Account-based marketing (ABM) can help B2B organisations focus sales and marketing efforts on the accounts that matter most. But ABM is not automatically the right approach for every organisation, market or growth challenge.

Before investing in campaigns, technology or personalised content, it is worth assessing whether the foundations are in place. Do you know which accounts deserve extra attention? Are sales and marketing prepared to work together? Do you understand the people involved in the buying decision? And can you commit enough time and resources to make the approach worthwhile?

In short, account-based marketing is most suitable when you have a defined group of high-value accounts, complex B2B buying processes and enough commitment from sales and marketing to focus on those accounts over time.

Use the seven questions below as a practical ABM readiness assessment. They will help you determine whether you are ready to start, or which foundations you should strengthen first.

What does ABM readiness mean?

Being ready for account-based marketing does not mean that everything has to be perfect before you start.

You do not necessarily need a large marketing team, an expensive ABM platform or years of experience. You do, however, need enough focus and commitment to work differently from traditional broad-based marketing.

ABM asks you to make choices. Which accounts matter most? Which people within those accounts do you need to reach? What do they care about? And what can sales and marketing do together to move the relationship forward?

Your level of readiness will also influence the type of ABM approach that makes sense. A highly personalised 1:1 programme requires more insight, resources and sales involvement than a scalable programme aimed at a larger group of accounts.

So the question is not simply, ‘Are we ready for ABM?’ It is also, ‘What level of ABM are we ready for?’

7 questions to assess your ABM readiness

1. Are your target accounts valuable enough to justify ABM?

Account-based marketing requires more focus per account than most broad demand generation programs. That means the potential value of an account needs to justify the additional investment.

This does not only mean looking at the size of an initial deal. Consider the wider commercial potential. Could the relationship grow over time? Are there opportunities for cross-sell or upsell? Is the account strategically important because of its market position, geography or long-term potential? A €10,000 opportunity and a €1 million strategic account are unlikely to warrant the same marketing and sales effort.

What matters is that you can explain why some accounts deserve more attention than others. If every potential customer has roughly the same value and your sales process is highly transactional, ABM may not be the most efficient model. In that case, broader demand generation could deliver a better return.

2. Can you clearly identify and prioritise the accounts you want to win or grow?

ABM starts with account selection, not personalization. A common mistake is to begin with campaign ideas before deciding which accounts are genuinely worth pursuing. A strong ABM program starts with a clear ideal customer profile and a defined target account list.

That selection can be based on factors such as commercial potential, strategic fit, existing relationships, market position, growth potential or buying signals. For existing customers, it may also include expansion potential, product penetration and the strength of the current relationship.

The important point is that the choice is deliberate. Ideally, sales and marketing should agree on which accounts receive priority and why. Those accounts can then be grouped or tiered based on their potential and the level of attention they require.

If you cannot yet explain what makes one account more valuable or relevant than another, account selection is the place to start.

3. Does your sales process involve a complex buying group?

ABM is particularly valuable in complex B2B buying situations. Most major B2B decisions are not made by one person. A buying group may include business leaders, technical experts, procurement, finance, end users and other stakeholders, all with different priorities and levels of influence.

That creates a challenge for traditional lead-based marketing. Generating engagement from one individual does not necessarily mean the account itself is moving closer to a decision.

Account-based marketing allows you to look at the buying process at account level. Who is already engaged? Which stakeholders are missing? Who could become a champion? Who might block the decision? And what information does each person need?

The more complex the decision and buying group, the more valuable a coordinated account-based approach can become. However, complexity alone is not enough. The commercial value of the accounts still needs to justify the additional effort.

4. Are sales and marketing prepared to jointly own the approach?

You cannot run effective account-based marketing as a marketing campaign with sales added at the end. Sales and marketing need to agree on the target accounts, objectives, stakeholder priorities, messaging and next actions. They also need a regular way to share what they are learning.

Sales may know that a particular stakeholder has recently joined the business. Marketing may see that several people from the account are engaging with a certain topic. Neither insight is particularly valuable if it stays within one team.

In successful ABM programs, information flows both ways. This does not mean sales and marketing need to agree on every detail, but they should share responsibility for moving priority accounts forward.

If sales sees ABM as ‘something marketing is doing’, or marketing does not involve sales until an account shows engagement, it is worth solving that issue before trying to scale the programme.

A small pilot with one account team can often be a better starting point than launching a large program across the organisation.

5. Do you have enough account and buyer insight to be relevant?

Personalization is only useful when it is based on something meaningful. Changing a company name in an advert or email is not account-based marketing. Relevance comes from understanding what is happening inside an account and why it matters to the people you want to reach.

That could include business priorities, strategic initiatives, market pressures, technology changes, organisational developments, stakeholder needs and existing relationships.

Internal knowledge is often a good starting point. Sales conversations, CRM data, customer research and previous opportunities may already contain valuable information. External research can then help fill the gaps.

AI can accelerate this process significantly. It can help analyse annual reports, news, company websites and large amounts of internal information, or identify possible patterns and hypotheses. But AI does not remove the need for human judgement.

Account research should give you better questions to ask and stronger hypotheses to validate. It should not create false certainty based on information that has never been checked with the customer.

If your current knowledge of an account is limited to industry, company size and job titles, strengthening your account and buyer insight should be an early priority.

6. Can you commit the time, people and resources ABM requires?

You do not need a huge budget to start with ABM, but you do need enough capacity to follow through. Research takes time. Sales and marketing need to meet. Content may need adapting. Stakeholders need to be mapped. Campaigns have to be monitored. And when an account starts to engage, someone needs to know what should happen next.

A common problem is not that organisations start too small. It is that they start under-resourced.

The type of ABM you choose should therefore match the resources available:

• A 1:1 program focused on a handful of strategic accounts allows for deep research and highly tailored activity.
• A 1:few approach groups accounts around similar challenges or opportunities, making it possible to reuse more of the insight and content.
• A 1:many approach can reach a larger defined account universe, using data, advertising and technology to create relevance at scale.

None of these models is automatically better than another. The right approach depends on the value of the accounts, the complexity of the opportunity and what your organisation can realistically support.

7. Can you measure progress and commercial impact at account level?

ABM measurement needs to go beyond leads. A single form fill does not tell you whether an account is moving closer to a buying decision. Equally, a target account may be progressing commercially even if nobody has downloaded an e-book.

Before starting, define what meaningful progress looks like. That could include improved stakeholder coverage, engagement from new members of the buying group, more senior conversations, meetings, opportunity creation, progression through the sales process, pipeline contribution or revenue.

The right indicators depend on your sales cycle and objective. For some strategic accounts, the first sign of success may simply be gaining access to an important stakeholder who had previously been unreachable. For others, commercial impact can be measured much more directly.

The key is to agree on these signals before launching the program. Otherwise, marketing and sales may both be looking at different definitions of success.

How ready are you for ABM?

You can use the 7 questions above as a simple diagnostic. Give yourself two points when the answer is clearly yes, one point when you are partly there, and zero points when the capability is largely missing.

• A score of 11 to 14 suggests that you have strong foundations for account-based marketing. Your next challenge is likely to be designing the right approach, choosing accounts and executing consistently.

• A score of 7 to 10 suggests that ABM could be a good fit, but there are some foundations to strengthen. Rather than waiting until everything is perfect, consider addressing the biggest gaps and testing the approach with a focused pilot.

• A score of 0 to 6 suggests that other priorities may need attention first. Improving your ideal customer profile, target account selection, buyer insight or sales and marketing alignment could create a much stronger basis for ABM later.

Treat the score as a diagnostic rather than a mathematical rule. One fundamental gap can outweigh a high overall score. If sales has no interest in the target accounts, for example, strong technology and data will not solve the problem.

When is account-based marketing probably not the right approach?

ABM is powerful, but it is not the answer to every marketing challenge. It may not be the right priority if:

• your average contract value is too low to justify additional account-level effort;
• your sales process is short and highly transactional;
• you cannot identify which companies are more valuable than others;
• sales does not work with named accounts or is unwilling to commit to the programme;
• your organisation does not have enough capacity to follow up on priority accounts;
• your main challenge is generating broad awareness or large volumes of demand;
• your ideal customer profile and core proposition are still unclear.

That does not mean you can never use ABM. It may simply mean another marketing or sales priority should come first. In fact, deciding not to start ABM yet can be just as valuable as launching a program too early.

Which type of ABM fits your organisation?

Readiness is not only about whether you should use ABM. It also helps determine the right level of account focus.

• 1:1 ABM is most suitable for a small number of strategically important accounts where the potential value justifies deep research, close sales involvement and highly tailored activity.

• 1:few ABM works well when groups of accounts share similar business challenges, characteristics or buying situations. You can create relevance without developing everything from scratch for every individual account.

