What is Account Based Marketing (ABM) or Account Based Sales and Marketing (ABSM)? Why do companies run ABM campaigns?

Account Based Marketing (ABM) is a targeted approach to customer acquisition that aligns sales and marketing efforts – the term is new, but companies have used this approach for decades under various names like Targeted Marketing or Named Account Strategies. This approach has stood the test of time because it delivers results.

The foundation of ABM is the identification and focus on the best fit targets in your market – ABM requires working closely with Sales to identify the key segments of your total addressable market (TAM), which is then narrowed down to your serviceable addressable market (SAM) and finally your serviceable obtainable market (SOM). This hyper-targeted segmentation creates greater GTM efficiency by homing in on the companies and individual buyers that are most likely to purchase.

ABM leads to higher conversion rates and greater marketing impact – by putting a cross-functional “bullseye” on the customers with the highest potential return, you significantly increase your chances of winning the customers you invest in converting. Coordinating the resources of both Sales and Marketing can also help maximize value when acquisition costs are high and marketing budgets must be optimized.

What differentiates an ABM campaign from other types of marketing campaigns? 

ABM campaigns take a more individualized approach to acquiring customers – ABM campaigns don’t target entire segments or demographics at the same time; they target the specific people who will eventually make a buying decision. Tailored messaging, content, and events are designed with particular buying committees in mind.

Instead of warming up a broad audience, ABM activates high-potential accounts  – ABM campaigns use intent signals to further refine their best-fit targeting. These indicators of implicit or explicit interest can include research activities, content consumption, event attendance, or signing up for free tools.

What kinds of companies does an ABM/ABSM approach work best for?

Companies should start running ABM as early as possible – ABM principles can be applied as early as the beta product launch stage. Use the product-market fit process to build your ABM account list. Once you’ve validated your product and ideal customer, you can extend that reasoning to create larger lists.

ABM economics work better with certain sales motions
		Strong Fit for ABM		Poor fit for ABM
Minimum ACV		$10k+		<$5,000
Sales Cycle		60-90 days		<30 days
Target Segment Size		Fewer accounts		Numerous accounts

The size of your target segment depends on your company context – the segment must be small enough (and each account must be important enough) that someone from Sales would be able to interact directly with each account if needed. For a small company, this might limit the segment to 50 accounts. For a large company, the limit might be in the 100s or 1,000s.

How many ABM campaigns should a company run simultaneously? 

Campaign volume scales with company size and resources, for example:

• A 3-person marketing team might run a couple of campaigns that each have specific programs targeting 2-3 audience segments
• A 100-person marketing team could easily run 6-12 campaigns with numerous sub-programs
• A multinational organization with many marketing teams could run dozens of campaigns at once

Campaign strategy should reflect the needs of your audience – there is no “right” number of campaigns. Each campaign and sub-program should resonate with its target audience. If a particular campaign approach isn’t resonating with an audience segment, you should reevaluate the campaign itself and whether you have correctly segmented and understood its audience.

What do you need to have in place in order to launch an ABM campaign? 

Have a single, validated definition of your target accounts – Marketing and Sales must agree on exactly who they are targeting. The target could be a list of named accounts or a broader segment based on company and demographic data.

Philosophical alignment enables the planning and execution of a strong ABM program – there’s a critical distinction between operational alignment (e.g., tactical coordination) and philosophical unification (e.g., a shared strategic vision). Marketing and Sales need to unite around the audience they’re targeting, the revenue goals they’re striving for, and the products they’re selling.

Basic CRM functionality allows you to track complicated programs and engagement – while software like HubSpot or Salesforce offers significant advantages, even a basic spreadsheet will help you monitor first-party intent signals and optimize your campaigns. Automate as much of this process as you can (basic marketing and sales technologies named below can help). 

Account Selection

How do you select accounts that belong within your ABM campaign? What criteria should be used for account selection?

Use retention and product usage data to create lookalike audiences with strong product-market fit – your ABM segments should reflect the characteristics of your most successful customers. The segment with the highest product-market fit might merit a one-to-one campaign, while segments with slightly lower fit might perform better with a one-to-many strategy.

