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How to Use Advertising Performance Metrics to Elevate Your Account-Based Strategy

Learn how to use advertising performance metrics to optimize your ABM campaigns, target effectively, and drive better results.

January 17, 2025 | 11 minute read


Kirsten Von Der Wroge

Kirsten Von Der Wroge
Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Demandbase

Ads as Selectors Blog Hero Image

Most Marketers Are Leaving Results on the Table—Don’t Be One of Them

Most marketers are sitting on a goldmine of advertising data but have no idea how to use it to its full potential. They track impressions, clicks, and engagement because everyone says they should, but when it comes to turning those numbers into smarter campaigns? Crickets.

Running ads without digging into your metrics is like throwing darts in the dark. Sure, you’ll hit something eventually, but you’ll waste time, money, and opportunities in the process.

What if, instead, you could:

  • Pinpoint the exact accounts to target next?
  • Stop wasting budget on audiences that don’t care?
  • Turn raw data into campaigns that actually move the needle?

You can—but only if you stop treating ad metrics as an afterthought and start using them as a strategic weapon.

This is where advertising performance metrics shine. They’re not just numbers on a dashboard; they’re the key to optimizing campaigns, crafting hyper-personalized follow-ups, and connecting your marketing dollars to real results.

In this article, we’ll show you how to stop leaving results on the table and start using your advertising metrics to dominate your account-based strategy. Get ready to turn your data into a growth machine.

The Role of Advertising Metrics in ABM

At its core, account-based marketing (ABM) focuses on identifying and engaging high-value accounts with personalized campaigns. Advertising serves as a vital component of this process by enabling marketers to reach accounts where they spend their time online.

Advertising performance metrics, such as impressions, clicks, targeting success, and engagement data, are essential for optimizing ABM campaigns. These metrics go beyond standard vanity metrics and serve as strategic indicators for understanding account behavior, perfecting targeting, and achieving better campaign results faster.

Addressing Common Marketer Pain Points Using Ad Metrics

Integrating advertising performance metrics into your ABM strategy can feel like flipping on the lights in a dark room. Suddenly, you can see what’s working, what isn’t, and how to navigate obstacles that every marketer faces. Here’s how ad metrics can help solve some of the biggest challenges marketers face on the day to day.

1. Data Connectivity: Bringing Everything Together

Ever feel like you’re piecing together a puzzle, but half the pieces are missing? That’s what it’s like when your data lives in separate, disconnected systems. Trying to manually pull insights from siloed databases is time-consuming and often frustrating.

Ad metrics, when integrated into a unified platform like Demandbase, fix this problem. They pull all your campaign data—like impressions, clicks, and account activity—into one cohesive system. Now, instead of jumping between tools and spreadsheets, you’ve got one clear view of how your campaigns are performing. With all your data in one place, creating effective retargeting campaigns becomes a breeze.

Why it matters: Less time spent wrangling data means more time crafting strategies that actually move the needle.

2. Resource Constraints: Freeing Up Your Time

If you’ve ever spent hours exporting data, reformatting spreadsheets, and trying to spot patterns, you know how draining and inefficient the process can be. And let’s be honest—it’s a job that’s ripe for human error.

Enter automated workflows. Tools that connect directly to your ad metrics can automatically process and organize your data. Instead of slogging through manual tasks, you can focus on the big-picture stuff, like planning your next campaign or brainstorming creative ideas.

Why it matters: Automation lets you work smarter, not harder, giving you back valuable time to invest in what really matters: driving results.

3. Targeting Limitations: Reaching the Right People

One of the biggest frustrations in marketing is realizing your ads are being served to the wrong audience—or worse, the same audience over and over. This leads to wasted ad spend, annoyed prospects, and missed opportunities.

Ad metrics solve this by showing you, in real time, how different accounts are engaging with your ads. With this information, you can retarget accounts that have already shown interest, skip over those that aren’t engaging, and avoid hitting the same people too often. It’s like having a GPS for your campaigns, guiding your ads to exactly where they need to go.

Why it matters: Better targeting means better results—and fewer wasted dollars on ads that don’t hit the mark.

4. Understanding Impact: Knowing What Works

Ever wonder if all those ads you’re running are actually making a difference? It’s hard to improve your campaigns if you don’t know what’s working and what isn’t.

Advertising performance metrics shine a light on this. They let you compare accounts that engaged with your ads to those that didn’t. For example, did an account that clicked on your ad later become a customer? By tracking these insights, you can identify which strategies drive real results and which ones need adjustment.

Why it matters: When you know what’s working, you can focus your time, energy, and budget on what delivers the biggest impact.

Use Case 1: Optimize Campaign Performance with Advertising Data

Advertising performance metrics do more than just track clicks and impressions—they provide the foundation for making smarter, more informed campaign decisions. Here’s how these metrics can be applied to build better campaigns.

1. Target Accounts Under Impression/Click Thresholds

Not every ad reaches its intended audience, and some accounts may not be exposed to your campaign as much as they should. Targeting accounts with low impressions or clicks ensures that no opportunity is left untapped.

  • Why it works: Accounts below impression or click thresholds likely haven’t seen enough of your message to engage meaningfully. By increasing exposure to these accounts, you expand your reach and improve the chances of capturing their attention.
  • How to do it: Use advertising platforms like LinkedIn or Google Ads, integrated with tools such as Demandbase, to identify under-targeted accounts and reallocate your ad spend toward them.

Ad Metrics as Selectors Blog Impression Volume Reporting Image

2. Avoid Creative Fatigue and Overspending

While under-targeting is a problem, over-targeting can be just as costly. Showing the same ads to the same accounts repeatedly can lead to creative fatigue, where audiences tune out or even develop negative perceptions of your brand.

