The Complete

ABM Playbook
CONTENTS

Introduction 03

Chapter 1:
6 steps for getting started with ABM 04

Chapter 2:
6 vital ABM questions - answered! 06

Chapter 3:
A quick guide to Ideal Customer Profiles 09

Chapter 4:
Essential ABM metrics 11

Chapter 5:
How to build ABM target lists 14

Chapter 6:
How to plan content for ABM 16

Chapter 7:
10 questions to ask your ABM vendor 18

Chapter 8:
Example ABM tech stack 21

Conclusion 23
INTRODUCTION: YOUR
COMPLETE GUIDE TO ABM

If you’ve downloaded this playbook, chances are you work

in B2B marketing! Maybe you’ve heard of Account-Based
Marketing (ABM) but you’ve never done it. Or maybe you’ve
run some ABM campaigns before, but you want to know
how to improve them.
If you fit into either of those categories, you’re in luck!
Cognism’s Complete ABM Playbook will be your guide to
launching effective ABM for 2020 and beyond! Over the
course of these pages, we’ll give you:
• Definitions for what ABM is and how you can get started
with it.
• Top tips and advice from an all-star cast of ABM experts!
• Templates and infographics you can take away and use
in your business.
• Answers to all the ABM questions you can think of!
So, whether you’re an ABM newbie or an old hand, come
with us and learn some new skills or refresh some old ones!
Happy reading,

Alice de Courcy
Head of Marketing, Cognism
 The Complete ABM Playbook | 4

CHAPTER 1:
1 6 STEPS FOR GETTING STARTED WITH ABM
Many organisations are reaping big rewards from account-based
marketing (ABM). Here’s how you can join them.

Account-based marketing is gaining in popularity 1. Build your ABM team 2. Define your ABM goals
across the B2B sector. Why? Because it works. B2B
ABM, focusing your sales and marketing operations on If you don’t know what your goals are, how will you
marketers who use ABM report upticks in almost
a small number of highly-targeted accounts, requires know when you have achieved success? Plus, giving
every KPI.
a change in thinking around the way you sell. your ABM team clearly defined goals helps focus their
• A study by Demandbase found that 19% of efforts. Think about what you want to accomplish from
One of these changes involves getting your marketing
companies using ABM for at least a year reported your new ABM strategy. Here are some questions to
and sales teams to work much more closely. You need
more than 30% growth in revenue. get you thinking:
to build an ABM team of people with different roles,
• A SiriusDecisions survey found that 91% of marketers but common aims. These could include: • Are you using ABM to launch a new product to
using ABM see a larger deal size, with 25% seeing the market?
their deal sizes grow by more than 50%. Sales reps • Do you want to target a new customer segment?
• ITSMA found that companies using ABM saw an
• Are you looking for new business, or more spend
84% rise in reputation score and a 74% improvement Sales operations from existing customers?
in customer relationships.
Some companies believe that switching from a Marketing operations
conventional sales and marketing strategy over to
TOP TIP
ABM is difficult. However, it’s actually really simple. Content producers (e.g. writers, designers)
Here are our six tips for ABM success.
Once you have defined your goals, make sure you
Customer success reps
have the right technology in your organisation
to help your ABM team achieve them.
Marketing development reps
For example, will you need new tech to help
you identify your targets? Will you need email
automation software? Will you need to adapt
your CRM to help you find ABM victory?
 The Complete ABM Playbook | 5