• 1:many ABM allows you to focus on a larger defined account universe. Data, advertising technology and scalable content play a bigger role, while account selection and relevance remain central.

The more individual attention an approach requires, the stronger your readiness needs to be in areas such as account insight, resources and collaboration with sales.

What role do data, technology and AI play in ABM readiness?

Technology can make a strong ABM program more scalable, but it should not be the starting point. Reliable data matters because you need to know which accounts and stakeholders you are engaging with. Your CRM, marketing automation platform and advertising tools may already provide enough infrastructure to start.

Dedicated ABM technology can add value when you need to manage larger account lists, identify intent signals, orchestrate channels or measure account engagement across different systems.

AI is increasingly useful too. It can help teams research accounts faster, analyse buyer and company information, identify potential signals, adapt content and prepare more relevant sales outreach. But the same principle applies to both AI and ABM technology.

Technology can make a strong ABM approach more scalable. It cannot compensate for weak account selection, limited buyer insight or a lack of sales commitment.

Before buying new tools, make sure you know what problem you expect the technology to solve.

How to improve your ABM readiness

If the assessment has highlighted some gaps, you do not need to fix everything at once. Start with a small group of accounts where there is clear commercial potential and genuine sales interest. Build the approach together with the people responsible for those accounts and agree on what you are trying to achieve.

Then strengthen the account and buyer insight you need to become relevant. Combine what your organisation already knows with external research, AI-supported analysis and direct human validation.

Finally, decide how you will recognise progress before activity begins. That creates a shared view of success and makes it easier to learn from the pilot.

ABM maturity is usually built through doing, learning and refining, not through trying to design the perfect programme on paper.

Frequently asked questions about ABM readiness

– What makes a company ready for account-based marketing?

A company is usually ready for account-based marketing when it can identify a group of strategically valuable accounts, has enough insight to understand those accounts and has commitment from both sales and marketing to work on them together.

Other important factors include sufficient resources, a complex enough buying process to benefit from account-level coordination and the ability to measure progress beyond individual leads.

You do not need every capability to be fully mature before starting, but the core foundations should be strong enough to support a focused pilot.

– Do you need an ABM platform before starting ABM?

No. An ABM platform can help with account selection, intent data, advertising, orchestration and measurement, particularly when you are working with larger numbers of accounts.

But technology is not a prerequisite for starting account-based marketing. Many organisations can run an initial programme using their existing CRM, marketing automation, advertising platforms and sales tools.

It usually makes more sense to establish the approach first and then identify where technology could help you scale or improve it.

– Can a small marketing team use account-based marketing?

Yes, as long as the scope matches the resources available. A small team should not try to copy an enterprise ABM programme aimed at hundreds of accounts. Instead, focus on a small group of strategically important accounts or use a 1 approach where insight and content can be shared across similar organisations.

The principle is simple: focus resources where they have the greatest potential impact.

– How many accounts do you need for ABM?

There is no fixed number. A 1:1 program might focus on only a handful of strategic accounts, while a 1:many program could target hundreds.

The right number depends on the potential value of the accounts, the complexity of the buying process, your available resources and the level of personalisation you want to provide.

The important question is not ‘How many accounts should an ABM programme have?’ but ‘How many accounts can we support properly with the approach we have chosen?’

– Can you use ABM for existing customers?

Absolutely. Account-based marketing is not limited to winning new logos. It can also be highly effective for strategic customers where there is potential for expansion, cross-sell, upsell, retention or stronger engagement with different business units and stakeholders.

In many organisations, existing customers are some of the most attractive accounts for an ABM programme because there is already knowledge, access and commercial history to build on.

– How long does it take to see results from ABM?

There is no universal timeline because ABM usually follows the length of your existing B2B sales cycle. Early signs of progress, such as improved stakeholder engagement, new conversations or access to previously unreachable decision makers, may appear relatively quickly.

Pipeline and revenue impact often take longer, particularly for strategic accounts with lengthy or complex buying processes.

For that reason, successful ABM programs measure both leading indicators and commercial outcomes rather than waiting for closed revenue to determine whether the approach is working.

Ready to take the next step?

Still unsure whether account-based marketing is the right next step for your organisation?

In our ABM getting started session, we look at your commercial goals, target market, current sales and marketing approach and potential target accounts. Together, we assess whether ABM makes sense for your organisation and what a realistic first step could look like.

Explore our ABM getting started session

An account-based marketing strategy only becomes valuable when marketing and sales know what to do with it. That is where an ABM playbook comes in.

An account-based marketing playbook translates your ABM strategy into a practical way of working. It defines which accounts you prioritise, who you need to influence, which insights and signals matter, which activities sales and marketing run, and how you measure whether accounts are progressing.

A good playbook is not a static document that disappears into a folder after launch. It is a shared guide that helps teams make better decisions, coordinate activities and learn what works.

In this guide, we cover the seven elements every practical ABM playbook should include, plus an example, an ABM playbook checklist and the role AI can play.

What is an account-based marketing playbook?

An account-based marketing playbook is a practical framework that describes how marketing, sales and other commercial teams work together to engage and grow a defined group of target accounts.

It translates strategy into action by documenting your account priorities, buying groups, account insights, ABM plays, responsibilities, channels and approach to measurement.

A useful distinction is:

Your ABM strategy determines where you want to go. Your ABM playbook defines how you get there.

That makes the playbook especially important in account-based marketing. ABM requires close coordination between marketing and sales, often across multiple stakeholders, channels and activities. Without clear agreements, it is easy to end up with a collection of disconnected campaigns instead of one coordinated account journey.

A practical ABM playbook helps you:

• Create clarity about which accounts matter most
• Align marketing and sales around shared goals
• Build a consistent understanding of accounts and buying groups
• Decide when and how to act on account signals
• Make messaging and activities more relevant
• Clarify roles and responsibilities
• Measure progress at account level
• Repeat and scale successful approaches

The goal is not to document every possible activity. The goal is to make it easier for your teams to know what to do next.

What should an ABM playbook include?

A modern ABM playbook should answer seven fundamental questions:

Element	The question it answers
1. Business goals	What commercial outcome are we trying to achieve?
2. ICP, accounts and tiers	Where should we focus our resources?
3. Buying groups	Who do we need to understand and influence?
4. Account intelligence and signals	What do we know and when should we act?
5. ABM plays	What will marketing and sales actually do?
6. Operating model	Who does what, using which data and technology?
7. Measurement	Are our accounts progressing?

Let us look at each element in more detail.

1. Define your business goals and ABM success criteria

Do not start your ABM playbook with channels, content or campaign ideas. Start with the commercial outcome.

What are you trying to achieve with this group of accounts? Are you trying to win new strategic customers, accelerate existing opportunities, grow relationships within current customers or enter a new business area within an account? Your ABM objectives should connect directly to wider business and sales goals.

For example:

Business objective	ABM objective	Possible measure
Win new strategic accounts	Build relationships with the right buying group	Buying-group coverage and meetings
Create new pipeline	Move priority accounts towards an opportunity	Opportunities created
Accelerate strategic deals	Increase engagement across the buying group	Deal progression and stakeholder engagement
Grow existing customers	Identify and influence new buying groups	Expansion pipeline and revenue

Be specific about what success looks like. “Generate awareness” is too broad. Awareness among whom? In which accounts? And what should happen once awareness increases?

The stronger question is: What change do we want to see within these accounts?

That might be a stronger relationship, engagement from additional stakeholders, a first meeting, the creation of an opportunity or progress within an existing deal. These goals become the foundation for everything else in your playbook.

2. Define your ICP, target accounts and ABM tiers

Account-based marketing is about focus. That means your playbook needs to be clear about which accounts deserve your time and investment. Start with your ideal customer profile, or ICP.

Your ICP describes the type of organisation that is most likely to be a strong commercial fit. Relevant criteria could include:

• Industry
• Company size
• Geography
• Business model
• Strategic fit
• Revenue potential
• Technology environment
• Existing relationship
• Growth potential
• Likelihood to buy

But fit alone does not tell you where to act first. A company may fit your ICP perfectly and still have little reason to engage with you today. Another account may show clear signs of change, investment or interest. That is why we recommend looking at a combination of:

Fit + commercial potential + relationship + signals

Together, these factors help you prioritise accounts more intelligently.

Choose the right ABM approach

Not every account needs the same level of personalisation or investment. Depending on the number and strategic importance of the accounts, you might use:

• 1:1 ABM, for a small number of highly strategic accounts
• 1:few ABM, for clusters of accounts with similar needs or characteristics
• 1:many ABM, for larger account groups where technology helps you personalise at scale
• Bolt-on ABM, where you add an account-based approach to existing demand generation activities

Your playbook should make clear which approach applies to which accounts and why. If you are still determining your ABM model, read our complete guide to account-based marketing for a deeper explanation of the different approaches.

