Account-based marketing (ABM) is making waves in the B2B world.
Particularly for SaaS companies looking to optimize their presales processes and achieve faster growth.
Sales teams and marketers alike are increasingly searching for ways to focus their efforts on the prospects that matter most—the high-value accounts that offer the best chances of long-term success.
ABM flips the traditional marketing funnel on its head, allowing businesses to focus on quality rather than quantity, tailoring their strategies to fit the specific needs of a select few, rather than casting a wide net.
For companies with a robust SaaS presales process, ABM can be a game changer. By concentrating on key accounts, businesses are better positioned to deliver highly personalized experiences that drive engagement and improve conversion rates.
In this guide, we’ll explore what ABM really means, how it works, and practical tips to help you implement an ABM strategy that ensures your team targets the right accounts to maximize ROI.
What is account-based marketing?
Account-based marketing (ABM) is a strategic growth approach that unites marketing and sales teams to target specific, high-value accounts with personalized campaigns.
Instead of marketing to a wide range of prospects with similar characteristics, ABM narrows the focus to key businesses or accounts that promise significant revenue opportunities.
Think of ABM as the sniper approach to marketing versus the shotgun approach of traditional strategies.
Rather than casting a wide net and hoping for the best, ABM focuses on delivering tailored, individualized experiences to a select group of accounts. This means that marketing efforts are far more bespoke, designed to cater to the unique challenges, needs, and opportunities of each targeted business.
For instance, a SaaS company might use detailed B2B data to create hyper-personalized marketing materials that address the specific pain points of a key prospect. This could involve customizing email campaigns, curating relevant content for decision-makers, or even hosting exclusive webinars that speak directly to the account’s needs.
How to target the right accounts in your ABM campaign
Finding the right accounts to target in your ABM campaign can be tricky, but it’s essential for success.
After all, ABM campaigns are resource-intensive, and targeting the wrong accounts can drain budgets without delivering the expected ROI. So, how do you identify the ideal strategic accounts?
It all starts with understanding which businesses have the highest revenue potential and aligning them with your company’s long-term goals.
One way to begin is by reviewing the past purchase history of potential accounts. If a company has already shown a pattern of investing in similar solutions or even in your competitors’ offerings, they’re likely a good candidate for ABM.
The goal is to engage accounts that are already primed for your services. Think of it like targeting low-hanging fruit. Additionally, look at their position within your sales funnel. Are these accounts already familiar with your brand? If so, they may be ready to convert with the right, tailored approach.
Another key factor is the account’s alignment with your ideal customer profile (ICP). Does this account fit the mold of businesses that have successfully engaged with your offerings in the past?
Finally, consider the broader strategic goals your company is pursuing. Are you looking to expand your brand’s reach within a particular industry? Do you need to re-engage with previous accounts that have fallen off? By carefully analyzing these factors, you can ensure your ABM efforts are directed at the accounts most likely to yield the greatest results.
How does account-based marketing work?
Account-based marketing (ABM) works by narrowing the focus of your marketing efforts to a select number of high-value accounts.
Instead of marketing to a large audience, ABM views each account as its own “market of one,” and creates highly personalized strategies targeting specific decision-makers within each account.
By focusing on these key accounts, ABM enables marketers and sales teams to create deeper, more tailored relationships that improve the chance of closing deals.
ABM is all about precision. Marketing teams work hand-in-hand with sales to ensure the messaging, content, and outreach strategies are hyper-focused on a small group of carefully chosen accounts that show significant revenue potential.
This is a clear departure from traditional B2B strategies, where the goal is to cast a wide net and generate leads en masse.
With this in mind, let’s break down how ABM works.
The difference between ABM and lead generation
At first glance, account-based marketing and lead generation might seem similar. Both strategies aim to convert potential prospects into paying customers, but the methods they use differ greatly.
Lead generation is a broader approach that involves capturing as many leads as possible across various channels—email, social media, and events—to fuel the sales funnel. It’s about getting the attention of as many people as possible and then nurturing those leads through the sales process.
In contrast, ABM flips this approach by honing in on a few specific, high-value accounts from the start. These accounts are chosen based on their revenue potential and alignment with your company’s ideal customer profile. Rather than generating a large volume of leads, ABM focuses on deepening relationships with a select group, providing them with highly personalized content and messaging that speaks directly to their unique needs.
Think of lead generation as casting a wide fishing net, while ABM is more like spear-fishing—you’re targeting specific fish with precision.
