Account-Based Marketing

Account-based marketing (ABM) is a B2B growth strategy focusing on high-value accounts rather than broad lead volume. The strategy aligns sales, marketing, and customer teams as a single unit, allowing brands to more easily target a few high-priority companies. 

It extends beyond just personalised advertising and targeted emails because it reaches multiple decision-makers at a company at once. That way, brands can better expand strategic accounts, improve deal quality, and shorten complex sales cycles. By shifting the focus away from random leads, deals move faster with specific, impactful messaging.

What is Account-Based Marketing?

ABM is a coordinated, go-to-market approach, which offers a step-by-step process for how a company can introduce a product or service into the market. This includes a comprehensive plan for identifying, engaging, winning, and expanding priority accounts.

Previously, lead-based marketing, or inbound marketing, was the most popular approach, which focuses on casting a wide net to achieve a high volume of prospects. While that approach has its benefits, the shift to account-based growth creates deeply personal campaigns while treating entire companies as a single market. Rather than just marketing to people in general, there’s a shift to marketing to buying groups inside target accounts.

ABM focuses on quality above quantity by only targeting the most high-value companies. As a result, brands can incorporate more personalisation, account insight, sales alignment, and multi-channel engagement into strategies. This approach can effectively support acquisition, retention, expansion, and market entry.

How Account-Based Marketing Works

Brands can get started with ABM with the following steps:

1. Clearly define your ideal customer profile (ICP), which is a detailed description of the companies that will strongly benefit from your products/services long term.
2. Create a target account list of companies that are the best fits based on commercial fit, revenue potential, intent, and strategic value.
3. Sort those accounts by tier, priority, buying stage, and opportunity type.
4. Collect account insights using each company’s business priorities, pain points, structure, triggers, and decision-makers.
5. Create tailored messaging to reach each company.
6. Coordinate marketing activity, sales outreach, and account planning.
7. Measure progress based on entire companies rather than individual prospects.

Why B2B Companies Use Account-Based Marketing

There are lots of great reasons for B2B companies to rely on ABM, such as:

• Focusing specifically on the accounts that are most likely to create meaningful revenue.
• Improving sales and marketing through shared account priorities.
• Increasing relevance with senior decision-makers and buying committees.
• Supporting more complex sales cycles with higher value.
• Improving pipeline quality by removing leads that aren’t good fits.
• Building stronger relationships with companies aligning with the brand’s ICP.
• Making it easier to expand in enterprise and mid-market accounts after landing the initial deal.

ABM vs Traditional Demand Generation

Traditional demand generation typically uses a broad audience first before narrowing it down to only qualified leads. ABM gets right to the accounts that matter by starting with carefully selected accounts and then working outward to connect with the right stakeholders.

With ABM, quality is prioritised over quantity. Targeting a large volume of companies won’t be impactful if most of them don’t match your ICP. Focusing on a select few to start also leads to personalised engagement rather than only generic campaigns that don’t connect with the company. ABM’s specific, relevant focus helps improve account engagement, opportunity creation, and pipeline influence.

When planned correctly, ABM and demand generation can work side-by-side for maximum impact. Demand generation can help brands learn about a wide range of companies that might be relevant, and then, ABM tactics can be used to focus on the companies in that wide net that align the best with your ICP.

The Core Components of an ABM Strategy

Every ABM strategy should include the following:

• Ideal customer profile
• Account selection criteria
• Target account list (and prioritisation)
• Account tiering
• Resource allocation
• Buying committee mapping
• Account research and insight development
• Value proposition
• Message mapping
• Personalised campaigns
• Multi-channel campaigns
• Sales enablement and outreach support
• Account-level measurement and reporting

Types of Account-Based Marketing

There are a few unique ABM types, with each one working well for different situations.

One-to-One ABM

One-to-one targets just one account (or a few) with extremely personalised messaging, making it an effective strategy for one of your highest-value enterprise accounts. It’s the most resource-intensive approach, so it’s only ideal for B2B brands with a very small number of target companies.

One-to-Few ABM

One-to-few targets a small group of companies (usually 5 to 50) that share similar needs and/or industries. It’s ideal for brands wanting to keep tactics personalised while reaching more accounts.

