What is Account-Based Marketing (ABM)?

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) your way

Account‑Based Marketing (ABM) flips the traditional B2B funnel on its head. Instead of marketing broadly and hoping leads convert, ABM focuses on a defined set of high‑value accounts and orchestrates personalised marketing, sales and advertising tactics to engage them. This guide explains the different approaches to ABM, outlines a step‑by‑step implementation process, highlights the benefits and ROI, and shows how Demandbase’s AI‑driven platform can power your ABM programme—whether you’re a small business or a global enterprise.

One-to-one Account-Based Marketing
A dedicated, senior‑level marketer partners with the account team to create highly customised marketing programmes for “markets of one.” Use this approach for your most strategic, high‑value accounts.

One-to-few Account-Based Marketing
The research‑based principles of one‑to‑one ABM are applied to clusters of 5–15 accounts that share similar business issues or belong to the same industry. This approach allows personalisation while achieving some scale.

One-to-many Account-Based Marketing
Personalization at scale for hundreds of named accounts. Technology plays a key role in tailoring messages and orchestrating campaigns across this larger segment.

Mix and match to suit your needs
Mix and match approaches: high‑performing companies blend 1:1, 1:few, and 1:many ABM to balance breadth and depth. For example, use 1:many for a broad set of prospects, 1:few for mid‑tier accounts, and 1:1 for critical strategic customers.

Few, if any, companies can afford to do true One-to-One ABM to even a fraction of their individual accounts. But most companies have at least a handful of absolutely critical high-value accounts. Relying on a One-to-Few or One-to-Many approach, without doing One-to-One for those key accounts, could mean missing a great deal of opportunity or risking future revenue by failing to deliver an appropriately customized experience.

Learn more about sales and marketing’s role in ABM in The Art of Sales and Marketing Alignment Report by Momentum ITSMA and Demandbase

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Build a target account list using account‑based identification technology and focus on the fundamentals of ABM before scaling.

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Invest in automation and data to scale your ABM programme. Connect your platform to your CRM and marketing automation tools to orchestrate campaigns and measure results.

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Pursue ABM certification through Demandbase Academy to deepen your knowledge and accelerate success.

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What makes account-based marketing so irresistible?

Aligns sales and marketing
Focusing on customer accounts brings sales and marketing together around a shared list of target companies.

Targets the right buyers
ABM ensures you spend time and budget on the accounts and decision‑makers that matter most.

Measures what matters
Successful ABM programmes shift from lead-based metrics to account-centric metrics such as engaged accounts, pipeline, and revenue.

Starts before the form-fill
With the right technology, you can identify anonymous web visitors and engage priority accounts before they fill out a form.

Narrows the playing field
Hyper‑targeted campaigns generate high‑quality leads and drive higher conversion rates.

Optimizes the customer experience
ABM delivers relevant messages at the right moment, supporting customer retention, cross‑sell, and upsell.

Six steps to ABM success

1. Identify

Build a target account list using account‑based identification technology. Look beyond firmographics to signals such as product usage, business fit, interests, and business relationships.

2. Attract

Draw target accounts to your website. Use personalised advertising and content to reach the right stakeholders wherever they are.

3. Engage

Create relevant experiences. Personalise content and calls‑to‑action based on industry, persona, or buyer stage.

4. Convert

Turn engagement into pipeline. Execute ABM campaigns directly in your marketing automation platform and streamline forms to improve lead quality.

5. Close

Help sales seal the deal. Identify the right individuals within target accounts and provide insights to personalise outreach.

6. Measure

Show off your impact across the funnel. Track leading indicators (downloads, marketing qualified accounts) and lagging indicators (win/loss rates, funnel velocity, annual contract value) to gauge effectiveness.

Extending ABM across channels

ABM can be applied to every part of your marketing mix. The result? More efficient and higher performing channels.

Advertising
Display advertising is often thought of as a top-of-the-funnel tactic, focused on driving awareness and generating website traffic. Under an ABM umbrella, account-based advertising campaigns become more strategic, and cover the whole funnel, zeroing in on specific accounts to increase impact and reduce spend.

ABM your advertising by purchasing ads just for your target account segments and then use personalized messaging. Measure how each campaign results in both increased website traffic and engagement from those key accounts. Discover more about optimizing account-based advertising. Consider measuring “cost per engaged account” to determine the effectiveness of your ABM ad budget.

Web marketing
Your website is one of your most important channels. Delivering a one-size-fits-all experience means you’re missing out on some of your biggest potential sales. In an ABM world, you can identify the accounts visiting your site and tailor the experience to their needs. Personalizing almost every word, if you choose.

ABM your website by incorporating your target segments for metrics, as well as user experience. Add them to your analytics to isolate high-value visitors and study their behavior, engagement, and conversion patterns. Optimize their experience with segment-based personalization, driving quickly to relevant content. Start by tweaking existing content and messaging while you build out a library of custom-made assets.

Events and webinars
These channels cast a wide net and fill your funnel, but applying an account-based strategy gets more high-quality leads to your sales team faster. The end result: Higher-value events and increased ROI.

ABM your events by evaluating events and webinar opportunities with an eye toward high overlap between attendees and your target account lists. (TIP: If you’re evaluating something new, ask for a previous event’s attendee list.) Make sure sales has event leads as soon as you get them and create CRM reports that show registration of their target accounts. As much as 30% of webinar opportunities can come before the event even happens.

Field marketing
Just because field marketing is aligned with sales doesn’t mean it’s account-focused. All too often plans are made based on sales or regional requests rather than focusing on your overall ABM strategy.

ABM your field marketing by mapping the locations of your target accounts and using this as a way of proactively building your strategy. Create a list of cities you can reasonably cover based on your budget and headcount, and tier the list based on account density. Craft your programs in conjunction with sales to help establish a consistent presence within your key cities. Run programs that provide momentum and satisfy pipeline generation.

Set yourself up for success

Advice on aligning sales & marketing from Matt Heinz, President, Heinz Marketing