What Is Account-Based Marketing (ABM)?
A B2B strategy where marketing and sales target specific high-value accounts with personalized campaigns instead of casting a wide net.
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Explained
Account-based marketing flips the traditional funnel. Instead of generating thousands of leads and hoping some are good, ABM starts by identifying the specific companies you want as customers, then builds personalized campaigns for each.
ABM works best for companies selling high-value products or services ($25K+ deal size) to a defined market. If your total addressable market is 500 companies, spending $1,000 per account on targeted outreach makes more sense than spending $500,000 on broad awareness.
The process starts with an ideal customer profile (ICP) and target account list. Marketing and sales collaborate on account research, personalized content, multi-channel outreach, and relationship building. Measurement shifts from lead volume to account engagement and pipeline value.
Three tiers of ABM exist: one-to-one (fully custom campaigns for top accounts), one-to-few (semi-personalized for account clusters), and one-to-many (programmatic personalization at scale). Most companies run all three tiers simultaneously.
Why Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Matters
ABM delivers 87% higher ROI than other marketing strategies (ITSMA). For B2B companies with high deal values and long sales cycles, broad marketing wastes budget on accounts that will never buy. ABM concentrates resources on accounts most likely to close.
Common Mistakes
- 1
Trying ABM without sales and marketing alignment, which creates conflicting outreach
- 2
Building a target account list based on company size alone instead of fit signals
- 3
Running ABM like demand gen (measuring leads instead of account engagement)
Related Terms
MQL vs. SQL
MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) shows interest through engagement. SQL (Sales Qualified Lead) has been vetted by sales and confirmed as a real opportunity.
Demand Generation
Marketing programs that create awareness and interest in your product, building sustainable pipeline through content, SEO, paid media, and thought leadership.
Full-Funnel Marketing
A marketing strategy that addresses every stage of the buyer journey: awareness, consideration, decision, and retention, rather than optimizing only one stage.
How Attainment Helps
Related Services
Industries We Serve
Frequently Asked Questions
How many target accounts should an ABM program have?
Tier 1 (one-to-one): 10 to 25 accounts. Tier 2 (one-to-few): 50 to 200 accounts grouped by industry or pain point. Tier 3 (one-to-many): 200 to 1,000+ accounts with programmatic personalization. Start small with Tier 1 and expand.
What is the minimum deal size for ABM to make sense?
ABM typically makes sense for deal sizes above $25,000 annually. Below that, the cost of personalized outreach per account exceeds the return. For smaller deal sizes, demand generation and inbound marketing are more cost-effective.
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