Account-based marketing vs. inbound marketing
Inbound marketing relies on attracting leads through engaging, valuable content that appeals to a broad audience. The goal is to pull people in by offering them something they find useful, be it blog posts, eBooks, or webinars. Once a potential customer engages with this content, they’re nurtured through the funnel until they’re ready to make a purchase.
ABM, on the other hand, focuses on proactively targeting specific, high-value accounts with personalized outreach efforts. While inbound marketing is more passive—waiting for leads to come to you—ABM is much more aggressive and direct.
Marketers don’t wait for prospects to find their content; they reach out to them with curated, targeted campaigns designed to resonate with their specific needs.
Lead scoring in ABM
Lead scoring is a crucial component of account-based marketing. As you start to interact with your targeted accounts, it’s important to know which leads within those accounts are most likely to convert. Lead scoring helps prioritize prospects based on their engagement level, purchase intent, and fit within your ideal customer profile.
In ABM, the goal is not just to generate leads but to qualify and prioritize them efficiently.
Lead scoring typically involves evaluating a prospect’s behavior—such as email engagement, website visits, or content downloads—and assigning them a score that reflects their potential to become a customer. This score can help sales teams focus their efforts on leads that are most likely to convert.
The benefits of account-based marketing
Account-based marketing (ABM) offers significant advantages, particularly for B2B companies targeting large enterprises, governments, or other high-value accounts.
For businesses with long sales cycles and big deal sizes, ABM provides a targeted, personalized approach that can result in higher returns, increased efficiency, and improved customer satisfaction.
Let’s break down some of the most compelling benefits of adopting an ABM strategy.
Personalized marketing approach
Today’s buyers expect personalized experiences, and ABM delivers this in spades.
According to research by McKinsey, 71% of consumers want personalized interactions, and 76% get frustrated when they don’t receive them.
ABM solves this personalization problem by allowing businesses to tailor their marketing efforts to the specific needs and attributes of each targeted account.
Instead of casting a wide net and hoping for engagement, ABM enables marketers to focus on individual accounts, crafting messages that resonate with specific decision-makers.
In essence, ABM turns generic outreach into a bespoke experience that aligns with the high expectations of today’s B2B buyers.
Sales and marketing alignment
One of the key benefits of ABM is its ability to align marketing and sales teams.
Traditionally, these teams often operate in silos, leading to miscommunication and wasted resources. However, ABM encourages collaboration from the start. Both teams work hand-in-hand to identify target accounts, develop personalized campaigns, and move those accounts through the sales funnel in a coordinated manner.
This synergy not only improves efficiency but also makes it easier to tie marketing efforts directly to revenue outcomes. With ABM, marketing’s impact is clear: campaigns are designed to support specific sales objectives, and both teams remain aligned throughout the buyer journey.
This alignment reduces friction, ensures consistency in messaging, and ultimately leads to more high-value accounts closing deals.
Shorter sales cycles
In traditional B2B marketing, the sales cycle can be long and drawn out, especially when multiple stakeholders are involved in the decision-making process.
ABM helps shorten this cycle by simultaneously nurturing all key decision-makers within an account. Instead of waiting for approval to trickle up through the organization, ABM engages everyone at once, creating a more efficient path to the final decision.
This accelerated process allows companies to close deals faster, which in turn leads to quicker revenue generation.
Clearer ROI
ABM’s highly targeted nature makes it one of the most measurable marketing strategies available. Because it focuses on a small number of high-value accounts, companies can track their success with precision, using key performance indicators (KPIs) such as revenue growth, deal size, and customer retention.
This clear, data-driven approach not only highlights the effectiveness of the strategy but also makes it easier for marketing teams to justify their budgets and demonstrate their contribution to the company’s bottom line.
Fewer wasted resources
ABM reduces wasted time and resources by narrowing the focus to accounts that are most likely to convert. Mature ABM programs leverage data sources, such as intent data, to identify prospects that are already showing interest in the company’s solutions.
This makes it easier to prioritize the most promising accounts and prune those that are unlikely to close. As a result, companies can spend their resources more efficiently, focusing only on the accounts that offer the highest potential for success.
How to create an account-based marketing strategy
Creating a successful account-based marketing (ABM) strategy requires careful planning, alignment between teams, and continuous optimization. It’s not just about targeting high-value accounts—it’s about creating personalized, data-driven campaigns that align with your company’s long-term goals.
