19 Account-Based Marketing Software Use Cases To Inspire You

The sheer amount of account-based marketing (ABM) software use cases means it’s become the preferred demand generation approach for marketers across the globe. It's not surprising, though.

I mean, who doesn’t want to ditch traditional lead generation in favour of a more intimate approach to engaging high-value accounts? For this reason, 58% of marketers have seen the size of their deals increase through ABM, along with impressive ROI (Forrester, 2021).

In this article, we’ll explore my favourite ABM use cases and share best practices you need to adopt if you’re looking to implement any of these use cases.

19 ABM Software Uses Cases to Inspire Your Next ABM Campaign

From using intent data to crafting tailored content and effective outreach strategies, these insights will help you refine your ABM tactics and drive meaningful engagement. Let’s explore how these proven strategies can transform your approach and set the stage for ABM success.

1. Target In-Market Buyers Using Intent Data

A reliable method of gleaning valuable insights into your target accounts behaviors and motivations is via intent data. By analyzing specific buying signals, such as increased engagement with your content or searches for related keywords, you can pinpoint when an account is nearing a purchase decision.

For example, intent data might reveal that a target account has been researching topics related to your product or service, such as downloading whitepapers or case studies. These activities indicate a high level of interest and suggest that the account is in-market to buy.

Best practices for targeting in-market buyers using intent data:

• Ensure both sales and marketing are aligned on the definition of in-market buyers and that they are ready to take advantage of intent signals.
• Use intent data to segment your target accounts based on the strength of their buying signals. Prioritize outreach to those showing the most significant intent.
• Develop personalized messaging and offers, such as case studies or product demos, that address needs and interests revealed through intent data.

Intent data helps to identify and target in-market buyers, allowing your teams to  engage with potential customers at the most opportune moment. This increases the likelihood of conversion and shortens the sales cycle.

2. Drive Engagement with High-Value Accounts with Gifting

Corporate gifting is common in B2B sales and a favored tactic in the ABM playbook. The right gift can boost meeting acceptance rates, foster long-term loyalty, and create a memorable experience that drives referrals.

The best gifts in an ABM context are personalized, thoughtful and touch on the needs or interests of target accounts. 

For example, GumGum, an AI-driven ad tech company, won their target account, T-Mobile, by creating a personalized comic book for their CEO, a known Batman fan. Their CEO was so impressed he gave them a shout-out on X (formerly Twitter), and of course it landed them a deal.

Best practices for sending gifts to high-value accounts: 

• Set a clear budget and goals, defining KPIs and aligning your ABM teams on  desired outcomes and ROI. 
• Use intent data and social listening to research recipients interests. Target decision-makers and purchase influencers, such as CEOs and senior executives. 
• Flesh out a gifting timeline to capitalize on key events and milestones, such as anniversaries, birthdays or holidays. 

Personalized gifts boost engagement with high-value accounts by creating memorable experiences. Just remember that research and strategic timing are key to maximizing their impact.

3. Use an ABM Pilot Program to Build Sales and Marketing Alignment

Marketing and sales alignment is a common challenge for ABM strategies, and a problem that can cost organizations more than 10% of their annual revenue if not solved (Demand Gen, 2024). Common drivers of this challenge include inconsistent use of sales and marketing software, lack of shared data, and conflicting attempts at personalization.

A pilot program can highlight potential inconsistencies and areas where alignment can be improved. It provides a controlled environment to test and refine your strategy, encourage the adoption of ABM tools, and develop a clear, cohesive ABM framework for both departments.

Best practices for using an ABM pilot program to foster alignment: 

• Ensure both teams are aligned on goals, messaging, and tactics, with regular communication to maintain consistency.
• Choose a small group of high-value accounts to focus on during the pilot, ensuring you have enough resources to dedicate to each.
• Record the outcomes of the pilot, including successes and challenges, and use this information to scale your ABM efforts across more accounts.

This approach ensures both teams are on the same page, leading to more effective collaboration and better overall results. 