  • Why it works: By excluding accounts that exceed impression or click thresholds, you not only avoid wasting budget but also maintain the freshness of your campaigns.
  • How to do it: Set frequency caps and monitor account activity regularly. Advertising performance metrics can help you spot when an account has reached its engagement threshold, signaling that it’s time to shift focus.

Ad Metrics as Selectors Blog Avoiding Creative Fatigue Image

3. Automate Audience Exports for Seamless Execution

Manually managing audience segments for platforms like LinkedIn, Meta, and Google can be a logistical headache, leading to inefficiencies and missed opportunities. Automating this process ensures that your campaigns stay dynamic and responsive to real-time insights.

  • Why it works: Automated audience exports save time and reduce errors, allowing you to focus on strategic adjustments rather than administrative tasks. This approach ensures that your campaigns are always targeting the most relevant audiences.
  • How to do it: Leverage integration tools that sync your advertising performance data directly with your ad platforms. For example, platforms like Demandbase make it easy to export updated audience lists to your preferred advertising channels automatically.

Use Case 2: Personalized Retargeting with Engagement Data

Let’s face it: no one likes feeling like just another name on a list. Whether you’re reaching out to potential buyers or re-engaging past leads, personalization is the secret sauce that gets your message noticed.

By leveraging insights into how accounts interact with your ads, you can craft hyper-personalized retargeting campaigns that build familiarity, nurture interest, and drive conversions. Here’s how you can make engagement data work for you.

1. Use Engagement Data to Create Campaigns That Speak to Your Audience

Not all accounts interact with your ads in the same way, and that’s a good thing—it means you have insights to work with! By studying which ads people engage with, you can craft follow-up campaigns that feel tailor-made.

How to make it actionable:

  • Break your audience into groups based on behavior. Did they click on an ad about a specific product? Follow up with more information on that product.
  • Keep the messaging specific and relevant. If they showed interest in one part of your offering, lean into that and offer additional value.

Why it works: Personalization shows your audience that you’re paying attention, which makes your brand feel more approachable and trustworthy.

2. Retarget Accounts Previously Served Impressions to Deepen Familiarity

Sometimes, the first touchpoint with a prospect isn’t enough to spark action. Retargeting accounts that have already seen your ads can help reinforce your message and keep your brand top of mind.

How to make it actionable:

  • Focus on accounts that have been served impressions but haven’t clicked. They’re aware of your brand but may need more context to take the next step.
  • Switch up the creative and messaging. Offer a fresh angle, such as customer success stories, testimonials, or a specific value proposition that aligns with their potential needs.

Why it works: Familiarity builds trust. The more an account sees your brand in a thoughtful, consistent way, the more likely they are to engage when the timing is right.

3. Focus on high-engagement accounts

Some accounts go beyond casual interest—they’re clicking, exploring, and spending time with your content. These are your hot leads, and they deserve special attention.

How to make it actionable:

  • Create follow-up messaging that’s highly specific to their engagement. If they clicked on an ad about ROI, follow up with content about cost savings or case studies.
  • Use a personal touch. Consider adding dynamic elements like their company name or industry-related insights to make the message feel even more tailored.

Why it works: High-engagement accounts are further along in their decision-making process, and a personalized follow-up can help move them toward conversion.

Ad Metrics as Selectors Blog Building Account List from Content Syndication

4. Maximize the potential of your target account list (TAL)

Your target account list (TAL) is full of your dream customers, but are you making the most of it? Engagement data can show you which accounts on your list are already interacting with your ads and which need a bit more encouragement.

How to make it actionable:

  • For accounts that clicked on your ads, double down with messaging that aligns with their demonstrated interests.
  • For accounts that haven’t engaged yet, consider a different approach—maybe a new ad format or a different tone in your messaging.

Why it works: By focusing on the accounts that are already showing signs of interest, you’re prioritizing your efforts where they’re most likely to pay off.

5. Connect ad metrics with account intent data

Understanding the “why” behind ad engagement is essential for creating strategies that work.

How to make it actionable:

  • By connecting advertising metrics with account-level intent data, you gain a holistic view of account behavior.
  • Use calculated fields to identify which ads were presented to which accounts, and refine messaging for subsequent stages of the buyer’s journey.
  • Help sales teams prioritize valuable leads by exporting actionable advertising insights directly into tools like Salesforce.

Once campaigns are live, use advertising metrics to track overall progress and explore impact alongside account progression.

  • Demandbase’s Journeys provide a clear way to measure shifts in account stages, like how quickly accounts exposed to ads move through your pipeline compared to non-exposed accounts.Ad Metrics as Selectors Blog Account Journey Builder
  • Analyze variances in brand and product engagement to identify upselling and cross-selling opportunities. For example: Is Account A clicking through to ads for Product A? Consider promoting complementary Product B based on their interest.

By consistently evaluating your data, you can refine campaigns and ensure every dollar contributes to driving meaningful, measurable outcomes.

When the right metrics lead, results follow

Campaigns driven by guesswork are campaigns destined to underperform. Advertising metrics change the game, giving you the clarity and confidence to make decisions that actually move the needle. Whether it’s retargeting with precision, avoiding creative fatigue, or fine-tuning your strategy for maximum impact, these metrics ensure every move you make is backed by data that delivers results.

If you’re ready to work smarter and see better outcomes, it’s time to make advertising metrics a core part of your account-based strategy. Demandbase’s advertising features are built to do just that—integrating seamlessly with your campaigns to uncover insights, optimize performance, and drive engagement where it matters most.


Don’t just guess—know. Start building campaigns that hit the mark.

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Kirsten Von Der Wroge

Kirsten Von Der Wroge
Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Demandbase