HubSpot Account Based Marketing (ABM) Strategy & Setup

What is Account Based Marketing?

Account-Based Marketing represents a collaborative growth strategy where marketing and sales teams create tailored purchasing experiences for a select group of high-value organisations. This approach complements inbound marketing methodology, which emphasises building lasting relationships and delivering customer value.

The inbound approach encompasses three phases — attract, engage, and delight — across sales, marketing, and service functions. ABM builds upon this foundation by applying intense personalisation to carefully chosen accounts.

How is ABM Different?

While some companies respond well to standard nurturing approaches, others benefit from highly customised messaging and campaigns designed specifically for them.

ABM viability depends on three factors:

• High product cost requiring financial department approval
• Limited prospect pool (specific company size or niche)
• Committee-based purchasing decisions involving multiple stakeholders

Key ABM Advantages

Larger Deals: Focused effort on high-value opportunities naturally results in bigger transaction sizes.

Enhanced Collaboration: ABM unites marketing and sales into coordinated teams, improving buying experiences and outcomes.

Faster Sales Cycles: Better alignment and specialised expertise accelerate deal closure.

HubSpot ABM Account Plan Best Practices

Five-step implementation process:

1. Establish a cross-functional taskforce with at least one marketer and salesperson per assigned target account list. One marketer can effectively support up to 10 salespeople; one salesperson can manage approximately 10 accounts.
2. Identify target accounts by recognising high-value companies already visiting your website or targeting existing deals for accelerated closure.
3. Review your largest recently-closed deals as upsell opportunities.
4. Create an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) documenting shared characteristics among successful customers.
5. Ensure sales and marketing formally align on target company criteria.

Building Account Plans

After identifying targets, teams must collaboratively map buying committee members and required content for each stakeholder. Account plans should:

• Maintain some variation rather than identical templates
• Answer two critical questions: Who comprises the buying committee? What content does each member need?

Common Buying Committee Roles

• Decision Maker
• Champion
• Budget Holder
• Influencer
• Blocker
• Legal and Compliance
• Executive Sponsor
• End User

Each role requires different content addressing their specific concerns — decision makers focus on outcomes while budget holders prioritise cost efficiencies and savings demonstrations.

Content Strategy

Content types include:

• Repurposed material from general inbound efforts
• Personalised web pages
• Events and conferences
• Company-specific reports or evaluations
• Promotional gifts
• Customised video content

Attracting Contacts

Reach target stakeholders through:

• Industry conferences and events
• Specialised newsletters
• Review site participation
• Industry influencer partnerships
• Display and sponsored social advertising

Key metrics to monitor: page views and sessions from target companies, conversion rates indicating content consumption, new contacts created at target accounts, and average conversion cost.

Engaging the Buying Committee

As contacts are added, sales and marketing collaborate on discovery, committee mapping, and deal creation. Marketing supports by building awareness, reinforcing messaging through non-sales channels, and developing relevant content.

Engagement metrics: target accounts with identified buyers, number and type of buyer personas, deal creation rate, deal velocity/stage duration, close rate, and initial revenue from target accounts.

HubSpot ABM Tools and Features

Identifying Target Accounts: Navigate to Contacts > Target Accounts or Companies menu. Filter by location, employee count, industry, and session volume. Use the "Ideal Customer Profile Tier" property to rank companies, then set the "target account" property to "true" for selected organisations.

Account Overview Dashboard: The account details view displays key metrics including new contacts, email interactions, meetings, and logged calls with customisable time period filters.

Target Account Dashboard: This command centre displays overall account progress, open deals, last touchpoints, engagement levels, and activity breakdowns by stakeholder including page views, new contacts, email interactions, meetings, and calls.

AI-Powered Recommendations: The dashboard includes AI-driven suggestions for high-fit companies requiring target account designation, plus prospect lists showing website visitors.

ABM Accounts Reports & Dashboards

1. Account Based Marketing Dashboard

Eight reports ideal for marketers and marketing managers: Ideal Customers; monthly contacts created at target accounts; target accounts by page views; buying role by target account; contact source report by target account; deal stage by target accounts; target accounts by active deal amount.

2. My Target Accounts Dashboard

Seven reports for sales representatives and sales managers: how to use this dashboard; target accounts by time last seen; target accounts by recent conversion; target accounts by sales activity dates; buying roles by target account; target accounts with no decision maker; target accounts with no buying roles identified.

3. Target Accounts Profile Dashboard

Eight reports for marketing and sales managers showing account breakdowns: buying roles by target account; ideal customer profile tiers; target accounts by industry; target accounts by employee count; target accounts by associated contact volume; target accounts by annual revenue; target accounts by form submissions; target accounts by page views.