Omni-Channel Account Based Marketing

Overview

SmartAcre® helped the IBM Watson team accelerate account based marketing programs by providing lead and demand generation strategy and execution.

Challenge

IBM Watson worked with SmartAcre to develop an account-based marketing strategy. They needed a partner who could work across many vendors, teams, and technology to successfully create, deliver, and execute a strategic, highly targeted plan.

To make this happen, SmartAcre provided a framework for IBM’s marketing and sales teams to determine target accounts across industries, job titles, and potential opportunity value. SmartAcre then used this information to develop campaign goals, narrow down the targets, and establish personalized marketing tactics and messages designed to engage the audience.

Approach

After three years of working side-by-side with the IBM Watson team, SmartAcre’s in-house experts understand the IBM Watson marketing tech stack and can set up a campaign to follow strict branding guidelines and internal standards. We even go as far as building our team and resources to mirror the IBM Watson structure to ensure we provide a constant line of support for quick responses and turnaround times.

When building a campaign framework, SmartAcre seeks to:

1. Develop an omnichannel campaign to maximize the impact of the marketing efforts.
2. Align the proposed marketing tactics to the buyer’s journey for IBM Watson’s target audience and meet them “where they are.”
3. Ensure we plan ahead for proper analysis of each campaign so that we can leverage that data to influence future campaigns.

In order to reach the goals collectively established during IBM Watson’s quarterly campaign planning session, SmartAcre proposed running an account-based marketing campaign, a new approach for the IBM Watson marketing team. Following the criteria established above, SmartAcre proposed the following components of an omnichannel ABM campaign in five days:

• LinkedIn InMail strategy and content
• LinkedIn promoted posts and text ads
• Organic social strategy and content
• Playbook tailored to digital development reps’ sales enablement
• Designs for social and AdWords ads, aligned to NorthStar standards

SmartAcre now provides daily campaign management, lead and demand generation strategy, and ongoing campaign acceleration to support IBM Watson’s marketing from lead to revenue. After a successful initial ABM campaign, we received approval to move forward with similar campaigns across IBM Watson’s product lines. SmartAcre’s partnership with IBM Watson seamlessly coordinates various partners and channels to keep marketers across both teams focused on true strategy and growth goals.

Outcomes