3. Understand your buying groups and buyer needs

Selecting the right accounts is only the beginning. B2B decisions are rarely made by one person. Depending on the size and complexity of the deal, multiple people can influence, approve, use, challenge or block a purchase.

Your ABM playbook should therefore map the buying group, not just individual leads.

A simple stakeholder map can help:

Stakeholder	Buying role	Current relationship	Priority
CIO	Decision-maker	Strong	Maintain
Procurement lead	Buyer	Limited	Develop
IT architect	Influencer	None	High
Business director	Sponsor	Developing	High

Go beyond job titles

Knowing someone’s title is not the same as understanding what matters to them. Your buyer insight should help you answer three levels of questions.

1. Business questions
What is the organisation trying to achieve? Which strategic priorities, risks or market developments matter?

2. Job role questions
What is this person responsible for? How are they measured? What problems are they expected to solve?

3. Personal questions
What concerns them? What could make them hesitate? What would make them look successful internally?

This is where real buyer insight makes a difference. AI and desk research can help you develop hypotheses quickly, but interviews, conversations with sales and real customer evidence remain essential when validating the assumptions that influence your strategy.

4. Build your account intelligence and signal framework

Traditional ABM programs often focused heavily on the target account list and campaign plan. Today, there is another important layer: knowing when to act. Your playbook should therefore define which account intelligence you collect and which signals are meaningful enough to trigger action.

What account intelligence should you collect? For strategic accounts, useful information could include:

• Corporate strategy and business priorities
• Current initiatives and transformation programmes
• Organisational changes
• Leadership changes
• Market developments
• Technology landscape
• Existing suppliers or competitors
• Known challenges
• Current opportunities
• Existing relationships
• Recent meetings and conversations
• Relevant content engagement

The level of detail depends on your ABM approach. A 1:1 program may require deep research for each account. In a 1:few program, you may focus more on common industry or segment patterns.

However, it is important to notice that a signal is not an insight.

A website visit can tell you that something happened. It cannot always tell you why. Someone may visit your website because they are actively researching solutions, because they saw a colleague’s LinkedIn post or because they are simply curious.

Signals become valuable when you combine them with account knowledge, buyer insight and human judgement. The objective is not to respond to every digital interaction. It is to recognize patterns that help your teams reach the right account at a more relevant moment.

5. Define your ABM plays, messaging, content and channels

This is where your playbook turns insight into action. Instead of simply listing campaigns and content assets, define a number of practical ABM plays. An ABM play is a coordinated set of marketing and sales activities designed to move a specific account or buying group towards a defined outcome.

A play might be triggered by new account insight, a change within the company, increased engagement or a particular stage in an opportunity. Your ABM playbook might contain several plays, depending on your goals.

For example:

• New stakeholder play
• Event engagement play
• High website engagement play
• Executive engagement play
• Stalled opportunity play
• Cross-sell or expansion play
• New strategic initiative play
• Re-engagement play

Connect content to the account context

Personalisation does not mean creating every piece of content from scratch. Start with the question: What does this account or buying group need to understand, believe or do next? You can then decide whether existing content is relevant, needs adapting or whether new content is necessary.

The same applies to channels. LinkedIn, email, events, content, advertising, direct mail and personal sales outreach can all play a role. The best mix depends on where your stakeholders spend time and what you are trying to achieve. The key is coordination.

A LinkedIn ad, sales email and event invitation should not feel like three unrelated marketing activities. They should reinforce one relevant story.

6. Align sales and marketing around roles, data and technology

ABM is not a marketing campaign that sales gets briefed on afterwards. It is a shared commercial approach. Your playbook should therefore make responsibilities explicit. The exact division of responsibilities will vary by organisation. What matters is that it is clear.

Agree how you will work together

Your playbook should also describe the working rhythm.

For example:

• How often will you review target accounts?
• Who brings new signals into the discussion?
• Where is account information stored?
• Who updates the stakeholder map?
• How quickly should sales follow up on a relevant signal?
• How does sales provide feedback to marketing?
• When do you decide to change or stop a play?

A regular account review can be more valuable than another dashboard. The purpose is to bring together what the data tells you, what marketing sees and what sales knows from real conversations.

Define the role of data and technology

You do not need a large ABM technology stack to create a good playbook. Start with the process and determine which technology helps you execute it.

Your CRM should provide a shared view of accounts, contacts, relationships and opportunities. Marketing automation, advertising, website visitor identification, intent data and other platforms can then add additional context and signals.

Technology should make your ABM approach easier to execute and scale. It should not determine the strategy.

7. Measure account progress and optimize your approach

ABM measurement is different from standard demand generation measurement. A large number of clicks or leads tells you very little if those interactions are not coming from the accounts and people you actually want to reach.

Instead, measure whether your target accounts are progressing. At SPOTONVISION, we look at five areas:

Measurement area	Key question
Coverage	Do we know and reach the right people?
Awareness	Do the right accounts and stakeholders know us?
Engagement	Are relevant people spending time with us?
Reach and impact	Is engagement becoming real interaction and opportunity?
Influence	Is ABM affecting pipeline, deal progression or revenue?

The goal is to move from knowing who is in an account to seeing genuine commercial impact.

Take a baseline before you start whenever possible. Then review progress regularly with sales and look for change. One stakeholder downloading an asset might be interesting. Three relevant people engaging, combined with a sales conversation and a new opportunity, tells a much stronger story.

ABM success is not a lead score. It is evidence that the right account, and the right people within that account, are progressing.

For a deeper dive into metrics, read our practical guide to measuring ABM success.

Common ABM playbook mistakes

• Making the playbook too theoretical

A 70-page presentation that nobody opens is not a useful playbook. Keep the information practical and easy to access. Your account teams should be able to use it during real work.

• Starting with tactics instead of accounts

Do not begin with the question: “Should we run LinkedIn ads?” Begin with the account, the buying group and the commercial objective. The right tactics follow from there.

• Treating ABM as a marketing responsibility

Marketing can facilitate an ABM program, but it cannot run one successfully on its own. Sales needs to help select accounts, contribute account knowledge, validate insights and lead important conversations.

• Collecting signals without defining actions

More data is not automatically more useful. If your teams cannot explain what should happen after a meaningful account signal, another dashboard will not solve the problem.

• Measuring activity instead of progression

Clicks, impressions and content downloads can help you understand activity, but they should not become the definition of ABM success. Keep asking whether relationships, conversations, opportunities and revenue are moving in the right direction.

Frequently asked questions about ABM playbooks

What is an ABM playbook?

An ABM playbook is a practical framework that explains how marketing and sales will work together to engage a defined group of target accounts. It typically includes goals, account priorities, buying groups, insights, ABM plays, responsibilities, channels and measurement.

What should an ABM playbook include?

A strong ABM playbook should include seven core elements: business goals, target account selection and prioritisation, buying groups, account intelligence and signals, ABM plays and messaging, sales and marketing responsibilities, and account-level measurement.

What is the difference between an ABM strategy and an ABM playbook?

Your ABM strategy defines your key choices, such as why you are using ABM, which accounts matter and what you want to achieve. Your ABM playbook translates those choices into practical actions, roles, processes and plays.

In simple terms: strategy defines the choices, the playbook guides the execution.

How often should you update an ABM playbook?

An ABM playbook should be treated as a living document. Review it whenever you learn something important about your accounts, buying groups, signals, messaging or activities. You should also evaluate the overall approach regularly with sales to identify what should change.

Do you need ABM technology to create an ABM playbook?

No. You can start with the account data, CRM, sales knowledge and marketing tools you already have. Specialist ABM and intent technology can help you automate, identify signals and scale your approach, but technology should support the playbook rather than define it.

Can AI create an ABM playbook?

AI can help you research accounts, structure information, develop hypotheses, create first drafts and identify patterns. But it should not make the important strategic choices for you. Account selection, buyer insight and commercial decisions still require input and validation from marketing, sales and other experts.

Your ABM playbook should evolve with your accounts

Your first account-based marketing playbook does not need to be perfect. It needs to be useful.

Start with a clear commercial goal, a focused group of accounts, good buyer and account insight, a small number of practical plays and clear ownership between marketing and sales.

Then learn. Use sales conversations, account signals, campaign results and buyer feedback to understand what is changing. Update your account knowledge. Improve your messaging. Adapt the plays that are not working and scale the ones that are.

That is what makes an ABM playbook valuable. It does not simply document how you planned to run account-based marketing. It helps your organisation become better at it over time.

Want to turn your ABM strategy into a practical playbook that marketing and sales will actually use? Read more at https://www.spotonvision.com/campagnes/account-based-marketing/. Or talk to one of our ABM specialists.

