B2B ABM Tools Compared: 6sense vs Demandbase vs RollWorks (And When to Use Each)

ABM platforms help B2B teams focus resources on areas where buying intent is high. The best tools consider intent data as well as the customer journey across various channels like ads, websites, and sales touchpoints. The right ABM platform can determine how quickly and efficiently you can build your pipeline. 

This guide evaluates 3 platforms: 6sense, Demandbase, and RollWorks. All are reputable platforms with a solid history of being able to help marketing teams optimize B2B ABM lead generation for measurable impacts on cash flow. Each has a different approach to data accuracy, personalization, and other areas. Whether you’re looking to uncover new accounts, improve deal velocity, or expand existing relationships, this comparison will help you choose the platform best suited for your growth model. 

Set Your Evaluation Criteria for ABM Tools that Drive Pipeline and Expansion

In selecting the right ABM platform, begin by determining how it will generate measurable revenue impact. Ideally, it should excel in six core pillars: data coverage and accuracy, intent detection, personalization, measurement and attribution, integrations, and team fit. Each of those directly ties in to measurable outcomes such as pipeline creation, deal velocity, win rate, ACV, and expansion. 

From a high level, 6sense can be viewed as more of an AI-prediction-first perspective, with Demandbase taking a buying-group-first approach, and RollWorks an ad-first approach. Consider how well they can help Marketing, Sales, and RevOps act on buying intent signals. The ultimate goal here is to have a system that identifies in-market accounts quickly, arranges engagement through multiple channels, and measures ROI in the context of sourced and influenced pipeline. 

Data Coverage, Accuracy, and Identity Resolution (L2A)

ABM is dependent on clean data. If account identity or L2A fails, targeting, attribution, and intent no longer function. 6sense processes over 1 trillion buying signals daily, illustrating what scale and accuracy look like, and is a Forrester Q1 2025 leader in intent data. Evaluate your current account match and form fill enrichment success rates. Healthy targets to shoot for are 90% or greater for account matches within 24 hours, and less than 5% unknown touches. Having accurate data has a profound impact on improving outreach performance, as discussed in the definitive guide to B2B account based lead generation. 

Intent Detection and Signal Quality

Intent data shows who’s actively researching your topics, but it’s only useful if it’s current. 6sense research shows that 84% of buyers went with the first vendor that engaged them. However, according to RollWorks, only 21% of marketing teams utilize intent data on a consistent basis. The message here is clear: early intent wins you more deals. 

Ensure that rules have no ambiguity on what behaviors count as intent, and have SDRs follow up within 24 hours. Track metrics like intent-to-MQA conversion, time-to-touch, and model precision by tier. Marketing Ops should handle the curation of topics, ABM leads setting surge thresholds, and SDRs ensuring they’re reaching out on a timely basis. ABM for SaaS: the definitive framework contains information about deeper signal modeling guidance. 

Personalization and Orchestration (Ads, Web, SDR, Executive)

ABM works best when every channel is in alignment and moving in the same direction. Here, Demandbase truly excels, as its B2B-purposed DSP targets full buying groups instead of relying solely on generalized role titles to capture a larger audience.  

While its research shows that 58% of marketers are concerned about the inefficient use of ad spend, this can be addressed by better planning and coordination. Design connected experiences, such as having role-based ads that lead to personalized landing pages, which are then followed by SDR follow-up or executive invites for top accounts. Track coverage across roles, meeting rates, and MQA-to-SQO lift. Resources like the B2B lead generation agency page can provide further guidance in executing appropriate strategies. 

Measurement, Attribution, and Revenue Contribution

ABM performance should be measured by pipeline and effect on revenue, not lead counts. Keep track of sourced and influenced pipeline numbers, win rates, and deal velocity to see which items are truly having an impact. Here, Demandbase emphasizes tying ad spend to pipeline outcomes, with RollWorks highlighting the importance of identifying post-sale intent to spot expansion signals. 

Compare results between ABM-targeted accounts and others as a way to provide evidence of impact. Calculate pipeline velocity to measure momentum, as well as how long it takes to break even on acquisition costs. What is lead generation? is an article that touches on how you can get clarity for measurements at the account level.   

6sense, Demandbase, RollWorks: Where Each Wins for B2B Teams

6sense, Demandbase, and RollWorks are all ABM platforms that can help fuel revenue growth. Each helps teams with finding, engaging, and ultimately converting accounts. However, they all take a different approach in doing so. 

6sense places an emphasis on predictive analytics and AI-powered tools to help with organization. Demandbase is great at large-scale ad management, person-based intent, and targeting buying groups. RollWorks has a quick ad-first approach. The best one will depend on your organization’s sales model and desired timeline for seeing results.  

