Building a Modern Account-Based Marketing Strategy for 2026

In 2026, Account-Based Marketing (ABM) has clearly evolved from what was once considered a tactical experiment to a foundational B2B growth strategy. Senior marketing and revenue leaders are no longer asking whether to invest in ABM, they’re asking how to scale it.

At its core, B2B account-based marketing aligns Marketing, Sales, and RevOps around a defined set of high-value accounts. This alignment sets a clear path to driving measurable pipeline and revenue impact. It’s no longer just a targeting exercise, it’s an organizational operating model.

In this guide, we’ll outline how you can build a modern ABM program. An ABM program leveraging data-driven targeting, buying group orchestration, and an integrated tech stack that lifts engagement, deal velocity, and ROI. This is the same playbook we use at Directive to help enterprise B2B clients unify their teams and accelerate growth.

Set the ABM foundation: data, targeting, and alignment

Every successful ABM strategy begins with precision. This precision comes from identifying the right accounts, mapping the right buying groups, and unifying data so every touchpoint connects back to an account-level view.

This is achieved through a robust ABM tech stack. For example, Demandbase builds your ICP/TAL using firmographic, technographic, and intent data. ZoomInfo powers data quality and freshness through verified intent signals. Adobe Marketo operationalizes those insights by mapping leads to accounts, and Salesforce unites the view so Marketing and Sales act on one truth.

Let’s consider one short example of how a company can tie ICP, TAL, and channel activation.

A cybersecurity SaaS company defines its ICP as enterprise organizations with 1,000+ employees using Okta and surging on “zero-trust” intent. Demandbase surfaces 220 matching accounts; ZoomInfo enriches the contact data; Marketo maps all leads to the correct Salesforce accounts; and those accounts are activated via personalized LinkedIn and display campaigns targeting CISOs and CIOs. 

Building this alignment between data, targeting, and orchestration ensures your entire go-to-market motion scales efficiently.

Define ICP and tier accounts with fit, intent, and timing

Your ABM program will only be as strong as your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and target account list (TAL). Everything else—personalization, orchestration, measurement—compounds from this foundation. 

A modern ICP isn’t just firmographics. We model ICPs using fit, intent, and timing data to find the right accounts and the right moment to engage.

• Fit: Look at firmographic (industry, size, revenue) and technographic (tools, integrations, platforms) data to identify look-alike accounts.
• Intent: Layer in real-time search and content consumption signals from platforms like Demandbase, 6sense, or ZoomInfo.
• Timing: Weigh your targeting for recency either in intent signals or engagement metrics.

Going back to our example of the cybersecurity SaaS company, they should tier their overall targeting weights into tiers. These tiers help the entire to focus on the best-fit accounts:

Tier 1: Enterprise fintech firms using Okta, surging on “zero-trust” content in the last 14 days. Tier 2: Mid-market fintech firms showing steady security intent.
Tier 3: Look-alikes showing baseline interest but no recent surge.

According to Demandbase’s 2025 report, the top-performing ABM teams start with their best existing customers—those with the highest retention, expansion, and ACV—to model new ICPs.

Using this overall direction, Directive recommends tracking:

• ICP Match Rate – % of TAL that meets ICP criteria
• Intent Hit Rate – % of TAL showing above-threshold intent in the last 30 days

Ownership:
RevOps and Sales leadership should co-own the ICP, while Marketing Ops operationalizes TAL updates monthly.

Tools and templates:
ICP criteria tables, TAL scoring sheets, intent thresholds, and buyer-stage mapping models keep this process consistent.

Common pitfalls:

• Copying old persona lists from lead gen campaigns
• Ignoring technographics that predict churn or adoption risk
• Static TALs that don’t refresh on new intent

For SaaS organizations, see our guide on account based marketing saas to learn how to tailor your ICP models with a clear framework specific to the SaaS environment.

Map buying groups and create account plans Sales will use

ABM doesn’t win deals at the account level, it wins them at the buying group level. In 2026, that means your strategy must go beyond personas and map the full constellation of decision-makers, influencers, and blockers in every key account.

According to Salesforce’s State of Marketing 2025 Report, B2B deals now involve an average of 11 stakeholders, each consuming 5–7 assets before engaging Sales. If your content and outreach don’t reflect that diversity of needs, your ABM program will stall.

Directive’s approach: We help Sales and Marketing co-build account plans that Sales actually uses. Practical, role-based playbooks that specify who to engage, what value prop to lead with, and how to multithread effectively.

Example:
For a Tier 1 enterprise bank:

• CFO (Economic Buyer): Focus messaging on ROI, cost savings, and compliance.
• CISO (Technical Buyer): Lead with integrations, security, and risk reduction.
• VP of Operations (User Champion): Emphasize usability and workflow efficiency.

