The ABCs of ABM: A step-by-step guide to success

There’s a lot of buzz about account-based marketing (ABM) these days. But what does it take to create a successful ABM program? 

In this article, I share insights from my journey – failures and all – on how to build, execute, and measure an ABM program that drives meaningful engagement and measurable growth. 

Here’s what you’ll learn:

• How to lay the groundwork for ABM success, including defining objectives, setting up governance models, and building strong partnerships with sales.
• Why collaboration with sales is critical and how to align seamlessly across teams at every stage of your program.
• The key phases of ABM execution, from identifying target accounts and crafting tailored campaigns to celebrating wins and sharing results.
• How to measure ABM’s impact, focusing on reputation, relationships, and revenue, with shared KPIs between marketing and sales.

Whether you’re new to ABM or looking to refine your strategy, this article offers actionable tips and practical advice to help you succeed. 

Let’s dive in!

ABM is a journey, not a quick fix

Before we jump into the ABCs of ABM, it’s important to understand one key thing: ABM isn’t something you can start doing overnight. Unlike standard marketing campaigns where you create content and see quick results, ABM requires patience and strategic planning. It’s a journey, not a sprint. 

You’ll need to lay solid foundations, pilot a few programs, and gradually scale from there. Trying to rush the process often leads to failure, as I learned firsthand while setting up ABM at Google Cloud. Building a strong foundation is critical – it’s what sets your program up for long-term success.

ABM thrives on cross-functional alignment

The second thing to keep in mind is that ABM isn’t a solo effort. Marketing might take the lead, but for the program to succeed, everyone – sales, leadership, and other stakeholders – needs to play a role. Cross-functional alignment is essential. 

Collaborating closely with your sales team, for instance, ensures that both teams are working toward shared goals. From aligning on high-priority accounts to maintaining open communication, this partnership is the cornerstone of a successful ABM strategy.

The three phases of setting up an ABM program

There are three key steps involved in creating and running a successful ABM program: 

1. Build: This phase lays the foundation for everything that follows. It’s where you establish frameworks and expectations, define your strategy, and ensure everyone is on the same page before moving forward.
2. Execute: Here’s where the planning comes to life. This phase is all about launching your campaigns, deploying tailored outreach, and putting your plan into action. 
3. Share: Celebrating wins, big or small, is essential. This phase involves reporting on progress, sharing outcomes with stakeholders, and gathering feedback to continuously improve. 

Now, let’s take a closer look at each phase.

Phase 1: Build

One of the most important steps in laying the foundation for a successful ABM program is getting buy-in from key stakeholders. Having executive sponsors from both sales and marketing on board can make a huge impact.

At this stage, it’s also vital to set realistic expectations. As I’ve mentioned, ABM isn’t something you can rush. It usually takes around four to six months to launch a program, and during the first year, the focus should be on piloting and learning – not scaling. 

Scaling tends to come in year two, and even then, not every aspect of the program can scale. After all, ABM is meant to be bespoke, so what works for one account won’t necessarily fit another.

Sharing your vision for how ABM will work, your go-to-market framework, and when people can expect to see results helps keep everyone aligned. 

A great starting point is defining what ABM means for your business. It might seem like everyone already knows what ABM is, but you’d be surprised – different organizations and teams often have very different interpretations. Contextualizing ABM to fit your company’s goals helps get everyone on the same page and ensures the program is set up for success.

You should also take the time to dig into sales priorities and uncover industry and customer insights. This is key to shaping the program in a way that feels truly collaborative.

Clustering accounts and staying focused

If your ABM program involves a one-to-few approach, now’s the time to figure out how to group accounts. Will you cluster them by industry or perhaps by go-to-market strategy? The best approach depends on your business. 

A word of advice: try to avoid mixing new accounts with existing customers and aim to keep each cluster to 20–25 accounts at most. It’s not always easy to settle on these limits with sales, but keeping clusters manageable will make your program run much more smoothly.

Establishing a governance model

Another critical foundation for ABM is establishing a governance model with your sales team. This means laying out clear processes for selecting accounts to target and ensuring it’s not a revolving door where accounts are constantly swapped in and out. 

After choosing the accounts to focus on, you need to align with sales on their responsibilities in making ABM work. For example, every account in the ABM program should have a detailed account plan, and ABM tactics should integrate seamlessly into that plan. 

Besides account planning, a well-defined governance model includes considerations for customer experience. For instance, trend triggers – such as changes in customer behavior or organizational shifts – should prompt adjustments to ABM strategies, communicated in advance to the sales team. 

Similarly, ringfencing accounts can help avoid campaign overlap or communication fatigue, protecting the effectiveness of the program.

By establishing these guardrails early, you set clear expectations, build strong partnerships with sales, and create a structured approach that ensures ABM’s long-term success. 

Getting agency support

Agency support can make all the difference in executing ABM effectively. Most ABM teams start out lean, and handling everything in-house can be overwhelming. Agencies can help fill the gaps, especially when it comes to gathering marketing insights. 

For instance, research agencies are essential for uncovering industry trends, understanding account priorities and challenges, and even diving into persona-level insights for one-to-one ABM. This level of detail is almost a full-time job in itself, making external expertise invaluable.

That said, there’s no single agency that can handle every aspect of ABM, and that’s okay. It’s a good idea to evaluate agencies across four dimensions: research, content creation, campaign execution, and tools and tech stack. Each area plays a role in building a comprehensive ABM strategy.

