Why Predictive Account Scoring is Essential to ABM Success

Lead scoring technology has been widely adopted by marketing organizations to prioritize individual leads. Research from SiriusDecisions found that increasing numbers of B2B marketers are adopting predictive lead scoring. While traditional scoring models are rules-based, using only behavioral and profile indicators to predict conversion, predictive lead scoring goes even further by incorporating account-level information, such as previous conversions, to produce a detailed and highly accurate picture of each lead’s propensity to purchase.

Predictive Lead Scoring and Account Based Marketing: An Ideal Combination

Using firmographic, demographic, and behavioral data from CRM and marketing automation to reveal account-level characteristics and buying signals, predictive lead scoring gives B2B marketers more detailed insights into which leads are the most likely to convert.

Marketing organizations that have made account based marketing (ABM) a priority combine the demographics, online behavior, etc., of multiple persons from the same company to produce an “account score” that can better identify “best-fit” accounts.

Most marketers consider account scoring to be essential to 1) prioritize accounts that already live in your CRM system, and 2) better align sales and marketing in the process. However, based on the online research activity taking place outside of your website, predictive account scoring enables marketers to identify potential ideal fit accounts before those accounts are far enough along in the buyer journey to have already narrowed down their choices. Predictive account scoring leverages intent proclivities to identify in advance your most likely champions within potential target companies.

Three Reasons Predictive Account Scoring Should Be Part of Your ABM Strategy

1. Predictive account scoring provides a multi-faceted view of target accounts so that you can better tailor your content and communications to the needs and pain points of, not only each account, but also the decision makers and influencers that account scoring has helped you to identify within that account.

We’ve all read the now legendary statistic from the Corporate Executive Board at Harvard Business Review (HBR), which says that buyers are already 57% along in their journey before contacting a sales rep. By using predictive marketing analytics (which can reveal intent from an enormous set of data points generated by online activity across multiple channels), you can now identify pain points of the target company as a whole while also noting the unique concerns of decision makers in the various roles within the targeted account.

2. Each person in the decision-making process will view the purchase from their own angle, and may require different information to help them decide that your offering is in their company’s best interest. Predictive account scoring can help you to identify, in advance, the person most likely to be your advocate within the company and provide the content that will be most relevant to this person’s concerns.

The results of predictive account scoring are optimized by distributing the right content and customized account based nurturing. “Individual customer stakeholders who perceived supplier content to be tailored to their specific needs were 40% more willing to buy from that supplier than stakeholders who didn’t.” – HBR

3. According to How Predictive Marketing Analytics Boosts B2B Business Performance, a report by Forrester, “Predictive Marketers are 2.9x more likely to report revenue growth at rates higher than the industry average.” The report also stated that “modeling and predicting specific outcomes helps Predictive Marketers execute account-based marketing (ABM) strategies, enabling them to drive more buyer engagement and, ultimately, increase revenue opportunities from target accounts.”

This post was originally published on the LinkedIn Pulse platform.