Each contact receives personalized value proof, not generic nurture emails.

Metrics to track:

• Coverage Rate: Engaged contacts ÷ required roles by tier (Directive benchmark: ≥5 roles for a Tier 1).
• Engagement Depth: % of roles with multi-touch engagement.

Ownership:
Account Executives own the account plan; ABM managers provide enablement kits and templates; SDRs multithread outreach.

Pitfalls:

• Overreliance on a single champion
• Unused account plans that never reach Sales
• Sending identical assets to all stakeholders

See our definitive guide to b2b account based lead generation for more examples of effective outreach orchestration.

Resolve identities and unify data to the account level

Without identity resolution, your ABM strategy is flying blind. Every touchpoint—ad clicks, event registrations, SDR calls—must roll up to a single account ID for attribution and personalization to work.

Adobe Marketo Engage (2024) emphasizes this as the backbone of successful ABM programs. Reiterating when data isn’t unified, 37% of touchpoints go unattributed, distorting ROI and misguiding optimization and budget spend.

Directive best practice:

• Standardize account IDs across your CRM, marketing automation, and ad platforms.
• Enrich new leads using ZoomInfo or Clearbit to link them to known accounts.
• Use UTMs and tracking templates that pass account-level data into Salesforce or HubSpot automatically.

Example:

A webinar attendee registers with a personal Gmail address. Marketo’s lead-to-account (L2A) rules match the domain from their LinkedIn company (enriched through your data enrichment workflow) to “Acme Corp,” enriching firmographic data and syncing engagement back to the account in Salesforce.

Metrics:

• Unknown Touch Rate: <5% of touches without an account ID
• Match Rate: ≥90% of new leads matched to an account within 24 hours

Ownership:
Marketing Ops and RevOps manage governance; Sales Ops enforces SDR logging standards.

Pitfalls:

• Person-only attribution models which miss the full account journey
• Free-text activity logging.
• Mismatched domains and/or subsidiaries.

For some specific SaaS examples of effective data unification, explore account based marketing for saas.

Align Marketing, Sales, and RevOps on definitions and SLAs

The final piece of your ABM foundation is alignment—and not the fluffy kind. In 2026, the best ABM programs operate from a single “KPI Contract” that defines ICP tiers, MQA thresholds, and SLA timelines. There are many important kpis in abm you can focus on, the important thing is alignment across teams. 

ZoomInfo’s State of ABM 2025 Report found that organizations with shared KPI contracts between Marketing and Sales achieve 27% faster MQA→SQO conversion and 34% higher win rates.

Directive’s framework:
We help clients publish a one-page “ABM KPI Contract” co-signed by the CMO, CRO, and RevOps lead. It includes:

• ICP Definition: Attributes, tiers, and scoring model
• MQA Criteria: Engagement thresholds and intent triggers
• SLA Timelines: SDR outreach within 24 hours of MQA; AE follow-up to three roles within seven days
• Cadence: Weekly pipeline review on top 25 accounts

Metrics to track:

• SLA Adherence: ≥90% compliance
• Conversion Lift: MQA→SQO vs. non-target cohort

Ownership:
CRO and CMO sign; RevOps publishes monthly QA; Sales managers coach adherence.

Pitfalls:

• Vague MQA criteria or one which differs by team
• No escalation path for missed SLAs
• Reporting on vanity metrics instead of velocity, opp rate, or coverage

ABM launch and scale playbook: 9 steps for B2B account based marketing

Once your ICP, data foundation, and cross-functional alignment are locked, it’s time to operationalize. The difference between an ABM pilot and a scalable program comes down to process discipline—and that’s where Directive’s nine-step framework comes in.

We use this playbook to help B2B teams orchestrate across channels, validate ROI, and prove ABM’s business impact to Finance.

1. Set outcomes finance will trust

ABM doesn’t start with MQLs—it starts with metrics that boards care about. Define your targets for pipeline dollars by tier, win rate, ACV, velocity, expansion, and ROI. Then, gain finance’s sign-off on those definitions before the first campaign launches. When marketing, sales, and finance align you can defend budget and prove efficiency.

2. Build, score, and tier accounts (ICP + TAL)

Use firmographic fit, technographic data, and intent signals to score accounts and tier your TAL. Directive recommends refreshing TALs monthly to ensure no outdated or low-intent accounts stay in rotation.

3. Implement identity and data QA

If your data can’t match leads to accounts in 24 hours, you’re not running ABM, you’re running traditional lead gen with better targeting. Run QA on your CRM and MA mapping every week; close gaps for offline touches like SDR calls and events.