3. Select your target accounts 4. Create personalised messaging 6. Evaluate and iterate
The next stage of getting started with ABM is possibly ABM is all about creating content that resonates with Starting with ABM can be a trial and error process.
the most important. Who are the companies you are every individual who has an input into buying decisions Your reporting should be able to tell you after a short
going to target? Think about the goals you have set at your target account. The more personal you can get, while what kinds of messages are resonating and what
out at the last stage. the better. Ideally, you want to create one-off content, are not. Your sales reps will hear from their prospects
One way to define your target accounts is to consider addressing their specific needs - no copy and pasting. what lines of attack work better than others.
what kind of companies are already your customers. Think about what sort of content will work best with
Then, look at their competitors. If you are providing each particular individual:
value to several companies in a specific industry, it’s TOP TIP
likely you can provide value to all the others too. Email PPC advertising
There may also be companies you dream of landing If something is working well, double down
as customers, for the MRR, the logo or both. ABM puts Social media Listicles on it. If something else is failing, switch it out.
you in a great position to hit these ambitious targets. Use A/B testing to hone your ABM strategy
Video Templates to perfection.

Articles or Webinars
TOP TIP
whitepapers

Find out everything you can about your

target accounts. You need to discover who is You may even go as far as putting on events for your
on the decision-making committee for your target accounts.
target accounts.
What are the motivating factors for everyone 5. Just do it!
who would have an input into purchasing your Preparation over. It’s time to get ABMing! Use your
product? How can you reach them with the kind chosen tech to start distributing the content you have
of messaging that will make them want to buy? created to the people you have chosen.
You also need to deploy your sales reps to start
making inroads into your target accounts. Make calls,
set up meetings and demos. If your content is good and
well-dispersed, your buyers will already know who you
are. You know the interest they have in your product.
You see the solution you provide for them. It’s time to
move them through your customer journey.
 The Complete ABM Playbook | 6

CHAPTER 2:
2 6 VITAL ABM QUESTIONS - ANSWERED!
3 ABM experts, 6 vital questions. Cut through the confusion and get
all the answers you need to kickstart ABM in your business today.

ABM (account-based marketing) is an often We asked our panel 6 vital ABM questions. Their Building a profile of your perfect customer is an important
misunderstood concept, with even seasoned marketers answers will help any marketer launch their own ABM factor that can make or break an ABM campaign.
feeling confused about what it is and how to get started campaigns, fully optimised to produce the best results.
with it. On Wednesday 9th October 2019, Cognism
hosted a live broadcast: ABM Beyond the Hype: 1. What does a good ABM campaign look like? Nick Mason:
How to get started today.
The answer here is - it depends! It depends on the “You need to be absolutely clear
The purpose of the webinar was to cut through all the company and their objectives, the market they’re who your Ideal Customer Profile is.
jargon and misinformation and provide clear, practical working in and the territory in which they’re based. But This is something every business should do. It’s
advice on how you can add ABM to your marketing within that, there are things you can do to make sure an incredibly useful exercise even outside of
efforts, right away. your ABM campaign is as primed as it possibly can be ABM. Who are we not selling to at the moment
For this reason, we assembled an awesome line-up for success. that we could be selling to? That’s a good
of speakers who are working every day on the frontline question to ask.”
of ABM. They were:
Joe Birkedale:
Alice de Courcy “When we go about implementing 2. How do you decide which tactics to use?
Head of Marketing at ABM, it’s during the discovery phase
Cognism [Moderator] that we get together with our sales team, There are many different tactics you can deploy when
senior and junior, and we drill into their existing running an ABM campaign, from live events to online
Nick Mason sales cycle. We understand the steps and advertising, blog posts to direct mails! Which ones you
CEO & Founder at Turtl phases that exist, the blockers and objections, use will depend on the decision-maker you’re targeting
the timescales they’re working with, what’s and where they spend their time.
Owen Steer the buying journey like, how long it takes How can you pick the right channels? The panel agreed
Account Strategist at Punch! to convert a typical sale from initial inquiry that personalisation is the key.
through to conversion. We need to know those
Joe Birkedale things to set KPIs and goals for the campaign.”
CEO at Project36
 The Complete ABM Playbook | 7