Below, we’ll outline the essential steps to build an effective ABM strategy, from organizational alignment to post-campaign analysis.
Use a strategic account planning template
The foundation of any successful ABM strategy is organization. To keep everything aligned and focused, start by using a strategic account planning template to help structure your ABM efforts and ensure that all team members are on the same page.
A well-rounded template includes sections such as:
- Business overview: Understand the company’s vision, mission, and pain points.
- Key business initiatives: Identify the account’s long-term goals.
- Customer relationship landscape: Map out key stakeholders and decision-makers.
- Customer products and revenue: Analyze what products they sell and where they earn revenue.
- Account competitor analysis: Understand the competitive landscape for each account.
- Buying process and selling points: Identify what triggers buying decisions and the account’s decision-making process.
- Relationship goals and strategy: Define the outcomes you’re aiming for with this account.
- Sales opportunities, targets, and risks: Identify areas of growth and potential obstacles.
- Action plan: Clearly outline next steps to move the account through the funnel.
By following this template, you can ensure that your team is consistently applying best practices to each account.
Secure organizational ABM alignment
Before diving into ABM execution, it’s crucial to align your organization internally. ABM requires tight collaboration across various teams—especially marketing and sales. Achieving alignment ensures that everyone is working toward the same goals, making your strategy more streamlined and effective.
To secure this alignment, your VPs of Marketing and Sales should initiate conversations with stakeholders across departments.
Here’s what to cover:
- ABM goals and KPIs: Define measurable objectives.
- Resource allocation: Ensure your team has the budget, personnel, and tools needed.
- Customer journey: Create a seamless experience from lead generation through to the presales process.
- Communication: Keep marketing, sales, and customer success teams in sync with clear lines of communication.
Alignment also means getting buy-in from everyone involved in the ABM strategy, from sales teams interacting with potential accounts to customer success reps who ensure retention.
The more unified your organization is, the smoother your ABM process will be.
Build your ABM team
Building the right ABM team is critical to executing your strategy effectively.
In the early stages of ABM implementation, you might only need a small team—a marketer and a salesperson who can work closely together to iron out any issues. However, as your strategy scales, so should your team.
A typical ABM team includes:
- Marketing: Responsible for creating personalized content, running targeted ad campaigns, and managing lead generation efforts.
- Sales: Focused on direct outreach to accounts, nurturing relationships, and guiding prospects through the sales funnel.
- Customer Success: Plays a role in retention by ensuring that closed accounts remain satisfied and engaged.
To make sure the team is scalable, ensure that one marketer can support up to 10 salespeople, and each salesperson can handle up to 10 accounts. ABM is about personalization, so the team needs to be dedicated to building and maintaining relationships with each account’s buying committee.
Research and pick your ideal set of target accounts
The success of any ABM strategy depends on selecting the right target accounts. This step begins with research to identify which accounts offer the highest potential for long-term growth.
When identifying accounts, consider factors such as:
- Mission, vision, and business objectives: Do the account’s long-term goals align with what your company offers?
- Inbound engagement: Are any high-value accounts already engaging with your inbound marketing content?
- Business maturity and growth trajectory: Consider the size, revenue, and growth potential of the target company.
- Tools and platforms: What technologies is the account using, and do they align with your solutions?
Once you’ve gathered enough information, select a set of high-value accounts that meet your criteria.
Finalize account plans
With your target accounts identified, it’s time to develop detailed account plans. These plans outline the specific content, strategies, and steps you’ll take to engage each account.
Work with both your marketing and sales teams to answer the following questions:
- Who are the key decision-makers in each account’s buying committee?
- What personalized content will you need to engage each stakeholder?
- Which channels will be most effective for delivering this content?
Marketing and sales must work together to craft a customized plan for each account. This plan should be flexible, allowing your team to pivot as needed based on feedback from the account’s stakeholders.
The key is to tailor each piece of content to the specific concerns and interests of the decision-makers involved.
Attract contacts associated with high-quality target accounts
Now that you have your account plans in place, it’s time to attract the right contacts. This involves not only engaging decision-makers but also reaching other key stakeholders within each account. Personalized content is critical here. You’ll need to create materials that resonate with your target audience and offer them tangible value.
To successfully attract contacts, focus on the channels they use most frequently. For B2B companies, LinkedIn is often the most effective platform. Set up search alerts and engage with relevant groups where your prospects are active.
