What Is Account-Based Marketing
Account-based marketing flips the traditional lead generation funnel upside down. Instead of casting a wide net and hoping qualified leads emerge, ABM starts by identifying specific companies you want as customers, then creates personalized campaigns to engage decision-makers at those target accounts.
ABM is most effective for B2B companies with high-value deals, long sales cycles, and complex buying committees. When a single new customer is worth $50,000 or more in annual revenue, the investment in personalized, account-specific outreach pays for itself many times over.
Building Your Target Account List
The foundation of ABM is your target account list — the specific companies you want to reach. Build this list using firmographic criteria like industry, company size (employees and revenue), geography, technology usage, and growth indicators.
Business mailing lists provide the data you need to identify and reach these accounts. SIC/NAICS-based industry lists, company size selectors, and technology install base data help you define your ideal customer profile and find companies that match it.
Identifying Decision-Makers Within Accounts
Once you know which companies to target, you need to reach the right people inside them. B2B mailing lists with contact-level data provide names, titles, job functions, direct phone numbers, and email addresses for specific individuals within target companies.
Most B2B purchases involve multiple decision-makers. A typical buying committee includes an executive sponsor, a technical evaluator, a financial approver, and end users. ABM campaigns should target multiple contacts within each account to increase your odds of engagement.
Multi-Channel ABM Execution
ABM campaigns coordinate multiple channels to surround target accounts with your message. Direct mail delivers personalized, high-impact pieces to named executives. Email provides follow-up touches and content delivery. Phone outreach adds a personal connection. Digital advertising targets employees at specific companies through IP-based or account-level ad platforms.
Direct mail is particularly effective in ABM because it cuts through digital noise. A dimensional mailer or personalized letter addressed to a C-suite executive by name gets opened and read.
Measuring ABM Success
ABM metrics differ from traditional lead generation. Instead of measuring lead volume, measure account engagement (how many target accounts are actively interacting with your brand), pipeline progression (target accounts advancing through your sales process), deal velocity (how quickly target accounts move from awareness to close), and account revenue (revenue generated from target accounts versus non-targeted accounts).
Getting Started
Browse our business categories for company-level and contact-level data that powers ABM targeting, or contact us to discuss building a custom target account list with the right firmographic and contact data for your ABM program.