Account-based marketing is gaining steam in the content marketing industry as a way to target individual accounts for a more customized experience.

Some of the top content marketing trends for the year have centered on personalization and bringing a more human element to brands, according to marketing experts and industry research.

Now, experts are digging into the best types of strategies, tools, and content ideas that marketers can use to effectively target the right audience and make those valuable connections.

Among these strategies is account-based marketing, which focuses on specific accounts rather than more general advertising that appeals to a company’s entire industry.

While ABM is not new to the marketing world, it’s becoming the more preferred strategy as the industry shifts and evolves, experts say.

ABM allows companies to bridge the gap between sales and marketing, where there lies a common disconnect between general audience demographics and preferences, and the smaller, more intimate details about an audience.

According to statistics, this seemingly minor distinction is bringing in real results.

An ABM study found that 76 percent of marketers saw a higher ROI with ABM than any other marketing strategy in 2020.

And according to Hubspot, more marketers are catching on to the benefits of ABM.

From 2020 to 2021, 15 percent more marketers began using ABM, for a total of 70 percent.

The top two tactics used by marketers with an ABM strategy were “Researching Accounts” and “Identifying Target Contacts,” according to Hubspot.

Rather than a traditional marketing approach that involves first attracting leads with generic content, an ABM approach first identifies accounts, targets these accounts with specific content, and lands and expands relationships.

This model is more aligned with the content marketing trends consumers want to see in 2022, according to statistics.

ABM allows businesses to align marketing and sales more completely, according to Hubspot, and combined with inbound marketing, ABM can more effectively target high-value accounts.

Here’s how these two can function together, according to experts:

• Inbound marketing pulls general audiences and demographics to a company’s services
• ABM allows company to zero in on most valuable prospects or qualified leads

According to statistics, the pieces of ABM that companies struggle with the most include delivering a personalized experience, and knowing how to choose target accounts.

But experts say that similarly to any other content marketing strategy, it’s important to learn as much as possible about the target company in order to effectively craft the right types of content.