4. How about the metrics? What should 5. What is the secret to aligning successfully
Nick Mason: you track? with sales and the business?
“Personalisation is the difference When you launch an ABM campaign, you need to Our panellists agreed that this is the most important
between ABM working or not prove to management and the wider business that it’s part of any ABM campaign.
working. But the personalisation has to be worthwhile. While the ABM metrics you track will vary
meaningful. It really comes down to who you’re from campaign to campaign and company to company,
going after, in terms of the type of business we asked our panel for the top metrics you need to Owen Steer:
sector they’re in, the type of person you’re focus on. “Getting buy-in from internal
looking for, and that will help you determine
stakeholders, first and foremost, is
which tactics to use.”
absolutely essential. Set realistic expectations -
Nick Mason: you need to secure a budget from the company
“Moving further up in the funnel for your ABM campaign. Be aware that it’s a
3. What tech is out there to help? And is than revenue and pipeline, which long-term campaign. ABM is not a short-term
there a no-tech route? are the ultimate metrics that we’re looking revenue grab. Avoid the pitfall of failing from
for, the thing that we’re really interested the get-go by setting realistic expectations.”
Everyone working in B2B and SaaS will be aware that in is genuine engagement. You need to
there has been an explosion in sales and marketing understand engagement far more deeply
tech. People can be overwhelmed by the avalanche of than who clicked what and who downloaded
choice available to them. How can you make the right what. The thing that we really look for is Joe Birkedale:
tech choices for ABM - and can ABM be done without who’s spending time on what particular
buying tech? “However long your stages of
parts of what particular document.”
delivery for ABM are, the final step
should be: measure, learn, optimise and repeat.
It’s not a set and forget program. ABM is a
Owen Steer: living, breathing thing, so it will change. It takes
“You can absolutely do ABM without Owen Steer: time. If you want revenue tomorrow, ABM is
technology. Don’t rush into making “As campaigns are going, part of not the program for you.”
decisions for a tech stack when you’re trying the alignment process needs to be
to learn and implement ABM. Instead, have making sure that any insights and information
regular meetings between sales, marketing and regarding genuine engagement are filtered
CS to agree on a plan for each account and down to sales. Make sure that those real-time
see how you can leverage the knowledge you metrics are being transparently shared across
already have in your team.” the company so that you’re making the most
of what you’re learning.”
 The Complete ABM Playbook | 8

6. What are your top tips for success?

We asked our ABM experts for their number one tip
for ABM success.

Joe Birkedale:
“If sales don’t understand why ABM is
happening and the process and steps
that a lead has gone through to be classified as
a marketing-qualified or sales-qualified lead...
then there’s no importance placed on it. If sales
understand what is happening and why, they’re
much more likely to jump on those leads and
close them. It should be seen as a joint effort
to close that lead.”

Nick Mason:
“Start small and get an understanding
of what you want to achieve.”

Owen Steer:
“ABM is not just multi-channel
marketing, it’s best practice
marketing. But there’s more to it than just
using multiple channels. It’s about treating the
accounts you’re going after as markets in their
own right. There’s no better resource for a
marketer to learn more about accounts than
their own internal sales team and customer
success team.”
 The Complete ABM Playbook | 9

CHAPTER 3:
3 A QUICK GUIDE TO IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILES
The key to ABM success lies in identifying a small number of high-profile accounts and targeting
them with personalised campaigns. To do this, you’ll have to build your Ideal Customer Profile.

