You heard right, there’s an actual marketing strategy that gets you almost 100% more return on your investment than regular marketing campaigns and according to latest research data, it’s called Account Based Marketing.

What on Earth Is it?

Account Based Marketing (ABM) is marketing to a select list of specific prospects one on one. It’s basically speaking only to them and to their concerns. And it works. Like a charm. Almost every time. I have nicknamed it the ‘shock and awe’ method because it’s big, bold and very targeted. Here are some examples of how my clients have used it in the past.

Pizza-nars

One of the ways we used to secure meetings with targeted prospects pre-pandemic was to bring in lunch and dazzle them with a unique presentation about the solution to their pain. Now, many are doing something similar called ‘pizza-nars’, ordering pizzas while inviting the prospect to view their webinars. Of course, the prospect rarely attends for the pizza, it’s all about the topic. So be sure to make it all about their most expensive, bleeding sore point.

Bus Sheltering

‘Shock and awe’ marketing is all about focused power. One example is a client who wanted to have a product listed with their biggest retail client, Staples. Knowing that their decision makers’ windows were facing the bus stop at the Staples head office, my client placed a giant image of the product in the bus shelter ad space. The result? The product got listed in all National Staples stores that month.

Special Content

Another clever client who owns a PR agency developed a magazine style campaign proposal to a high value prospect. The proposal was designed and read exactly like a magazine. Key concepts of the promotion were featured as articles or advertorials. It was a clever ruse that took long planning, content creation and expensive, one-off creative. That’s the hallmark of ‘shock and awe’ marketing. But it works. As it did with my clients who got the job.

Tactile Wins

For a long time, I’ve been teaching my clients to send tactical gifts to prospects they want to shower with ‘shock and awe’ marketing. One client wrote his CV on a mannequin arm and sent it to a coveted ad agency and got a job with them. Another client sent a toaster to a jam company with fake bread postcards in the slots that read ‘let’s meet for a jam session’. They got the meeting and the client. Lately I’ve been telling clients to send a life-sized cut-out picture of the target CEO to get his attention and a meeting. It’s all about focused marketing.

If you want to land bigger fish, try to fish with a spear-gun instead of a net. The gun is more expensive but it’s definitely more effective!

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