SharpSpring Accounts

What Are Accounts

Accounts refer to the companies or organizations that your business is engaging with or targeting as potential customers. Each account represents a unique entity (e.g. company) and typically consists of multiple individuals (contacts) associated with that company.

Accounts are a fundamental concept in marketing automation and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. They serve as the central hub for managing and tracking interactions, activities, and data related to specific companies.

By organizing customer data into accounts, businesses gain a holistic view of their relationships with different companies, which is essential for developing effective marketing and sales strategies.

How to Calculate Accounts

Calculating the number of accounts typically involves counting the unique companies represented in your marketing automation or CRM system.

An account is a single entity representing a specific company, so if you have multiple contacts associated with the same company, they should be grouped under one account.

The formula is simple:

Number of Accounts = Count of Unique Company Names or Identifiers

Let’s say you have a marketing automation system with a list of contacts, and you want to calculate the number of accounts represented by these contacts.

Here is one example of a list of contacts and their corresponding companies:

• John Doe – Company A
• Jane Smith – Company B
• Michael Johnson – Company A
• Sarah Williams – Company C
• Robert Brown – Company A

In this example, we have three unique company names: Company A, Company B, and Company C. Therefore, the number of accounts would be 3.

Remember that the accuracy of this calculation depends on the cleanliness of your data and how well you organize and de-duplicate the account records.

How to Increase the Number of Accounts

Increasing the number of accounts is a critical goal for any business looking to expand its customer base.

Simply put, a larger pool of accounts provides greater opportunities for sales and revenue generation.

There are different approaches you can take to do this, but here are some of the strategies that are considered best practices across different industries:

• Try micro-influencer partnerships: Instead of only going after major influencers, collaborate with micro-influencers who have a smaller but highly engaged and relevant audience. Micro-influencers can often create more authentic content and recommendations, which leads to more meaningful connections with potential accounts.
• Host industry-specific webinars: How often do you organize webinars that are focused on solving industry-specific challenges? You can use this opportunity to invite key stakeholders from target accounts to participate or be guest speakers. This positions your business as a valuable resource and can attract companies that could use your solutions to their unique problems.
• Product collaborations: Another useful approach is to partner with other companies to create innovative joint products that address a common pain point. This way, you can attract new accounts that are seeking more comprehensive solutions and already have some sort of interest in your niche.
• Personalized direct mail campaigns: Personalized direct mail campaigns take a lot of time, but they also have a much higher success rate than simply cold pitching your dream accounts. With handwritten notes or personalized gifts, you’ll be miles ahead of any other business that’s competing for the same account.

More resources to help you improve:

• Account Manager Burnout: How Many Clients Are Too Many?
• Best KPIs for Marketing Agencies
• Lead Scoring: 14 Ways for Identifying Your Highest Quality Leads
• How to Run Effective A/B Tests According to 28 Marketing Experts
• 4 Proven Email Segmentation Strategies for Improving Your Open Rates