You already know who they are. The companies you'd love to work with. The logos that would change your business if they said yes.
Most businesses wait for those clients to find them. They run ads, post content and hope the right company fills out a form. Sometimes it works. Usually it doesn't.
Account based marketing flips that. You pick the accounts first. Then you earn their attention on purpose, one decision maker at a time, until your name is the one they say when the problem comes up.
You've probably heard ABM is complicated: big software, big teams, big budgets. That's the enterprise version. The version that works for small and medium-sized businesses is simple, and simple is the point. This account based marketing guide walks through the whole system I use, step by step: how to pick your dream accounts, research them, get noticed, turn attention into meetings, and grow every win into a bigger account.
Stop waiting for dream clients to find you. Go get them.
What account based marketing is
Account based marketing (ABM) is a B2B approach where sales and marketing choose a short list of target companies first, then market and sell to the people inside those companies with personal, coordinated outreach. Instead of casting a wide net and sorting through whoever shows up, you decide who is worth winning and go deep instead of wide.
In 2008 I took my first sales job. I was 24, newly married, and knew nothing about sales. The company was a staffing agency in Ottawa. Two people in their early twenties, Toni and Kathryn, had started it and built it into the dominant player in government staffing, with a strong private-sector business too.
Their secret was account based marketing. They just never called it that. Every account manager owned a list of 50 to 400 accounts. Sales and marketing worked as one team. We ran campaigns, sent personal emails and gifts, and made sure every touch gave our accounts something of value.
I did that for five years. We were dominant in Ottawa. Everyone in staffing knew our name. And the system was simple. Nobody overcomplicated it.
Today, ABM has a reputation for being complicated. Enterprise and SaaS companies run it with huge teams, expensive platforms and months of setup. That's not what won Ottawa for Toni and Kathryn, and it's not what small and medium-sized businesses need.
ABM is simple. Choose the accounts you want. Give them real value. Stay in touch, personally and consistently. Track it. That's the whole system.
Keep ABM simple: pick accounts, give value, stay in touch, track it.
The Dream 100 System
Most companies market to everyone and land whoever shows up. ABM does the opposite. You choose a short list of accounts worth winning.
I call it the Dream 100 System. One hundred accounts is big enough to fill a pipeline and small enough to know every one by name. Chet Holmes made the idea of a Dream 100 famous years ago. This guide makes it simple to run.
Why 100? It's about the most one person can follow up with personally. Past that, personal turns into mass email. At my first sales job, each of us managed 50 to 400 accounts, and the best results came from knowing every one of them well. Bigger programs grow by adding people, each owning their own list, not by stretching one person thin.
The 80/20 rule applies here too. A small number of those 100 will become most of your revenue. You won't know which ones until you engage all of them, consistently, for longer than feels comfortable.
Why the old way stopped working
The buyer changed. Three numbers tell the story.
If the decision is mostly made before anyone calls you, waiting for the call means showing up last. ABM puts you in front of the buying group early, before the shortlist is written.
The three problems ABM solves
Chasing the wrong leads
Effort spent on companies that were never going to buy.
One contact, one point of failure
A single champion who leaves, goes quiet or can't get a yes.
Showing up too late
By the time they call, the decision is mostly made.
The fix is simple. Decide who you want. Learn everything about them. Reach every person who has a say. Stay in front of them until the timing is right.
The four steps of ABM
Everything in this guide fits into four steps. Pick and map your accounts. Reach them in several ways. Follow up personally. Track every account, every month. Then repeat.
Strategy
Pick your Dream 100, tier them by value, and map every decision maker.
Market
Reach each account in several ways: email, LinkedIn, gifts, mail and events.
Sell
Follow up personally. Turn attention into meetings, and meetings into clients.
Measure
Track every account and every touch on one scorecard, every month.
Your ABM strategy in ten steps
There's no cookie-cutter ABM. Your deal size, sales cycle and team are yours alone. That's why this starts with a plan, not a campaign.
For years I went to every networking event I could find. The Chamber of Commerce. BNI. Small mixers packed with realtors, new salespeople and financial advisors.
The problem? We sold a high-end service. Our ideal client did more than $5 million a year in sales and spent $250,000 or more on marketing. Almost nobody in those rooms fit. I was busy, but I wasn't in front of the right people.
So at seoplus+ we flipped it. We started hosting our own events, the Partner Connect and the seoplus+ Marketer Social, several times a year. We handpicked every guest. Some nights it was 10 people around a table. Some nights it was 75. Every one of them was someone we wanted to work with.