6sense: Predictive “Revenue AI,” Dark Funnel, and Sales Intelligence

6sense is perhaps best known for its predictive accuracy and sales intelligence. As such, it’s a good option for teams with longer cycle times and those who want more precision in forecasting. Named a Forrester Leader in intent data for Q1 2025, it processes over 1 trillion daily intent signals through its Signalverse engine to identify hidden demand. 6sense ultimately helps teams prioritize buying groups to target, while simultaneously coordinating sales outreach. 

An example of a use case for teams utilizing 6sense could be to route top surging accounts to AEs. Then track MQA-to-SQO lift and changes to win-rates to determine effectiveness. RevOps should oversee prioritization rules, while ABM takes care of triggers. 

Demandbase: B2B‑purpose DSP, Buying‑group & Person‑based Intent, Orchestration

Demandbase is ideal for large B2B teams in need of people-based targeting and cross-channel coordination. Its DSP is layered with AI-optimized bidding, along with buying group insights to ensure you get in touch with the right stakeholders. Demandbase effectively turns awareness into a generating pipeline by connecting ads, web personalization, and SDR outreach. 

For instance, teams using Demandbase could use the platform to target CISOs and CFOs with personalized landing pages by role or industry, alerting SDRs when engagement increases. Teams can then measure buying-group reach, meeting rate, and sourced and influenced pipelines at each tier. Demandbase is an excellent option for orchestrating campaigns at a large scale. 

RollWorks: Intent‑fueled Advertising, Simpler Entry for SMB/Mid‑market

Smaller teams and those with fewer resources may find RollWorks to be an ideal fit. That’s because it’s ad-first, has a quick and easy deployment process, and connects multiple sources like Bombora, G2, and keyword trends. It also has AI functionality, which can identify accounts that appear to be an excellent fit and therefore have a greater probability of following through and converting. 

From a practical implementation standpoint, teams can use RollWorks to build a list of accounts that have high intent surges. Then, run social media ads customized by role, subsequently routing engaged accounts to SDRs for additional follow-up. Cost per engaged account should always be tracked, as should demo rate lift and opportunity conversion. 

Quick Use‑case Mapping: When Each Shines

6sense is well-suited for enterprises with predictive needs, longer deal cycles, and coordinated involvement between Sales and Marketing. Demandbase should be considered by companies that regularly juggle multiple stakeholders per deal and have multi-channel advertising. Finally, RollWorks is ideal for leaner teams that want to launch ABM quickly with ad-led programs. 

In selecting the best platform, consider your team’s strategic goals and resources, and target 90 days for visible pipeline results. You can get additional insight and guidance from our B2B ABM agency page. 

Decision Framework: Choose 6sense vs Demandbase vs RollWorks for B2B ABM Lead Generation

Understanding how each platform works is the first step. Next, recognize your own team’s goals, critical in helping you identify the most compatible platform. A decision matrix can be helpful here with up to 8 weighted criteria: data accuracy, intent quality, buying-group capabilities, ad stack, web personalization, sales intelligence, integrations, and cost. 

Once you’ve selected and weighted the criteria most impactful or applicable for your team, score each tool from 1-5. Include notes on shortcomings, if any, and what would be required to make it work. Use if/then logic to streamline your decisions as follows:

• If you’re a larger company with longer cycle times, then choose 6sense.
• If you’re ad-heavy and prioritize buying-group accuracy, then choose Demandbase.
• If you’re in need of quick time-to-value for ads, then choose RollWorks.

Pitfalls & QA Checklist

Before going live and finalizing your platform, do one final run-through as a QC check to ensure no glaring oversights. From a data standpoint, take a random sample of 50 records and verify that at least 90% match to accounts. Make sure that UTM parameters carry through every paid media source. For intent, do a similar random sampling of surge topics to make sure they’re not outdated and are mapped to actual buying roles. For activation, verify that your SDRs adhere to a 24-hour turn time when it comes to following up with accounts. Finally, for measurement, ensure that rules for Sourced and Influenced pipelines are consistent, and run attribution models quarterly to confirm consistency in reporting. 

Implement for Value Fast: Integrations, Plays, and Governance

Once you’ve selected an ABM platform, you’ll want to ensure you see results quickly. Launch a 90-day program that integrates CRM and MA with your ABM platform. Next, establish several focused campaigns for your top accounts. These campaigns should be customized for specific roles, with the goal of driving meetings or opportunities. 

