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In a recent episode of Demandbase's podcast, the Sunny Side Up, Jon Miller, CMO at Demandbase, Engagio and Marketo co-founder, and his team discussed how B2B companies were adjusting to a tighter economy by using account-based marketing (ABM) strategies to generate demand.
They interviewed several B2B leaders to gain insights into their approaches and strategies.
A generic marketing approach will not cut it in today's highly competitive B2B landscape.
To truly stand out and capture the attention of high-value accounts, you need a personalized approach that speaks directly to their unique needs and pain points.
That's where account-based marketing (ABM) comes in. In fact, our own research digging into 637 B2B deals found buying committees are often larger and less visible than most GTM teams assume, which is exactly the audience ABM is built to reach systematically. Industry research compiled by WebFX points the same way:
- Revenue can increase by up to 208% with an ABM strategy (WARC).
- 76% of marketers say ABM delivers a higher return on investment than other marketing strategies (Adobe).
- 58% of B2B marketers report an increase in average deal size after implementing ABM (RollWorks).
- 87% of ABM marketers say ABM outperforms other marketing initiatives (nrich).
Let's dive deep into what ABM is, the key elements of an effective ABM framework, and how to implement a successful ABM strategy.
Shall we get started? :)
What is Account-Based Marketing (ABM)?
Account-based marketing (ABM) is a B2B marketing strategy that identifies and targets high-value accounts rather than attracting as many leads as possible.
Here's a super informative resource that will help you understand account-based marketing better:
With ABM, marketing and sales teams work together to create personalized messages and content for each account, tailoring their approach to each account's specific needs and pain points.
ABM is a strategic approach that requires:
- A deep understanding of your target accounts
- Comprehending their unique challenges and opportunities
This involves identifying each account's key stakeholders, roles and responsibilities, decision-making processes, and pain points.
Once you have identified your target accounts, you can use:
- Targeted account-based advertising
- Email campaigns
- Content marketing
- Personalized outreach
The goal is to engage with your target accounts on a deeper level, building strong relationships and trust that can lead to long-term partnerships and revenue growth. For how this motion is changing with AI tooling, see our 2026 ABM operating playbook.
"We are using Storylane to quickly create demos that are uniquely made for specific contacts, personas, and companies. Currently, we are building demos for ABM campaigns launched by our sales team." - Megan Green, Marketing Director, 6Connex (11-50 employees) | G2
What Does an ABM Framework Look Like?
Suppose you're looking to take your business to the next level. In that case, you may want to consider implementing an account-based marketing (ABM) framework.
ABM is a strategy that focuses on identifying and targeting high-value accounts to drive revenue growth. However, implementing ABM can be challenging without a clear framework in place.
Here are some key elements of an effective ABM framework:
Marketing and Sales: A Legendary Collab
ABM demands close collaboration between marketing and sales teams. In other words, it's a legendary collaboration that requires a joint strategy and action plan. By working together, they can:
- Identify key accounts
- Develop targeted messaging
- Coordinate their efforts to maximize the impact of their outreach
To ensure success, aligning your marketing and sales goals and metrics is important. For instance, metrics such as:
- Reputation
- Relationships
- Revenue
Factors for Account Qualification
Account qualification is a crucial factor in your ABM framework. You need to identify the accounts most likely to generate revenue for your business and prioritize them accordingly. To identify the right accounts to target, you'll need to develop a set of criteria for account qualification. This may include factors such as:
- Company size
- Revenue
- Industry
- Geography
By focusing on the accounts that are most likely to generate revenue, you can maximize the effectiveness of your ABM efforts.
Have a Go-To-Market Plan
You'll need a clear go-to-market plan to execute an ABM strategy effectively. This should include:
- messaging strategy
- outreach channels, such as, email, phone, social media
- measurement plan
- tracking plan
By outlining your plan in advance, you can ensure everyone on your team is aligned and working towards the same goals.
So, an ABM framework requires close collaboration between marketing and sales, clear criteria for account qualification, and a well-defined go-to-market plan. By implementing these elements, you can drive revenue growth and take your business to new heights.
How to Implement an Account-Based Marketing Strategy?
Implementing an account-based marketing (ABM) strategy can help you focus your marketing efforts on high-value accounts and improve your ROI. Here are the steps you can follow to implement an effective ABM strategy:
1. Sync Marketing and Sales
The first step in implementing an ABM strategy is to ensure that your marketing and sales teams are aligned. This requires:
- regular communication
- sharing of data and insights
- joint planning
So, marketing and sales teams must work closely to identify and target high-value accounts.
