At Merlin/Leonard, we rarely encounter companies that launch an ABx (Account-Based Experience) strategy by deploying a complete technology stack from day one.
They often start with a proof of concept (POC) to demonstrate the value of this approach before rolling it out more widely.
This article provides a detailed guide to getting started with your ABM POC at a low cost, while maximizing the impact on your strategic accounts.
Below is the Miro followed during this Marketing Office Hour
Features you need to make your ABx strategy a success
Before even talking about campaigns or messages, it is essential to identify the minimum features required for effective ABM.
Here are the key features, inspired by the table on slide 3 of the Miro we used during our last Marketo Office Hour.
1️⃣ 🔍 Account detection and intent data
This involves identifying which accounts are “hot” in the market, even if they have not yet been identified in your internal tools. Remember that at any given time, only 1-5% of accounts are actively searching. One of the pillars of the ABx approach is to target ONLY those accounts.
Here, we will use solutions that leverage third-party data or solutions capable of identifying the IP addresses of people visiting your site.
Examples of solutions include Demandbase, 6sense, and Bombora, which collect intent signals (searches, anonymous visits, etc.).
What sets the solutions apart
- Quality of the signal base: global coverage, geographic accuracy, granularity on topics that interest you.
- Signal intensity: ability to detect the number of searches per account and the recency of keyword searches.
- Integrated intent scoring: provides a ready-to-use score, not just a list of keywords.
- History & trends: ability to compare how an account has evolved over time.
Examples of solutions
| Level | Main solutions |
|---|---|
| Lower market | Leadfeeder (basic IP tracking), Albacross, Visitor Queue |
| Middle market | RollWorks (ABM + basic intent), Clearbit (enrichment with signals), ZoomInfo (SalesOS) |
| High market | Demandbase, 6sense, Bombora (G2 leader in the “Buyer Intent Data” category) |
Bonus: the most advanced solutions have an “Account journey” feature that allows you to quickly position an account according to a maturity stage: “Awareness,” “Consideration,” “Decision.”
This makes it possible to personalize actions on ads or web personalization engagement.
2️⃣ 🗂️ 🔥 Account enrichment and buying group construction
To succeed with an ABx strategy, it is essential to have a complete view of the account: who are the right contacts? What is their role? What is the hierarchical structure? This detailed knowledge of the “buying group” allows you to target the right people with the right message.
Account enrichment via third-party databases meets this need: it involves adding or supplementing information about your target accounts (key contacts, structure, technography, etc.) in your CRM and marketing automation systems.
This can be done upstream, to prepare a highly personalized approach (1:1 or 1:few), or after the first signals, to engage more finely with the accounts detected in 1:many.
What makes the difference
- Rich and accurate database: global or European coverage, depth of data (function, role, technologies used).
- Ability to identify and structure the entire buying group, not just a few contacts.
- Seamless connection to CRM and marketing automation tools.
- GDPR compliance and legal compliance, essential in France and Europe.
Examples of solutions (FR and European market)
| Level | Main solutions |
|---|---|
| Lower end of the market | RocketReach, Kaspr, Lusha (basic version) — mainly for occasional searches or limited manual enrichment. |
| Mid-market | Cognism (strong presence in Europe and focus on GDPR), Dealfront (formerly Echobot, well established in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and France), ZoomInfo (but less coverage in France for specific contacts). |
| High end | Dun & Bradstreet (Hoovers), LinkedIn Sales Insights (for structure and organization), Demandbase Data Cloud (integrated into the ABM suite), 6sense Data Enrichment — all capable of aligning buying groups and advanced firmography. |
3️⃣ 🎯 Advanced account segmentation
You need to be able to create dynamic segments based on profile (industry, size, technologies used) and behavior (pages visited, engagements), the intent data seen above, or the complex relationships between your company and your customers (see the FIRE model in new B2B Marketing Playbook)
Example: Smart Lists in Marketo or Demandbase’s Segmentation Engine.
What makes the difference
- Number of combinable criteria: firmography, technography, behavioral, intent signals.
- Multi-level capability: segmentation by accounts, buyer groups, and individuals.
- Dynamic segments: automatic updates based on new data.
- Fine-grained management of exclusions and overlaps.
- Ability to filter on lack of activity, opportunities, or response to marketing actions.
- Integration of external tables from your CRM or Marketing Automation (e.g., list of contracts, products purchased, internal support tickets, etc.).
Examples of solutions
| Level | Main solutions |
|---|---|
| Lower market segment | HubSpot ABM (basic), Freshsales, Pipedrive (simple ABM add-ons) |
| Middle market segment | Marketo Smart Lists, Salesforce Pardot (Account Segmentation), RollWorks |
| High end | Demandbase One, 6sense Segmentation, Adobe Real-Time CDP B2B (very advanced on cross-channel segmentation) |
4️⃣ 💡 Targeted advertising activation
Push personalized ads to specific accounts based on their level of interest and maturity.
This requires native integration with a DSP (Demand Side Platform) or ad integrations (e.g., LinkedIn Matched Audiences).
What makes the difference
- Number of channels supported: LinkedIn, display, native ads, retargeting, social ads, etc.
- Account-based retargeting capability (pure ABM retargeting).
- Frequency and budget management per account.
- Creative customization by segment.
Examples of solutions
| Level | Main solutions |
|---|---|
| Lower market segment | LinkedIn Campaign Manager (standalone), Meta Ads (via custom audiences) |
| Middle market segment | RollWorks (ABM ads), Terminus, Metadata.io |
| Top of market | Demandbase Ads, 6sense Ads, Madison Logic (leader in multi-channel ABM advertising) |
5️⃣ 🌐 Web personalization
Adapt your website content based on the visitor’s account (e.g., industry-specific text or visuals).