4. Identify Customers at Risk of Churn with Intent Data

SaaS companies experienced higher than usual monthly churn rates of 4.5% in the first quarter of 2024 (Baremetrics, 2024). Intent data is a powerful tool for lowering and preventing customer churn altogether, helping to maximize the ROI of account-based marketing.

Through intent data, you can monitor common churn signals to improve customer retention. This includes detecting early signs of dissatisfaction, such as increased contact with competitors, research into pain points, or engagement with content critical of your brand.

Best practices for using intent data to reduce churn and increase the ROI of your ABM approach: 

• Monitor the right intent topics for customer retention. This includes monitoring signals such as your product category, pain point keywords, competitor brands names and products.
• Develop an intervention strategy that aligns all team members on how to interpret churn signals and address them.
• Create personalized outreach campaigns based on common churn drivers discovered through intent data.

Using intent data to identify churn signals allows you to proactively address customer dissatisfaction and improve retention, maximizing the ROI of your ABM efforts.

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5. Use Intent and Target Account Data to Create Personalized Landing Pages

When personalized, you'll find that ABM landing pages can become effective conversion drivers. They position your products or services as the ideal solution for a specific account’s needs. Intent data aids the research process required for impactful personalization, as it sheds light on customer behavior, motivations and challenges.  

This approach arms your marketing teams with the deep account insights required to create impactful, personalized landing pages. This level of personalization captures attention, builds trust and drives engagement. 

Best practices for using intent data to create personalized landing pages: 

• Use intent data to match the landing page content with the account’s stage in the buying process, whether they’re just exploring or ready to purchase.
• Group target accounts based on shared intent signals to create more relevant and targeted landing page experiences.
• Continuously test and optimize personalized landing pages using insights from intent data to refine and enhance the content for better engagement.

Intent data supports your connection with key accounts, ultimately increasing the likelihood of conversions and long-term partnerships.

6. Improve ABM Content Strategy with Target Account and Intent Data

The core idea behind ABM is to tailor messaging and experiences to match the needs of target accounts. Intent data makes this easier, allowing you to craft effective, personalized content based on specific products your target accounts have shown interest in. 

Analysis of intent data can guide your ABM content strategy, providing insight into relevant content topics, formats and the most effective channels for content delivery. Whether it’s whitepapers, videos, case studies, or interactive tools, intent data helps you create content based on what has proven effective for similar accounts.

Best practices for using intent data in your ABM content strategy:

• Focus your content efforts on accounts showing the strongest intent signals, ensuring your resources are directed toward those most likely to convert.
• Use intent data to optimize when you release content or outreach, aligning with the moments when your target accounts are most receptive.
• Segment your audience based on intent data and create customized content that speaks directly to the needs and pain points of each segment.

Intent data helps tailor your ABM content strategy by revealing what resonates with target accounts. By focusing on high-intent accounts and optimizing content delivery, you enhance engagement and drive better results.

7. Use Intent Data to Notify SDRs and AEs of In-Market Prospects

Identifying in-market prospects is easier said than done, especially given 96% of website visitors are not ready to buy (Adobe Marketo). However, intent data is a game-changer in this area, as it can alert Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) and Account Executives (AEs) to leads expressing buying intent. 

When intent data flags a prospect as being in-market, it can automatically notify SDRs and AEs, enabling them to engage with potential customers at the right time. This approach ensures that your sales team doesn’t miss out on high-potential opportunities and can prioritize outreach to the most promising accounts.

Best practices for using intent data to support identification of in-market prospects include:

• Ensuring that sales and marketing teams are aligned on what constitutes an in-market prospect, so the right leads are prioritized.
• Configure your intent data tools, such as Bombora or Demandbase, to send instant notifications to SDRs and AEs when a target account displays strong buying signals. 
• Monitor how prospects respond to outreach initiated by intent data notifications, and use this feedback to refine your strategy and improve future targeting.

Intent data streamlines the identification of in-market prospects by notifying SDRs and AEs in real-time. Armed with this data, your sales team can focus on high-potential opportunities and improve account targeting.

8. Use First-Party Data to Cross-sell to Current Customers 

Cross-selling to current customers is a critical strategy for maximizing revenue and deepening customer relationships in ABM. First-party data, such as customer data collected from your website or platforms, plays a key role in identifying opportunities for cross-selling. 