One-to-Many ABM

One-to-many is a much larger scale than the other approaches, often targeting hundreds or even thousands of companies. Brands should consider this approach if they want to target a long list of similar accounts and don’t mind losing some of the deep personalisation in the process.

The reality is that one type isn’t better than the others. Instead, brands need to consider their needs to determine which will be the most effective. Oftentimes, the most successful approach is blending the models by using extreme personalisation for the highest-touch companies and then using less specific messaging for mid-tier accounts.

Account Selection and Target Account Lists

Account selection sets the stage for the entire strategy, so it’s one of the most crucial decisions. This is where you determine which teams you’ll focus on. Firmographic, technographic, intent, engagement, revenue, and strategic fit criteria should all be considered when creating a list of target accounts.

Sales input, including qualitative data and strategic direction, helps validate target accounts by bridging the gap between data and reality. It takes the information from the initial target account list and applies real-world experiences to help accurately narrow down the list. 

When selecting accounts, be specific. Don’t only consider company size or industry. Instead, focus on more impactful aspects like revenue potential, likelihood to buy, relationship strength, and sales priority. Aim to review and refresh your list on a quarterly basis to ensure it still applies to your brand’s current operations.

Buying Committees and Stakeholder Mapping

ABM targets multiple collaborative groups rather than individuals. So, brands must consider multiple people inside an account. These groups often include:

• Economic buyers: Stakeholders with the power to approve budgets and purchases
• Technical buyers: Stakeholders who decide if the product is necessary for current business operations
• Champions: Influential individuals who can advocate for your product and services when you’re not present
• Influencers: Individuals who help guide purchasing decisions, typically experts in the subject
• Blockers: Individuals who may delay or prevent deals from going through due to concerns or objections
• End users: People within the company that use the products and services, offering experience to help drive decisions

Since every stakeholder role has unique pain points and priorities, it’s important to shift messaging to be hyper-specific to the role(s) you’re trying to reach. Using sales conversations, CRM data, LinkedIn, intent signals, and account research to understand these stakeholders can help you pinpoint exactly who to talk to, what they care about, and when they purchase, rather than just guessing.

Buying decisions rarely fall on one person, which is why it’s important to consider every relevant role of the buying group in your strategies. If your approach creates discrepancies between different roles, that can prevent them from moving forward with a purchase.

ABM Messaging and Personalisation

When personalising your messaging, all details should be focused on business relevance rather than superficial details. Your goal is to solve a company’s problems through your unique products and services, so focus on connecting with that company and helping them rather than just sharing a bunch of buzzwords.

Consider industry-specific pain points, commercial triggers, company priorities, and role-based needs when developing your messaging. Connect these aspects to areas the company deeply cares about, such as revenue, efficiency, market expansions, and operational outcomes. The account tier, buying stage, and stakeholder type can help you effectively personalise the content.

Segmentation can be used to group accounts with shared priorities and pain points, but customisation is ideal for targeting a specific high-value account that needs its own messaging. True account relevance is ideal for both situations because it uses specific, situational context to better relate to accounts, whether you’re targeting a group or just one. While personalised messaging can help brands connect with companies, going overboard with the personalisation can feel invasive or irrelevant, so only stick to personal details that make sense for your approach.

ABM Channels and Campaign Tactics

There are lots of ways for B2B brands to connect with target accounts, such as:

• Account-based advertising: Targeting ads to reach specific high-value accounts instead of casting a wide net
• LinkedIn and paid social targeting: Creating sponsored advertisements for highly specific audiences on certain platforms
• Executive outreach: Engaging directly with key decision-makers at a company
• Sales sequences: Planning a series of interactions, such as emails, calls, and social media outreach, on a specific timeline
• Email nurture for buying groups: A series of automated, targeted emails that reach several influential stakeholders
• Direct mail and high-value gifting: Sending mail and physical items to stakeholders to help capture attention
• Web personalisation and account-specific landing pages: Tailored website pages specifically for target accounts
• Events, roundtables, and executive briefings: In-person or virtual discussions and sessions replace pitches with real conversations
• Content syndication and intent-led campaigns: Strategically distributing premium content to target accounts
• Partner and ecosystem campaigns: Collaborative approaches to help buyers feel more confident in their decision
• Sales enablement content for account conversations: Sharing account-specific materials to address pain points and guide decisions 

Rather than trying to tackle all these approaches at once, use the ones that make the most sense for the account tier, buying stage, and sales motion.