Tools: Marketo Web Personalization, Adobe Target.
What makes the difference
- Number of possible variations (by segment or account).
- Ability to trigger in real time.
- Integration with analytics and multi-touch tracking.
- Integrated A/B or multivariate testing.
Examples of solutions
| Level | Main solutions |
|---|---|
| Low end of market | Google Optimize (recently closed but with a long history), Instapage Dynamic Text |
| Mid-market | Marketo Web Personalization, Dynamic Yield (standard) |
| High-end market | Adobe Target, Demandbase Web Personalization, Optimizely Full Stack |
6️⃣ ✉️ Marketing automation activation
Deploy email scenarios, workflows, or nurturing to support identified contacts in their buying cycle.
Traditional solutions: Marketo, HubSpot, Eloqua.
What makes the difference
- Content customization by account.
- Cross-channel orchestration: email, SMS, web, social media.
- CRM integration level: fine-grained synchronization, data enrichment.
- Native ABM scoring.
Examples of solutions
Marketo Engage + ABM module, Adobe Journey Optimizer, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement
| Level | Main solutions |
|---|---|
| Lower market segment | Mailchimp (standard), Brevo (formerly Sendinblue), ActiveCampaign |
| Mid-market | HubSpot (with ABM add-on), Pardot (Account Engagement), Marketo (excluding ABM module) |
| High-end market |
7️⃣ 🤝 Sales activation
Align your sales teams so they can engage priority accounts as soon as the score is high enough.
Tools: Sales Insights in Marketo, Sales Navigator, or Sales Engagement tools (Outreach, Salesloft).
What makes the difference
- Automatic alerts based on intent or engagement signals.
- Deep integration with CRM and sales sequencer.
- Personalized “next best action” recommendations.
- Access to detailed insights on accounts and buyers.
Examples of solutions
| Level | Main solutions |
|---|---|
| Lower market> | LinkedIn Sales Navigator (independent), Outreach standalone, Yesware |
| Middle market | Salesloft, Outreach with enhancements, Marketo Sales Insight |
| High market | Demandbase Sales Intelligence, 6sense for Sales, Groove (for sales enterprises ABM) |
8️⃣ 📊 Measurement and ROI
Accurately track the impact of campaigns, from the first signal of intent to the revenue generated.
Solutions: Marketo dashboard, Demandbase dashboards, Adobe analytics.
What makes the difference
- Multi-touch and multi-channel view (advanced attribution).
- Granularity down to the individual account and buyer.
- Custom dashboards, cross CRM and marketing.
- Pipeline projection and revenue influence.
Examples of solutions
| Level | Main solutions |
|---|---|
| Lower market segment | Google Analytics (basic), HubSpot Analytics (starter) |
| Middle market | Marketo Advanced Reports, Salesforce Tableau CRM, RollWorks Reporting |
| High market | Adobe Customer Journey Analytics, 6sense Revenue AI, Bizible (Adobe), Demandbase Attribution |
1:1, 1:few or 1:many? Choosing your tactic
The choice between 1:1, 1:few and 1:many depends mainly on your resources and the size of your targets:
- 1:1: Ultra-personalized approach for a single strategic account. Requires a lot of resources, but potentially very high ROI.
- 1:few: Small segments (5 to 20 accounts) sharing the same need or profile. Good compromise between personalization and scalability.
- 1:many: Broad targeting (50+ accounts), more automated and less granular approach.
When starting an ABx strategy, it can be tempting to aim directly for 1:1 or 1:few, seduced by the idea of hyper-personalization and high impact on strategic accounts. But these approaches involve a lot of effort (personalization, sales-marketing coordination, dedicated resources) and present a high risk for a team that is not yet well-established.
✅ Step 1: Start with what you have → One to many
- Reuse your current campaigns and content.
- Target a large group of accounts that match your ICP.
- Test the ABx mechanics while controlling resources and budget.
✅ Step 2: Move to one to few
- Reduce the number of accounts targeted.
- Increase content personalization and sales collaboration.
- Introduce specific offers or more detailed journeys.
✅ Step 3: Move to one-to-one (if relevant)
- Focus on a few high-value accounts.
- Create fully customized experiences.
- Mobilize multiple internal functions (marketing, sales, CSM, management).
✔️ This way, you progress step by step, minimizing risk and giving your teams time to develop their skills.
Example of a classic “ABM-ized” campaign
Here’s how a traditional acquisition campaign can evolve into an ABM campaign, based on slides 1 and 2 of the Miro.
Traditional campaign (slide 1)
- Objective: Generate as many leads as possible, often through webinars or downloadable content.
- Metrics: Lead volume, conversion rate, cost per lead.
- Limitations: Many off-target contacts, low conversion rate into opportunities.
ABM-ized campaign (slide 2)
- Objective: Activate a small number of well-identified strategic accounts.
- Actions:
- Hyper-targeted ad campaigns on these accounts.
- Personalized email sequences enriched with intent signals.
- Web content tailored to these accounts.
- Close collaboration with sales reps to engage at the right time.
- Metrics: Engagement per account, progress in the buying cycle, pipeline generated.
- This pivot allows you to focus your efforts and budgets on the accounts that really matter—the ones that will generate the most value.
This pivot allows you to focus your efforts and budgets on the accounts that really matter—the ones that will generate the most value.
In conclusion: test before you go!
Launching an ABM proof of concept is a great way to demonstrate the value of an account-centric approach without immediately committing large budgets.
We recommend starting with a minimal foundation (Marketo + CRM + intent solution), adopting a 1:few strategy, then measuring and adjusting before scaling up.🎁 And to help you along the way, take advantage of my free 1.5-hour strategic coaching session with me, Sylvain Davril, to challenge your marketing and identify your first ABM campaign.
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