In business, it's a debate that's stood the test of time. Sales vs. marketing. Does marketing drive sales or vice versa? And in an environment of business to business, sales and marketing must be aligned to be effective in penetrating a large enterprise, yet only 60 percent of businesses say they're "somewhat" or "tightly" aligned with sales.

In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we're sharing a new and very effective trend in B2B sales that delivers better alignment of sales and marketing, and more success in penetrating those potentially large accounts. It's a concept known as account-based marketing. We'll share the key elements of this concept as explained by Hubspot blogger Amanda Zantal-Weiner.

Zantal-Weiner describes account-based marketing as a useful method for organizations with multiple buyers or stakeholders. The goal is to connect with all the key stakeholders and decision makers in an organization. For example, you might have to work with five or more stakeholders on a given sale. With account-based marketing, you focus on each individual, addressing that particular person's pain points and connecting those stakeholders who might not typically connect internally. Below are six key steps:

1. Identify your targets. Begin by identifying your target accounts. This will require collaboration between sales and marketing, reviewing market data such as company size, annual revenue, new product launches or upcoming changes in the organization.

2. Research your accounts. Once you determine who your targets are, the goal is to treat those companies like big, organization-level personas. What is the company's structure? How are decisions made? Who are the decision-makers and influencers? This might require reaching out or building mid-level contacts in that organization, such as a national accounts manager, to give you some of this insight.

3. Create your content. Now that you've got the names of the key players within each account, you'll want to create useful content for them. This will get their attention. The content should speak not only to the pain points of those specific employees, but more to those specific businesses. Guides, a list of tips and short executive briefs are always good tools at this stage. As Zantal-Weiner says, "This content should be focused on the single deals you'd like to make with each specific organization."

4. Choose your channels and execute. Now you need to get your content into the right hands to be effective. That means choosing the right channel of delivery. Turn to your social media channels. Consider personalized email. Capture your audience through an invitation to a small webinar where you can have two-way dialog. Just make sure you keep your messages differentiated based on the audience.

5. Measure your results. To make account-based marketing successful, you need to measure your results—the most important part of this process. Zantal-Weiner suggests these questions:

  • Are we growing our list of known individuals within the target account?

  • Have there been any changes to the way these accounts are engaging with our brand and its content?

  • How much revenue have we generated from these target accounts?

Identify a few large target accounts and plan your campaigns to reach the right decision-makers.

Source: Amanda Zantal-Weiner is a senior staff writer at HubSpot whose love for food is only slightly trumped by a love for oxygen. When she's not working, she can be found making cupcakes, adding to her extensive collection of blazers or taking far too many pictures of her dog, Tullamore.