You can also consider tactics like:
- Direct messaging: Send personalized messages via email or social media.
- Podcasts and webinars: Host events that address pain points specific to your target accounts.
- Sponsored content: Share industry insights through targeted blog posts or newsletters.
- Custom landing pages: Create account-specific landing pages that highlight your company’s ability to solve their specific problems.
As you attract contacts, make sure your efforts remain focused on accounts that are most likely to convert.
Forge strong relationships with the account’s buying committee
Building lasting relationships with your accounts’ buying committees is a cornerstone of ABM success. Once you’ve made initial contact, it’s important to consistently engage with key stakeholders, demonstrating your value over time.
Here are a few ways to strengthen these relationships:
- Personalized content: Share case studies, white papers, or reports that speak directly to each stakeholder’s pain points.
- One-on-one meetings: Where possible, offer direct communication with decision-makers, making them feel like a priority.
- Events: Host networking events or exclusive product demos tailored to your target accounts.
- Ongoing support: Continue offering solutions and insights that help them navigate challenges, even after the deal is closed.
Remember, building trust takes time, especially for companies with longer sales cycles. Consistent, personalized outreach is key to maintaining strong relationships.
Measure and analyze your ABM results
No ABM strategy is complete without tracking and analyzing your results. This will help you identify what’s working, what needs improvement, and how you can optimize future campaigns.
Key metrics to measure include:
- Account engagement: How often are target accounts interacting with your content?
- Revenue attributed to target accounts: How much revenue are these accounts generating?
- Deal velocity: How long does it take to move an account from initial contact to closed deal?
- Close rates: What percentage of targeted accounts convert to customers?
Regularly review these metrics and make adjustments to your ABM strategy as needed. By doing so, you’ll be able to fine-tune your approach and drive even better results over time.
Account-based marketing framework
To implement account-based marketing (ABM) effectively, businesses need a clear framework that guides how they align resources, define target accounts, and go to market. This framework ensures that marketing and sales efforts are coordinated and that accounts receive personalized, high-value interactions at every stage of the buying journey.
Here are the key components of a solid ABM framework:
Marketing-sales alignment
A successful ABM strategy depends heavily on the alignment between marketing and sales. These two teams need to work together seamlessly to ensure that target accounts receive consistent messaging and support throughout the entire presales process. This collaboration isn’t just about regular meetings—it’s about clearly defining roles, responsibilities, and resource allocation.
Sales and marketing teams should jointly decide on:
- The resources dedicated to each target account.
- Clear roles for managing the handoff between marketing’s lead generation and sales’ relationship management.
- How success will be measured, including KPIs that both teams can track together.
This alignment is critical because, without it, an ABM strategy will struggle to deliver the personalized experiences that make it so effective.
Account qualification
Not all accounts are created equal, and in ABM, identifying the right accounts is half the battle. Account qualification involves creating an ideal customer profile (ICP) and using that profile to decide which accounts are worth pursuing.
Both marketing and sales teams should contribute to defining the ICP, considering key factors such as:
- Financial potential: Does the account have the budget and purchasing power to make a significant impact on your revenue?
- Scalability: Is there an opportunity to grow the relationship with this account over time?
- Competitive landscape: Are competitors already engaging with this account? If so, how can you differentiate your approach?
By carefully selecting target accounts, your ABM efforts can be more focused, with a higher likelihood of success.
Go-to-market approach
Once target accounts are identified, the next step is to map out a go-to-market strategy. This includes determining how a customer will move through the presales process using an ABM approach. The goal is to create a smooth, personalized buying journey for each account.
In this stage, it’s important to identify potential friction points or communication gaps that could slow down the sales cycle. Addressing these issues early ensures a more streamlined experience for the account, which ultimately leads to faster conversions.
Your go-to-market approach should also emphasize adding value at every touchpoint. Whether through personalized content, targeted offers, or VIP experiences, each interaction should make the account feel like a priority.
ABM tactics for B2B marketing
To execute an account-based marketing strategy effectively, companies need a suite of tactics that are tailored to the specific needs of their target accounts.
ABM tactics are not one-size-fits-all. Rather, they focus on delivering personalized content and outreach that resonates with each account.
Here are some of the most effective ABM tactics used in B2B marketing:
Events
In-person and virtual events provide an excellent opportunity to engage directly with key decision-makers from target accounts. ABM-focused events often involve personalized invitations, VIP experiences, and targeted follow-ups that ensure the event is relevant to each prospect.