Ideal Client ProfileWho's worth winning.
The Dream 100 ListThe exact accounts.
The TiersHow much effort each account gets.
The Buying Group MapEvery person with a say.
The OfferWhy they'll want to talk to you.
The GoalsWhat success looks like.
The BudgetWhat you'll invest, and where.
The ToolsWhat you need to run it.
The PlaysWhat you'll do, and when.
Track & ReportHow you'll know it's working.
Step 1 · Ideal Client Profile
The biggest mistake in ABM is picking accounts because you like the logo. Build your Ideal Client Profile in two parts: who they are, and why they're a fit.
Five filters
Industry: one or two you know best. Size: a revenue or employee range. Location: where you can serve them well. Buyer: the title that signs off. Trigger: what makes them need you now.
Four tests
Has the problem you solve, and feels it now. Is big enough that one win changes your year. Can actually buy: budget, authority and a reason to act. Is winnable: you have proof, a connection inside, or an edge.
Look at your best current clients first. What do they have in common: industry, size, region, the trigger that made them buy? That pattern is your profile. Your Dream 100 should look like more of your best clients, not a wish list of famous names.
Mid-sized B2B companies in two industries the agency already has case studies for, with a new marketing leader in the last year.
Growing private companies of 50 to 500 employees in the region, likely to need contracts, employment and corporate work over the next few years.
Companies in the one industry where its happiest customers already are, using a tool it integrates with, and hiring for the team that would use the product.
Step 2 · The Dream 100 list
Turn your Ideal Client Profile into names. Start with your best current clients, then add the companies that look the most like them. Keep every account in one place: your CRM, or even a simple spreadsheet.
100 is a rule of thumb, not a rule. Some businesses need 6 accounts, others need 500. For most, 100 is plenty. Grade each account as you add it.
Step 3 · The tiers
Split your list into three tiers, so your time and money go where the value is. Not every account gets the same effort.
About 10 accounts
Fully custom. Research every person, build plays for each account, involve leadership.
20 to 50 accounts
Grouped by industry or problem. Shared plays, personalized touches.
100 to 500 accounts
Light-touch and scalable. Targeted ads, content and email, watching for signs they're warming up.
When a Tier 3 account starts engaging, promote it. Add up the tiers and you may land above or below 100. That's fine. The point is a list you can work every week.
Step 4 · The buying group map
With 13 people in the average decision, one contact is never enough. For every Tier 1 and Tier 2 account, find these five roles. To keep it simple at first, start with a single contact at each account and build from there.
Steps 5 to 7 · The offer, the goals and the budget
The offer
Lead with value: a solution to a problem, an insight, a short audit, an event invite, an intro to someone they want to meet. Never lead with "Do you have 15 minutes?"
The goals
Accounts engaged, meetings booked, opportunities opened, deals won, average deal size. That which is measured improves.
The budget
Time, tools, gifts, events and ads. Spend the most per account on Tier 1. ABM costs more per account and far less per dream client won.
Steps 8 to 10 · Tools, plays, and track and report
The tools. A CRM, a research tool, an outreach tool, and a simple account brief for each Tier 1 account. Start small. The full list is in the tools checklist at the end of this guide.
The plays. The sequence of touches for each tier over 90 days: who gets what, from whom, and when. There's a full sample below.
Track and report. Build an ABM scorecard: engagement, meetings and pipeline for every account, not every lead. Sales and marketing check it weekly and review it properly once a month. If nobody looks at the list, the list stops working.
| Account | Tier | People reached | Last touch | Stage | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northbridge Logistics | 1 | 3 of 5 | Video, Oct 2 | Opportunity | Send proposal Friday |
| Cedar Ridge Dental | 1 | 2 of 4 | Gift, Sep 28 | Engaged | Ask champion to loop in the CFO |
| Atlas Fabrication | 2 | 2 of 3 | Event, Sep 19 | Engaged | Send case study |
| Harbourview Hotels | 2 | 1 of 3 | Insight, Sep 12 | Unaware | Find a mutual connection |
| Pinecrest Software | 3 | 1 of 2 | Ad click, Oct 1 | Engaged | Promote to Tier 2 |
A sample ABM scorecard. Fictional accounts, one row per account.
Research and targeting
Generic outreach gets generic results. Research is what makes a cold account feel like you were made for each other. And the best research is simply paying attention.
At seoplus+, we were named one of the fastest-growing companies in Ottawa. The next day, a gift basket showed up from a well-known accounting firm with fantastic marketing. Not our accounting firm. A competitor of theirs. Some good beer and a personal note of congratulations. We posted a thank-you on social media.