ABM Content Strategy

When developing your ABM content strategy, keep the following tactics in mind.

Create Clear Content for Target Accounts

Your content should clearly state the problem, business impact, and decision criteria. If your audience doesn’t immediately understand what you’re offering and how it will impact them, it’s unlikely to stand out and drive sales.

Include Relevant Data and Information

When it makes sense, use thought leadership, industry reports, business cases, ROI tools, comparison guides, case studies, and executive briefs to help get your point across. With a clear problem and impact stated, this information can reinforce the claims you’re making.

Map Early, Middle, and Late Buying Stages

Once you understand your target account’s mindset, plan out all stages of your content at once. Determine the best ways to build awareness in early stages, get the company to consider your proposal in the middle stages, and drive sales in the late stages. Mapping it all in advance keeps your messaging effective without coming on too strong in the early stages.

Build Assets for Different Stakeholders

Every role in a buying decision is impactful, so you need to create content that appeals to each one. For example, economic buyers favour financial assets while end users look for interactive items.

Use Real-Life Experiences

Customer stories and proof points can help strengthen your messaging. These real-world examples turn abstract features into evidence that stakeholders can’t ignore.

Encourage Conversations

Your content should help open conversations and progress opportunities. Rather than just sending lots of information, encourage collaboration and discussions. Add personalisation to show accounts that they’re not just another number in your marketing strategy.

Avoid Generic Content

ABM is all about adding personalisation where it counts. If you use the same generic strategy for every account, it’ll be harder to influence decisions because the information doesn’t specifically apply to any of the stakeholders.

Sales and Marketing Alignment in ABM

Sales, marketing, and customer teams need to work together to ensure messaging is consistent and impactful. Here are some strategies to ensure all parts of your B2B brand align:

• Define all shared responsibilities
• Agree on account selection, tiering, goals, messaging, and follow-up process
• Use sales input from the start when building campaigns
• Create clear handoff points based on account engagement and buying signals
• Use shared dashboards for account activity, engagement, pipeline, and revenue impact
• Schedule regular account reviews and adjust strategies as needed

If everyone on your team isn’t on the same page, approaches will come across as uncoordinated and may lack necessary messaging. Getting on the same page from the start will help avoid unnecessary complications.

ABM Measurement and KPIs

Coming up with a strategy is only the beginning. You also need to track the results and confirm effectiveness. Here are some important parts of ABM measurements to follow:

• Measure account engagement (both known and anonymous interactions)
• Track coverage across target accounts and buying committees
• Monitor meetings booked, opportunities created, pipelines generated, and pipelines influenced
• Measure deal velocity, win rate, average contract value, and expansion revenue
• Track movement between account stages
• Compare performance by focusing account tier, segment, industry, and campaign

It’s important for ABM reporting to connect activity to commercial outcomes, including revenue and win rates, because it proves real impact rather than only looking at surface-level points.

ABM Technology and Data

Technology and data can support ABM because it can help B2B companies achieve precision and see real results. Customer relationship management (CRM) software should be the central source for account and opportunity data because it offers a unified location to manage, track, and analyse everything related to target accounts. 

Marketing automation can help with campaign execution, sales engagement platforms can offer coordinated outreach, and intent data tools can help brands understand buying activity. To further elevate technology for ABM, you can use website identification tools for anonymous account engagement, advertising platforms for account targeting, and data enrichment tools for firmographic and contact accuracy.

All these tools and platforms can be incredibly useful for learning from data and adjusting information. However, it’s important to not let technology completely replace the strategies, insight, and alignment that your team has worked hard to develop.

