Account based marketing, or ABM, means picking the companies you want first and building your marketing and sales around them, instead of casting a wide net and sorting the leads later. Examples help because ABM looks different at every size. This guide shows the main patterns, six worked examples, the tactics that go with each, and how to choose and measure your first play.
01
What makes something account based
An ABM programme has three things a normal campaign does not: a named list of target accounts, a reason each account should care now, and outreach to several people inside each account rather than one lead at a time. If any of the three is missing, it is a regular campaign with a list attached. For a short definition, see account based marketing in our glossary.
Most teams run ABM at one of three depths.
One to one
A handful of accounts
Usually 1 to 10 accounts, each with its own research and its own plan. The most effort per account, for the largest deals.
One to few
A cluster of similar accounts
Tens of accounts that share an industry, a problem or a deadline. One piece of research, personalised per account.
One to many
A longer list
Hundreds of accounts reached with targeted ads and short, relevant emails. The least effort per account.
02
Six account based marketing examples
These examples are invented to show the patterns. The companies are made up, but each play is a common one.
Example 1
1:1One account worth a year of quotaThe situation. An industrial software company wants one large manufacturer that has just announced it is replacing its old planning system across six plants.
The play. The team studies the manufacturer's annual report, its job posts and its plant locations, writes a short briefing on what the switch will mean for each plant, and sends it to the operations director with an offer to walk through it. Sales follows up with the finance and IT leads, each with the part that matters to them.
Why it works. The whole play rests on one dated reason and on research the buyer could not easily do themselves.
Example 2
1:fewA cluster with the same deadlineThe situation. A security firm targets 15 regional banks that all face the same new reporting rule next year.
The play. It writes one guide to what the rule asks for, then personalises the opening for each bank with its own size and systems. The banks' risk leads are invited to a small closed-door roundtable.
Why it works. The accounts share a problem, so one piece of research serves all of them, and the roundtable lets peers convince each other.
Example 3
1:manyA long list with one shared eventThe situation. An HR software company targets 300 companies that opened their first office in a second country in the last six months.
The play. LinkedIn ads run only to those 300 companies, and a short email names the new country and the payroll and contract questions that come with it.
Why it works. The event is specific and recent, so even a light-touch message feels relevant.
Example 4
1:1Trigger based: timed to a public eventThe situation. A warehouse automation vendor watches for companies announcing a new distribution centre.
The play. When one appears, the vendor contacts the head of operations within the month, with a short note on what similar sites automated first.
Why it works. Timing does most of the work. The same note six months later would be noise.
Example 5
1:fewExpansion: accounts you already serveThe situation. A software vendor has 20 customers that each run only one of its three products.
The play. Account managers map which divisions of each customer could use the other products, then run a joint review with the customer's team to show what the current product already saves them.
Why it works. Existing customers trust you, and the proof is their own numbers.
Example 6
1:fewPartner led: through someone they already trustThe situation. A data company wants to reach a list of insurers that already work with a well-known consultancy.
The play. The data company partners with the consultancy, which introduces it to the insurers as part of a project the consultancy is already running.
Why it works. A warm introduction beats any cold opener, and the partner earns from the deal.
03
What the good examples have in common
- A short, named list. Sales and marketing agree on the same accounts before anything is made.
- A reason now. A dated event at the account, such as a trigger event, not just a good fit on paper. See buying signals for how to tell a real one from noise.
- The whole buying group. Each person gets the part that matters to them: the user, the champion and the economic buyer.
- Channels that agree. Ads, email, calls and events tell the same story at the same time.
- Measured by account. Success is which target accounts moved, not how many leads came in.
04
ABM tactics by depth
| Tactic | Best depth | Works when |
|---|---|---|
| Account research briefing | One to one | The deal is large and the buyer values insight they could not easily get |
| Executive roundtable or dinner | One to few | Several accounts share a problem and want to hear from peers |
| Personalised email sequence | One to few, one to many | Each account has a dated reason you can name in one line |
| Ads targeted to named companies | One to many | The list is long and you need the accounts to recognise your name |
| Direct mail or a small gift | One to one, one to few | It is useful or relevant to the account, not a generic gift |
| Partner introductions | Any | Someone the account already trusts can make the first move |
05
How to choose your first ABM play
Start with your deal size and your team. If one deal is worth a year of revenue, one to one is worth the research. If your deals are mid-sized and your best customers cluster in one industry, one to few gives you the most for the effort. If you sell to many similar companies, one to many with a sharp reason is the place to start.
Whichever you pick, keep the first list small enough that you can say why every account is on it. A competitor's public customers can make a strong first list; the competitor analysis template shows how to find and date them. A list you cannot explain is a database export, not an ABM programme.
06
How to measure ABM
Measure the accounts, not the leads. Useful numbers are how many target accounts engaged at all (including visits to your website), how many reached a first meeting, how much pipeline came from the list, and how deal size and time to close compare with accounts outside it.
Give it time. A one to one programme can take months before the first meeting, so judge it on whether the right people at the right accounts are responding, not on a monthly lead count.
07
Common ABM mistakes
A list nobody agreed on. If sales and marketing each have their own list, neither runs ABM. The sales half is covered in account based selling.
Personalising the name, not the reason. Putting the company name in a template is not account based. The reason has to be about them.
One contact per account. Many B2B purchases involve several people. Reach the group.
Too many accounts at one to one depth. The research gets thin and every account gets the same thing.
Judging it on lead volume. ABM produces fewer leads by design. Measure accounts and pipeline.
08
The ABM checklist
Before you launch an ABM play
- Sales and marketing have agreed one named list.
- You have chosen a depth: one to one, one to few or one to many.
- Every account has a reason to care now, in one line.
- The buying group is mapped, with what each person cares about.
- The channels are planned to say the same thing at the same time.
- Success is defined by accounts and pipeline, not leads.
What we have seenIn one study of 28 companies that bought, the earliest trace of a coming purchase was a person or a named web address, 8 to 11 months out. Press coverage only appeared 1 to 3 months before. Account research finds the reason long before the news does.
09
Where to go next
ABM lives or dies on the account list and the reason. For the research side, start with what sales prospecting is. For the outreach that follows, read outbound lead generation, explained.
To see account research on real businesses, read our case studies.