By leveraging first-party data, you can tailor cross-sell offers that align with your customers’ existing needs and interests. This approach ensures that you’re not just pushing additional products but offering solutions that genuinely add value.

Here are some best practices for getting the most out of your first-party data: 

• Use first-party data to create segments based on purchase history, usage patterns, and behavior, allowing you to tailor cross-sell offers.
• Ensure that the products or services you’re cross-selling align with the customer’s business objectives and current challenges.
• Track the success of your cross-sell efforts and be ready to adjust your strategy based on what resonates with your customers.

Leveraging first-party data for cross-selling not only boosts revenue but also deepens your relationship with existing customers by continually providing them with valuable, relevant solutions.

9. Use Results From Your ABM Campaign to Niche Down on Your Best-Fit Accounts

Continuous refinement of your ABM strategy is necessary for long-term growth. It’s important to monitor the impact of your ABM campaigns, in order to identify areas of improvement that may impact ROI. 

When analyzing your ABM campaigns, look for patterns that reveal your best-fit accounts. This process allows you to niche down to a point where your efforts are only focused on the highest-value accounts. 

Consider these best practices when reviewing your ABM campaign results: 

• Monitor the conversion rates of different account segments closely to identify which accounts are the most responsive to your ABM efforts.
• Identify accounts that show consistent engagement with your content and outreach, as these are often the best candidates for deeper investment.
• Use insights from successful campaigns to continuously refine and update your ideal customer profile (ICP). 

Niching down on your best-fit accounts increases the efficiency of your ABM efforts, leading to higher conversion rates, better use of resources, and stronger relationships with the accounts that matter most. It also helps in minimizing wasted effort on low-potential leads.

10. Drive Engagement with High-Value Accounts with Personalized Resources Pages

Personalized resource pages are powerful tools for engaging target accounts throughout varying stages of their buying journey. Personalized resource pages set your brand apart and keep key accounts engaged by centralizing all relevant content, such as whitepapers, case studies and product information. 

B2B personalization software, such as Hushly or Personyze, support web content personalization. These platforms include features that allow you to draw on both first-party and third-party account data to tailor pages to target account needs.

Best practices for building personalized resource pages: 

• Use software to dynamically pull in content based on the account’s industry, challenges, and behavior on your site. This ensures that the resource page stays relevant without requiring constant manual updates.
• Integrate your CRM and ABM tools for real-time data syncing, ensuring that each resource page reflects the most current account information.
• Incorporate features like custom demos, calculators, or quizzes that make the resource page more engaging and tailored to the account’s specific needs.

Personalized resource pages are essential for delivering a tailored experience that drives engagement and accelerates the sales process with your most valuable accounts.

11. Run Competition Switching Campaigns with Intent Data

As mentioned earlier, intent data can identify customer churn signals and help prevent potential losses. On the flip side, these signals can be used to persuade dissatisfied customers to switch from a competitor's product to yours.

This strategy is often overlooked in ABM, but when paired with technographic data and analysis of customer reviews, it is an impactful way to take advantage of gaps in competitors’ offerings. 

Best practices for creating competitive displacement campaigns:

• Use intent data platforms like Bombora or 6sense to identify accounts currently engaging with competitor products or researching alternative solutions. 
• Combine intent data with analysis of customer reviews, such as from sites like G2, Capterra or Clutch, to craft content that address gaps in competitors’ offerings.
• Use marketing automation software to deliver personalized offers, such as discounts or extended trial periods, to entice competitors' customers to make the switch.

Positioning your product as the best alternative to your competitors can create a compelling case for potential customers to switch. By leveraging intent data, analyzing customer reviews, and delivering personalized offers, you can capitalize on competitors' weaknesses.

12. Multi-Channel Account Engagement

Multi-channel engagement involves using a mix of email, social media, paid ads, and direct mail to consistently stay on the radar of key accounts. In ABM, this is an important tactic for maintaining a cohesive, personalized customer experience. 

