view of marketing performance. You can optimize spend on the specific content and offer resonating best.
Higher Win Rates
The consolidation of marketing and sales efforts solely on named target accounts results in higher prospect-to-customer conversion rates. This drives higher ROI from ABM programs.
Expanded Share of Wallet
The account-centric approach facilitates identifying additional opportunities within existing buyers for upselling, cross-selling, and renewals. This increases the lifetime value of current relationships.
Maximized Customer Lifetime Value
Lengthier, more profitable relationships are built with strategically targeted buyers that have the highest customer lifetime value potential due to size, strategic value, or repeat sales potential.
Elevated Industry Reputation
Securing business from flagship accounts raises your profile across the chemical industry, making other long sales cycles easier to navigate. ABM builds industry credibility.
Renewal Lock-In
The tailored account service helps cement lasting relationships that lead to consistently renewed contracts, repeat purchases, and referral business.
Marketing Efficiency
ABM allows optimizing sales and marketing spend on only the highest potential accounts worth pursuing rather than spreading resources too thin.
The combination of faster deals, better conversion, expanded share of wallet, and increased lifetime value drives substantial revenue growth through account based marketing for chemical companies.
Conclusion
Implementing a strategic account based marketing program enables chemical companies to concentrate sales and marketing resources on the accounts offering the most revenue potential.
ABM allows meticulously cultivating relationships over extended sales cycles through orchestrated outreach and tailored messaging. This results in higher conversion rates, increased deal sizes, and expanded lifetime value from your highest value accounts.
While the approach requires significant upfront research and coordination, the long-term gains easily justify the investment for most chemical companies. The revenue unlocked typically funds the ABM efforts several times over.
To discuss launching focused ABM campaigns tuned to your specific chemical offerings and target accounts, contact the experts at HEXNET. Our data-driven account selection, personalized outreach methodology, and disciplined performance optimization help maximize revenue growth from this proven B2B strategy.
HEXNET's strategic approach enables consistently winning and growing business from your ideal chemical buyers. Request a consultation to start generating more high-value sales through account based marketing.
