Here is the ABM Answered community’s step-by-step guide.
This guide will explain ABM step by step in simple language, so even if you’re a beginner, you can get started!
What is Account-Based Marketing?
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a way for businesses to focus their marketing efforts on specific, high-value customers instead of trying to reach everyone. It’s like picking out the best-fit customers and creating personalized strategies just for them.
Have you ever heard the saying, “Don’t fish with a net if you know exactly where the fish are”?
That’s what Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is all about. Instead of marketing to a wide group of people, ABM focuses on specific accounts (businesses) that are most likely to become customers.
When communicating what Account-Based Marketing is internally, some ABMers like Ross Howard (Inbox Insights) like to replace the word Account with Company, especially when talking about finance. Moreover, other ABMers such as Joe Liquorish (TMW), have referred to ABM as Deal-Based Marketing.
In our eyes, Company-Based Marketing seems to make more logical sense but seeing as ABM is all the hype at the moment, we will continue this article accordingly.
Why is ABM Important?
There are many benefits to having an Account-Based Go-To-Market approach but when it comes down to how it pushes the needle forward, here are the top three reasons why ABM is important:
ABM helps you save time and resources by targeting the right businesses.
It builds stronger relationships with key customers.
ABM delivers better results because you focus on accounts with the highest potential for revenue.
Think of it this way: ABM treats each account as its own market. You create strategies, messages, and campaigns tailored just for them.
Common Question: Is ABM the same as traditional marketing?
Answer: No! Traditional marketing often focuses on generating as many leads as possible (quantity), while ABM focuses on targeting a smaller number of high-value accounts (quality).
Henry Clark (SecurityHQ) said it best: “In its purest form, ABM is treating each account as a market of its own.” This personalized approach sets ABM apart.
Joe Minchin (Nyala Marketing) said: “For true one-to-one ABM, it's almost as if every account that you are going after needs its own brand campaign.”
Step 1: Align Sales and Marketing Teams
Sales and marketing teams need to work together closely if an ABM campaign is ever going to work, and before that, if it’s even going to get the buy-in to get off the ground in the first place. Sales and Marketing ultimately need to share the same goals: to reach and win the right accounts.
Why is it important to align marketing and sales?
If sales and marketing don’t work together, ABM campaigns can fail. Both teams need to:
Share information about which accounts to target.
Understand their roles in the ABM process.
Align their strategies for the best results.
Example: Imagine your sales team has identified five businesses that are most likely to buy your product. The marketing team can then create specific (personalized) campaigns to target those businesses.
Common Question: Who leads ABM in a company?
Answer: It varies. Some companies have a dedicated Account-Based Marketing Manager, while others share responsibilities between sales and marketing.
Henry Clark explained his role: “I serve as the account-based marketing manager as kind of the bridge between sales and marketing. A lot of what I work on is relationship building.”
Emily Yorke-Goldney highlighted: “What makes ABM successful is when sales and marketing teams are unified in their approach from the very beginning.”
Step 2: Select Your Target Accounts
Firstly, what is a Target Account?
A target account is a business that you want to focus on because it’s a great fit for your product or service. Again, looping back to Ross Howard’s (Inbox Insights) terminology of Company-Based Marketing, Target Company just seems to make so much more sense.
How to Choose your Target Accounts:
Create an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): Analyze your existing customers and then define what kind of business is the perfect customer for you? Consider things like industry, size, deal-close time and revenue.
Look at Data: Use tools like CRM systems (e.g. Salesforce) to find accounts that match your profile.
Super important! work with Sales: Sales teams often know which businesses are worth targeting. They are your boots on the ground.
Example: If you sell software to large hospitals, a target account might be a major hospital group that fits your ideal customer profile. It’s pretty simple.
We argue that aligning your sales and marketing team is literally 90% of the battle. Once you have buy-on form sales it reduces internal friction considerably and it allows you to mobilise a lot quicker.
One of Sam’s (Founder of ABM Answered) favorite ABM comparisons is in reference to James Bond and Q. James Bond is the sales team, they are out on the front line doing the grunt work, it’s high-risk, high-reward. Arguably they could do their job without Q (marketing) but it would be so much harder. Q, (Marketing), aren't here to steal the limelight from Sales. We just simply want to be involved in the project by making it easier for them to close the agreed target accounts.
Henry Clark (SecurityHQ), mentioned in his second interview that you need to show that you’re just as invested as they are in helping them close their accounts. You can do this by giving sales visual proof that ABM works, and that if they (sales and marketing) work together, they not just hit their target but will make a lot more money too.
Common Question: Why not target everyone?
Answer: if we look at what’s happening at a macro-level, AI has completely butchered the spray-and-pray techniques. If you own an email account and work for a B2B organisation, the chances are you get spammed at least once a day by third-parties trying to sell you something.
ABM focuses on quality over quantity. By narrowing your focus, you can deliver better, more personalized marketing. You can also deliver results more efficiently.
George Ford summed this up well: “The thing I love about account-based marketing the most is treating each account as a market of its own. A lot of research goes into choosing the correct account.”
Sam (ABM Answered) compares it to his days as a painter and decorator. “Everyone gasps when painters give quotes to paint their house. They only see the work that gets done with a paintbrush. Say it takes you 5 days to paint a house. 3x of those days are prep-work, 1x day is execution, and the final day is touching up and iterating. The same applies to most things in life and especially with ABM.”
Step 3: Research Your Target Accounts
Once you know your target accounts, you need to research them. Why? Because ABM is all about personalization, and you can’t create tailored campaigns without understanding the account.
What to Research:
Who are the decision-makers? Identify the key people involved in purchasing decisions.
