A Complete Guide to LinkedIn Account Based Marketing

Mass blasting generic content and hoping for lead generation is so 1990s. Today, savvy B2B marketers are getting surgical with account based marketing (ABM) to target and engage their most valuable prospects on LinkedIn.

But what exactly is involved in executing an effective account based marketing strategy on LinkedIn?

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll dig into what account based marketing is, benefits, LinkedIn tactics for identifying and engaging key accounts, metrics to track, tools to amplify your efforts, and plenty of actionable tips.

What is Account Based Marketing?

First, let’s define what account based marketing entails at its core.

Prioritizing Target Accounts

ABM focuses marketing and sales efforts on targeted prospect accounts with the highest potential fit and value, rather than wider lead generation.

Personalized Orchestration

ABM coordinates personalized multi-channel outreach across content, social, ads, sales and more specifically tailored for key accounts.

Account Intelligence Informs Strategy

Researching chosen accounts guides effective positioning that resonates based on pain points, challenges, and goals for each organization.

Executive Alignment

Marketing and Sales teams align closely on target accounts, coordinated strategies, and shared metrics for complete account-centric orchestration.

ABM is all about quality over quantity – meticulously engaging a small number of high-value accounts vs. less personalized broad lead gen.

Also read: LinkedIn Tips, Tricks, and Strategies For Career Success

Why LinkedIn for Account Based Marketing?

With over 63 million company pages and 45 million decision makers, LinkedIn is a goldmine for executing targeted account-based marketing and outreach.

Rich Firmographic Data

Company and employee profiles provide detailed intel on technologies used, leadership, headcount, locations, work anniversaries, and more.

Granular Targeting Options

Ads, content, and automation tools allow hyper-targeting by industry, job role, skills, company size, location, and interests.

Executive Access

40% of LinkedIn members are director-level and above, offering direct access to crucial decision-makers.

Content Engagement Insights

You can see content interests, share analytics, and visitor details for company pages to tailor messaging.

Retargeting Across Channels

Integration with marketing automation platforms like HubSpot allows retargeting website visitors on LinkedIn.

For laser B2B focus, LinkedIn is the ideal ABM channel. Now let’s explore steps to orchestrate a winning strategy.

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How to Identify Target Accounts on LinkedIn

The first step of planning your LinkedIn ABM approach is narrowing down the list of ideal customer accounts to focus on.

Compile Company Lists

Start by gathering target companies from your CRM, website analytics, current clients, and new prospects with high revenue potential.

Define Ideal Customer Profiles

Analyze common traits of best customers like size, industry, tech stacks, and workflows to hone your ideal account profiles.

Filter by Potential Value

Assess factors like account revenue, growth, number of locations, budget, and future expansion plans to gauge value and prioritize high-potential accounts.

Map Your Total Addressable Market

Use third-party data tools like ZoomInfo or DiscoverOrg to expand target company lists and TAM analysis beyond current pipeline.

Search LinkedIn For Prospect Accounts

Leverage LinkedIn search filters and keywords to find more companies matching your ideal size, industry, tech stack, and growth criteria.

Review Your Website Analytics

Visitor company names, pages viewed, and research patterns in site analytics can indicate promising target accounts to add to ABM outreach.

Pro Tip: When identifying target accounts, aim for a tight list of 100 or fewer companies to allow meaningful engagement.

Here are some tactical ways to identify and select your top customer accounts for ABM success.

Also read: Generating Quality Leads on LinkedIn

LinkedIn ABM: Research and Engage Target Accounts

Once target accounts are selected, it’s time to dig into researching and engaging each one with tailored messaging across LinkedIn touchpoints.

Follow And Review Company Pages

Following a company page provides employee insights and content interests to inform outreach personalization for key stakeholders.

Connect To Company Leadership

Identify CEOs, founders, directors, and top department leaders via Company Pages and send customized connection requests with value-focused notes.

Join Employees In LinkedIn Groups

Connections and Group conversations position you as an industry thought leader to build relationships with target companies.

Advertise To Specific Companies

Sponsored Content and Sponsored InMail allow granular targeting by selected accounts for personalized ads.

Send InMail To Key Contacts

Use InMail to contact executives and influencers at target companies with relevant insights tailored to their initiatives.

Showcase Your Differentiators

Weave website visit retargeting ads and content into campaigns that highlight your differentiation versus competitors those accounts are considering.

Track Content Engagement

Monitor Company Page content click traffic, shares, followers, and visitor details using LinkedIn’s Company Analytics and third-party tools.

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Essential LinkedIn Tactics for Account Based Marketing

Now that we’ve covered identifying and researching target accounts, let’s explore some go-to LinkedIn tactics to integrate into your ABM orchestration.

Target Paid Ads By Account

Sponsored Content and Sponsored InMail allow highly granular targeting to serve customized ads to your defined list of accounts.

Retarget Website Visitors

Place the LinkedIn Insight tag on your site to identify anonymous account visitors for retargeting via customized ads.

Create Account-Focused Content

Develop content like e-books, guides, and blogs addressing pain points and goals specific to your target accounts based on research.

Cultivate Employee Advocates

Encourage employees connected to accounts to share your branded content and amplify messages via their networks.

Track Account Page Analytics

Monitor visitor stats, follower growth, page update clicks, job views and talent pool volume for each target account.

Monitor Lead Insights

Watch Company Page visitor job functions and seniority to gauge how far into organizations your content reaches for sales follow up.

Pro Tip: With LinkedIn’s advanced targeting, you can serve different Sponsored Content to different target accounts based on their initiatives and challenges!