By engaging across multiple channels, you can reinforce your messaging, capture attention in various contexts, and build a more comprehensive picture of how accounts interact with your brand.

Best practices for multi-channel account engagement: 

• Identify which channels your target accounts engage with most and prioritize those for outreach. Traditional channels that deliver the best ABM results include blogs, YouTube, LinkedIn and email marketing.
• Be sure to tailor content to perform best on each platform, but maintain consistent brand voice and core messaging across channels. 
• Use marketing automation, such as Klaviyo and Omnisend, to schedule content delivery and ensure your content reaches prospects at the right time.

Multi-channel engagement allows you to meet your target accounts where they are, reinforcing your messaging across platforms and improving the chances of driving meaningful interactions.

13. Use Account-Based Retargeting to Drive Engagement

The vast majority of your website visitors are not ready to buy and are unlikely to return again – at least not without retargeting ads. Account-based retargeting involves serving website visitors with tailored content and offers specific to their past browsing behavior. 

Retargeting ads keep your brand top-of-mind and encourage past visitors to re-engage and potentially convert. These are warm leads that have already displayed a level of interest, and it’s important to leverage this opportunity. 

Best practices for account-based retargeting: 

• Use intent data to identify high-priority accounts for retargeting. Focus your efforts on accounts that have demonstrated a strong buying intent.
• Tailor your ads based on the specific interests or needs of each account, as revealed by their previous interactions with your site.
• Be sure to optimize your frequency cap, which controls how many times a single prospect is served a retargeted ad. This is important for maximizing results without overwhelming target accounts with too many impressions.

Account-based retargeting is a powerful tool for keeping your brand in front of interested prospects, helping to drive them back to your site and closer to conversion.

14. Personalized Direct Mail Campaigns

Direct mail remains relevant to a modern account-based marketing strategy, with 46% of marketers using it to engage their target account list (DemandGen, 2022). Personalized direct mail campaigns can cut through the digital noise to make a lasting impression on key accounts. And insights from popular ABM statistics support this.

Forms of direct mail that drive the best results for ABM include customized gifts, interactive packages, handwritten notes and tailored resources. These campaigns are designed to grab attention and create a memorable experience that digital channels might not achieve.

Best practices for personalized direct mail campaigns: 

• Fold direct mail into your multi-channel strategy, aligning your messaging with digital efforts.
• Leverage ABM software, like Vainu and 6sense, to map out buying centers and pinpoint specific stakeholders for direct mail campaigns. 
• Ensure that the direct mail is tailored to the recipient’s specific role, needs, and interests, increasing its relevance and impact.

Personalized direct mail campaigns offer a unique way to stand out from the competition, making a lasting impression that can help drive high-value accounts toward conversion.

15. Account-Specific Sales Enablement Materials

Sales enablement materials empower your sales team to effectively engage target accounts by speaking to their unique needs and challenges. Sales enablement materials include custom presentations, case studies, and product demos that highlight specific use cases relevant to target accounts. 

Personalized materials demonstrate a deep understanding of the account, which increases both trust and engagement. This improves your chances of closing deals, and provides the foundation for valuable long-term relationships. 

Best practices for crafting account-specific sales enablement materials: 

• Use CRM data, like past interactions, pain points and key decision-makers, to tailor your sales materials to the needs of each account. 
• Work closely with SDRs and AEs to ensure the materials align with the sales process and messaging remains cohesive across departments.
• Incorporate visuals like infographics, charts, and custom illustrations to make your sales materials more engaging and relatable.

Custom sales enablement materials support your ABM strategy by producing meaningful engagements and driving higher conversion rates. Demonstrating a deep understanding of your target accounts' needs positions your solution as the ideal choice, making it easier for your sales team to close deals.

16. Account-based Website Personalization to Increase Affinity

Brand affinity refers to the emotional connection and loyalty that a customer feels toward your brand. In ABM, strong brand affinity is key for deepening relationships with high-value accounts and increasing customer lifetime value. 

When target accounts feel that your brand understands their needs, they are more likely to engage, trust and convert. This can be achieved through website personalization, such as tailored landing pages, industry-specific case studies and customized offers. 