Combine fit data with intent signals – look for companies that match your ideal customer profile and show signs of active interest.

If you don’t yet have customer data (or customers), use a design thinking approach – ask yourself how you can acquire your first 20 customers. This might borrow from activities used in a one-to-one approach (e.g., networking with investors to get introductions) and a one-to-many approach (e.g., partnering with influencers and subject matter experts). Compare conversion rates for different types of customers against benchmarks and refine your targeting strategy until you optimize your segmentation approach, then expand your target account list.

Refine your targeting based on unit economics – once you reach $5-10MM in revenue, you should have enough data to analyze which segments perform better than others—and why. Double down and make more strategic bets based on the segments and strategies that drive the most profitable returns.

How many accounts can you have in an ABM campaign? Are there different types of ABM?

Campaign size depends on your specific situation – if Sales is doing true account planning, then Marketing should have a more targeted audience that they are helping to activate. Campaign size is also limited by resources, including the size of the Sales team, the Revenue teams’ budget, and the expected return on investment of ABM activities.

The degree of personalization increases as the number of target accounts decreases – one-to-one personalization involves significant marketing investment and thorough account research and planning on behalf of the sales team. For example, a one-to-one approach might justify creating a password-protected deal hub for a specific account, while a one-to-few strategy would create a bespoke landing page and a one-to-many campaign would offer more broadly-relevant resources on the public website.

ABM Type	Number of Target Accounts		Examples of Activities
One-to-one	Typically 25-50, but varies from 10 (for 7-figure deals) to 100 per AE		Meetings, onsites, dinners, bespoke microsites, executive involvement, gifting
One-to-few	100s, to low 1,000s, which might include 100-200 named accounts and 25 strategic accounts		Dinners with multiple people, regional roadshows, targeted ads, private online events, gifting, OOH advertising
One-to-many	SOM, which is typically 1,000s		Email marketing, more broadly targeted ads, event speaking and sponsorship, partnerships with subject matter expert

Campaign Design

What does a well-structured ABM campaign look like in practice? What touchpoints should an ABM campaign have? 

Create program-specific briefs to define the touchpoints and funnel for each vertical – Demand Generation or Product Marketing is responsible for the programs that ladder up to each campaign. A single campaign might include separate program briefs for each audience. Provide information about the targets in that segment in the brief and key program management information including:

• Marketing’s responsibilities within the program
• Sales’ responsibilities within the program
• What the audience is expected to do at each stage of the funnel
• How performance will be measured

A single campaign might have 100s of touchpoints – every interaction with your brand (including discussing your brand with others) is equally important. However, campaigns can only measure known touchpoints, so it’s essential that you track engagement as diligently as possible while acknowledging the “known unknown” of the interactions that happen outside your direct control.

To create a cohesive campaign, the Brand team should build a campaign narrative and high-level strategy brief – in a mature company, the brand/communications team develops a brief that explains how to articulate the brand story and how that story should manifest in campaign narratives.

What does running a multi-layered ABM approach entail?

The best ABM campaigns establish trust through multiple voices at every level – subject matter experts are an influential voice of authority at the brand level. As you push targets through the ABM funnel, the voice (and results) of other customers becomes increasingly valuable to the target audience.

How ABM builds trust and authority through the 3 levels of marketing campaigns
Level	Example
Brand-level awareness – gets your product into the minds of your ideal buyers	This top-of-funnel “brain investment” can take many forms: • Attending, speaking at, and/or sponsoring events and trade shows • Targeted thought leadership advertising campaigns • Brand promise campaigns that communicate your core value proposition
Solution-level campaigns – more targeted campaigns appeal to common problems for each of your ABM segments	Each segment or vertical (e.g., manufacturing, retail, etc.) should have its own campaign with messaging tailored to their specific needs.
Product-level campaigns – build trust within your most valuable segment	If you have a complex product, each account might need a different configuration that meets their unique needs. Highly targeted campaigns demonstrate how specific products solve particular use cases within a segment. Build trust by leveraging: • Customer evidence • Benchmark data • ROI studies • Customer examples

What do high-touch ABM activities look like across different campaign types?