Two days later, our own accounting firm sent a basket too. Bigger. Nicer. They'd obviously seen us thanking their competitor online.
About six months later, we moved our business to the firm that sent the first basket. It wasn't luck. They knew every company in their target market. They watched the news, and when something happened, they sent something. They ran conferences and events, and they kept inviting us.
Act fast on news. The first company to reach out gets remembered.
Watch for buying signals
Set up news alerts on every account. When something happens, act within a day or two. Speed is the personal touch.
Wins and awards
A launch, an award, a milestone. Congratulate them first, not second.
New leadership
A new executive usually brings a new budget and a mandate to change things.
Hiring
Job posts show what they're building and where it hurts.
Growth
Funding, new offices, new markets or product lines. Fresh plans need help.
Competitor trouble
An unhappy client of your competitor is a warm lead.
Engagement
They visited your site, opened an email, or showed up to your event.
Industry change
New technology, new competitors or a shift in their market. Change creates new problems to solve.
Legal or economic change
New laws, regulations, interest rates or tariffs force companies to rethink how they work.
Find a mutual connection
The fastest way into a dream account is through someone they already trust. Before any cold outreach, ask who in your world already knows them.
Look up the person you want to reach. Their profile shows which of your connections already know them. I use this all the time. It's the fastest way to find someone who can introduce you.
The one-page account brief
Build one for every Tier 1 account. It's the document your whole team works from.
Research checklist
- Build a one-page brief for each Tier 1 account.
- Set up news alerts for your 100 accounts.
- List mutual connections for every Tier 1 and Tier 2 account.
Engagement plays that get noticed
At the staffing agency, we mailed a printed newsletter to every account on our lists. There was no sales pitch in it. Top 10 lists. A guide to getting ready for Christmas. The best restaurants in the city.
People loved them. Clients would call or email me to ask, "When is the Christmas edition coming out?" Our prospects were asking when our marketing would arrive.
Most outreach is easy to ignore because it's about the sender. A good play is about them: their business, their problem, their goals, even their Christmas plans. Give value first and they start looking forward to hearing from you.
Send things your accounts would miss if you stopped.
Rule of thumb: reach every account at least three different ways. One email is easy to miss. An email, a handwritten note and an event invite are hard to ignore.
The insight
A short, specific observation about their business. A free audit, benchmark or teardown.
Custom landing page
A page built for one Tier 1 account, with their name, their problem and your proof.
Gifts and handwritten notes
Something tied to a conversation or their interests, not a logo mug.
Personal video
Two minutes, their name, their website on screen. Hard to ignore.
LinkedIn and email
Short sequences to each person in the buying group. AI can help with research and drafts. A human reviews every message.
One-on-one meetings
Dinners, coffees and calls with decision makers, every month.
Webinars and events
One a quarter, on a problem your accounts actually have. Private events beat public ones.
Introductions
A client or referral partner opens the door for you.
Social engagement
Follow, comment and share their posts before you ever pitch.
Targeted ads
Ads shown only to the accounts on your list, so no spend is wasted on anyone else.
When you email several people at the same company, mention who else you've reached out to: "I also reached out to [Name] on your marketing team." People inside the account talk to each other. When your name comes up more than once, you look legit, and like someone who's done the homework.
Contact multiple people at every account
If you only know one person at an account, the deal depends entirely on them. People change jobs, go on leave or simply can't get a yes on their own. Reach at least three people in every Tier 1 account, with a message that fits each role.
If your only contact leaves, the deal leaves too.
A sample 90-day Tier 1 play
Every tactic below is for your Tier 1 accounts. The label on the right is how many accounts to reach that week.
The same play with shared content and lighter personalization.
Ads, email and events. Promote an account to Tier 2 when it engages.
Templates that get replies
Keep it short. In a study of 34 million cold emails, the ones with 20 to 39 words had the highest reply rate, and the differences were small, so don't sweat the exact count (Hunter, 2024).
of B2B buyers actively avoid suppliers who send irrelevant outreach. So make every touch about them, tied to something real, with one easy ask.Gartner, 2025
Template · The first-touch email
Hi [First name],
Congrats on the new [Ottawa] office. Expanding usually means hiring and filling the pipeline in a new market, both at once.
We helped [similar client] book [result] in their first [6 months] after a move like this. I put together three ideas specific to [Company].
Worth sending them over?