4. Map buying groups and escalation triggers

Define who matters in each account: economic, technical, and user roles. Create escalation triggers for when accounts cross engagement thresholds or display surging intent; automate 1:1 outreach immediately.

5. Develop role-based value props and proof

ABM content isn’t volume marketing—it’s relevance marketing. Build case studies, ROI models, and value frameworks specific to each role and tier. Directive’s high-performing clients build “proof libraries” indexed by industry, role, and stage so SDRs can instantly select the right asset.

6. Orchestrate channels around the account

Your ABM motion should blend digital ads, email, events, SDR touches, and executive outreach—triggered by engagement or intent surges. At Directive, we design omnichannel plays that mirror buying behavior: ads warm up the group, SDRs follow up on signals, and AEs run executive sequences.

7. Budget and channel allocation by tier

ABM investment should scale with both account value and funnel stage.

• Tier 1. 50–60% of budget. Personalized web experiences, account-based ads, and coordinated Sales plays drive outsized ROI with our best-fit accounts.
• Tier 2. 25–30% of budget. Scalable yet semi-personalized campaigns across LinkedIn and programmatic.
• Tier 3. 10–20% of budget. Maintain light awareness through retargeting and content syndication. 

Across all tiers, shift more budget toward account-based advertising and website personalization, which 6sense reports delivers the strongest lift in engagement and deal velocity.

8. Measure engagement, pipeline, and ROI

Move past vanity metrics. Your dashboards should show:

• • Coverage Rate (roles engaged ÷ roles required)
  • Opp Rates
  • Pipeline Velocity (opportunity speed)
  • Win Rate

• ACV

• Sourced vs. Influenced Pipeline
• ABM ROI

Leverage multi-touch attribution platforms like Dreamdata or HubSpot’s revenue attribution to see which plays truly accelerate deals.

9. Build an operating rhythm

Run weekly pipeline health reviews for your top target accounts, not just open opportunities. Reallocate budget monthly based on performance and model sensitivity. Top ABM programs run like agile teams. With RevOps providing real-time feedback loops to adjust messaging, tiers, and spend.

Pitfalls & QA checklist

Even the best strategies fail without operational rigor. Before declaring success, your ABM team should pass these QA checkpoints:

✅ Confirm identity resolution: <5% unknown touches
✅ Audit SDR logging: All calls, emails, and notes tied to account ID
✅ UTM governance: Consistent campaign tagging across ad and social platforms
✅ Attribution accuracy: Run holdout groups to validate directional consistency across models
✅ Tiering integrity: Review engagement weighting and ICP criteria quarterly
✅ Change log: Maintain one central document for ICP and TAL evolution

These checks prevent the “illusion of ABM” where campaigns look personalized but run on dirty data or misaligned metrics.

For a deeper look into optimizing and testing your ABM plays, read our post on tactics for better account-based marketing.

When your foundational systems and playbooks are QA’d, you’re ready to orchestrate multichannel engagement at scale.

Personalize and orchestrate engagement across channels without silos

By 2026, personalization has shifted from optional to operational. The most successful ABM teams aren’t sending one-size-fits-all messages—they’re engineering tiered experiences that meet each account exactly where they are in the buying journey.

Adobe Marketo and Salesforce have both underscored this shift: B2B buyers now expect consumer-grade relevance across every touchpoint. That means personalization at the tier, industry, and role level—without creating internal chaos or campaign silos.

At Directive, we help teams evolve from generic nurture streams to orchestrated, cross-channel experiences that blend automation with human precision.

Personalize by tier, industry, and role

Personalization intensity should scale with account value.

• Tier 1 accounts. Your highest ICP fit and strongest intent signals. These warrant the deepest personalization. These are the prospects closest to a buying decision and most aligned with revenue goals.
• Tier 2 accounts. Still match your ICP but may show moderate or early-stage intent, requiring modular personalization that balances relevance with efficiency.
• Tier 3 accounts Meet baseline ICP criteria but aren’t yet signaling active interest—keep engagement lightweight and awareness-oriented.

Example:
For a Tier 1 banking client:

• The homepage dynamically swaps to display finance case studies.
• The SDR follows with a CISO-specific security message.
• The account’s CFO receives an executive benchmarking invite from Sales.

According to Adobe’s State of Personalization 2025 Report, organizations using tiered personalization frameworks see 42% higher conversion rates and 37% faster pipeline progression.

Metrics:

• Personalized Content Utilization (assets used per account)
• MQA→SQO conversion rate by tier

Ownership:
ABM managers curate personalized assets, web teams enable dynamic content, and SDRs execute 1:1 follow-ups.