Unlike traditional forms of marketing, where the net How do you create an ICP? 3. Analyse the data
is cast wide in the hopes of catching large volumes
These are the steps that we use at Cognism to build Once you’ve conducted your interviews and collected
of customers, ABM is all about getting hyper-focused
our ICP: the answers, it’s time to study the data. Put all the
and granular.
answers together and see what links them. Look for
To get your ABM campaigns started with a bang, 1. Identify your super-users common attributes. Are there any recurring patterns
you need to define who your ideal customers are. or shared characteristics? The insights you’ll gain here
It’s likely that your ICP is already a customer of yours.
The best way of doing this is to build your Ideal are critical for the next step in developing your ICP.
Start by looking at the prospects that convert quickly
Customer Profile (ICP).
and your longest-serving customers. Narrow down
4. Create your ICP template
your customer base until you have a list of 10 super-
What is ICP? users - the people who don’t just use your product, This final step is where you put it all together. Take all
Your ICP is a comprehensive description of your but the people who love it and get more value out the insights you’ve gained and build a template of your
perfect client. It’s the kind of customer that finds of it than the average user. ideal customer.
massive benefits from your product or service, while
also being able to give you enough value in return 2. Interview your super-users
to make your business profitable. Set up phone calls, Zoom or face-to-face meetings
with your 10 super-users. Ask them about their
experiences with your product, specifically:
• Their buying processes.
• How they found out about you.
• Why they purchased.
• How they’re benefitting from your product.
 The Complete ABM Playbook | 10

Here’s an example which we use at Cognism. This has

helped us to launch our own ABM campaigns!
Follow our quick guide - and use our ICP template -
and you too will soon have a complete picture of the
customers you’ll need to target with ABM.
 The Complete ABM Playbook | 11

CHAPTER 4:
4 ESSENTIAL ABM METRICS
For success in ABM, you need to let the data drive your decision-making.
Here are the most important metrics to track.

ABM isn’t a “quick win” activity. It can take a lot of Tracking ABM engagement
time before it starts producing results. When you
The guiding principle of ABM is to build and maintain
start running an ABM campaign, you’ll need to prove
deep and meaningful relationships with your target
to management and the wider business that it’s worth
accounts. To measure success in growing those
the time and expense. The only way you can do
relationships, you’ll have to track engagement.
this is to monitor your ABM metrics.
While the metrics you track may vary from campaign What is ABM engagement?
to campaign, at Cognism we’ve found that there are
ABM engagement is any interaction a prospect has with
some core metrics that you need to keep your eyes
your ABM activity. There are two types of engagement:
on - especially if you’re just starting out with ABM.
These are the essential metrics to help you get DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT
started with ABM.
This includes any online interactions from your
prospects. For example:

TOP TIP Opening an email

• Agree on the metrics to track before Visiting your website

starting your ABM campaign.
Downloading a piece of content
• Align sales and marketing and ensure
both teams are fully aware of the metrics
they need to monitor. Reading a piece of content
• Be transparent in sharing the results
of your ABM activity as the campaign Filling out a survey or form
progresses, so both teams learn together.
Signing up to a newsletter or mailing list Click to view full size
 The Complete ABM Playbook | 12

PHYSICAL ENGAGEMENT
TOP TIP #2
This includes all real-world interactions from
your prospects. For example:
Another quick trick is to track your
engagement scores in Excel or Google Sheets.
Onsite visits or event attendance
There’s no need to shell out on expensive
reporting solutions when you’re just starting
Phone calls with ABM.

Direct mail

SMS What can you do with this data?

The insights you’ll gain from measuring engagement can
Demo attendance be invaluable to the continued success of your ABM
efforts. Here are some questions to get you thinking:

How to track ABM engagement Are certain days of the week more
At Cognism, we regularly help our customers to popular for engagement than others?
run targeted ABM campaigns. We encourage them Do you find that you get a higher number of
to track the engagement they have with their engagements on certain days than others? Are certain
prospects by using the template to the right. engagement types more popular on specific days?
The answers to these questions will tell you when are
the best times for launching your ABM activities. They’ll
TOP TIP #1 inform your ABM campaign schedule and help you
to maximise engagement from your prospects.
Our advice is to keep your eye on the
engagement score. Before you start your How do individual prospects engage
ABM campaign, define your goals and set with your company?
engagement scores against each goal. Click to view full size As we’ve said, ABM works when it’s highly-personalised
For example, a prospect answering an email and relevant to each prospect. Look out for patterns in
could be a score of 5, while booking a their behaviour. Do they engage with certain channels
We’ve found this template to be a useful way of
demo could be a score of 8. Add up all the but not others? Do they usually respond at certain
tracking ABM engagement over time. Not only does
engagement scores to see how well each times of the day? Are there particular messages or
it list each engagement on a day-by-day basis, but
campaign is doing in relation to others. engagement types that they respond best to?
it also shows how each interaction feeds into the
success of the entire campaign.
 The Complete ABM Playbook | 13