ABM is not a campaign tactic. It’s a strategic approach that aligns your sales and marketing teams around the accounts that matter most. Instead of chasing volume, you focus your energy where it has the highest chance of delivering real commercial impact.

More and more B2B teams are making this shift. According to the 2026 ABM Benchmark Survey by Demand Gen Report, nearly 80% of organisations are actively executing an ABM strategy, with the rest planning to add one soon. ABM has moved well beyond the pilot stage. It is now a core part of how modern B2B teams plan growth, align their teams, and focus resources on the accounts most likely to drive revenue.

This guide explains what ABM is, when it makes sense, and how to get started, whether you’re new to the approach or looking to sharpen what you already do.

In this guide:

• What is account-based marketing?
• ABM vs. inbound marketing
• When does ABM make sense?
• What are the advantages of ABM?
• Is ABM right for your organisation?
• Sales and ABM: why alignment matters
• How to build an ABM plan in 5 steps
• How AI is changing ABM
• How to measure ABM success
• Account-based marketing examples
• Getting started with ABM?

What is account-based marketing?

Account-based marketing (ABM) is a B2B strategy in which you engage a predefined group of target accounts using personalised sales and marketing activities. You focus on the specific needs of each account and the people within it, rather than trying to attract as many leads as possible.

A useful way to think about it: most marketing asks how many people you can reach. ABM asks whether you’re reaching the people who count.

ABM is built on four core moves: identify the right accounts, expand your understanding of the people and dynamics within them, engage those people with relevant content and outreach, and turn them into advocates over time.

There are four main types of ABM, depending on how many accounts you target and how personalised your approach is:

• 1:1 ABM (1-10 accounts): highly personalised, built around a deep understanding of each account. Best for strategic enterprise deals.
• 1:Few (10-100 accounts): personalised at segment or industry level. Balances relevance with scale.
• 1:Many (100+ accounts): programmatic, using data and technology to personalise at scale across a larger account list.
• Bolt-on ABM: applies an account-based lens to existing lead generation activity. A good starting point for teams new to the approach.  

ABM vs. inbound marketing

Inbound marketing attracts buyers broadly by creating content that draws people to you. ABM works the other way: you identify the accounts you want to engage and go to them with relevant, tailored activity.

Both approaches have their place. But ABM is especially powerful when you’re pursuing large, complex deals that involve multiple decision-makers and long sales cycles. In those situations, waiting for the right buyer to find you isn’t a reliable strategy.

The best B2B teams often combine both. Inbound builds brand presence and attracts interest. ABM converts that interest into deep engagement with the accounts that matter most.

When does ABM make sense?

ABM works best when some or all of the following are true for your organisation:

• You pursue high-value accounts where the deal size justifies focused investment
• Your sales cycles are long and involve multiple stakeholders
• You want to grow revenue within existing key accounts, not just win new ones
• You have a defined ideal customer profile (ICP) and a realistic target account list
• Your sales and marketing teams are willing to work closely together

If you’re not sure whether ABM is the right fit, read seven questions and seven tips to help you decide.

What are the advantages of ABM

Better insight into your buyers and their journey

ABM forces you to understand your accounts deeply before you act. You research the people involved, their priorities, their challenges and their buying process. That insight doesn’t just improve your marketing. It makes every conversation sales has more relevant and better timed.

Stronger collaboration between sales and marketing

ABM only works when sales and marketing move together. They share account plans, align on priorities and review progress jointly. That alignment creates a shared language, shared accountability and, over time, a much more consistent buyer experience. Stakeholder management is a key part of making this work.

A more focused go-to-market approach

With ABM, you stop spreading resources thin across every possible lead. You invest in the accounts with the highest potential and the strongest strategic fit. As a result that focus pays off. Companies with aligned sales and marketing teams see 24% faster revenue growth, according to recent research.

Better commercial results

The evidence is consistent. ABM delivers larger deal sizes, faster sales cycles and stronger customer relationships than traditional demand generation. Organisations with mature ABM programmes report significantly higher pipeline conversion rates and deal values. The key is building the programme properly and giving it time to deliver.

Is ABM right for your organisation?

The honest answer: it depends on your market, your ambitions and your internal setup.

ABM makes most sense for organisations selling complex solutions to businesses where multiple people are involved in the buying decision. It suits companies where the deal value is high enough to justify focused investment in specific accounts.

It’s less suited to high-volume, low-value, transactional sales. And it’s harder to execute when sales and marketing don’t trust each other or don’t share data.

One good starting point: use your infographic on getting started with account-based marketing to assess where you stand.

Sales and ABM: why alignment matters

ABM is not a marketing programme that sales gets briefed on. It’s a joint strategy that both teams own together.

The importance of account knowledge

Sales brings account knowledge: existing relationships, deal history, what conversations have already happened. Marketing brings market intelligence, buyer signals, content and campaign capability. Together, they build a much more complete picture of each account and a much more coordinated approach to engaging it.

What is signal-based marketing?

This alignment is also where signal-based marketing comes in. Rather than waiting for a form fill to tell you someone is interested, you look for patterns of behaviour across your target accounts. Multiple stakeholders visiting your pricing page. A contact engaging with your content over several weeks. A surge in activity from a company you’ve been nurturing. These signals, read together, tell you when an account is moving and give sales the context they need to act.

Without this kind of joint working, ABM becomes marketing activity that sales ignores. With it, it becomes the engine of your commercial growth.

How to build an ABM plan in 5 steps 

At SPOTONVISION, we work with a five-step approach to building and running ABM programmes. Here’s how it works.

Step 1: Get to know your accounts

Start by defining which accounts you want to focus on, together with sales. Use your deal history, customer data and market knowledge to build a profile of your ideal customer (your ICP). Then select the accounts that best match that profile and have the highest potential value.

Ask yourself: which accounts have been most profitable? Which ones are strategically important for the next three years? Which are up for renewal soon? Which are showing early buying signals?

Define your goals and set your KPIs before you do anything else. You’ll need a baseline to measure progress against.

Step 2: Look for account insights

Once you know your target accounts, gather as much relevant intelligence as you can. Who are the decision-makers and influencers? What are their priorities and challenges? What does the buying process look like? What’s happening in their market?

How deep you go depends on your ABM approach. For 1:1 ABM, you build a detailed account plan covering every relevant dimension. However for 1:Few or 1:Many, you look for common patterns across industries or segments. For bolt-on ABM, you gather insights as soon as a lead comes in.

Map your contacts, understand the buying group, and map the purchasing process before moving to content.

Step 3: Create account-relevant content

Now use those insights to shape your messaging and content. What does each account, or each segment, actually care about? What questions do they have at each stage of their buying journey? What content formats work best for the people you’re trying to reach?

Personalisation doesn’t have to mean creating everything from scratch. Small adjustments make a big difference: for example a personalised title or subtitle, a case study relevant to their industry, a landing page tailored to their segment. Generative AI has made this kind of personalisation faster and more scalable, though human judgement still shapes what actually resonates.

Step 4: Build and launch your campaign

Combine online and offline tactics to reach the right people across the right channels. For example you can use LinkedIn, email, content, events and direct outreach in a coordinated way. Make sure every touchpoint reinforces the same message.

Create a playbook so everyone knows what they’re doing and when. Include your target account list, your key messages, your channel plan and your tracking approach. Assign clear roles and responsibilities across marketing and sales.

For more on building your ABM engine, listen to ABM expert Karin Schaff Glazier on how to structure your programme and avoid common pitfalls.

Step 5: Measure and optimise

Track progress across five areas: coverage (do you know who’s in the account?), awareness (do they know you?), engagement (are they spending time with you?), reach and impact (is engagement turning into real conversations?), and influence (is ABM changing commercial outcomes?).

Measure from the start. Take a baseline before your campaign launches. Review results regularly with sales. Adjust where needed.

For a full breakdown of how to measure ABM, read our practical guide to measuring ABM success.

Want the complete step-by-step guide? Download the ABM in 5 steps e-book.

How AI is changing ABM

AI is reshaping how B2B teams run ABM, and it’s moving fast.

The biggest shift is in how teams identify buying signals. Buyers now research independently for longer, across more channels, before they ever speak to sales. AI tools can monitor patterns across your target accounts, flagging when activity suggests a decision is approaching, even before anyone has filled in a form.

AI also makes personalisation at scale genuinely achievable. Content can be tailored to specific accounts, industries and buyer roles much faster than before. Account research that used to take days can now be done in hours.

But AI doesn’t replace the strategic judgement at the heart of ABM. You still need to choose the right accounts. You still need to understand what matters to the people within them. And you still need sales and marketing working together around shared priorities. AI accelerates the execution. ABM provides the focus.