Pitfalls:

• Over-personalizing low-value accounts
• Reusing generic content for Tier 1 targets
• No clear proof assets per role

Learn how SaaS companies tailor personalization plays in our account based marketing for saas.

Coordinate sales-assisted and automated plays

Automation scales ABM—but Sales-assisted plays close deals. The key is orchestrating both around real-time intent signals.

ZoomInfo’s 2025 ABM Intelligence Study found that teams acting on intent spikes within 24 hours see a 29% lift in opportunity creation compared to slower responders.

Directive’s best practice:

• Use automation to trigger Sales plays, not replace them.
• Sync data across your ABM platform, CRM, and sales engagement tools (like Outreach or Salesloft).
• Define clear play ownership so Marketing automation never competes with SDR outreach.

Example:

1. Intent surge detected → auto-launch LinkedIn ad sequence
2. SDR follow-up call within 24 hours
3. Executive sends personalized note after 2 SDR touches

Metrics:

• Time-to-touch from intent surge (goal: <24h)
• Play completion rate per tier

Pitfalls:

• Duplicate outreach between SDR and automation
• Ignoring buying-group signals in favor of lead scoring
• Failing to pause automation once Sales engages

See our tactics for better account-based marketing for playbooks proven to improve response and meeting rates.

Make the website a first-class ABM channel

Most B2B sites still treat every visitor the same. In 2026, your website better recognize who’s visiting and route them to the right content, proof, and CTA. If it doesn’t you will fall behind.

Adobe Marketo’s 2024 release made this explicit: personalized web experiences can double engagement from target accounts. Salesforce’s own ABM guidance echoes it: your site should be an extension of your Sales conversation.

Directive recommends:

• Connect your ABM platform (Demandbase, 6sense, or RollWorks) to your CMS for account-based personalization.
• Swap homepage banners, proof points, and CTAs based on industry or company.
• Track engaged account sessions and conversions separately from anonymous visitors.

Example:
When a cybersecurity firm visits your site, the hero copy switches to security ROI messaging, while relevant case studies appear mid-page. The CTA offers a personalized ROI assessment, not a generic “Book a Demo.”

Metrics:

• Engaged Account Session Rate
• Demo or Meeting Conversion Rate for target accounts

Ownership:
Web team and ABM jointly own personalization; RevOps ensures account ID consistency; SDRs follow up on site engagement within 24 hours.

Pitfalls:

• Generic homepages with no industry segmentation
• Slow or manual SDR follow-up
• Ungated assets without tracking or attribution

For practical examples, read our definitive guide to b2b account based lead generation.

Use account-based ads and retargeting to support Sales

Advertising is no longer just about awareness, it’s about accelerating buying group readiness.

Gartner’s 2025 B2B Advertising Outlook emphasizes meeting-driven offers and account-level retargeting as the most effective way to sustain engagement between human touches.

Directive approach:

• Warm up active buying groups with creative aligned to role and stage.
• Retarget engaged accounts with proof-based ads that support Sales outreach.
• Sync your ABM audiences with LinkedIn, Meta, and programmatic platforms to keep your message consistent.

Example:
Serve the VP of IT a short security demo clip while retargeting the CFO with a testimonial ad about ROI outcomes. Once the AE logs a discovery call, pause ads to avoid redundancy.

Metrics:

• Buying group reach: unique contacts reached per target account
• Opportunity-stage progression rate among engaged accounts

Pitfalls:

• Evaluating ad performance on CTR alone
• Ignoring frequency caps (overexposure)
• Misaligned offers that don’t match opportunity stage

For more on refining these tactics, explore our post on tactics for better account-based marketing.

Build the ABM tech stack and operating model that scales

Your technology stack can either make or break your ABM strategy. By 2026, the best-performing B2B organizations have stopped chasing shiny tools and started consolidating around an integrated revenue architecture—anchored by CRM, marketing automation, ABM orchestration, and attribution analytics.

Directive’s experience across enterprise B2B clients shows one common truth: reliable identity resolution and data consistency drive ABM ROI far more than any single platform. Without those, your personalization, targeting, and reporting all unravel.

Core platform architecture and integrations

The foundation of a scalable ABM stack is data unity. Each platform—CRM, MA, ABM, attribution, BI—must speak the same account language.