[Your name]
Template · The congratulations note
Sent within 48 hours of an award, launch or milestone, with a small gift. No pitch. No brochure in the box. Speed is the message.
[First name],
Saw the news about [award or milestone]. Huge congratulations to you and the team. Well deserved.
Enjoy these on us.
[Your name], [Company]
Template · The introduction ask
Hi [Name],
I noticed you know [Contact] at [Company]. They're one of the companies we'd love to help with [problem]. Would you be comfortable introducing us?
To make it easy, here's a two-line blurb you can forward: "[Contact], meet [Your name] at [Your company]. They helped us [result], and I thought of you."
No pressure either way. Thanks, [Your name]
Template · The event invite
Hi [First name],
I'm hosting a small [breakfast / roundtable] for [8 to 12] [role]s on [topic they care about]. No pitches, just good conversation and a few ideas worth stealing.
I'd love to save you a seat. Interested?
[Your name]
Why these work
- A real trigger: news, a milestone, a mutual contact. Never "just checking in."
- About them: their company, their problem, their win.
- Short: read in under 20 seconds.
- One easy ask: a yes or no question, not a 30-minute meeting.
- Value first: ideas, introductions and invitations before any pitch.
From conversation to contract
One of our clients was a single-location medical aesthetics clinic in Ottawa. We helped it grow into the clear leader in the city. Then a company 50 times its size bought it. Our champion, the owner, loved our work. But he wasn't the decision maker anymore, and the new parent company already had an agency.
So we went to work on the whole buying group. We audited both websites and found one costly problem that kept happening, over and over. We showed it to the clinic's marketing team first. Our champion then got us in front of the founder and CEO, with a three-slide deck: the problem, why we were the ones to fix it, and proof from the clinic we'd already grown. We won over the national marketing team next. And for the CFO, we proposed a low-risk trial at two locations.
The trial worked. After those two locations, they hired us to help with all 70.
Sort your accounts into four stages
Marketing starts the conversation. Sales turns it into a deal. Both work from one list.
Signs an account is ready for a meeting
- Several people from the same account are engaging.
- They attended an event or replied to an insight.
- A buying signal fired: new leader, new budget, new problem.
- Your champion is asking questions about how you'd work together.
Who does what
Builds the list and account briefs. Runs ads, content and events. Keeps the scorecard current.
Owns the relationships. Does the outreach and follow-up, books the meetings and closes.
One Dream 100 list. A weekly 15-minute review. Agree when an account is ready for a meeting.
On a small team, one person may wear both hats. The jobs still need doing.
Close with a plan
One account listSales and marketing work from the same Dream 100, not two lists.
A weekly account reviewFifteen minutes. Which accounts moved, which went quiet, what's next.
A mutual action planAgree on the steps to a decision with your champion: who, what and when.
Arm your championA short business case they can forward to the people you'll never meet.
Land and expand
Your next dream client might already be your client. Winning the account is the beginning. The cheapest new revenue you'll ever find is inside the clients you already have: other departments, other locations, other problems you can solve.
In 2016 we started working with a small retail company in Ottawa. They had two locations, and we were a $1,000-a-month account. They kept growing: 10 locations, then 20, 50, 100 and eventually 180. Our work grew with them, to tens of thousands of dollars every month.
What kept us there was relationships with many people, not one contract. We got to know the founders, the marketing team, and five different CEOs over the years. When the company was acquired during COVID, we built relationships with the new owners too.
Deliver a fast first winShow results in the first 90 days.
Run a regular business reviewReport results, learn their next priorities.
Map the rest of the companyWhich departments have the same problem?
Turn clients into referralsHappy clients are your best introduction to the next dream account. That's where the referral program guide picks up.
What to expect
ABM takes time. You may work on this for three months and see zero impact. That's normal. Dream clients don't change suppliers because of one email. Every timeline is different, so treat this as a rough guide.
Give it six months before you judge it.
Common mistakes to avoid
Picking accounts by logo
Choose by fit, not fame.
Giving up too early
Most accounts need months of steady touches.
Two lists
Sales and marketing must work the same Dream 100.
One contact per account
If they leave, the deal leaves too.
Leading with a pitch
Give value first. Ask later.
Never reviewing the list
Check the scorecard weekly. Promote, demote, replace.
Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation covers commercial emails and messages. You generally need consent, must clearly identify who you are, and must include a working unsubscribe. Some B2B outreach may qualify for implied consent, for example when someone's business email is published and your message relates to their role. Messages sent through LinkedIn InMail can be exempt, because LinkedIn shows who sent them and how to opt out. Check before you send. This is not legal advice.