At SPOTONVISION, we help teams build ABM programmes that make the most of AI without losing that strategic edge. Our B2B Vision Academy includes dedicated training on ABM and AI, helping marketing and sales teams understand how to use these tools effectively and responsibly.

For a deeper look at how AI and ABM are converging, read how AI is turning ABM into the GTM model every B2B team needs in 2026.

How to measure ABM success

Measuring ABM is different from measuring traditional demand generation. You’re not optimising for lead volume. On the contrary, you’re tracking account-level progress over time.

The five measurement areas to focus on:

• Coverage: do you know who the key people are in each target account, and can you reach them?
• Awareness: do contacts from your target accounts know who you are?
• Engagement: are they spending time with your content, events and channels?
• Reach and impact: is engagement converting to real conversations and opportunities?
• Influence: are ABM accounts closing faster, at higher values, compared to non-ABM accounts?

Set your KPIs before the programme launches. Take a baseline. Review together with sales on a regular rhythm.

Your CRM and marketing automation platform are the foundation. Layer in intent data, LinkedIn analytics and account-level reporting as your programme matures.

For the full guide, read how to measure ABM success.

Account-based marketing examples

Example 1: Account-focused content 

Personalised content is one of the most powerful ABM tools. An e-book with a cover image tailored to a specific industry. A whitepaper introduction rewritten to address a particular account’s challenges. A case study chosen because it mirrors the target account’s situation. These adjustments don’t require huge budgets. They require insight and the willingness to use it.

Example 2: Creative 1:1 outreach 

For your most strategic accounts, a personalised, unexpected approach can break through where standard outreach doesn’t. One well-known example: software company GumGum wanted to win McDonald’s as a client. They sent a custom box styled as a Big Mac, where each “ingredient” explained a part of their service offering. It was specific, relevant and memorable.

The principle applies at any scale. Use the language your target account uses. Reference their specific challenges. Make it clear you’ve done the work.

Example 3: Web personalisation

Personalising your website for specific accounts or segments creates a more relevant experience for every visitor. Dynamic content lets you show different messages, case studies or calls to action depending on who’s visiting. This can be as simple as swapping the hero image for a segment-specific version, or as sophisticated as a fully tailored landing page for a named account.

A real-world example: Cyclomedia

Cyclomedia, a global technology company that captures real-world data to improve city infrastructure, wanted to grow their presence in four European markets. They partnered with SPOTONVISION to build an ABM programme focused on Smart Mobility and Smart City decision-makers across Spain, France, Italy and the UK.

SPOTONVISION helped Cyclomedia align sales and marketing around key target accounts, build buyer personas through in-depth interviews, and create a library of thought leadership and buyer enablement content. All assets were localised for each market and distributed across multiple channels to build brand awareness and drive account engagement.

Read the full Cyclomedia ABM case study. 

Getting started with ABM?

ABM is not a one-off campaign. It’s a long-term programme that requires alignment, patience and continuous improvement.

The good news: you don’t need a perfect setup to begin. You need clear account selection, a realistic plan, and sales and marketing committed to working together.

At SPOTONVISION, we help B2B organisations across Europe build and scale ABM programmes. Whether you’re taking your first steps or looking to grow a programme that’s already running, we work in structured sprints with clear milestones and no surprises.

Want to upskill your team at the same time? The B2B Vision Academy offers practical ABM training for marketing and sales teams, including courses on ABM fundamentals, AI in B2B marketing, and the buyer journey.

Want practical B2B marketing insights in your inbox? Subscribe to the SPOTONVISION newsletter and join thousands of B2B marketers who read it every month.

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Frequently asked questions about account-based marketing

If your content is not resonating, the problem is rarely the content itself. The real issue is usually simpler: you do not know your buyer well enough. An AI buyer persona only works when it is built on real interviews first, with AI added on top, not the other way around. 

That gap used to be visible: a weak persona sat in a slide deck, ignored. Today it is easier to hide, since an AI buyer persona tool can generate a polished profile from your CRM and website data in minutes, complete with a name, photo, and list of goals. 

Then your sales team reads it and says that is not who they are actually talking to. This is not an argument against AI in buyer persona work, it is an argument for using it in the right order: AI is brilliant at speed and scale, but it is no substitute for sitting down with a real buyer and asking why. 

Why the AI shortcut is so tempting 

Buyers have already moved. Forrester’s 2026 Buyers’ Journey Survey of nearly 18,000 global business buyers found that 94% used AI somewhere in their most recent purchase, comparing vendors and building internal business cases before a single sales conversation happened. It makes sense to want your persona work to move just as fast, but speed on the buyer’s side does not excuse shortcuts on yours. A persona is only useful if it reflects how your buyer actually thinks, not how a language model predicts they might. 

What AI still cannot tell you 

AI is excellent at processing volume: transcripts, reviews, CRM notes, support tickets, and finding patterns fast. What it cannot do is sit in the room with your buyer and notice what they are not saying. It misses emotional nuance, cannot always tell sarcasm from sincerity, and does not know why a buyer acts the way they do, only that they do. It cannot form the kind of trust that gets someone to say what they really think, rather than what sounds reasonable. 

Prospeo’s 2026 research found that only 18% of companies have actually validated their buyer personas against real data. Most are still built on assumption, whether a human or an AI wrote them down. 

One persona is never the whole picture 

A single, well-built persona still only tells you about one person, not how the purchase actually gets approved. B2B buying happens in a group, often eight to ten stakeholders, checking with each other and looking for reasons to trust the decision before anyone commits. That consensus-building is exactly where trust becomes the real currency in B2B buying, and why our 2026 predictions point to human judgement mattering more, not less, as AI takes over more of the process. Map the buying group first, then build personas for the roles that matter most within it. 

Building an AI buyer persona the right way: research first, AI on top 

The order matters. Start with real, qualitative interviews, map the buying group, and understand goals, worries, and how decisions actually get made. That is the foundation no AI tool can generate for you, because it depends on a real conversation with a real person. Once it exists, AI becomes genuinely useful: turning interview data into queryable tools your team can use, pressure-testing messaging against a persona before a campaign goes live, and speeding up analysis, content creation, and roll-out. 

Our buyer insight and strategy work is built around exactly that sequence: interviews first, activation second. 

How many buyer interviews do you actually need? 

Enough to hear the same pattern repeat, not just once. In practice, that is usually five to eight in-depth interviews per persona, mixing buyers who converted quickly with ones who nearly walked away. Fewer than that and you risk building a persona around one loud opinion. 

How Yuki turned real research into a working content engine 

Yuki, the accounting software platform, shows what this looks like in practice. As Mathieu van Baarle, Sales Enablement Team Lead at Yuki, explained: as a fast-growing, marketing-led business, Yuki needed one shared, accurate view of its buyer, not separate assumptions across sales, customer success, and marketing. 

SPOTONVISION conducted Yuki’s buyer persona research through a series of interviews, building three personas over time as the market shifted from SME accountants to the top 100 accountancy firms. 

What Yuki did next is where AI earned its place. The team used AI video tools to bring the personas to life, having them introduce themselves and run internal training sessions, then combined the persona data with win/loss and competitor analysis to build a content blueprint in Google Gemini, used to check whether ads and content genuinely resonate with the target audience. 

The results speak for themselves: overall conversion up 2%, content creation time cut in half, and sales follow-up emails generated twice as fast. 

Can AI replace the interview itself? 

No. AI can prepare you for an interview, transcribe it, and help analyse it afterwards. It cannot ask the follow-up question that comes from genuinely listening, or notice the pause that tells you a buyer has not finished their thought. As Mathieu put it, persona research matters more as AI takes over more execution, not less. The output is only as good as the data you feed it. 

Wrapping up 

A persona built by AI alone might look complete. It rarely holds up once sales, customer success, and marketing put it to the test. Do the qualitative research first, let it be the real voice of your buyer, then bring in AI to scale what you have learned into content, messaging, and campaigns that actually land. 

Want practical B2B marketing insights in your inbox? Subscribe to the SPOTONVISION newsletter and join thousands of B2B marketers who read it every month. 

Most B2B buyers do not start their buying journey by filling in a form. 

They research before they buy. They visit websites, read content, compare options, ask peers and check LinkedIn. In many cases, they also build internal agreement before they speak to the sales team of any supplier. 

That means the first conversation with a vendor is rarely the start of the buying journey. Often, buyers are already validating preferred choices. 

Research from 6sense shows that buyers make first contact with vendors when they are already 61% through the buying journey. By that moment, many have already set a shortlist, defined requirements and started internal conversations. 

This creates a clear challenge for B2B marketing and sales teams. If you only act when someone fills in a form, you may already be too late. The account may have formed a preference. The buying group may already be aligned. Your competitor may already feel like the safer option. 

In an earlier article, we looked at the shift from form fills to signals. This article takes the next step: how do you turn those signals into useful account intelligence for sales? 

