ABM vs. Inbound: how & when to apply each

When it comes to curating the perfect content strategy, both inbound marketing and account-based marketing solutions (ABM) have something to say. Inbound marketing places content as central to your strategy, attracting business through relevant, valuable, and specific content. ABM solutions focus on delivering a single, hyper-specific campaign to clients. While on first scan, these may sound similar, they are two differing concepts.

When creating a strategy for the upcoming quarter, there’s usually a choice between ABM vs. inbound. While one is not necessarily better than the other, ABM solutions may be more useful for your targeting needs than inbound, and vice versa. So, how do you know which one to choose, or can you choose both?  

Inbound Marketing: Attract with Relatable Content

Inbound marketing strategy prioritizes content and presents your company as a thought leader.

With attracting, converting, and delighting customers as the goal, inbound marketing begins with a carefully designed content calendar. Blog and social media posts are formulated to generate interest in readers based on a buyer persona, rather than a target account or business.

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These visitors become leads by reading valuable, educational content, then submitting their contact info in exchange for more information, education (i.e. an e-book), or something else. Those leads begin considering solutions and become opportunities, and then customers, when their decision is made.

The inbound approach builds awareness, creates interest, and attracts and nurtures leads. This is all done organically and through non-interruptive means. In a nutshell, inbound marketing:

• Puts useful content out there
• Draws in potential customers
• Collects information on potential leads
  

Account-Based Marketing: Fine-tune the Focus

ABM solutions can be summarized simply: ABM focuses on specific accounts familiar to the company.

The process involves a highly targeted growth strategy and prioritizes strategic collaboration between marketing and sales departments. A consistent and personalized buying experience for specific accounts can be a valuable use of time and resources, or it can be ineffective if you skip the research stage. The funnel for ABM begins with target prospects and an effort to attract similar accounts. It advances to the engagement of those groups and nurturing any current relationships, and (ideally) ends with a sale and a new brand advocate.

ABM reduces some of the delay that is required to see gains from SEO and content marketing strategies. It speeds up the journey from first contact to customer, helping targeted accounts make decisions faster.

Inbound and ABM Solutions in Practice

The biggest difference between inbound marketing and ABM isn’t who you’re targeting. It’s the effort your team is putting into targeting. Inbound focuses on semi-fictional personas as a target audience, with the intention of guiding the reader through a three-part flywheel. ABM, meanwhile, involves a focus on specific accounts or prospects, with content and strategy personalized to meet the needs of that prospect.  

Inbound IRL

With inbound marketing, your goal is to create content that attracts qualified leads. Inbound is designed to create a repeatable system that continues performing long-term, even when you're not looking. An inbound campaign may look like this:

1. Research the terms and questions your customers are searching for.
2. Create SEO-focused blogs, landing pages, or website pages that address and identify the above.
3. Promote content through email and social media.
4. Convert visitors through downloadable content, webinars, contact forms, etc.
5. Nurture those leads through automated email campaigns.

ABM in Action

ABM flips the inbound process around. Instead of creating content for buyers actively searching online, you first identify the companies you want to win and then build tailored content and outreach around those clients. An ABM campaign may look like:

1. Building a target account list with sales
2. Researching each company’s goals, challenges, etc.
3. Creating the content

A Little Friendly Competition

… Never hurt anyone? If you want to take the next step in implementing inbound and ABM solutions, check out 5 Ways to Stay Ahead of Competitors.

ABM vs. Inbound: Cohesion Over Competition

Inbound and ABM are less competitive than potential collaborative techniques, despite different marketing strategies. Rather than considering the benefits of account-based marketing vs. inbound marketing, the most productive approach is to incorporate both to reach your goals.

When it comes to audiences, inbound marketing has a bigger target, with content still written for a specific persona. ABM solutions, however, focus on specific client accounts. This allows for a more streamlined strategy and a more immediate assessment of ROI. However, it also requires a deep understanding of the buyer.

With inbound focused on content creation, social media, and SEO, the process involves less human interaction, more up-front work, and sometimes lengthy waiting periods for results.

Opposingly, ABM utilizes more time from employees, with an emphasis on direct interactions. It also requires collaboration across departments and additional time and effort.

The Consensus? ABM and Inbound = Better Together

Both ABM and inbound marketing strategies are focused on targeted, personalized content. However, optimization of both methods involves approaching ABM via an inbound strategy. ABM provides the catalyst to accelerate the flywheel, but only after a strong inbound foundation is in place.

It’s important to recognize that both approaches focus on delivering a great experience across the entire flywheel.

When evaluating account-based marketing vs. inbound marketing, remember that the two methods used together can be a successful way of moving leads through the funnel in a more timely manner.