Start with your first 10 accounts
You don't need all 100 to begin. You need 10, and momentum.
Your quick-start, this week
- Define your Ideal Client Profile: who they are and why they fit.
- Pick 10 Tier 1 accounts: the ones that would change your year.
- Map three people in each: decision maker, champion, one influencer.
- Find one mutual connection: a client, partner or contact who knows them.
- Send your first insight: something useful, with no ask.
Most companies wait for clients to come to them. Reaching out first is your advantage.
The master and tools checklists
Every action in this guide, in one place.
Step 1 · Strategy
- Define your Ideal Client Profile (industry, size, location, buyer, trigger, and why they fit).
- Build your Dream 100 list from your best current clients.
- Tier it: about 10 one-to-one, 20 to 50 one-to-few, 100 to 500 one-to-many.
- Build a one-page account brief for each Tier 1 account.
- Map the decision makers in every Tier 1 and Tier 2 account.
- List a mutual connection for every Tier 1 account.
- Set your goals, budget and tools.
Step 2 · Market
- Write your offer and your 90-day plays.
- Reach every account at least three different ways.
- Build custom landing pages for Tier 1 accounts.
- Send gifts and handwritten notes that tie to a real conversation.
- Run one webinar or event per quarter.
Step 3 · Sell
- Book one-on-one meetings with decision makers every month.
- Ask for introductions through clients and referral partners.
- Build a mutual action plan with every opportunity, and arm your champion with a business case.
- After the first sale, deliver a quick win, run regular reviews, and ask for intros to other departments and locations.
Step 4 · Measure
- Set up your ABM scorecard: engagement, meetings and pipeline per account.
- Check it weekly with sales and marketing, and review it monthly.
- Promote warming accounts to a higher tier, and replace the dead ones.
The tools checklist
Start simple. A spreadsheet and a CRM will do. Upgrade as you grow. Example tools are suggestions, not requirements.
Research and targeting
- Prospecting and contact data (LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, Apollo)
- Intent and account signals (6sense, Demandbase, Bombora)
- News alerts on your accounts (Google Alerts)
Outreach and plays
- Sales engagement for sequences (Outreach, Salesloft, Instantly)
- AI agents for research and first drafts, with a human reviewing every message
- Landing page builder for Tier 1 account pages
- Personal video (Vidyard, Loom)
- Gifting and direct mail (Sendoso, Reachdesk)
- Scheduling (Calendly)
Account-facing assets
- One-page account brief template
- Case studies by industry
- Insight or audit template
- Business case template for champions
Ads, events and tracking
- Account-targeted ads (LinkedIn Ads)
- Event and webinar tools (Eventbrite, Zoom)
- CRM with account-level reporting (HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho)
- Dream 100 tracker (even a simple spreadsheet works)
Frequently asked questions
What is account based marketing in simple terms?
Account based marketing means choosing the companies you want as clients first, then marketing and selling to the people inside those companies with personal, coordinated outreach. Instead of generating as many leads as possible and sorting through them, you focus your time and budget on a short list of accounts worth winning.
Is ABM only for enterprise companies?
No. The enterprise version uses big platforms and big teams, but the core of ABM is simple: pick accounts, give value, stay in touch, track it. Small and medium-sized B2B companies can run it with a CRM, a spreadsheet and a few hours a week, starting with as few as 10 accounts.
How many target accounts should I have?
Around 100 for most businesses, split into three tiers: about 10 one-to-one accounts, 20 to 50 one-to-few accounts, and 100 to 500 one-to-many accounts. One person can personally follow up with about 100 accounts. Bigger programs grow by adding people with their own lists.
How long does account based marketing take to work?
Plan for six months before you judge it. The first three months are building lists and showing up, often with little response. Replies, introductions and first meetings usually come in months four to six, with opportunities and wins after that.
What channels does ABM use?
Several, always together. Email, LinkedIn, personal video, gifts and handwritten notes, custom landing pages, events, introductions and targeted ads. The rule of thumb is to reach every account at least three different ways, because one email is easy to miss.
What is the difference between ABM and lead generation?
Lead generation casts a wide net and qualifies whoever responds. ABM picks the accounts first and goes after them on purpose. Lead generation measures leads. ABM measures accounts: how many are engaged, how many people you have reached at each, and how much pipeline each one represents.
Want help running it?This is exactly what we do at TRRUST: strategy, campaigns, outreach, meetings and a monthly scorecard, done for you. See how our account based marketing program works, or book a 30-minute call with Derek.