Ensure responsibilities are clear. RevOps should handle reporting and integrations, Marketing oversees campaigns, and Sales reaches out to leads. Have a weekly update cadence to review pipeline progress, challenges, and have discussions on next steps. At the end of each quarter, provide a dashboard summarizing how much ABM impacted pipeline and revenue. 

Wire the Stack (CRM/MA ↔ ABM ↔ Ads/Web) and Resolve Identity

Ensure consistency among your tech systems by making sure every company has the same account ID. Check your CRM, marketing automations, and ABM platform. This ID is what ensures everything is linked properly, from data to ads and web personalization. 

Check for and clean up duplicate entries prior to launching new campaigns. Review for missing information and confirm all contacts are linked to the correct accounts. Next, synchronize audience lists to ad platforms. This should be done daily. RevOps and Marketing should manage the initial setup, whereas IT will be responsible for security. A simple checklist can help you easily track who is responsible for various areas. 

Build Buying‑group Experiences and Meeting‑led Offers

Don’t send the same generic message to everyone. Customize content for each role in a buying group. For example, a CISO may find a risk brief, whereas a CFO might prefer an ROI calculator. By tailoring content to each specific role, it gives stakeholders the most relevant information to determine whether or not to move forward. 

As deals advance into later stages of the funnel, update your content to reflect where they are in the buyer journey. Keep track of how many buying group stakeholders you reach out to, your meeting rate, and how quickly deals move from stage 1 to stage 2. 

Run a Weekly Pipeline Health and Next‑best‑action Review

Having weekly meetings, no matter how short, can prevent delays when closing or advancing deals. Review top accounts or targets, and highlight factors hindering their ability to progress in the pipeline. Consider common challenges like missing contacts or low engagement. Once completed, assign next steps such as offering product demos or sending an executive email. 

Aim to improve both the speed at which deals move through stages, as well as overall win rates. Target goals of a reduction of stage time by 10% and increased win rates of 2% or more are excellent indicators.  

Executive Dashboard: from Reach to Revenue

Once the initial 90-day period has concluded, create a 1-page dashboard for everyone to see how effective ABM campaigns have been. Include metrics like the total pipeline created, velocity, win rate, ACV, expansion, and ROI. Organize results by tier so that teams can see which channels were most efficient. 

Here, RevOps and Finance should collaborate in building the dashboard, while CMOs and CROs review it monthly. Metrics should be kept simple and skimmable. Avoid numbers that don’t have any meaningful impact on revenue. 

Pricing, Packages, and Team Fit: Optimize Value and TCO

Understand the total cost of ownership before committing to any ABM platform. Consider not only the price of the platform itself, but also the integrations that power it, the paid media needed for campaigns, and any services needed to manage these items. 

Good programs begin with a 90-day proof-of-value plan. This should outline goals, metrics, and exit criteria. Teams are then held accountable for tasks, ensuring that the platform can deliver meaningful pipeline impact quickly. Scale for growth if results are favorable; otherwise, consider an alternative approach. 

Enterprise vs. Mid‑market Fit

Company size is a major factor that often dictates the right platform choice. Enterprise teams and companies with a global presence typically get more value from 6sense and Demandbase. This is because those platforms offer predictive data and cross-channel coordination, ideal for complex and larger teams. Prioritize Demandbase if deals regularly involve more than 6 stakeholders. If AI-powered Sales features are more important, consider 6sense. Finally, smaller teams and those with access to limited resources often fare better with RollWorks, thanks to its easier setup and quick ad activation. 

Control Total Cost (Platform, Data, Media, Services)

Budgeting for the ABM platform should include more than just the subscription fee. Related costs, such as those for data enrichment, media, enablement time, and other services, must also be considered. Build a cost model that compares CPEA and payback months by platform. 

Target 12 months or less for your payback period and review on at least a quarterly basis. Finance and Marketing should co-own budgeting. RevOps should track the efficiency of which expenses translate into pipeline. 

Proof‑of‑value (90 Days) with Clear Exit or Scale Criteria

The first 90 days should be viewed as a controlled test. Choose a handful of tier 1-2 accounts, using other groups as a comparison. Define what success should look like with actual numbers. For example, success could be defined by a 25% increase in opportunity rate, or a 10% boost in deal velocity when compared to other groups. 

Weekly tracking of metrics of key metrics is critical. Meeting rate, MQA-to-SQO conversion, and pipeline sourced vs. influenced. If your targets are met in the definition of success, continue expanding the rollout. Otherwise, consider an alternative approach.  

If you’re ready to compare tools and find the right platform for your team’s needs, connect with a Direct strategist today.