The Ultimate Account Based Marketing Checklist: The ABM Cookbook

This “cookbook” is the biggest and most comprehensive list of account based marketing tactics you’ll find anywhere. Use it for ideas, inspiration, and your ultimate account based marketing checklist.

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Account Based Marketing Checklist

Do you have an account based marketing checklist? You should. If you’re going to be engaging in account based marketing, it’s critical that you keep your processes well-organized. Consider a pre flight checklist example: You don’t take off unless you know that everything is in place. An account-based marketing checklist includes everything from content marketing tasks to a content confidence checklist. You can create a step-by-step guide to follow for your account based marketing, and you can improve and optimize the checklist as you go.

The most valuable content marketing is highly specialized. Account based marketing is all about customizing the marketing to the individual. But doing something of this complexity requires structure. A checklist means that you can coordinate with the rest of your team. ABM is the opposite of unsolicited marketing, where an individual has to customize everything to the customers.

How does someone create an ABM checklist? They can look at other elements such as a Copyblogger checklist. An ABM checklist will begin by identifying target accounts, move on to targeting those accounts, and then progress to tracking performance on an account by account basis. This is an ABM checklist at its simplest. But each component of these will likely have other elements that have to be tracked.

Consider that simply identifying target accounts might include:

  • Looking at the current list of accounts the sales team has.
  • Adding any new accounts from LinkedIn referrals and other social media lead generation.
  • Generating lists of target accounts scored through a CRM solution or other marketing platform.
  • Building out lists of accounts that fit your ideal customer profile, or ICP.

Before ABM marketing even begins in earnest, these accounts have to be appropriately ranked and scored. This is the only way the company can ensure that its efforts are going towards the customers that are most likely to engage and make a purchase.

Marketing Templates

Developing marketing templates is hard but necessary work. First, it’s necessary because of GDPR. Privacy acts require that you find out whether your leads opted in or signed up for emails, as otherwise you could face significant fines and penalties. You need to prioritize accounts based on how important they are, and some accounts might be “email only” or “direct mail.” For either, you will usually be going through a sequence. An email client might receive an introductory email, follow up, and final touch. A direct mail client might receive a handwritten card, branded swag, and a follow up.

A marketing checklist template governs all this. From the content marketing checklist to the email marketing campaign checklist template, it gives you a structure to what you’re doing and makes sure that everything isn’t missed. A direct marketing checklist tracks where you are during stages of buyer contact, and makes sure you’re following the appropriate direct marketing guidelines. GDPR and marketing also means that you need to be more conscientious about how you’re contacting people and when. GDPR direct marketing and direct marketing policy has to be aligned with current direct marketing laws.

A content marketing checklist and a website checklist is also essential to make sure that your content marketing is being completed in a timely fashion. The content marketing strategy template 2020 might not look the same as one from 2019, and that means that these checklists also have to be frequently updated and audited. Companies can look towards the Semrush content marketing checklist or general website branding checklist to ensure that all their passes are covered and that they’re managing their marketing the right way.

Checklists also offer room for improvement and opportunity. When companies find that their results aren’t quite where they want to be, they are able to experiment with their processes using structured, data-driven methodology.

Facebook Campaign

B2B marketing teams can use Facebook in a number of ways to promote their business. Today, Facebook is the most popular social media platform, and offers access to the broadest demographics. Everyone from teens to retirees are currently using Facebook, and Facebook itself has a robust advertising platform.

A Facebook campaign can begin organically, posting information and news, and interacting with followers. From there, it’s time for a brief Facebook ads tutorial or Facebook ads guide PDF. Facebook ads make it possible to promote posts or simply run advertisements on other sites, much like Google. A Facebook ads checklist can help: Is the company’s branding properly depicted? Are the right products and services being advertised?

A social media post checklist is often used to ensure that the social media posts are being done correctly, and a Facebook ad audit checklist can operate on a similar level. A Facebook ad checklist PDF gives a company all the information they need to continuously post ads with consistent quality. A Facebook marketing checklist also ensures that the posting is consistent regardless of which marketer is posting them.