2. Identify Accounts
Once your marketing and sales teams are aligned, you must identify the accounts you want to target. To start, take the following steps:
- look at your existing customer base
- identify the most profitable accounts
- identify accounts that have the greatest potential for growth
You can also use third-party data to identify accounts that fit your ideal customer profile.
3. Tailor Accounts
After identifying your target accounts, you must tailor your marketing and sales messages to each account. So, you must:
- create personalized content and messaging
- make sure that it speaks to the specific needs
- check that it considers the pain points of each account
Use account-specific data to customize your messages and ensure they are relevant and valuable.
4. Fulfill Target Accounts
Once you have tailored your messaging, you must deliver it to your target accounts through various channels. This can include:
- social media
- direct mail
- targeted advertising
Use various channels to reach your target accounts and track their engagement with your content.
5. Measure the ABM Strategy
Finally, you need to measure the effectiveness of your ABM strategy. Track key metrics such as:
- engagement rates
- conversion rates
- revenue generated from target accounts
Use this data to refine your strategy and optimize your messaging and targeting. If you are still picking the stack to run and measure this, our roundup of the best account-based marketing software is a good starting point.
Let’s take a look at a few examples now. Are you in? :)
Top 7 Account-Based Marketing Examples in 2026
Here are some of the best account-based marketing examples.
Personify
Numerous generic ads out there feel like they're speaking to no one in particular. But Personify's targeted ad campaigns feel like they're speaking directly to the user.
How do they do it? Personify's Constituent Management & Engagement platform allows them to create a list of their top accounts and segment their target markets and personas within them. They can personalize their ad campaigns based on the buyer stage, company, and persona.
And the results speak for themselves. Working with RollWorks, Personify reported a 39x lift in engaged site visitors, alongside 47x ROI on contributed pipeline. 39 times! So, if you're looking to level up your advertising game with targeted ad campaigns, you won't be disappointed.
Calendly
As a scheduling software company, Calendly understands the importance of efficient appointment scheduling. That's why they go the extra mile to educate potential accounts on the benefits of using their software.
Calendly hosts virtual events where you can learn more about their scheduling features and how they can simplify your life. And the best part? These events are completely free!
The play pairs education with Calendly's free plan: prospects can try the product at no cost, and one-on-one help during and after events nudges engaged free accounts toward paid plans. So not only do users learn more about the software, they also get personalized assistance in setting it up for their needs. (We found no public case study with results for this one, so read it as a tactic pattern.)
Intridea
Intridea, a Washington, D.C.-based product design and development consultancy, knows how to stand out from the crowd. They did just that with a billboard near the New York headquarters of the famous ad agency Ogilvy and Mather (Adweek).
Intridea knew how to make an impact, and they were not afraid to be bold and creative to get their message across.
So what was on the billboard?
A bold message that spoke directly to the agency: "Ogle this, Ogilvy."
But that's not all. The billboard pointed to a personalized URL with a collection of playful GIFs and a clear ask: "Made you look. Now hire us." The stunt got Intridea in front of Ogilvy and Mather's decision-makers.
Salesforce
Salesforce is a customer relationship management (CRM) software company, and this example is about interactivity. It is widely shared in ABM roundups as a "Connected Tower" experience.
The idea: a virtual world where the user is given a tour of a smart building and sees first-hand how Salesforce's CRM software could transform their customer experience. It is more than a sales pitch. It is an immersive journey that shows the buyer exactly how the product maps to their goals.
A note of caution: we could not find a public primary source confirming the campaign's specific deal outcome, so treat this one as an illustration of the tactic rather than a documented result. The lesson holds: letting an account experience the product, for example through an interactive demo personalized for that account, lands harder than a slide deck.
Microsoft
Microsoft partnered with NBA star Donovan Mitchell to educate young people about technology. One public example: in 2022, Mitchell and Microsoft built a tech lab at The Children's Village, stocked with Surface devices and a Microsoft-designed curriculum covering coding, 3D animation and internet safety.
By collaborating with a well-known athlete who resonated with their audience, Microsoft built an emotional connection that went beyond selling products: it became part of that audience's lifestyle and interests. Strictly, this is closer to brand marketing than one-to-one ABM, but the principle carries over.
Such emotional connection sets companies like Microsoft apart in today's social media-driven world. By leveraging the power of social media to connect with their audience on a personal level, companies can build lasting relationships with their customers and inspire them to become loyal advocates for their brands.
GumGum
T-Mobile's CEO, John Legere, got to experience being a superhero with a sidekick, thanks to GumGum!