What is account intelligence? 

Account intelligence is the process of combining buyer signals, account context and human interpretation, so marketing and sales can understand why an account matters now and what should happen next. 

It is not another dashboard. It is not a long report. And it is not a reason to chase every click. 

Done well, account intelligence helps sales act earlier, with better timing and a more relevant conversation angle. 

Why lead-based thinking misses the bigger picture 

Lead generation still has value. A form fill, webinar registration or content download can tell you something useful. But in complex B2B buying, one person is rarely the whole opportunity. 

A single lead tells you what one person did. It does not always tell you why the account is active, whether the topic links to a business priority, who else is involved or what sales should say next. 

That is the gap account intelligence helps to close. It shifts the focus from isolated lead activity to meaningful account movement. 

What are buyer signals? 

A buyer signal is any activity that suggests an account is showing interest, movement or potential change. 

Some signals come from your own channels, such as:  

• repeat visits to key pages 

• content engagement 

• event attendance 

• email clicks 

• several people from the same company engaging with the same topic 

Other signals come from external sources, such as job vacancies, leadership changes, funding news, expansion plans, M&A activity, relevant LinkedIn posts or technology updates. 

Individually, these signals are easy to miss. Together, they can tell a story. An account may be exploring a new challenge. A buying group may be forming. A new initiative may have budget. A current customer may be showing signs of expansion potential. 

But signals alone are not enough. A website visit is not a strategy. A content click is not a buying committee. A job vacancy is not a sales opportunity by itself. The value comes from connecting the dots. 

From signals to sales-ready action 

At SPOTONVISION, we like to keep account intelligence practical. The flow is simple: signal, insight, action. 

1. Signal 

Something happens at a target account. This could be first-party activity, such as website visits, content engagement or event participation. It could also be an external trigger, such as a job vacancy, leadership change or company announcement. 

The signal tells us that something is happening. It does not yet tell us what to do. 

2. Insight 

The next step is interpretation. What does this signal mean in the context of this specific account? Is there a possible business trigger? Is the account entering a buying journey? Is there urgency? Who might be involved? Is this worth action now, or should we monitor it? 

This is where many teams get stuck. They collect signals, but do not translate them into meaning. Without insight, signals become noise. 

3. Action 

The final step is turning the insight into something sales can use. That could be a short account brief, a suggested outreach angle, a stakeholder recommendation, a relevant message for a specific persona or a next best action for the account owner. 

Without action, insight is wasted. The goal is not to overwhelm sales with more data. The goal is to give sales a better reason to reach out. 

Before and after account intelligence 

Without account intelligence, marketing may see that a target account visits the website several times, reads articles around a specific challenge and views a case study. The activity stays hidden in tools and reports. Weeks later, sales sends a generic message. 

With account intelligence, the same activity is checked against account priority, market context and known stakeholders. Sales receives a short brief that explains why the account is relevant now, what topics they are showing interest in and what conversation angle to use. 

The difference is not just speed. It is relevance. 

Sales is no longer starting with: “Can we tell you about our solution?” 

Sales can start with: “We see many companies like yours trying to solve this specific challenge. Based on what is happening in your market, we thought this perspective might be useful.” 

That feels very different to the buyer. 

What sales actually needs 

Most leads give sales very little context. A name. A company. A job title. Maybe a form submission. In complex B2B sales, that is rarely enough. 

A useful account intelligence brief should answer five simple questions: 

1. Why is this account flagged? 

2. What are they showing interest in? 

3. What context matters right now? 

4. Who should we approach? 

5. What should we say or do next? 

This does not need to become a long report. In fact, it should not. The best account briefs are short, practical and focused on action. 

Relevant, not creepy 

B2B buyers are not avoiding sales because they never want to speak to anyone. They are avoiding irrelevant sales interactions. 

Gartner research found that 61% of B2B buyers prefer an overall rep-free buying experience, and that 73% actively avoid suppliers who send irrelevant outreach. That distinction matters. 

When sales brings value, perspective and timing, buyers still engage. But when outreach feels generic, automated or disconnected from their reality, buyers ignore it. 

This is why account intelligence should not be used as a surveillance tool. It should be used as a relevance tool. 

The goal is not to say: “We noticed you visited our website.” 

The goal is to say: “We see this topic becoming more important for companies in your situation. Here is a perspective that may help.” 

That is the difference between using data badly and using intelligence well. 

Why this matters for marketing 

For marketing, account intelligence changes the conversation. 

Instead of reporting only on campaign metrics, marketing can show how specific signals led to specific actions and how those actions influenced pipeline. 

That makes marketing’s contribution more visible. It helps answer questions such as: 

• Which target accounts showed meaningful movement? 

• Which signals were identified? 

• Which accounts were briefed for sales? 

• Which conversations started? 

• Which opportunities progressed? 

This is the bridge between marketing activity and commercial impact. It is exactly the kind of story marketing needs to bring to the sales director, commercial leader or CFO: “Here is what we saw. Here is what we did. Here is what moved forward.” 

Forrester has predicted that more than half of large B2B transactions of $1 million or more will be processed through digital self-serve channels. That does not make sales less important. It means marketing and sales need to understand digital buying behaviour much earlier and act on it with more precision. 

In other words, digital activity is not just campaign engagement. It is commercial intelligence. 

Where to start 

You do not need to start with a complex technology stack. Start with the accounts that matter most. 

That could be your top target accounts, your most important existing customers, open opportunities that have stalled or strategic accounts where sales needs a better reason to engage. 

Then define which signals are worth watching. Keep the first version simple. Choose the first-party and external signals that are most likely to indicate meaningful account movement. 

The next step is to agree what happens when those signals appear: 

• Who reviews the signals? 

• Who turns them into insight? 

• Who briefs sales? 

• How quickly should action happen? 

• What does a good account brief look like? 

This is where account intelligence becomes practical. It is not just about seeing more. It is about acting better. 

Is your team missing signals? 

Ask yourself: 

• Do you know which target accounts are active on your website today? 

• Does sales know what marketing is seeing? 

• Can you connect account signals to sales conversations? 

• Can you show which marketing insights helped move opportunities forward? 

• Do sales colleagues receive real account context, or just leads? 

If the answer is no, there is a good chance that valuable buying signals are slipping through unnoticed. 

Account intelligence is not about chasing every click. It is about recognising meaningful movement in the accounts that matter most and helping sales respond with relevance. 

Because signals are not the output. Sales-ready action is. 

Would you like to explore which signals your team could already be acting on? We are happy to have a short conversation and help you identify where account intelligence could create more focus, better timing and stronger sales conversations. Let me know. 

Source notes 

• 6sense Buyer Experience Report 2025: used for the buyer journey and first vendor contact framing. https://6sense.com/science-of-b2b/buyer-experience-report-2025/

• Gartner Sales Survey 2025: used for rep-free buying and irrelevant outreach context. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-06-25-gartner-sales-survey-finds-61-percent-of-b2b-buyers-prefer-a-rep-free-buying-experience

• Forrester B2B Marketing & Sales Predictions 2025: used for large B2B transactions moving through digital self-serve channels. https://www.forrester.com/press-newsroom/forrester-predictions-2025-b2b-marketing-sales/ 

Many B2B teams invest time and budget in account-based marketing, then struggle to show whether it’s working. Not because results aren’t there, but because they’re measuring the wrong things.

If you track ABM with the same metrics you use for demand generation, you’ll always feel like it’s falling short. ABM isn’t about volume. It’s about depth. The question isn’t “how many leads did we get?” It’s “how well are we building relationships with the accounts that matter most?”

This guide walks you through how to measure ABM success in a practical way. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to sharpen your reporting, you’ll find five clear measurement areas, concrete questions to ask at each stage, and tips on what to track.

Why ABM measurement is different from standard marketing metrics

Traditional B2B marketing optimises for volume. More leads, more clicks, more downloads. ABM flips that logic entirely.
In account-based marketing, you focus your efforts on a selected group of accounts. Your goal is to build engagement and relationships within those accounts over time, not to cast a wide net.

That means your metrics need to reflect account-level progress, not individual-level activity. A single decision-maker downloading a whitepaper means something different in an ABM context than in a general demand generation campaign. You want to know whether the right people, across the whole buying group, are engaging with your company.

This shift sounds simple. In practice, it requires a different mindset and a different reporting setup.

What does a strong ABM measurement framework look like?

A solid ABM measurement framework tracks five things: coverage, awareness, engagement, reach and impact, and influence. Together, they give you a full picture of where each account is in its journey with you.

Think of it as moving from “do we know who they are?” to “are we closing the right deal?”

Before you launch your ABM programme, take a baseline measurement across all five areas. That baseline becomes your reference point for everything that follows.