Best practices for using website personalization to increase affinity:

• Use tools like Mutiny or Intellimize to implement dynamic content blocks. This allows you to serve personalized content based on visitor data.
• Use CRM and intent data to segment your audience by industry, company size, or specific challenges, and tailor website content accordingly.
• Monitor how target accounts interact with your personalized content, and use this data to refine and optimize your approach over time.

Account-based website personalization is a powerful way to increase engagement and brand affinity. High brand affinity leads to stronger customer retention, increased referrals, and improved likelihood of cross-selling. 

17. Use Target Account and Intent Data to Tailor Customer Success Programs for Key Accounts

Customer success is critical for retaining high-value accounts and driving long-term growth. In ABM, tailoring customer success programs to the specific needs of key accounts can make the difference between a satisfied customer and a loyal brand advocate. 

Using intent data to tailor customer success programs ensure that each account receives the support and resources they need. This might include personalized onboarding processes, custom success metrics, or proactive outreach based on usage patterns and potential challenges. 

Best practices for leveraging intent data for customer success programs:

• Use intent data to identify potential challenges or needs that a key account might be facing, and proactively address these in your customer support materials.
• Work with each account to define custom success metrics that align with their specific business objectives, ensuring that your team and the account are on the same page.
• Continuously collect and review account feedback on customer success programs to ensure ongoing improvement and keep your resources relevant. 

Through the strategic use of intent data, you can design customer success programs that enhance the customer experience and minimize disruptions. This leads to higher customer satisfaction and retention. 

18. Customize Case Studies According to Target Industry

In ABM, generic case studies may not resonate with decision-makers in different industries, leading to missed opportunities. When your case studies are customized according to the target industry, they become powerful tools for demonstrating your product’s specific impact within that sector. 

Customized case studies speak directly to the unique needs of your target accounts, demonstrating that your solution is proven and effective within their industry. This tailored content builds trust and positions your brand as an industry expert, increasing the likelihood of conversion.

Best practices for customizing case studies to target industries:

• Use industry-specific metrics and outcomes to make the case study more relatable and impactful for your target audience.
• Focus on the challenges that are most relevant to the target industry, showing how your solution directly addresses these pain points.
• Include quotes or testimonials from clients within the same industry, as these peer endorsements can carry significant weight.

Industry-customized case studies drive connections with target accounts by demonstrating your expertise and success in their specific field. This tailored approach can be the key to converting high-value prospects.

19. Run Tailored Email Campaigns to Decision Makers

Email remains a key channel for engaging target accounts, and presents a significant opportunity for ABM success. In fact, 86% of business professionals prefer email as their primary channel for business communication (Hubspot, 2024).

Tailored email campaigns involve customizing the content, messaging, and offers to match the interests and challenges of target accounts. The best ABM email campaigns are personalized based on the insights gathered from account data, intent signals, and industry trends. 

Best practices for tailoring ABM email campaigns to decision makers: 

• Use account data to segment decision-makers by industry, role, or pain points, allowing for more relevant and personalized email content.
• A/B test subject lines to ensure they grab attention and reflect the personalized content within the email.
• Use dynamic content blocks to deliver personalized offers, case studies, or product recommendations that align with the recipient’s specific interests or needs.

For best results, invest in an all-in-one ABM software solution, like Hubspot, to help with audience segmentation, A/B testing and designing personalized email content. By personalizing your content and messaging, you can increase engagement, foster trust, and drive better outcomes for your ABM strategy. 

Join For More ABM Insights

The power of account-based marketing (ABM) lies in its ability to foster deep, meaningful connections with high-value accounts. By leveraging strategies such as integrating intent data, designing personalized ABM campaigns, and focusing on account-specific content, you can enhance the effectiveness of your ABM efforts.

Remember, the key to success is personalization and precision. By using the innovative tactics explored in this article, you can tailor your approach to the unique needs and preferences of your high-value accounts and take your ABM initiatives to new heights. 

Hungry for more account-based marketing inspiration? Why not check out our round-up of ABM examples from top B2B companies, or subscribe to The CMO newsletter for more insights delivered straight to your inbox.