Directive’s recommended architecture:

• CRM: Salesforce or HubSpot for central account records
• MAP: HubSpot or Marketo for automation and scoring
• ABM Platform: Demandbase, 6sense, or RollWorks for targeting and orchestration
• Data Enrichment: ZoomInfo for firmographic and intent signals
• Attribution: Dreamdata for multi-touch measurement
• BI Layer: Looker or Power BI for executive dashboards

Example:
Salesforce feeds account IDs to Marketo; Marketo syncs engagement data to Demandbase; Dreamdata consolidates touchpoints into ROI dashboards. By morning, every leader can see pipeline, velocity, and ROI at the account level.

Metrics:

• Integration uptime ≥99%
• Sync completion by 6 a.m. local time
• Match rate ≥90%

Ownership:
RevOps owns architecture; IT handles security reviews; vendors operate under data protection agreements (DPAs).

Pitfalls:

• Shadow tools introduced by isolated teams
• Inconsistent field naming or taxonomy drift
• Account hierarchies that break reporting

For SaaS organizations, our account based marketing for saas explains how to scale this model across product lines.

Data quality, identity resolution, and privacy

ABM is only as good as your data hygiene. ZoomInfo’s 2025 Data Confidence Index found that teams with structured QA processes generate 33% more in-pipeline revenue per dollar spent.

Directive’s governance model:

• Quarterly QA cycles: deduplication, domain mapping, intent verification
• Privacy compliance reviews: verify enrichment and tracking policies
• Governance council: cross-functional team for rule enforcement

Example:
A data audit reveals 14% of leads mismatched to accounts. After deduplication and identity resolution, Marketing attribution accuracy improves by 22%, directly lifting pipeline reporting accuracy.

Metrics:

• Duplicate rate (<3%)
• Opt-out compliance (100%)
• Unknown touch rate (<5%)

Ownership:
Marketing Ops and Legal/Privacy manage compliance; RevOps audits quarterly.

Pitfalls:

• Over-reliance on third-party cookies
• Outdated enrichment rules
• Ignoring subsidiaries and alternate domains

Get deeper insights on data activation in our definitive guide to b2b account based lead generation.

Apply AI and intent to predict in-market accounts

AI isn’t replacing ABM—it’s turbocharging it. Modern RevOps teams use predictive analytics and real-time intent signals to surface “in-market” accounts before competitors even start outreach.

ZoomInfo’s 2025 report found that AI-assisted account scoring increases opportunity creation by 38% when combined with human QA and dynamic intent refresh rules.

Directive’s approach:

• Combine predictive fit scores with intent surges to trigger campaigns.
• Escalate accounts to 1:1 plays when both executive activity and high intent persist for two weeks.
• Deliver alerts to SDRs with recommended next-best actions.

Example:
A target account visits the pricing page twice, while intent surges on “cloud migration.” The system triggers SDR outreach and an exec-led message within 48 hours, resulting in a booked meeting and a 2.4x higher conversion rate.

Metrics:

• Lift in opportunity rate for flagged in-market accounts vs. baseline
• Intent surge-to-outreach SLA compliance (<48h)

Pitfalls:

• Treating any content view as intent
• Static AI models with no retraining cadence
• Over-automation with no human validation

Keep model performance accountable by pairing predictive AI with standardized KPI dashboards in important kpis in abm.

Run an SLA-driven operating rhythm with Sales & CS

The final step in scaling ABM is operational rhythm. Technology means nothing if Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success aren’t operating in sync.

Salesforce and ZoomInfo both stress that shared accountability and cadence are what actually accelerate deals. Directive reinforces this through SLA-driven rituals that bring every GTM function to the same table.

Directive’s ABM operating rhythm:

• Weekly: Pipeline health review on top 25 accounts
• Monthly: Model sensitivity and budget optimization meeting
• Quarterly: ICP and tier refresh with cross-functional review

Example:
Each meeting surfaces “stuck” accounts, expansion opportunities, and next-best actions by role. RevOps provides analytics; ABM shares insights; CS flags post-sale expansion signals.

Metrics:

• Stage-age reduction (10% QoQ)
• Win rate improvement (2–4 pts for ABM accounts)
• Expansion pipeline growth

Pitfalls:

• Forecast-only meetings that ignore next actions
• No owners or due dates for follow-ups
• Overlooking customer expansion in ABM reviews

For operational cadence frameworks, see tactics for better account-based marketing.

The future of B2B ABM: data-driven, orchestrated, accountable

ABM in 2026 isn’t a campaign—it’s a revenue operating system. It unites Marketing, Sales, and RevOps under a single goal: to turn account insights into predictable pipeline and measurable growth.

Directive partners with leading B2B organizations to architect ABM programs that prove ROI, accelerate deals, and align GTM teams around what matters most—revenue impact.

If you’re ready to unify your tech stack, refresh your targeting model, and make your ABM measurable, we’ll help you get there.

👉 Request an ABM Strategy Workshop