The five areas to measure in ABM

1. Coverage: do you know who’s in the room?

Coverage is where ABM measurement starts. You need to know who the key people are within each target account before you can reach or engage them.

Ask yourself:

• Do you know which accounts are showing buying intent?
• Have you identified the decision-makers and influencers in each account?
• Can you actually reach these people, via email, LinkedIn, or another channel?
• Is your database growing with the right contacts?

Measurement tip: Set a specific goal. For example, aim to have contact details and a way to reach 80% of the key decision-makers in your target accounts within 90 days.

Your CRM is the starting point here. If your data is incomplete, tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator or contact enrichment platforms can help you fill the gaps.

2. Awareness: do they know who you are?

Once you know who the right people are, you want to understand whether they already know you. This is your baseline before the campaign starts.
Ask yourself:

• Do contacts from your target accounts visit your website?
• Are they already connected to you or your colleagues on LinkedIn?
• Do your ads reach them?

Measurement tip: Check your website analytics before launching your campaign. Filter traffic by company or account where possible. This gives you a clear “before” picture so you can track awareness growth over time.

Many marketing automation platforms and ABM tools let you track account-level website behaviour. Even basic tools offer enough visibility to get started.wareness and keep track of your marketing automation or ABM dashboard to see the progress.

3. Engagement: are they spending time with you?

Engagement is the heart of ABM measurement. All your content, campaigns and outreach are designed to create meaningful interactions. Now you need to check whether those interactions are happening.
Ask yourself:

• Do contacts from your target accounts read your blogs or visit specific pages on your site?
• Do they follow you on LinkedIn?
• Do they attend your events or webinars?
• Do they download your content?

Measurement tip: One way to make engagement comparable across accounts is to translate activities into time. A webinar attendance might equal 45 minutes. A blog read might equal 4 minutes. When you add these up per account, you can compare engagement levels and spot where more attention is needed.

This is also where signal-based thinking becomes useful. Rather than looking at isolated actions, look for patterns. An account that visits your pricing page, follows you on LinkedIn and attends a webinar in the same month is sending a clear signal.

4. Reach and impact: is engagement turning into real conversations?

Reach and impact looks at whether your ABM activities are creating actual opportunities, not just digital activity.
Ask yourself:

• Is engagement converting to real interaction? A phone call, a meeting, a demo?
• When sales reaches out to a decision-maker in a target account, are they willing to talk?
• Can you trace new opportunities directly back to your ABM programme?

Measurement tip: This is where close collaboration between marketing and sales becomes essential. Schedule a regular check-in, weekly if possible, to review what’s happening in each account. Look at CRM notes together. Discuss what’s been discussed, what’s progressed and what’s stalled.
Marketing should not hand over a lead and disappear. In ABM, marketing and sales stay aligned throughout the entire account journey.

5. Influence: is ABM making a commercial difference?

The fifth area is the one that answers the biggest question: is ABM actually changing outcomes?

The best way to measure influence is to compare your ABM accounts with accounts where ABM is not being applied.

Ask yourself:

• Is the sales cycle shorter for ABM accounts compared to non-ABM accounts?
• Are deal sizes larger?
• Are conversion rates from proposal to closed deal higher?

Measurement tip: Set up a clear comparison in your CRM or reporting dashboard from the start. Two groups: ABM accounts and standard accounts. Track the same metrics across both. Over time, the difference in pipeline velocity, deal size and win rate tells the real story.

This kind of comparison is also powerful for internal conversations. It helps you make the case for continued investment in ABM, especially when results take time to show up.

What tools do you need to measure ABM?

You do not need a dedicated ABM platform to get started. Many B2B teams measure their ABM programmes effectively with a CRM and a marketing automation platform.

Your CRM tracks contacts, accounts, deal stages, pipeline value and activity history. Your marketing automation platform tracks email engagement, content downloads, webinar registrations and website visits. Together, they cover a lot.

If you want to go further, you can layer in additional tools:

• Intent data platforms help you understand which accounts are actively researching topics related to your product or service, even before they’ve contacted you.
• LinkedIn Campaign Manager gives you account-level reach and engagement data when you run LinkedIn Ads targeted at specific companies.
• Web personalisation tools let you serve different content to visitors from target accounts and track how they engage.
• Reporting dashboards (built in your CRM, in Power BI, or in a standalone tool) help you visualise account-level progress across the five measurement areas above.

The most important thing is not which tools you use, but whether you set up a consistent way to capture and review account-level data. A simple shared dashboard that marketing and sales review together every week will outperform a complex setup that nobody looks at.

How does measuring ABM connect to the five steps of ABM?

Measuring ABM is Step 5 in SPOTONVISION’s ABM in 5 steps approach, but it isn’t a step you bolt on at the end. The best ABM teams measure from the very beginning.

When you select your target accounts in Step 1, you define your KPIs. When you gather account insights in Step 2, you take your baseline measurements. When you create content in Step 3, you build in tracking. And when you launch your campaign in Step 4, your measurement framework is already running.

Measurement is not a conclusion. It’s a continuous loop that helps you learn, adjust and improve throughout the programme.

Does ABM always show results quickly?

Honest answer: not always. B2B buying processes take time, especially for complex, high-value deals. Your target accounts may be in early research mode for months before they’re ready to speak to sales.

That’s one reason why ABM measurement matters so much. If you only measure deals won, you’ll feel like nothing is working for a long time. But if you measure coverage, awareness, engagement and reach along the way, you can see progress much earlier and course-correct before it’s too late.

Adjust your programme where needed. Experiment. Be patient with the results. ABM is a long-term strategy, and the teams that stick with it consistently see the commercial difference.

Wrapping up

Measuring ABM success comes down to five things: knowing who’s in your target accounts, tracking whether they know you, measuring the depth of their engagement, checking whether that engagement creates real conversations, and comparing outcomes with and without ABM.

You don’t need a complicated toolset to start. You need clear goals, consistent tracking, and regular alignment between marketing and sales.

Start with a baseline. Pick your metrics before the campaign launches. And keep reviewing together.

Want practical B2B marketing insights in your inbox? Subscribe to the SPOTONVISION newsletter and join thousands of B2B marketers who read it every month.

Related reading:

• ABM in 5 steps e-book — download the SPOTONVISION e-book
• How Cyclomedia accelerated lead generation with ABM — a real-world ABM example

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Why reach alone doesn’t work in complex B2B accounts

Many B2B marketing strategies are still designed for scale, focusing on visibility, engagement, and lead generation.

However, in complex accounts, this approach works only to a limited extent. Decision-making takes months, sometimes longer. Different stakeholders assess the same investment through different lenses: Finance looks at risk, Sales at revenue potential, Operations at feasibility, and IT at integration. Priorities also shift continuously.

Sopra Steria deliberately chose a different approach:

• Focus on a select group of high-value accounts
• Understand stakeholders and their role in the buying process
• Align closely with Sales on what truly matters

This focus creates space for more targeted and meaningful interactions.

Relevance starts with context

An important insight from the session is that relevance goes beyond personalisation. Many teams still confuse personalisation with a job title in the subject line or sector-specific copy. That is not relevance.

“Resonance is about delivering the right message at the right moment and being there when it matters most for customers.”

It’s not just about tailoring content to specific roles or sectors, but understanding what is happening within an account at that particular moment. This requires deep insight into the account’s context: what are the challenges, priorities, and what changes are taking place?

To make this context scalable, Sopra Steria uses AI. AI can help identify signals faster, cluster themes and accelerate content production. But without clear account choices and human judgement, you mainly automate irrelevance. Real relevance comes from combining technology with human interpretation.

Still, the human factor remains essential. Insights only become valuable when they are turned into personal, relevant conversations.

From visibility to real influence within accounts

Another important shift is moving from visibility to real influence within accounts. Many marketing teams report reach as if it signals progress. But without influence over the right decision-makers, reach becomes a KPI without value.

While Marketing often focuses on awareness, ABM is about building influence with the right people within an account. In practice, this means:

• Gaining insight into who is involved and where their interest lies
• Understanding which topics resonate
• Supporting sales with concrete tools for follow-up

Thus, Marketing becomes a direct part of building relationships within accounts.

“ABM works best when Sales and Marketing operate as one team. It’s not just a campaign, it’s a strategy that brings real change both inside and outside our organisation.”

In many organisations, Sales and Marketing still operate alongside each other rather than together. When that happens, ABM remains a campaign tactic instead of a growth strategy. When Sales and Marketing alignment is strong, ABM becomes more effective. Marketing efforts then support what Sales actually needs to convert target accounts.

Relationships are not built in a single campaign

In complex B2B journeys, impact rarely comes from a single campaign. Organisations that treat ABM as a standalone campaign miss how trust is really built: through consistent, relevant interactions over time. Emy Jager’s examples showed how digital outreach, events, webinars, personal follow-ups and physical touchpoints reinforce each other.

