Account-Based Marketing (ABM)
Account-based marketing (ABM) is a B2B strategy where sales and marketing pick a defined list of target companies and run coordinated, tailored campaigns to the people inside each one.
Also called: ABM, account-based marketing, account-based selling
Why it matters
Traditional demand generation casts a wide net and qualifies whoever responds. ABM reverses the order: the team chooses the accounts first, then builds ads, content and outreach for the buying group at each company. This suits deals with large contract values and several decision makers, where winning a few named accounts matters more than raw lead volume.
ABM is measured by account progress rather than lead counts: how many target accounts are engaged, how many have open opportunities, and how much pipeline and revenue came from the list. It differs from simple personalization because it requires sales and marketing to agree on the same account list, the same signals and the same follow-up plan.
Example
A cybersecurity vendor picks 150 hospitals that match its ideal customer profile. Marketing runs LinkedIn ads shown only to IT and compliance staff at those hospitals, while SDRs send emails that reference each hospital's recent audit news. When a hospital's staff start visiting the pricing page, the assigned account executive gets an alert and calls the CISO.
Questions people ask
What is an example of ABM?
A software company picks 50 named hospitals that fit its ideal customer profile, maps the buying committee at each one, and runs coordinated LinkedIn ads, personal outreach and tailored content to those people only, measuring engagement and pipeline per account rather than per lead.
What is paid ABM?
Paid ABM is advertising aimed only at the companies on your target account list, for example LinkedIn campaigns targeted by company name and job title, so the budget reaches the buying committee at named accounts instead of a broad audience.
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