Common ABM Mistakes

As beneficial as ABM is, things can still go wrong without the proper strategies. Here are some common mistakes to avoid:

• Treating ABM as a short-term campaign rather than a go-to-market strategy
• Building target account lists without any clear criteria
• Targeting too many accounts that don’t have much relevance
• Using generic messaging instead of personalised approaches
• Measuring only leads instead of account movement and pipeline
• Starting a strategy without sales alignment
• Relying too heavily on paid media
• Personalising tactics without understanding the account’s priorities
• Failing to review and adjust the account list every quarter
• Expecting immediate results in complex sales cycles

What Makes a Strong ABM Program

Now that you know what to avoid for ABM, here are some factors that strengthen your approach:

• Clear commercial focus with targeting account criteria
• Strong alignment between sales and marketing
• Account insights that shape strategy and messaging
• A tiered approach to categorising targeted accounts
• Relevant content for different stakeholders and buying stages
• Coordinated multi-channel execution
• Clear measurements related to pipeline and revenue
• Ongoing optimisation focused on account engagement and sales feedback
• Ability to support both new business and account expansion

When ABM is the Right Fit

ABM is a great approach for certain situations, such as:

• Companies with high-value B2B deals
• Businesses selling to complex buying groups
• Organisations targeting enterprise, mid-market, or strategic accounts
• Companies entering a new market or region
• Teams looking to improve pipeline quality rather than lead volume
• Businesses with sales cycles that rely on interactions fuelled by trust and education
• Companies with a defined ICP and plenty of data on high-value accounts
• Situations where sales and marketing can work with the same account plan

When ABM May Not Be the Right Fit

Even though many B2B companies find success with ABM, it’s not effective for everyone. ABM might not be the right approach for these situations:

• Low-value or high-volume transactional sales models
• Businesses that haven’t established a solid ICP
• Teams without sales and marketing alignment
• Companies that need broad market awareness first
• Organisations without enough data to identify and prioritise accounts
• Businesses expecting ABM to instantly fix everything
• Teams that cannot commit to consistent account follow-up

Account Based Marketing and Account Expansion

When using ABM correctly in the right situations, you can help your brand expand relationships with the most important accounts. Since ABM focuses on individualised approaches and building connections, companies you’ve gained trust with are more likely to spend more through upsells, cross-sells, renewals, and retention.

Using account insights can help you see areas of success in your ABM strategy so you can build on those strengths and achieve new expansion opportunities. You can engage with new stakeholders from existing companies by centring your messaging around values and priorities that previously worked well. Also, add new use cases into your strategies as they become relevant.

As your customers find success in your products and services, focus on how expanding their use of your brand could help them further and include tracked growth to support your messaging. Getting companies to buy from you once is a huge success, but growing and expanding can elevate your ABM program even further.

Account Based Marketing for Market Expansion

ABM not only helps brands expand in existing relationships, but it can also help you enter new industries, regions, and enterprise segments. The process begins with understanding the new market, so you can create a target account list centred around specific market-entry priorities. Develop specific messaging for that list, using local and industry context when relevant.

If you’re expanding into a market that’s new for your brand, utilise prestigious, well-known accounts and proof points to build authority. Then, coordinate sales outreach, events, content, and partner activity to engage with your target companies. Account engagement, meetings, opportunities, and market penetration are all great ways to measure if you’re building traction in a new market.

How to Build an ABM Strategy

Building an ABM strategy for the first time can feel daunting. Here’s a step-by-step process to help guide new B2B brands:

1. Define a specific, measurable goal
2. Get marketing and sales teams aligned on target account strategy
3. Build and tier the target account list
4. Identify key decision-makers and determine their pain points and priorities 
5. Create tailored messaging strategies to reach target accounts
6. Select channels based on account priority and buying stage
7. Create relevant, personalised content and sales enablement assets
8. Launch coordinated campaigns and outreach
9. Track account engagement and pipeline impact
10. Review performance and refine the program as needed

The Future of Account Based Marketing

ABM is an effective approach for helping B2B brands target very specific companies, and it will only grow and evolve over time. In the near future, ABM will likely lean more onto first-party intent and account engagement data with a stronger focus on buying committees instead of individual leads.

Brands will likely begin to take advantage of AI to make research, segmentation, and campaign orchestration more streamlined. As a result, brands will likely start to see stronger integration between ABM, sales, customer success, and revenue operations. 

As more brands adopt ABM strategies, account expansion and life cycle growth will become more prominent. Brands will continue to shift from activity-based reporting to revenue-based measurement.

To succeed with the constant marketing and technology changes, companies need sharper strategies to stay ahead. ABM can lead to great success, but when everyone is trying it, brands must get creative and find ways to stand out from the competition.