The secret of ABM engagement

TOP TIP #3
ABM engagement is about time. It’s the same with
any purchasing decision you make in any walk of life
Use the information to get even more
- the more time you spend in a shop, for instance, the
personalised. Double down on what works
more likely you are to buy something. So it is with B2B
and build a campaign that’s laser-focused
buyers. The more time they spend interacting with
on the prospect and his or her needs.
your company, the more interest they’re showing in
buying from you.
Tracking engagement is the vital first step in measuring
How well are each engagement the success of ABM. It’s simple to understand, easy to
types performing? track, and can give you some useful insights early on.
ABM is a multi-channel undertaking. You have to Simplify the process even further by making use of our
interact regularly with your potential buyers across a tracking template. Be sure to share your successes
number of different channels and media. It’s the only with us!
way to keep that meaningful relationship going.

TOP TIP #4

Find out which engagement types work best

for each prospect. Then you’ll know which
engagement types you need to concentrate
on. Use the template we’ve provided to keep
track of this.
 The Complete ABM Playbook | 14

CHAPTER 5:
5 HOW TO BUILD ABM TARGET LISTS
How do you build lists that will bring Account-Based Marketing
success? Owen Steer, ABM Specialist at Punch, shows us how.

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) can be an extremely How to build your lists Step 2: Measure first-party intent
effective way to win bigger deals from more clients in
Owen recommends three core things you can do First-party intent (also called engagement) is information
the B2B space. However, it takes a considerable amount
when you build your ABM target lists. from end-user engagement with your brand. This could
of investment, of time and money, for it to work.
take the form of:
For this reason, you need to have a robust plan before Step 1: Create your Ideal Customer Profile
• Event attendees.
you start your ABM operation. You can’t run ABM
ABM requires you to get your sales and marketing teams • Users who have viewed or downloaded content.
campaigns on an ad hoc basis. Part of your preparation
aligned and working together. Once you’ve done this,
for ABM is building a list of targets. You need to define • People who have filled out online forms.
you can run this exercise - creating a profile of your ideal
who you are going to approach before you start.
customer, the type of account you will target with ABM. At this stage of your list-building, you need to gather all
We sat down with Owen Steer, ABM Specialist at Punch, this information together. You’re looking for anyone who
Think about what makes a good customer for your
to gain more insights on ABM and target lists. As an has directly engaged with your brand.
company. Get your sales, marketing and customer
ABM expert who deals with this topic every day, there
success teams around the table to get a full picture.
are few people better qualified to show us the right
Map out technographic and firmographic data for all
way to do things. Here is Owen’s how-to guide for list
your clients. What connects them? TOP TIP
building success.

Once you have all the data, study it. Are any of
TOP TIP them in a buying window right now? Have they
signalled any intent to buy?

Use these insights to create your Ideal You can add any users with intent to buy to
Customer Profile (ICP). Then, you can use your ABM list.
tools (such as Cognism Prospector) to build
out your Total Addressable Market (TAM) –
a list of accounts ripe for targeting.
 The Complete ABM Playbook | 15