How would Facebook have benefited from a checklist? It has to do with ensuring that the right marketing is done the right way, and that any deviations from the marketing plan can be accounted for. Further, it reduces the administrative burden of working on this type of marketing, because employees know exactly what they’re supposed to be doing and when.

Branding Checklist

Whether you’re launching a new company, rebranding an existing company, or focusing on brand awareness, a branding checklist is critical. Your branding checklist should include things like:

  • Updating your brand to the newest versions on all social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc) and owned media (websites, email newsletters).
  • Updating your email signatures and other communications, such as Slack or Discord channels.
  • Adding new brand guidelines and passing them to employees. Employees should be aware not only of the new brand but also what it stands for.
  • Considering a press release. A press release will notify everyone else of the branding and the company’s new direction, too.

While you can download a branding checklist PDF or a personal branding checklist, a brand consistency checklist is going to vary from person to person and business to business. A branding checklist for entrepreneurs will differ from one for a large enterprise, and a visual branding checklist will differ from a mission statement. You can check out a braid creative branding checklist for more ideas, or create your own branding checklist Excel sheet. Either way, it’s important to achieve consistency through your processes.

Once you’ve developed a branding checklist, you should make sure that everyone is following it. Check in with employees and ask them whether they have any questions or suggestions. Employees will be most aware of whether the brand is being embraced positively or whether people are questioning exactly what the brand means. A re-branding can be a significant and resource-intensive process, but every company has to rebrand itself once in a while. Even the largest companies in the world, like Microsoft and Coca-Cola.

Direct Marketing Emails

Direct marketing emails remain one of the most effective ways to reach an audience. However, the efficiency of direct marketing emails really depends on the quality of your leads. Direct marketing is best when the email marketing plan is focused towards people who are already interested.

Direct marketing with a one-to-one email send requires that you follow common email etiquette, be respectful, and be clear with your message. When newsletters are sent out to a particularly long list, the email author has to be very careful. When emails are sent out one-to-one, personalized emails often function better.

Start with an email marketing checklist, which governs everything you need to check before the emails are sent. From there, an email marketing process flow chart will step you through the different emails sent at varying stages of the buyer journey. A litmus checklist can be included to make sure the emails are being sent to well-qualified leads, and an email proofreading checklist will avoid some of the most common mistakes marketers make when sending out emails.

You can take a look at the Marketo email checklist to get a better idea of how to set up your own checklist, but your checklist will depend highly on the amount of customization that you’re doing and the types of email you’re sending. The ultimate email checklist will take you from the very beginning of writing the email to sending it out, and will include making sure the email is being sent out to qualified, interested leads who aren’t likely to mark the email as spam.

Email checklists ultimately lead to more consistency, and make it easier to improve the process of sending out emails, whether the emails are being sent to a single individual or large email lists at once.

How to Launch A Product Online

Often, a company finds itself trying to figure out how to launch a product online. Launching a product online is a cost-effective way to introduce new people to a product. It requires a comprehensive product management checklist, which is tailored to the industry: a B2B product launch checklist, SaaS product launch checklist, Amazon product launch checklist, or medical device product launch checklist will all differ in nature.

Begin with a product launch checklist PDF that includes a full product marketing checklist. Understand that a pragmatic marketing product launch checklist cannot include absolutely everything that you need to do, but it’s going to be an excellent jumping off point.

The major goal of a product checklist is to let customers know about the new product. Often, this means reaching out to lists, especially high value customers, and connecting with them to make sure they know everything about the new product. Other elements of the checklist may include:

  • Posting a press release. A press release notifies everyone in the industry about your new product or service.
  • Sending out a newsletter. Newsletters and emails are a personal way to connect with current, prospective, and even past clients.
  • Updating your website. Your website should feature the product or service and funnel individuals into connecting for more information.
  • Posting on your social media. Social media is one of the easiest ways to introduce new products and services today.
  • Posting videos. Explainer videos on YouTube, Facebook, and other online venues can also be a good way to explain a product or service.
  • Spending money on paid advertising. Boosted social posts and search advertising can be a good way to get eyes on your product fast.
  • Educating employees. Employees should be thoroughly educated on the intricacies of the product far before launch.

Altogether, this will ensure that your company is prepared and that your customers are well notified of the changes.