Understanding the Goals of Your ABM Strategy
Before diving into metrics, it’s important to first define the overarching goals of your Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategy on LinkedIn.
Are you looking to generate more leads? Increase brand awareness?
Nurture relationships with target accounts? Knowing what you want to achieve will help guide how and what you measure.
Some common ABM goals include:
- Generate qualified leads from target accounts
- Increase brand awareness and familiarity within target accounts
- Cultivate relationships with key decision-makers at target accounts
- Gain insights into target accounts to further personalize outreach
With goals established, you can then identify the appropriate metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track.
Measuring Engagement
Engagement metrics provide insight into how target accounts are interacting with your LinkedIn content and presence. Some engagement metrics to track include:
- Post impressions: Total number of times a post was on someone’s screen.
- Post reach: Number of unique accounts that had any of your posts enter their screen.
- Comments: Number of comments generated on posts.
- Shares: Number of times a post was shared.
- Likes: Number of times a post received a “Like”.
- Clicks: Number of clicks on links within posts.
You can track engagement at both the individual post level as well as aggregated engagement across all posts targeting a specific account. Tracking engagement over time helps identify accounts that are most receptive to your messaging.
In addition to the standard engagement metrics, LinkedIn also provides analytics on:
- Profile views: Number of times a target account viewed your LinkedIn profile or company page.
- Connection requests sent/received: Interactions with the “Connect” button.
Together, engagement metrics paint a picture of how actively target accounts are interacting with your LinkedIn presence which can help further qualify leads.
Measuring Conversions
While engagement shows interest, conversion metrics reveal the outcomes and business impact of your ABM efforts. Some key conversion metrics for LinkedIn ABM include:
- Meetings/demos booked: Number of demos or meetings scheduled with target accounts.
- Proposals generated: Number of sales proposals created for target accounts.
- Closed-won deals: Dollar value or number of new customers/clients won from target accounts.
- Pipeline opportunities: Dollar value or number of active sales opportunities generated from target accounts.
You’ll want to track conversions at the individual account level to see which accounts are most likely to become paying customers. Conversions are the most important metrics as they directly correlate your ABM efforts to tangible business results.
Conducting Account Research
Gaining insights into target accounts helps personalize outreach and further qualify leads. LinkedIn provides tools to research target accounts including:
- Company page analysis: Overview of company news, people, jobs, following, and more.
- Employee profile views: Research decision-makers’ backgrounds, skills, interests.
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator: Uncover buying teams, past deals, organizational structure.
Take note of any information discovered during account research that can be used to craft more targeted messaging to those accounts. The insights gathered become part of your ABM profile for that account.
Benchmarking and Continuous Improvement
As you gather metrics and insights over multiple ABM campaigns, take time to benchmark results and identify areas for improvement. Compare metrics like engagement rates, conversion rates, and average deal sizes over time. This allows you to continually refine your ABM strategy based on proven successes.
Some best practices for continuous improvement include testing different:
- Content formats like infographics vs. articles
- Target account lists focused on ideal profiles
- Nurturing cadences and automated drip campaigns
- Sales and marketing alignment protocols
The goal is to optimize your LinkedIn ABM efforts on an ongoing basis based on performance data. With the right metrics and benchmarking, you can make your programs more impactful every campaign.
FAQs About Measuring LinkedIn ABM
Q: How do I attribute conversions back to my ABM efforts?
A: Use tracking links, UTM codes or tagged emails in all LinkedIn outreach so you can see which accounts were engaged on LinkedIn prior to converting. You may also ask sales reps to note LinkedIn interactions during deals.
Q: What engagement rate should I aim for on LinkedIn?
A: Engagement rates can vary widely by industry and content format. As a benchmark, top performing B2B posts generally see engagement rates between 1-3%. Track your own rates over time.
Q: How long should I wait before considering an account “unqualified”?
A: Most experts recommend giving target accounts at least 90 days of consistent tailored outreach before considering them unreceptive. Holiday periods may see dips too.
Q: What tools can help measure LinkedIn ABM?
A: LinkedIn Insights and Sales Navigator provide core analytics. For more robust reporting, consider platforms like LeanData, Metadata, Demandbase or other ABM-focused tools.
Q: How do I get other departments invested in ABM metrics?
A: Share success stories and frame metrics in terms of pipeline impact. Highlight how insights improve marketing, sales alignment. Consider joint OKRs and incentives to align teams.
In Summary
By carefully selecting the right metrics and KPIs, continuously benchmarking results, and refining strategies, you can optimize your LinkedIn ABM efforts to drive the most qualified leads and conversions.
With the right approach and tools, LinkedIn provides rich data for understanding target account behavior and improving performance over time.
