Determining Content and Spend for Journey-Based Campaigns

What you’ll learn

This playbook provides a comprehensive guide to determining the right content and budget allocation for running successful, goal-driven B2B campaigns. Specifically, you will learn how to:

• Map content to different campaign goals and buyer journey stages.
• Allocate the right spend per account based on your campaign targets and expected outcomes.
• Leverage analytics and insights to refine content strategy and optimize campaigns for performance.
• Use budgeting calculators and tools to plan campaign spend and prioritize your target accounts.

By following this step-by-step guide, you’ll be equipped to create impactful, measurable campaigns that resonate with your target audience at every stage of the buyer’s lifecycle.

What you need to get started

Before setting up your content and spend strategy, ensure you have the following in place:

1. Target Account List
   • Defined Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) with criteria such as revenue, employee count, industry, technographics, and geographics.
2. Budget Allocation Framework
   • A set campaign budget or the number of accounts you intend to target for accurate spend distribution.
3. Journey Stage Definitions
   • OOTB
4. Content Inventory (Optional)
   • A library of existing assets categorized by type and format (e.g., blogs, eBooks, webinars, calculators).
5. Content Mapping Template (Optional)
   • A framework for aligning content with different buyer stages (tool available via Demandbase resources).

By preparing these resources, you’ll ensure your campaign execution is seamless and effective.

Step-by-step playbook

Step 1. Understand campaign goals and journey stages

Mapping content to campaign goals ensures you target the right personas with relevant messaging at every stage of their engagement.

Steps:

1. Group Content by Campaign Milestones
   
   • Define your campaign’s primary goal:
     • Awareness Campaigns focus on increasing brand or solution visibility.
     • Acquisition Campaigns strive to attract high-value, net-new contacts for sales.
     • Acceleration Campaigns aim to expedite the sales cycle and create pipeline momentum.
     • Retention/Expansion Campaigns target existing customers for growth and loyalty.
2. Match Content to Journey Stages
   
   • Use the Demandbase buyer’s lifecycle stages to map content:
     • Awareness Stage: Create ungated, educational assets (e.g., blog posts, infographics, thought leadership).
     • Engagement Stage: Prioritize high-value content, mixing gated and ungated formats (e.g., eBooks, webinars).
     • Pipeline Stage: Offer externally validated assets like customer stories or ROI calculators.
     • Retention Stage: Focus on how-to guides, training certifications, and cross-sell opportunities.
   • Reference the Content Mapping Template to align goals with assets.
3. Define Persona Needs
   • Identify what content format and messaging resonate most for stakeholders in each stage:
     • Decision-makers (e.g., ROI reports)
     • Researchers (e.g., educational content)

Step 2. Set budget framework by campaign stage

Without calculated spend-per-account baselines, campaigns risk either underperforming or overspending.

Steps:

1. Establish Spend Ranges
   • Reference recommended spend-per-account baselines based on the lifecycle stage:
     • Awareness Campaigns → $35–$50 (1,500–2,500 impressions/account).
     • Acquisition Campaigns → $35–$60 (2,500–3,000 impressions/account).
     • Pipeline Acceleration → $60–$75 (3,000–4,000 impressions/account).
2. Calculate the Total Campaign Spend
   • Use the formula:
     • Spend per Account x Number of Target Accounts x Campaign Flight (in months).
   • Adjust for organizational priorities:
     • For enterprise targets, use the upper limit of the baseline.
     • For SMBs, lean on the lower boundary.
3. Use the Demandbase Budget Calculator
   • Start with a set budget:
     
     Start with the set budget and calculate how many accounts you can target in the campaign for the full campaign flight. This method ensures you will spend only the allotted budget and reach campaign benchmarks across metrics for the audience you create.
   • Input segment-specific variables:
     • ICP account size (e.g., SMB, Mid-Market, Enterprise).
     • Campaign funnel stage (e.g., Top, Middle, or Bottom).
     • Campaign flight duration (e.g., 3 months).
   • Review output estimations:
     • Total impressions.
     • Impressions per account/month.
     • Recommended campaign spend.
4. Optimize Budget under Constraints
   
   
   • Start with the number of accounts on your target account list and calculate the budget that will be needed to support that campaign.
   • If the recommended spend is too high for your budget, decrease the number of accounts in the most optimized way by:
     • Focusing on higher-intent accounts.
     • Creating a control group for benchmarking.

Example Output: A $10,000 budget at $50 per account can target 200 accounts for a one-month awareness campaign.

Step 3. Leverage analytics to refine content

Using real-time data ensures content addresses buyer pain points and optimizes performance.

Steps:

1. Analyze Heatmaps for Performance Insights
   • Evaluate top-performing assets across all accounts for patterns:
     • Which content formats (blog posts, events, videos) drive the most engagement.
     • Buyer engagement by role for personalization opportunities.
2. Track Engagement Signals
   • Identify critical intent signals from Demandbase dashboards:
     • Persona content consumption (e.g., webinar attendance).
     • High-value webpage visits.
3. Iterate Based on Real-Time Data
   • Replace underperforming content mid-campaign with high-performing formats.
   • Remap content using engagement thresholds.

Step 4. Map content with templates and optimize delivery

A structured approach to content ensures buyer-focused campaigns remain impactful across all touchpoints.

Steps:

1. Utilize the Demandbase Template
   • Ensure a uniform “journey stage to content type” approach.
     • Example Alignment:
       • Awareness: Blog posts, infographics emphasizing pain points.
       • Acquisition: Demos, webinars targeting specific solutions.
2. Personalize Delivery Where Possible
   • Use persona segmentation driven by Demandbase Insight to ensure messaging relevancy.

Step 5. Execute and monitor campaign spend

Reactive monitoring helps adjust performance to maximize ROI.

Steps:

1. Launch with Campaign Benchmarks
   • Set KPIs (e.g., impressions, cost per click, engagement index).
   • Use granular spend tracking (impressions per account/month) to monitor ROI.
2. Automate Spend Adjustments for Poor Performers
   • Automatically remove low-intent accounts from engagement via filters.
   • Reallocate spend to higher-performing or trending accounts.
3. Provide Post-Campaign Insights across Teams
   • Break down campaign performance by account, asset type, and budget efficiency.
   • Use insights to inform Demandbase predictive scoring models (e.g., Qualification Score).
4. Prepare the Next Budget Cycle
   • Adjust ranges based on past campaign learning.
   • Refine spend recommendations per account size, vertical, or geography.

The results

This playbook is for B2B marketing professionals, demand generation experts, and campaign managers who:

• Leverage Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategies.
• Need tailored content and budget allocation for strategic campaigns.
• Want data-driven insights to optimize their buyer’s lifecycle engagement.
• Operate multi-channel campaigns aimed at brand awareness, demand and lead generation, pipeline acceleration, customer retention, or growth

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned Demandbase user, this approach ensures that your campaigns achieve measurable, strategic outcomes. From creating effective top-of-funnel content that drives awareness to advanced pipeline acceleration content, your campaigns will deliver:

• Higher Engagement Rates
  Demonstrate value to prospects by aligning content to their needs at the right stage.
• Improved ROI
  Optimize spend-per-account and discover where your marketing efforts drive the most value.
• Stronger Connections Between Teams
  Align sales, marketing, and operations through shared data and consistent execution.
• Scalable Success
  A repeatable process for mapping content, allocating budgets, and delivering impactful campaigns.

By implementing the steps outlined, you’ll build campaigns that effectively nurture, convert, and retain customers at every stage of their lifecycle.