What are their challenges? Learn about the problems they face so you can offer solutions.
What’s happening in their industry? Stay updated on trends that might affect them.
Tools to Use: Starting with the obvious, LinkedIn, is always a good first call. Then you can migrate toward company websites and also using data tools like intent platforms (which show businesses actively searching for solutions). We at ABM Answered have also and are in the process of developing a range of tools that can be used for different purposes across the ABM cycle.
Common Question: What do I do with the research?
Answer: Use it to personalize your campaigns. For example, if you know a company struggles with high costs, highlight how your product can save them money.
As George Ford put it: “Research allows you to create the right tone, the right messages, and tailor the rest of the marketing mix to that specific account.”
Step 4: Create Tailored Campaigns
What does tailored mean? It means creating marketing messages and materials that speak directly to the needs of a specific account.
How to Tailor Your Campaign:
Personalize Content: Use case studies, videos, or white papers that solve the account’s problems.
Choose the Right Channels: How will you reach them? Email, LinkedIn, paid ads, or events?
Speak Their Language: Your tone and messaging should feel relevant and genuine.
Example: If a company is looking to improve efficiency, you might create a case study showing how your product helped a similar business achieve that goal.
Common Question: How is this different from regular campaigns?
Answer: Regular campaigns use the same message for everyone. ABM campaigns are highly personalized for specific accounts. Also think multi-channel; these aren't just emails going out, but personalized ad campaigns, personalized gifting campaigns etc. too.
Step 5: Use Technology to Scale ABM
Can ABM be done for many accounts at once?
There are ABMers out there like Vas Kospanos (Bugcrowd) who insist that the only way to scale ABM is by hiring more people as with technology you run the risk of taking away the human touch.
This is also echoed by Emily Yorke-Goldney, who mentioned that her company was impressed with a third-party company who video pitched them their solution, but the sentiment completely evaporated as soon as they found out it was AI generated and little love had gone into it.
That said, they both agree as do we that with the help of technology, you can strike a balance of targeting multiple accounts while keeping effective personalization.
Tools That Help:
ABM Ad Platforms: Tools like Terminus and Demandbase help you automate targeting and messaging. That said, we have had many conversations with ABMers in the community that are trying to move away from these companies now; questioning the validity of their data and also the high investment required to get going. We of course encourage you to make your own mind up but reach out if you would like to be put in touch with other ABMers in the community.
CRM Systems: Platforms like Hubspot and Salesforce organize your data and keep sales and marketing aligned.
Intent Data Tools: These tools show you which businesses are actively looking for solutions like yours.
ABM Answered Tools: our community has invented multiple tools including ABM Battlecards that help you differentiate from the competition and win deals, ABM Video Games that help you with remote engagement at scale, and an ABM Reddit tool that helps you understand what’s going on in your industry and what people are saying about your brand by tapping into those honest conversations.
Why it matters: Technology makes it easier to manage ABM campaigns and reach multiple accounts effectively.
Step 6: Measure Your Success
You’ve done the hardwork, it would be a shame to drop the ball now!
ABM takes time to produce results and depending on the CEO, you will all experience differing degrees of pressure and timelines. If you are thinking about ABM typically your deal values one would assume your Account-Value (ACV) is upwards of 5-figures, ideally 6-figures and that your sales cycles are minimum 3 months long.
As a benchmark, for someone tasked with stating ABM at their organisation ideally aim to buy yourself 12 months/1 year) and you can follow this reporting cadence.
Reporting cycles:
Q1: Increase in engagement of accounts
Q2: Increase in accounts to pipeline
Q3: Increase in pipeline to closed won business.
Q4: There should be enough evidence to support scaling your ABM programme next year.
Key Metrics to Track:
Engagement: Are the target accounts opening emails, attending meetings, or downloading content?
Pipeline Growth: How much of your sales pipeline is influenced by ABM?
Revenue: Are your target accounts becoming customers?
Common Question: With a long sales cycle, how can I ensure that I am on the right track?
Answer: George Ford (Inbox Insights) recommends having” weekly or bi-weekly meetings with your sales team to review your approach”. You will learn more by doing this than by looking at the numbers on your dashboard. You’ll get a better breakdown on where things are failing ie: maybe your messaging wasn’t personalized enough, or in fact maybe you targeted the wrong accounts all together.
ABM is a learning process that takes time to get going but once built, the return-on-investment is unparalleled when compared to other GTM strategies.
Is Account-Based Marketing the best Go-To-Market Strategy?
Yes, now more than ever. Account-Based Marketing works because it’s focused and personalized.
Top of funnel engagement is struggling due to the influx of AI outbound spam and buyers still are recovering from the digital ads and events fatigue they experienced during COVID. People and prospects need a little more love.
Simultaneously, at the other end of the funnel, ABM prevents sales and marketing wasting time on leads that may never convert, you’re building relationships with accounts that matter most to your business.
Reminder of the Key Benefits of Account-Based Marketing:
Better use of time and resources.
Stronger relationships with key accounts.
Higher return on investment (ROI).
That all said, if you’re new to this don’t overwhelm yourself. Start small, focus on a few target accounts, and learn as you go.
Start Your ABM Journey
If you’re new to Account-Based Marketing you can use these steps as a guideline or alternatively reach out to us directly where we can put you in touch with an ABMer who is in your industry.
Align sales and marketing teams.
Select the right accounts.
Research those accounts.
Create tailored campaigns.
Use technology to scale.
Measure your results.
Account-Based Marketing may sound complex, but it’s simply about focusing your efforts on the customers that matter most. By taking a step-by-step approach, you can build better relationships, save resources, and drive real business results.
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