These events can range from large conferences to intimate dinners, where key prospects receive exclusive access to product demonstrations or insider knowledge.
Webinars
Webinars have become an increasingly popular ABM tactic due to their scalability and effectiveness in delivering targeted content.
According to the 2023 BrightTalk LeadGen report, 97% of B2B buyers prefer webinar content when researching vendors. Webinars allow companies to tailor content to a specific account’s needs while also showcasing thought leadership.
An ABM-driven webinar might feature case studies or solutions that directly address the challenges faced by the target accounts. The webinar follow-up can also be customized, offering personalized materials or one-on-one consultations with experts to further deepen the engagement.
Direct mail
In the digital age, direct mail has become a creative way to cut through the noise and reach decision-makers in a more personal manner. With ABM, direct mail campaigns can be highly targeted and offer high-value gifts or incentives that resonate with key accounts.
Because ABM focuses on fewer accounts, companies can justify investing more in premium direct mail initiatives to make a big impact.
Email campaigns
Email remains a crucial tool in ABM, but the approach is much more personalized than traditional email marketing. Instead of blasting a generic message to a large list, ABM email campaigns are crafted specifically for each account, addressing their unique pain points and offering tailored solutions.
Personalized subject lines, in-depth insights, and offers that appeal directly to the recipient are key to successful ABM email outreach.
Paid advertising
Paid advertising, particularly through platforms like LinkedIn and Google, can be tailored to target specific companies and personas. ABM campaigns use highly focused pay-per-click (PPC) initiatives that zero in on target accounts based on their industry, job titles, and behaviors.
Retargeting ads can also be used to re-engage prospects who have visited your website or interacted with your brand in some way.
Web personalization
Once prospects land on your website, ABM tactics ensure that they receive a tailored experience. Web personalization technology can create a customized landing page or web journey that speaks directly to the target account.
Instead of a generic homepage, the website content might showcase specific case studies or solutions that are relevant to the account’s industry and needs.
This level of personalization not only increases engagement but also demonstrates to the prospect that your company understands their unique challenges and is prepared to offer a bespoke solution.
Account-based marketing examples
Account-based marketing (ABM) strategies can take many forms, depending on the target audience and goals of the business.
Here are some notable examples of companies across different spaces successfully implementing ABM, using creative and personalized approaches to engage high-value accounts.
Calendly: Engaging prospects with personalized virtual events
Calendly, a leader in scheduling software, leverages virtual events to demonstrate its product’s value while building relationships with key prospects. As part of their ABM strategy, Calendly offers free access to its software and hosts virtual events that walk prospects through the platform’s features, showing how it simplifies the scheduling process.
The beauty of Calendly’s ABM approach lies in its personalized follow-up. They invite individuals who attend these events to engage in one-on-one consultations, helping them set up and customize the software for their specific needs. This tailored approach not only increases engagement, but also improves conversion rates, as potential customers get a firsthand look at how Calendly can solve their scheduling problems.
GumGum: Personalization through creative storytelling
GumGum, an AI-based computer vision company, took personalization to the next level when they created a custom comic book for T-Mobile CEO John Legere. This wasn’t just any comic book—it featured Legere as the main character, complete with his very own sidekick, all built around his personal interests.
By creating such a unique, customized piece of content, GumGum was able to cut through the noise and grab Legere’s attention. This creative approach ultimately helped them secure T-Mobile as a client. The comic book didn’t just appeal to Legere’s love of storytelling and superheroes, it made him feel personally connected to the brand, which is the hallmark of a great ABM strategy.
This example highlights how ABM can use fun, engaging content to build relationships with decision-makers in a way that traditional marketing might not.
Interactive demos for account-based marketing
Interactive demos are an essential tool in any account-based marketing (ABM) strategy, particularly for businesses in the SaaS space. They allow potential customers to engage directly with a product, experiencing firsthand how it addresses their unique challenges.
In ABM, interactive demos can be tailored to the needs of each specific account, making the presales process much more engaging and relevant.
This hands-on experience provides immediate value, showing the prospect exactly how the software solves their problems, rather than just telling them.
Additionally, the usage of interactive demos with Walnut helps create a two-way dialogue, allowing the sales team to gather insights and feedback during the demo. This creates an opportunity to refine the approach and further tailor the ABM strategy to meet the prospect’s needs.
Ultimately, interactive demos help accelerate the decision-making process and increase the likelihood of closing high-value deals.