Face-to-face meetings are essential for one-to-one accounts – if a target has the potential to become a 7-figure account, in-person interactions are expected. Executives might join these visits, or at least be consistently involved throughout the sales cycle.

One-to-few activities balance personalization with scale – touchpoints remain highly customized and in-person interactions are still important, but personalization must be executed in a way that is scalable from a financial and personnel standpoint. In-person or virtual events for small groups of people and unique landing pages (rather than entire microsites) provide an individualized “touch” without generating the costs of a one-to-one campaign.

Physical and out-of-home (OOH) touchpoints remain valuable across all ABM types – gifts (that aren’t just promotional items) and physical mail provide value and help build trust over time. OOH advertising in targeted physical locations can also be an effective way to reach buying committees.

Enabling ABM

What ABM-specific software tools are available? When do you need one and how can you choose one?

Sales intelligence platforms build lists and enrich data – solutions such as Clay, ZoomInfo, 6sense, and Apollo can help you segment and identify new accounts.

A range of specialized tools address specific ABM functions and use cases:

• Warmly – de-anonymizes website visitors  
• Instantly.ai – sends cold emails while improving deliverability  
• UserEvidence – helps companies collect feedback, curate success stories, and create content to demonstrate the value of their product to future customers  
• UserGems – tracks job changes to identify newly relevant buyers and trigger automatic outreach
• Mutiny – personalizes websites/ webpages based on target account data to provide a more targeted experience

The best tool selection depends on your needs and maturity – your ABM tech stack should evolve as your approach becomes more sophisticated, but a lack of sophisticated systems shouldn’t prevent you from starting ABM. Start with the basics–a CRM and basic sales and marketing automation platforms–and upgrade to more complex tools as needed. 

Data integration becomes increasingly important as your ABM strategy becomes more complex – your tools must be able to share data effectively in order to provide a complete view of funnel progress and enable more nuanced targeting in the future. 

What are the hallmarks of effective ABM content creation?

Educational content is especially important – because ABM campaigns are particularly effective for complex products whose adoption requires change management, their targets require more education and cultivation than customers of more transactional products.

The most effective content comes through trusted voices, not company-owned channels – customers have shifted from a search-centric to a social-centric mindset and are now more likely to discover a new product through social feeds instead of through a direct search. Publishing content directly on your website can build authority after discovery, but it will no longer attract the right customers.

Buyers are receptive to the product opinions of subject matter experts that they already listen to – identify influencers who are respected by and visible to the buyers you are targeting. Partner with these individuals to create content or incorporate their perspectives into your materials. 

ABM campaigns use familiar marketing tactics but apply them more strategically – the high potential nature of ABM targets justifies the targeting precision and degree of personalization/ investment with which standard tactics are executed. For example, a non-ABM campaign would never develop a unique landing page to attract a single customer with an ACV of $20. However, it might make sense to develop a case study that is designed to attract a single ABM target with an ACV of $15,000.

Cross-Functional Alignment

How should Sales and Marketing work together on an ABM campaign? 

Underlying agreement about GTM principles unites all customer-facing teams – establish shared values that guide how Marketing, Sales, and customer Success operate. These values create a cultural foundation for collaboration, solving problems, and executing on important initiatives.

Standing weekly meetings improve communication and coordination – while the formality of these meetings might depend on team size, Sales and Marketing should routinely connect to discuss campaign performance, customer insights, and adjustments to strategy. If there are no updates on those topics, use the meeting as an opportunity to discuss recent learnings, wins/losses, or feedback that can be used to modify messaging.

The demand generation (or product marketing) function drives alignment and execution – the team that is responsible for projecting and generating revenue has the authority to hold Marketing and Sales accountable and keep campaigns moving forward. Having a third-party (e.g., not Marketing or Sales) ABM owner can help both teams avoid conflict and work together more effectively.