Step 3: Measure third-party intent How to order your lists Choosing the right type of ABM
If first-party intent is all about people who have directly Now you have a list of people, it’s time to put them in You need to choose the right ABM method for your
engaged with your brand, third-party intent is about the order in which you’re going to target them. You can business, based around the nature of your company
people who could be interested in your company, but use all three of the methods we’ve talked about – but and the type of accounts you want to target. Important
may not know about it yet. be scientific. Don’t just go after the biggest or most factors to consider when selecting the right type of
famous companies – look for targets that are the best ABM are deal size and lifetime value.
You are looking for people who have engaged and
fit for your offering.
shown interest in your industry or sector. These could be: • Lower-value accounts are best suited to one-to-many
You should also prioritise the accounts that have a ABM. This allows you to spread your budget over a
• People viewing competitor websites.
strong intent to buy. larger number of accounts, maximising ROI.
• Users searching for specific terms on search engines.
• Higher-value accounts should be targeted with a
How can you find these people? First, define a set of The 3 types of ABM one-to-few approach.
keywords that are relevant to your industry. Be careful • The highest-value accounts should be treated as a
OK, now you have your target lists, it’s time to get
with these keywords - they must be relevant. Owen market in their own right and targeted with one-to-one.
started! But how?
recommends a list of around 250 keywords. Always
double-check your list to make sure the terms you’re There are 3 types of ABM:
using aren’t bringing in irrelevant search results. • One-to-one: picking up a handful of high-value TOP TIP
accounts and putting all your budget into targeting
them. This works with 1-5 accounts max. Owen’s advice is to run a pilot programme.
TOP TIP • One-to-few: Sector-specific – selecting a larger pool of Probe the market with the one-to-many
accounts in the same industry (10-30 accounts max). method. If you get good results, you can ramp
Use tools that will find people who are • One-to-many: More like traditional digital marketing, up the pilot into one-to-few or one-to-one. You
searching for these keywords online. You can but with more customer-centric messaging. need to know the science behind your ABM
add those people to your ABM lists. operation to help you make informed decisions.

Owen recommends this as a good option for

smaller companies with low inbound volume.
 The Complete ABM Playbook | 16

CHAPTER 6:
6 HOW TO PLAN CONTENT FOR ABM
We interviewed Joe Birkedale, the founder and CEO of Project36.
Read on for some top insights into planning ABM content.

Joe Birkedale is the founder and CEO of Project36

1. Identify your target audience 2. Define their pain points
- a strategic ABM agency that delivers marketing
projects for clients all over the world. Project36 has
First and foremost, before you embark on an ABM Work out individual pain points for everyone in the DMU.
an impressive portfolio of services, including inbound
strategy, you need to define your target audience. For example - are they looking to reduce costs? Save time?
marketing, content and strategy, video marketing,
Content in an ABM context only works if it resonates Grow their sales? Streamline their existing processes?
campaign planning and execution, and creative
with the people who engage with it. So, you need to
design and illustration. Interview the salespeople who are interacting with
know who you’re going to engage before you start
the DMU. Sales reps work at the coalface of business
We sat down with Joe and asked him for his thoughts creating your content.
every day and the information they pick up during their
on how to plan content for ABM. As an experienced
Start off by developing your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). qualification and discovery calls can be invaluable to the
marketing professional with a strong record of
Get your sales and marketing departments to work account-based marketer. Use their insights to define the
connecting and engaging with target accounts on his
together on this. Your ICP should be a comprehensive prospects’ pain points - and then use the pain points to
clients’ behalf, Joe had many tips on this topic.
description of your perfect customer, including: inspire and influence the content you’ll create.
Here’s Joe’s advice for planning content for ABM.
• Who they are.
• Where they work. 3. Choose the right medium
• Their challenges and goals.
Joe shared a stat with us - on average, there are 7 to
• Where they spend their time online (or not!).
8 influencers involved in every business decision.
Once you’ve developed your ICP, you can use it Each influencer is different, so it stands to reason that
to inform the next stage - creating lists of the ideal they will all respond to content in different ways. Some
customers you want to target. Then, when you’ve built people respond better to different types of content
your target lists, go even deeper. Identify the decision- than others.
making units (DMU) inside each target company. ABM
is a highly-personalised play - you’ll need granular
intelligence on every member of the DMU.
 The Complete ABM Playbook | 17