Key takeaways for ABM-practitioners

So, how can you apply these ABM principles in your own organisation?

1. Choose fewer accounts, but commit more resources to each one.
2. Look beyond personalisation. Without context, it quickly feels superficial.
3. Collaborate closely with sales. Without shared priorities, alignment remains theory.
4. In complex deals, momentum is built over months, not in a single campaign.
5. Technology accelerates execution, people determine relevance.

A practical step forward in ABM

What makes this approach powerful is that it does not require complicated models or large-scale transformation. The biggest gains rarely come from more campaigns or more tooling, but from better choices: sharper focus, shared priorities and more relevant commercial interactions.

Curious where your biggest ABM opportunity lies: focus, alignment or relevance? We would be happy to help. Plan a conversation with our ABM specialists and discover how we can strengthen the connection between Marketing and Sales to help you convert target accounts faster.

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From “more noise” to better focus

Most people talk about AI like it’s a high-speed printing press: more content, more emails, more automation. But that just creates more noise.

Marije put it perfectly: “Stop trying to ‘align’ Sales and Marketing through meetings. Start aligning them through a shared AI intelligence layer.”

The goal isn’t to automate the output; it’s to automate the insight. It’s about turning those “silent signals” buried in your systems into immediate, high-intent action.

Your CRM is a moat, not a filing cabinet

We tend to treat the CRM as a chore, a place for pipeline tracking and “feeding the beast” for your forecasting meetings. But while we’re busy building dashboards, the system is quietly building a much richer story.

Underneath the surface are the real gems:

• The specific nuance in a sales note that explains why a “sure thing” stalled.
• Stakeholder patterns that reveal who the actual decision-makers are.
• The historical context that tells you exactly when a “lost” lead is ready to talk again.

As Marije pointed out, sales teams accumulate mountains of data that usually just gather digital dust. AI enables us to mine that history to uncover opportunities that are hiding in plain sight. Your CRM shouldn’t just be a system of record; it should be your primary source of insight. And your CRM shouldn’t just tell you what happened; it should tell you what to do next.

What this looks like in the real world

AI doesn’t replace your data; it gives it a voice. Here is how that actually changes the game for an ABM team:

• The “second chance” signal: Identifying closed-lost deals where the original objection (like budget or a specific feature gap) is no longer true.
• The timing trigger: Flagging role changes or contract renewals before the “official” outreach window opens.
• The reactivation: Catching an account that’s suddenly showing intent signals after six months of radio silence.

How to build your “Lean” AI stack

You don’t need a Silicon Valley budget to do this. While Culture Amp uses a sophisticated stack (Salesforce, 6sense, Gong), Marije was clear: you can start simple.

1. Revisit the “Lost” files: Mine the last 18 months of closed-lost data for patterns.
2. Define your triggers: What actually matters? Is it a new CEO? A funding round? A specific contract date?
3. Bridge the gap to Sales: Don’t just give them a dashboard. Give them an alert they can actually use.

The bottom line: Your history is your edge

This was my favorite takeaway from Marije: “Think of your CRM data as a moat. Anyone can buy the same AI tools we use, but nobody can buy the history we have with our customers.”

Your competitors can copy your tech stack. They can copy your ad copy. But they can’t replicate the years of context, relationships, and nuanced data sitting in your CRM.

The value isn’t in the AI tool itself, it’s in the proprietary data you feed it. If you’re only using your CRM for reporting, you’re leaving your biggest competitive advantage on the table. It’s time to stop looking for “new” leads and start looking at the value you’ve already captured.

Deal-based marketing (DBM), or Pursuit marketing, has evolved from traditional Account-based Marketing (ABM), focusing on maximizing sales and marketing alignment for high-value (RFP) deals. This blog breaks down DBM into practical stages and insights on how we can position ourselves in this strategy, create value at each deal-phase and build on success. 

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About DBM: A staged hyper-focused strategy

Deal-based marketing can be seen as an extension of ABM, focusing on individual deals rather than broader accounts. It closely aligns with the sales process, helping marketers shape conversations, differentiate offerings and reassure decision-makers during critical deal stages.

In short: the three stages of Deal-based marketing

Stage	Goal
Shape (Pre-RFP Stage)	Create urgency, relevance, and early interest before the RFP is issued. “It’s about connecting the dots for sales and ensuring we’re talking to the right people with the right message.”
Differentiate (Active RFP Stage)	Help your team stand out under tight deadlines and present your solution as the best fit. “AI can assist marketers by analyzing deal material like RFPs, helping streamline responses and identify key differentiators.”
Reassure (Shortlist/Final Stage)	Reduce lingering doubts and reinforce trust in your solution. “Making sure the buyer feels confident, they need to trust your company.”

The changing role of Marketers in the DBM process

In the DBM process, our role evolves as the deal progresses. Here’s a look at how marketers adapt.

Early Stage – Identifying and nurturing stakeholders:

In the Shape stage, we focus on identifying key stakeholders and nurturing relationships before the RFP is issued. We use ABM insights to ensure the right conversations happen with the right people, helping the sales team gain access to decision-makers early on.

Ulrike adds: “We leverage ABM insights to engage with the right stakeholders early, setting the stage for meaningful relationships.”

Middle Stage – Refining messaging:

In the Differentiate stage, we tailor our messaging to meet specific buyer needs. With an RFP in play, we must differentiate our solution quickly and clearly, ensuring it stands out from competitors.

Katrin reflects: “At this stage, our role is to make sure our solution’s unique value is instantly clear to the buyer, even under tight deadlines.”

Later Stage – Reassuring the buyer:

In the Reassure stage, we help reinforce the buyer’s confidence by providing evidence-based content like case studies or testimonials, ensuring the buyer feels secure in their decision.

Ulrike highlights: “At this point, we focus on reassurance, showing the buyer, they’ve made the right choice with trust-building content.”

How AI can support and accelerate DBM

As both the goals and marketing’s role change, different AI-agents and tools help us at different stages of DBM:

• Shape: Early-stage AI can provide deep insights into accounts and decision-makers, helping shape the messaging.
• Differentiate: During the active RFP stage AI assists in evaluating RFPs and streamlining responses, ensuring clarity and focus on the buyer’s unique needs.
• Reassure: At the final stage AI can help analyse past successful case studies and provide data-driven content for the final push.

As Katrin points out: “AI helps us analyse deal material quickly, allowing us to focus on what really matters in the RFP process.”

Pursuit marketing: essential qualification criteria

Not all deals are suited for this hyper focused marketing approach.

Ulrike wisely puts it: “Having an account plan in place is non-negotiable, if it’s missing, it’s a no-go. And if sales are hesitant about the commitment, that’s a clear red flag.”

To make the most of DBM efforts, establish and stick to clear qualification criteria. This ensures that the deals you pursue with DBM are the right fit for both you, your company and the buyer.

Key elements to consider:

• Existing customers: Focus on opportunities where you have an established relationship. Upselling and cross-selling within existing accounts is a high-value pursuit.
• Internal commitment: Ensure that the broader sales team is fully committed to you helping the pursuit. From leadership to bid-teams and legal or procurement during the later stages. Without their active involvement, DBM efforts can lose momentum.
• Due diligence: Thoroughly assess the opportunity before diving in. Understand the buyer’s needs, challenges and potential objections to better tailor your approach.

Katrin shares from a Marketers perspective: “Every deal is unique. We learn from each one and continuously improve our approach, but we always stay focused on adding value at every stage.”

Building upon DBM success: Leveraging knowledge and collaboration

Once a deal is successfully closed, it’s important to build upon your DBM success for future opportunities. This requires creating a repository of best practices, success stories and insights gathered from past deals. So, you can replicate it in future pursuits.

Other ideas for scaling DBM:

• SWARMS (cross-functional teams): When facing challenges, create a ‘swarm’ of experts from different departments (e.g., product, content, solutioning) to come together and brainstorm solutions.

As Katrin states the value of SWARMS within Kyndryl: “When you get stuck, it’s invaluable to pull in colleagues from across the company to gain fresh perspectives.”

• Center of Excellence (CoE): Establish a CoE for DBM, where you can continually refine processes, gather feedback, and share successful tactics with other teams across the organisation.

Ulrike’s reflection on how NTT DATA is implementing DBM at scale is a great example: “We are considering making DBM an independent function alongside ABM, not just an extension. It’s about leveraging our learnings and expanding them beyond a single deal.”

Wrapping up: the deal on Deal-based Marketing

However highly dynamic, deal-based marketing is an essential strategy for marketers looking to influence high-value deals. By aligning closely with sales, leveraging ABM insights and incorporating AI, marketers can help their teams navigate the pursuit process and close deals faster.