How do you share ABM accountability between Sales and Marketing?

Use shared dashboards and reports to create a single source of truth – all teams should use the same data and have the same understanding of key objectives, performance, and areas of risk.

Day-to-day leaders must set an example – directors and managers must effectively manage up, down, and across for ABM campaigns to succeed. The way mid-level managers allocate work, accept responsibility, and respond to trends in performance affects how their teams will work together and respect the ABM approach.

Campaign Performance Measurement and Optimization

How often should you evaluate the performance of an ABM campaign? 

In real-time: 

• Update dashboards if possible – use your CRM, a BI tool, or even a Google Sheets automation to provide real-time visibility into campaign performance.

On a weekly basis: 

• Measure conversion and engagement on a weekly basis – the most effective ABM campaigns include dashboards that track progress against goals for each vertical and each stage of the funnel. This visibility allows the team to adjust tactics as needed and reallocate investments based on what’s working.
• Use a pacing document that tracks the entire funnel – this document should measure the number of accounts and conversions at each stage of the funnel. Track both leading and lagging indicators.

What metrics should you look at to measure the performance of your ABM campaign?

5 key metric categories enable comprehensive performance measurement:

• Volume metrics (how many accounts are entering the funnel)
• Conversion rate metrics (how effectively prospects move through stages)
• Velocity metrics (how quickly prospects progress)
• Value metrics (the worth of leads, meetings, opportunities, and customers)
• Cost metrics (the expense of generating each outcome)

Focus performance discussions around insights, not data – data is a tool, not necessarily an answer. Ask questions and encourage discussion around trends that could be promising or troubling. For example, if Marketing sends an email that books 10 meetings, the effectiveness of the email is determined both by booking rate and the quality of the meetings, which is often a qualitative perspective provided by Sales.

Where are common areas of improvement within an ABM campaign? 

Common areas of improvement include:

• Positioning issues (the most common problem) – if your campaign isn’t resonating, reexamine whether your messaging effectively addresses the pain points of your target audience. Poor messaging can undermine even the best-designed campaigns.
• A lack of problem-market fit – sometimes, consistent poor performance indicates that your solution might not be addressing a real and pressing market need. If this is the case, step back and revisit your fundamental value proposition.
• Audience selection – if both your messaging and problem-market fit are strong, you might not be targeting or segmenting accounts properly. You should always revisit your segmentation parameters after periods of significant growth.
• Insufficient spending or partnerships may limit reach – if traction is slow, you may need to increase spending or prioritize partnerships to amplify your message and increase visibility.

Regularly monitor external factors as a part of campaign management – nothing happens in a vacuum. In addition to measuring conversion and engagement, you should be aware of external forces that could influence how your target customers behave or perceive your brand. Routine vigilance helps you identify potential risk factors as early as possible.

Overall

What are the most important things to get right?

ABM depends on your ability to plan as a team – many ABM campaigns fail because Marketing and Sales don’t partner closely enough with planning, practicing, and enablement before launch. Marketing can’t simply throw campaigns “over the wall” to Sales and expect success, just as Sales can’t expect Marketing to magically activate the right accounts if they don’t communicate.

ABM principles extend beyond the pre-sale motion – the targeted, account-based approach is equally important for customer marketing. Extending this strategy to lifecycle campaigns and post-sale activities can often provide more value than it does to pre-sale activities. 

Customer evidence gathered through post-sale ABM strengthens pre-sale efforts – success stories, testimonials, and case studies developed through customer marketing become powerful assets for acquiring new accounts in similar segments.

What are common pitfalls?

Hasty list building and segmentation – this can be a tricky process, especially when you are still trying to determine your product-market fit. Take the time upfront to be thoughtful about who your customer is instead of wasting time and resources to build a campaign that goes after the wrong audience.

Operating in silos – if Marketing and Sales don’t collaborate effectively, ABM campaigns can’t be fully optimized or leveraged to their full potential.