And in today’s modern marketing world, there is a 5. Timing is everything

wide range of content types to choose from. Popular
formats include: Successful ABM campaigns contain multiple steps,
involving numerous channels and content types.
• Blogs
Joe had some great advice to share.
• Videos
The more senior the decision-maker, the shorter your
• Case studies
content must be in the first step. Senior decision-makers
• Whitepapers will have no time in their day to consume long-form
• Webinars content. It’s only later, at the decision stage of the
• Podcasts buyer’s journey, that they’ll have time for long content.
• Letters and direct mail Build up to that point by delivering smaller pieces of
content at regular intervals.
With so many options available, how can you be
Joe told us that the trick is to keep the engagement
certain you’re choosing the right one?
going. You’ll need to provide the prospect with valuable
Again, ask your sales team. They’ll know from content at every stage of their journey with your brand.
experience what resonates most with different types
of buyers. Aligning marketing with sales is the surest
route to achieving success with ABM.

4. Select the right channels

Just as important as knowing what types of content to

produce is knowing where to promote them. Go back
to your ICP - where are your targets spending their time
online? What social media channels do they most often
engage with?
Do your research. Check your own social media channels
and email campaigns. Where are you seeing engagement
from your target accounts and others like them? Study
your data and make decisions based on it.
When activating your content, tailor and customise your
messaging for each prospect. Personalisation is the key
to ABM engagement.
 The Complete ABM Playbook | 18

CHAPTER 7:
7 10 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR ABM VENDOR
Choosing the right ABM vendor can be a tricky proposition. Owen Steer and
Joe Birkedale select their top 10 questions to help you through the process.

ABM has the highest return on investment of any The questions 2. What metrics will you be tracking?
B2B marketing tactic. It’s no surprise then that the ABM
industry is booming. There are a wealth of agencies and 1. What does success or failure look like?
tools out there that promise to take your ABM campaigns
Owen said:
to the next level. But, with so much choice available,
how do you pick the right one for your business? “You definitely need to set the
Joe said: correct KPIs before you launch an
We asked Joe Birkedale, founder and CEO of ABM campaign. All stakeholders need to be
Project36, and Owen Steer, ABM Specialist at Punch, “Asking this question first of all is a
fully aligned on these metrics. Think about the
for their advice. As seasoned marketers with a record of very good option! Before you start
following: what does success look like? Who is
delivering complex ABM strategies for their clients, they with ABM, you need to determine what you’re
responsible for achieving these metrics? Who
are uniquely placed to offer their insights into the top 10 looking to get out of it. What’s your perfect end
and how will you be measuring results?
questions you need to ask your ABM vendor. Their tips result? What are you hoping to achieve?
will help you when it comes to defining your ABM goals This conversation should involve marketing,
Bear in mind that ABM is not a silver bullet. It
and making a sensible buying decision. sales, customer success, and of course, your
normally takes a lot of time and effort before
ABM vendor.
Over to Joe and Owen! you see success. A good ABM vendor will seek
to outline the end goal first, then describe the Remember that ABM is a long-term initiative, so
steps you need to take to get there.” you may have to agree on short-term metrics
that showcase early signs of success, while you
wait for the long-term benefits to kick in.”
 The Complete ABM Playbook | 19

