RollWorks Launches Account-based Retargeting Service To Assist ABM Initiatives

Digital advertising specialist RollWorks has launched what it describes as an account-based retargeting service that will help firms that are still new to account-based marketing map their online traffic to disparate members of B2B buying committees.

Based in San Francisco, RollWorks offers a software-as-a-service (SaaS) tool to manage both display and social media advertising and is owned by AdRoll, which focuses on the broader e-commerce sector. While traditional retargeting allows brands to continue serving consumers ads after they’ve visited a particular web site and had their IP addressed captured by a cookie, RollWorks said its account-based retargeting service will let firms segment and personalize ads to specific roles within a team in the midst of a purchase decision.

“Many B2B marketers have been using retargeting for a long time. They start by saying ‘I want to retarget my audience that’s reading collateral on my web site,’” Mahir Nanavati, vice-president of product at RollWorks, told B2B News Network. “Account-based retargeting will start with that seed, but take it a bit further.”

A B2B marketer trying to target all those who have visited the “Solutions” page on its web site, for example, could narrow down what’s served to list of 57 targeted accounts, Nanavati said. Firmographic filters, meanwhile, could allow customers to get even more granular.

“You might say, ‘I know that marketers are coming to these pages, but I also want to restrict the reach (of our ads) to those in marketing operations, sales leaders or even legal professionals,’” he said. “On the other hand, you might say you don’t want to include admin professionals, engineers and so on.”

Nanavati said many firms are interested in ABM but may not be immediately sure that they can reach the right decision makers. The company is offering account-based retargeting at a time when research from ITSMA and DemandBase suggested 77 per cent of those who have taken the plunge with ABM have been more successful over time.

The key to success with account-based retargeting will depend on how well it has been personalized to a specific person, Nanavanti said. RollWorks can help with this because its applications can be integrated with customer relationship management (CRM) tools such as Salesforce’s Sales Cloud, or marketing automation tools such as those from Marketo (which was recently acquired by Adobe).

So far, Nanavanti said, the initial interest around account-based retargeting is coming from young tech companies that are already on a growth curve.

“These kinds of products are helpful in situations where you’re starting with some traffic, some product-market fit and you want to bring more prospects to that content,” he said.

RollWorks estimates its services will help customers reach 91 per cent of their contacts in campaigns that last no more than a month.