There’s a lot of generic fluff around account-based marketing (ABM) all over the web, but not here.
I have researched my brain off to bring to you these six ABM tactics that drive results (related to content strategy, BDR/SDR execution, technology, measurement, and customer growth).
Read on to sharpen your ABM strategy and see how ZenABM supports the execution.
6 ABM Tactics That Drive Results: Quick Summary
- Build personalized ABM content with research-grade reports and focused guides.
- Lock BDRs and SDRs to ABM goals and clear buyer intent.
- Adopt ABM‑specific KPIs for trustworthy reporting and attribution.
- Use ABM plays to trigger upsells in existing customers.
- Leverage ABM tactics to unlock cross‑sell opportunities.
- Apply ABM principles to strengthen customer retention.
- ZenABM streamlines these moves by showing accurate LinkedIn engagement and intent inside your CRM.
1. Diversify and Personalize Your ABM Content Asset
High‑value, account‑specific content is table stakes for 1:1 ABM.
To push results, practitioners like Araminta Robertson (Founder and MD at Mint Studios) recommend deep assets such as research reports for ABM content:
In her experience, reports outperform because you can tailor them with custom data and expert voices, which lifts engagement once prospects warm up.
She also highlights how Joana Rocha, Director of Growth Marketing, and the team at Runa use the same playbook. They mix reports, guides, case studies, and short demo videos aimed at specific industries or accounts.
See how broad and specific Runa’s reporting library gets:
You can mirror this approach.
If you target a financial services account, ship a compact report with sector insights and that account’s exact challenges in view.
Make every asset feel tied to the account’s context. Relevance boosts credibility and curiosity because you address what the account actually cares about.
Strong content also signals subject‑matter depth in the industry and its pains.
Pro Tip: Use ChatGPT’s Deep Research to brainstorm which research reports to build for each ICP. Prompt it like: “Scan my product [insert your URL] and my ICP notes [paste ICP definitions]. Suggest research reports to build as lead magnets and ABM content. Factor in competitor long‑form content.”
I tested this for ZenABM, and the output was solid.
It produced a thorough competitor content review:
Plus a list of gated content recommendations:
And a compact content gap review:
2. Align BDR/SDR Operations with ABM Goals
We all say Sales and Marketing must align for ABM. It goes beyond a shared TAL or tools. Aim for end‑to‑end alignment.
- Pull Business Development Reps (BDRs) and Sales Development Reps (SDRs) into the ABM program early.
- Replace generic cold motions with research‑driven, personalized outreach for each target account.
- Have SDRs tier accounts by potential (Tier 1, 2, 3) so effort matches upside.
- Qualify each account against your ICP, then dig into triggers, pains, and key stakeholders.
- Map the buying group. Capture decision‑makers, influencers, champions, and technical owners.
- Coach BDRs beyond email. Join live conversations on LinkedIn and in forums. Send personalized connect notes. Share micro‑content that tackles known pains. An SDR can add a smart comment on a prospect’s post or send a short video demo that hits a specific issue. Upgrading BDR outreach to account‑first tactics builds relationships instead of blasting cold pitches. The experience feels cohesive from first touch to sales engagement.
Pro Tip: Skip generic “intent” tools when you can. Encode buyer intent into the ad itself by splitting campaigns by feature or value prop. A product management suite can run separate campaigns for onboarding, analytics, and more.
Like this:
Then track which companies lean into which creative. Your BDRs can address those exact pains with the matching feature set in outreach to hot accounts.
ZenABM helps you run this at speed.
It pulls company‑level LinkedIn ad engagement per campaign from the official ads API:
It also groups companies showing similar intent:
For sales convenience, it pushes engagement and intent as company properties to your CRM:
3. Develop ABM‑Focused Reporting & KPIs
With ABM, depth and quality of engagement beat raw lead totals.
Build dashboards that spotlight account‑centric KPIs your sales leaders and execs care about.
Key metrics include account engagement scores across interactions, deal stage progress and velocity for target accounts, pipeline or revenue from ABM accounts, and ROAS.
Instead of “500 leads,” show that 10 of 20 target accounts engaged this quarter, 3 reached proposal, and ABM drove $2M in pipeline.
Track account penetration too. Count net‑new stakeholders engaged per account and marketing’s influence on expansion or retention.
When sharing results, pair numbers with anecdotes. Example: “A personalized microsite helped Account X engage 5 stakeholders and opened an upsell conversation.”
Reporting on ABM‑specific KPIs proves full‑funnel impact and shows where to optimize.