Your ABM tech stack: No need to break the bank

One of the most common questions I get is whether you need expensive ABM platforms to get started. 

My take? Absolutely not. 

ABM doesn’t have to mean spending six figures on a tech platform just to run paid ads. In fact, I view one-to-many ABM as more like account-targeted demand generation, not true account-based marketing.

At Google Cloud, for example, the one-to-many digital ABM programs were part of the demand generation team, not the ABM team. While we collaborated to ensure alignment on messaging and outreach, we didn’t include these programs in our one-to-one or one-to-few ABM efforts. 

This division of responsibilities allowed us to focus on the high-touch, bespoke aspects of ABM without getting bogged down in tech-heavy processes.

So, if you’re hesitant to start ABM because of the perceived cost of tech platforms, let me reassure you: you don’t need to invest heavily in tools to get started. Focus on building your strategy and leveraging the resources you already have – there’s plenty you can achieve without an expensive platform.

Phase 2: Execute

Phase two is where all the groundwork you’ve laid starts to come together. You’ve aligned with your sales team, got some executive sponsors, and established a clear governance model. Now it’s time to start building and implementing your go-to-market (GTM) strategy.

Take the time to walk your sales team through your GTM strategy. Explaining how the sausage is made will help them understand why this process takes time and effort, making them more likely to stay engaged throughout.

Defining objectives and accounts to target

The first step of the execution phase is to define your objectives and collect detailed insights on the accounts you want to target. This includes a mix of external and internal inputs:

• External insights: Dive deep into industry trends, account-specific priorities, and persona-level information. If you’re taking a one-to-one ABM approach, insights at the individual decision-maker level will make a huge difference.
• Internal insights: Collaborate with sales to gather qualitative information, such as how the account has responded to past outreach and who the key stakeholders are. These internal perspectives are invaluable when crafting your strategy.

Creating your account list

Building your account list is one of the toughest parts of this phase. Start with a quantitative model that includes metrics like expected revenue, past engagement levels, and growth potential. 

Once you’ve drafted the list, bring it to your sales team for discussion. Be open to their qualitative input – sales teams often have unique insights about which accounts should or shouldn’t be included.

This back-and-forth can take time, but it’s worth the effort. A well-vetted account list ensures that your ABM efforts are focused where they’ll have the most impact, setting the stage for a successful campaign.

Building your campaign strategy 

Now you’ve defined your objectives and account list, it’s time for the campaign strategy to take shape.

This is when you define your ideal customer profile (ICP), identify the key personas or individuals you’ll target, and develop a messaging house tailored to their specific needs. 

At this stage, you’ll also map out an orchestration plan – a timeline detailing how and when marketing and sales will engage with these accounts.

Sharing and aligning this plan with your sales team before moving to the next step is crucial. Collaboration ensures both teams are synchronized and ready to execute effectively.

Putting the plan into action

With the campaign framework in place, the focus shifts to implementation: executing the orchestration plan, measuring progress, optimizing campaigns as needed, and reporting on results. This stage is where all the planning and alignment come to life. 

Phase 3: Share

Now your program is up and running, you can start sharing results and celebrating early wins. Establishing a communication cadence with your sales team ensures they’re kept in the loop. 

In our team, we practice what we call “strategic over-communication” – not to overwhelm sales but to recognize how busy they are and ensure key messages are reinforced in multiple formats.

For instance, we’ve set up monthly meetings with the sales team, sent newsletters summarizing key points, and provided regular updates. Repetition and multiple touchpoints ensure the message gets through and keeps everyone aligned.

Measuring the success of your ABM program

When it comes to measuring success, I recommend following the 3R approach:

🏅 Reputation: Focus on driving preference with key accounts, building your reputation in new markets or business units, and enhancing internal credibility.

🤝 Relationship: Identify and engage with key stakeholders, deepen relationships through insights and innovation, and cultivate references, referrals, and advocates.

💰 Revenue: Measure pipeline growth, the success of new offerings in new markets, and increases in win rates and deal sizes.

What’s critical here is that KPIs are shared between sales and marketing. By creating shared dashboards outlining objectives, account details, personas, key messages, pain points, and orchestration milestones. This transparency ensures both teams are working toward the same goals and have full visibility into progress, allowing you to align your efforts and demonstrate the impact of your ABM program. 

Closing thoughts

ABM isn’t about chasing MQLs, it’s not about spending a fortune on a shiny tech stack, and it’s certainly not something you can flip on like a switch. 

ABM is a journey – a strategic go-to-market approach that aligns all revenue-facing functions to grow your business with specific target accounts.

Let me leave you with three takeaways:

1. Treat sales as a true partner: The sales team isn’t just a stakeholder in ABM; they’re your partners in success.
2. Invest in building the foundations: It’s impossible to overstate how important this step is to the long-term success of your program.
3. Practice strategic over-communication: Sales teams don’t typically complain about getting too much information from marketing. What they do complain about is being left in the dark, so don’t hesitate to reach out often and via multiple channels.

When ABM is executed as a collaborative, carefully planned journey, it has the potential to drive meaningful engagement and deliver measurable growth with your most strategic accounts.

Every step you take toward building a thoughtful ABM program is an investment in stronger relationships, deeper trust, and greater business impact. With the right focus, collaboration, and patience, ABM can transform how your organization engages with its most valuable customers – and unlock new levels of success.

This article is based on Akriti Gupta’s insightful talk at the ABM Summit.