3. How many accounts can you realistically target? 6. How quickly can I expect to see ROI?
Once you have your TAM, it’s time to use intent
data to identify which accounts are showing
Joe said: the best signals for having a need or entering a Owen said:
buying window. The accounts that are showing
“You need to be realistic with what “Similar to question 5, this question
the highest intent to buy are the accounts that
ABM can achieve, what you can is all about managing expectations.
you need to prioritise with ABM!”
handle and how far your budgets can reach. ABM isn’t a short-term cash grab. It’s good to
Start small, always. Prove the model and then get everyone thinking long-term. You have
scale. If you scale up too soon, you’ll drown to set yourself realistic expectations around
in data and the campaign will stumble. 5. How much will it cost? achieving ROI.
Most clients aim for 1-to-Few ABM, which For example, if your current sales cycle is 12
is typically 20 accounts with approximately months then you shouldn’t come into ABM
5 decision-makers in each.” Joe said: expecting to win business within the first 6
“It’s vital to stress that ABM is a long- months. That doesn’t mean you won’t, though!”
term strategy. It’s best placed to work
with complex services or solutions that have
4. Of those accounts, which ones would be best
a high degree of customisation, high cost and
to target? 7. How long will the campaign take?
typically long implementation timescales.
ABM is not usually suitable for high-volume,
Owen said: low-value products or services. Expect the costs Joe said:
to reflect the volume of research, data, insight,
“Committing to ABM means focusing “The answer is - it will vary
strategy and the playbook the campaign requires.”
your resources on accounts that dramatically based on the product,
have a higher propensity of converting into service or solution being offered. Look at your
business. Best-practice account selection is existing sales cycle. If, for example, it normally
absolutely vital to ensure you’re mitigating the takes 12 months from enquiry to order, then
inherent risk of targeting fewer accounts. expect something broadly similar.
At Punch, we start by drilling down into a ABM should have numerous KPIs for tracking
client’s data and building an Ideal Customer success. Time to first order can be one of those
Profile (ICP). We use this ICP to develop metrics and ABM can shorten the sales cycle,
a list of accounts that are a good fit for but it will need time to run before it can be
your proposition. This is called your Total evolved and tweaked.”
Addressable Market (TAM).
 The Complete ABM Playbook | 20

9. What systems/tech will you use?

8. How will you manage communications with

our sales team?
Joe said:
“ABM doesn’t need a sophisticated
tech stack. A spreadsheet and
Owen said: good data are really all you need at the start.
“Although the conversation to develop My advice to my clients is: don’t go mad on
an ABM programme tends to start with the tech! As an ABM agency, we often spend
marketing, the first topic of conversation is always a lot of time unpicking our customers’ tech
the most effective way to align with sales. stacks. They can become overly complex and
Here at Punch, we invite sales, customer convoluted, and can actually slow you down in
success and marketing to attend a series of the early stages. Get your ABM campaigning
strategic workshops during the setup process. right from an operational level first, then add
This ensures that all stakeholders are aligned. in tech later.”

Fast-forward to campaign execution and

we’ll put in the diary weekly catch-ups about
how well the campaign is going, and monthly 10. How long will the setup take?
reviews where we can share insights and
ideas for improvement.”
Owen said:
“I always say that ABM is 80%
setup, 20% execution. There are
no strict guidelines for how long it takes to
work through the strategic setup of your
ABM programme...but you will notice that
due diligence in getting the setup right in the
beginning will be reflected in your success.”
 The Complete ABM Playbook | 21

CHAPTER 8:
8 EXAMPLE ABM TECH STACK
What tech can you use to enhance your ABM efforts?
Here’s an example tech stack for ABM.

INTELLIGENCE MANAGEMENT EXECUTION REPORTING

 The Complete ABM Playbook | 22

INTELLIGENCE MANAGEMENT EXECUTION REPORTING

CONCLUSION

You’ve reached the end of Cognism’s Complete Did you know?

ABM Playbook! We hope you found it useful.
Cognism is the perfect choice for the account-
We’d like to thank all our wonderful contributors
based B2B marketer. Using our platform, you can:
for sharing their knowledge.
• Develop personas of your ideal customers
What did you think about our Playbook? We’d love
and quickly build target lists of B2B leads.
to hear your feedback. Follow us on our social
media channels, where we’ll be sharing more • Drill down into your target accounts and
ABM-related content in the very near future! discover an accurate list of decision-makers
and their contact details.
• Deploy highly-focused, multi-step and
automated outbound campaigns to engage
and follow-up with them.

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