August 15, 2022 •Amber Peckham
Pillar-Based Marketing (PBM) is a marketing tactic, just like Account-Based Marketing (ABM). But as far as one replacing the other, that wouldn’t make very much sense. PBM draws in organic traffic and better-qualified leads, while ABM allows sales and marketing to target those leads personally. The two are actually an excellent pair! Here’s what you should know about how PBM and ABM support one another, not replace each other.
PBM vs ABM in Marketing
Pillar-Based Marketing is a content creation and linking strategy that helps your company website rank higher in search engines. By creating a long-form content piece (pillar) around a key topic of authority, and linking it with many other pieces, you give your audiences the answers to questions they are searching for. Using DemandJump’s powerful insights algorithm to decide on your topics and titles gives PBM even more power to get your content ranking on page one. By using the exact search terms your audiences are entering in Google to find information, you meet them where they are with quality content that gets their interest.
Account-Based Marketing is often what happens next. This is where marketers and sales take a targeted approach to nurturing a lead toward a purchase. For instance, if the lead is gained through the download of a specific eBook, the follow-up might be focused on the pain points and solutions described in the eBook. Based on whether the prospect opens an email, the messaging and promotional offers might get even more targeted. ABM has exploded in popularity, with 70% of marketers using ABM in 2021 compared to less than 20% in 2020. Something as simple as researching the account and your points of contact is a form of ABM if you use that information to support your sales and marketing approach.
How Does Pillar-Based Content Marketing Support ABM?
A pillar-based content strategy supports account based marketing in a number of ways. One, it gets more traffic and leads to your website overall. We see any clients who successfully deploy PBM climb the ranks to page one, spot one, in a matter of weeks, not months. With more people seeing your content, there is simply more business to be had.
The next way PBM supports ABM is by better-qualifying the leads which make it to a sales conversation. Since high-quality content is the core of a pillar strategy, sales can be confident leads have been exposed to a few of the solutions you offer and maybe even the company values.
PBM also offers more content for sales enablement and more potential touchpoints for leads to enter the funnel. Which content a lead prefers or goes back to gives valuable insight into buyer behavior. If a lead has viewed the pillar page, a sub-pillar, and a supporting blog or two, a sales person knows they are well-educated on some aspects of the solution. Reviewing the same content in advance of a meeting can help the salesperson anticipate questions or fine tune their messaging about features and value.
Use DemandJump to Launch Pillar-Based Marketing
Pillar-Based Marketing delivers value by getting your content on page one of Google and other search engine results pages. Let’s be real, how often do people click through to page two? Research shows page one results get at least 95% of the traffic. But the ads at the top aren’t the most trusted links. It’s the organic rankings below the ads where you can catch attention and win business. DemandJump’s Pillar-Based Marketing helps you get there so your ABM experts can follow up and close. Sign up for a free account and see what a content pillar might look like for a topic you have in mind.