ZenABM covers comprehensive ABM reporting when LinkedIn is your primary channel:
dashboard:
It will show you:
- Each ad campaign’s performance
- Each campaign group’s performance
- Each ABM campaign’s performance
Performance rolls up to revenue generated, ROAS, pipeline, accounts engaged, and movement between ABM stages.
To tie dollars, ZenABM matches ad‑engaged companies to deals in your CRM.
4. Use ABM to Upsell Existing Customers
ABM is not only for net‑new.
You can drive upsells inside current customers.
Treat your top customers like target accounts, not just renewals.
Center on their goals and gaps to find chances to add value, then build ad campaigns around those needs.
For example, craft a personalized campaign that shows how an upgraded tier or add‑on solves a new challenge.
Because the message fits their context, you deepen the relationship and raise upsell odds.
Align Sales, Customer Success, and Marketing so targets and messaging stay consistent.
5. Apply ABM Strategies to Cross‑Selling
Cross‑sell motions also benefit from ABM tactics.
Treat expansion into new product lines or departments with the same focus and personalization you use to win a fresh logo.
Segment customers to find strong fits for other solutions you offer.
Then run BOFU ads where each ad highlights a distinct feature or product line.
After launch, ZenABM shows which feature or intent attracts each account the most:
This intent‑specific view matters. General ads hide what else you can deliver. Showing them ads for a product they already own makes little sense.
6. Focus on ABM for Customer Retention
Treat each customer as a market of one after the signature too.
Keep a personalized, high‑touch rhythm through the lifecycle to sustain engagement and success.
Deliver ongoing content, insights, and support matched to each account’s needs and behavior. You become a strategic partner, not a vendor.
Example: ABM‑style retention can include quarterly business reviews tied to the client’s goals or a newsletter curated for their industry. Invite key clients to exclusive peer events that address shared challenges. These moves require effort but make customers feel understood and valued.
According to a Forrester survey, companies obsessed with customer engagement saw a 43% lift in retention on average.
Happy customers also grow revenue, as McKinsey noted. Exceptional, personalized experiences can drive up to 25% higher cross‑sell rates.
In short, ABM for retention means enriching the relationship continuously. Know evolving needs and help meet them. You improve renewal odds and long‑term loyalty.
ZenABM for Executing ABM Tactics That Drive Results
ZenABM is purpose‑built for LinkedIn ABM. If LinkedIn is your main ad channel, here is how ZenABM helps you excel:
Company‑Level View‑Through Engagement Tracking Per Campaign.
Many ABM teams face a clear gap. Cookie‑based CRM attribution cannot capture every LinkedIn viewer. Companies may see or engage with your ads without clicking, so you miss them.
ZenABM pulls company‑level impressions, engagements, clicks, and spend for each campaign from LinkedIn’s official ads API:
You see each company that views or engages and the exact ads involved.
You can drop display networks plagued by bots and avoid noisy IP‑matching. Rely on LinkedIn as the single source.
Immediate Sales Outreach Enriched with Intent Data
Skip standalone intent tools where possible. Bake feature‑level value props into your ads. This gives BDRs real context. A product management tool can run separate ad sets for onboarding or analytics.
Like this:
Then track which companies engage with each creative. You capture intent and arm BDRs to speak to the right pains with the matching features.
ZenABM helps orchestrate the flow.
It pulls company‑level LinkedIn engagement for each campaign via the official API:
It clusters companies that display similar intent:
For Sales, it also writes intent as company properties in your CRM:
For fast response, ZenABM tracks each account’s stage from its engagement score:
It assigns BDRs to accounts that hit the Interested stage in your CRM:
Engagement thresholds for each stage are configurable:
Accurate ROI Reporting for Each Ad Creative
ZenABM already shows LinkedIn engagement by company and ad.
It also pulls deal values by matching engaged companies to CRM accounts and deals.
This powers precise attribution dashboards.
You can view pipeline, revenue won, ROAS, targeted accounts, and more for each campaign:
You can compare performance across campaigns, campaign groups, and ABM programs.
Here is the full dashboard:
Over to You
Account‑Based Marketing keeps evolving. Adopting advanced plays like personalized content, tight sales–marketing alignment, clean attribution, and strategic upsell and cross‑sell work is now basic.
Tools like ZenABM make execution easier. They capture intent signals, enrich outreach, and surface accurate LinkedIn engagement inside your CRM. You get ABM tactics that drive results and measurable impact.
