One of the main questions we get asked by our clients here at Celsius, is should we focus on lead generation or Account Based Marketing? And our answer is simple. It’s not necessarily one way, or the other.
Many marketers treat lead generation strategies like an old pair of slippers. They are comfortable, you are used to them and although they sometimes look a bit jaded and threadbare, they basically do the job.
You get enough leads to be respectable and, at the end of the day, why rock the boat? ABM might be one of the newer kids on the block, but is it proven enough to make a switch.
Not Alternatives
And therein lies the problem. Lead Generation and ABM should not be seen as alternatives. But as strategies that complement each other.
The problem with many Lead Generation strategies is that they spread the net very wide. They have such a wide funnel at the top that they collect a huge amount of leads that are never going to be relevant for sales or drive enough revenue. Okay, there’s an argument that if you don’t cast your net wide enough you’re not going to get enough traction and thereby end up with just a few conversions, but that approach smacks of being desperate.
At Celsius we believe that a wide funnel at the start of the Lead Generation process is crucial for companies selling to a very large account base. But it’s even more relevant that that the large net is fishing within a large school of fish, not in an empty sea. If you don’t do the work before you start fishing, you’re wasting your money. So where does ABM fit into that?
ABM is more targeted because the first part of the funnel is all about account selection. Then comes the element of identifying the contact, the nurturing the contact before converting it into a sale.
Last Word
Implemented correctly, both lead generation and ABM strategies have their part to play within a B2B sales campaign. Both can deliver success, if the ground-work has been carried out properly, which is where a company like Celsius comes in. We ensure that before any campaign is started, the basic building blocks are put into place which delivers high conversion rates. Then, lead generation and ABM can both play their roles and be fully exploited by the marketing and sales departments.
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