GumGum specializes in AI-based computer vision technology. They took personalization to the next level by creating a custom comic book just for Legere. But it wasn't just any comic book: it depicted Legere as a Batman-style superhero called T-Man, complete with his very own sidekick named Gums!
The coolest part? The content was tailored specifically to Legere's interests. That's right, GumGum studied Legere's very public social media presence and included elements that would resonate with him on a personal level. Legere gave the comic a public shout-out on Twitter.
This personalized content was a game-changer for GumGum. Widely cited accounts of the campaign report that it helped them win the T-Mobile account, plus a lot of free, positive exposure.
Invoca
The 2015 Dreamforce conference was a game-changer for Invoca, a call tracking and conversation analytics company. Invoca went all out by offering free Apple Watches to target-account prospects who booked and attended a meeting with them at the conference. Yes, a free Apple Watch!
Well, the Apple Watch was not just a fancy gadget but also a strategic move to increase lead generation and pipeline targets. The Apple Watch served as a tactile reminder for the meeting appointment and follow-up.
This made the whole process more streamlined, efficient, and engaging for the customers.
And the results were outstanding! Invoca's smart move paid off big time: published accounts of the campaign report that it significantly outperformed its lead generation and pipeline targets. The free Apple Watch offer generated buzz around the conference and helped Invoca stand out among the crowd.
Why Should You Implement Account-Based Marketing?
Implementing an account-based marketing (ABM) strategy can offer several benefits to B2B companies, including:
Focus on High-Value Accounts
ABM allows you to identify and prioritize high-value accounts more likely to drive significant revenue for your business. By focusing your resources on these accounts, you can improve your ROI and maximize your marketing and sales efforts.
Personalization
ABM allows you to create personalized marketing and sales messages that speak directly to individual accounts' needs and pain points. This can help you build stronger relationships with your target accounts and increase their engagement with your brand.
"I love that I can break demos down into slides and add slide-specific narrative to each one. It makes it much easier to highlight the key elements of a demo and keep the story clear and focused." - ABM Manager (51-200 employees) | G2
Alignment of Sales and Marketing
ABM requires collaboration between sales and marketing teams, which can improve overall communication and alignment between the two departments. This can lead to better lead management, more efficient sales processes, and higher revenue growth.
Better Customer Experience
ABM helps you create a tailored customer experience personalized to each account. This can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty and increase the likelihood of repeat business and referrals.
Measurable Results
ABM allows you to track and measure the effectiveness of your marketing and sales efforts on a per-account basis, providing you with actionable insights that can help you optimize your strategy and improve your ROI.
Implementing an account-based marketing strategy can help you focus on high-value accounts, create personalized messaging, align your sales and marketing teams, improve the customer experience, and measure the results of your efforts.
Doing so can improve revenue growth and build stronger relationships with your most valuable customers.
The Bottomline
Are you looking for a marketing strategy that can help you connect with your most valuable customers and boost your ROI?
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is here for you :)
An account-based marketing approach to B2B marketing requires a deep understanding of your target accounts and a collaborative effort between marketing and sales teams.
By identifying high-value accounts and tailoring messages and content to meet their specific needs and pain points, ABM can help you build stronger relationships with your most valuable customers.
To implement an effective ABM strategy, it's crucial to have a clear framework involving:
- Close collaboration between marketing and sales
- Clear criteria for account qualification
- A well-defined go-to-market plan.
Tracking key metrics such as engagement rates, conversion rates, and revenue generated from target accounts can let you measure the effectiveness of your ABM strategy and optimize it for even better results.
Where RepX fits: most ABM plays push target accounts to your website. When they land, Storylane RepX, an AI agent on your site, answers their questions, qualifies them against your ICP and books the meeting in real time. Book a demo to see it on your own traffic.
FAQ
What is an example of account-based marketing?
A classic example is GumGum's custom comic book casting T-Mobile CEO John Legere as a superhero, widely credited with helping GumGum win the account. Intridea's billboard aimed at Ogilvy and Mather is another.
What are the main types of ABM campaigns?
One-to-one (fully custom, for a single strategic account), one-to-few (a small cluster of similar accounts) and one-to-many (programmatic ABM that personalizes ads and content by industry or persona at scale).
How do you build an account-based marketing strategy?
Align marketing and sales, agree on account qualification criteria, build a target account list, tailor messaging to each account, deliver it across channels, and measure the results.
How do you measure the success of an ABM campaign?
Track account-level metrics: target-account engagement, meetings booked, pipeline and revenue influenced, and deal size, compared against a baseline of non-targeted accounts.
Related Reading
What is an ABM Funnel and How to Create a Perfect ABM Funnel?