How to Cut Through Marketing Clutter With Targeted Account Programs

Today’s marketplace is saturated with noise. It’s nearly impossible to escape from the constant barrage of buzzwords and promises of “The Next Big Thing” that will give your company an instant edge over the competition. This is partly due to technological advances that have broken down communication barriers and connected us.

On one hand, it’s never been easier to get in front of prospective clients – social networks truly are 24-hour marketing platforms, creating endless opportunities to engage with audiences. On the other hand, it’s never been more difficult to stand out from the competition. As the world continues to advance, it’s time for businesses to rethink strategies and concentrate on engaging prospects in a more humanized manner.

So, how can you develop a valuable, engaging relationship in today’s oversaturated marketplace? One way is to introduce target account programs, or TAPs, into your marketing strategy. Simply put, TAPs are campaigns consisting of multiple touch points through the use of creative marketing messages, attention-grabbing giveaways and a determined sales team — all centralized around one theme. A TAP campaign focuses on a targeted group of prospective clients in order to educate prospects, build brand awareness and ultimately create new business opportunities. Alternatively, if you’ve previously done business with a client but haven’t engaged in conversation for a long period of time, implementing a TAP may help to reignite those relationships.

While we recommend executing a TAP over a 4- to 5-week period for measurable results, these programs can be customized and adjusted based on your sales goals. We encourage exploring what best works for you and your sales staff.

Narrowing the Focus In order to properly execute a TAP, sales teams must first identify a list of prospective targets who best fit into the buyer persona your company has created. Are they going to be a fit for your organization to work with? Do they have a need for your services? By answering these simple questions, you’ll better understand whether or not these targets are worth the time investment.

List size varies by company and the size of the sales team, but often includes 80 to 120 contacts. When getting buy-in from your sales team, ensure they have full contact information for each prospect since you’ll be investing a significant amount of time into marketing and follow-up from your sales reps. This list should include prospective

clients who not only serve as decision makers but who are also accessible. Businesses must be sure they are targeting clients who can actually be reached. For example, if your TAP includes weekly drop-in visits to deliver a clever promotional item to the prospect, you must be certain that your presence would be welcomed and appreciated – which is not always the case in high-security offices.

Once these prospective clients are identified, your team members must do some due diligence and research important facts about the company. By identifying things like employee culture, recent company wins, client lists and office locations, you’ll have the insight needed to create a customized plan to engage these potential clients into conversation.

Creatively Engage Prospects When implementing a target account program, you should expect to make contact or “touch” the target using several different marketing mediums, like emails, direct mail campaigns, in-person deliveries, promotional giveaways, Linked messages and a series of phone calls. Since these touch points are integrated and build over time, we recommend developing your TAP around a central theme. This helps trigger the prospects’ memories as they see multiple touch points, via different mediums, that emphasize the same points with similar designs and messaging.

Perhaps your TAP will include a direct mail introduction, followed by several weeks of drop-off deliveries, follow-up phone calls and emails. Or perhaps you’d rather start by offering access to some creative web series or podcasts and follow up by dropping off a gift basket of promotional items in person. Who wouldn’t enjoy a small bag of popcorn with your company’s logo and a tagline reading, “Just popping in to share the latest benchmark data specific to your industry from your friends at XXX?”

This example demonstrates another important aspect when building your target account program: Identify what valuable content and information you will provide for the duration of the TAP. As emphasized in The Challenger Sale, a book that emphasizes the importance of adding value throughout the sales experience, prospects need to feel that you are educating them throughout the process to win the deal in today’s crowded marketplace. The idea is to get inventive and to think of clever ways to stick in the client’s mind. Have fun with these campaigns and let the creativity flow. However, if the target account programs are not put into action in a tight timeframe with valuable content, these tools, messages and giveaways lose their potency. No longer a combined campaign, they become one-off marketing pieces that the recipient is less likely to notice or engage.

Results When executed directly, we have seen TAPs generate an ROI between 20 and 35%. Typically, the highest results are associated with in-person meetings and deliveries, but always depend on the follow-up of the sales team regardless of what marketing mediums are built into your TAP. It’s great if someone receives your clever messaging and calls you, but think of the last time you proactively reached out to a salesperson. Can’t remember, can you? It’s rare. By bringing back that human element and engaging clients in a more personal way, you may just be able to restore some order amidst the noise while generating new business for your company.

What are some creative ideas you’d like to see in a TAP campaign?