Account-based marketing works. At UserGems, we use ABM as one of our best customer acquisition strategies to target high-value accounts with signal-based precision and coordinated outreach that converts.
But ABM only works when you know which accounts are in-market, what signals show they're ready, and how to act on that insight in a coordinated way.
Below, we cover HubSpot's ABM features and show you how to use them to build campaigns that actually generate pipeline.
What is an ABM tool?
ABM tools help sales and marketing teams align on three things: which accounts to target, whether those accounts fit your product, and how to measure success.
Sales teams use them as part of an overall growth strategy to target the most promising accounts.
Some function as standalone systems while others work best as integrations to other tools or platforms.
Either way, they help you create targeted experiences for accounts most likely to convert.
Here's how to use HubSpot's ABM tools to fill your pipeline and close more deals.
HubSpot ABM tools to use at each stage of the sales cycle
ABM works when teams coordinate. Without alignment between sales and marketing, you'll waste time on the wrong accounts and miss real opportunities.
HubSpot offers ABM tools for each stage of the sales cycle. Here’s how you can use them to achieve your goals no matter where you are in the funnel.
1. Identify target accounts
Start by defining your ideal customer profile and the account types you'll target. Use HubSpot’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool to identify target accounts from your contact list and launch ABM campaigns faster.
It provides an overview of contact interactions, enabling you to identify target accounts from your contact list and accelerate your ABM campaigns. You can also add multiple contacts to your list and bulk edit it using the “Edit” option within the ABM tool.
2. Align your sales and marketing teams
Once you know your target accounts, align sales and marketing to create coordinated content and outreach that moves accounts through the pipeline.
HubSpot offers several features that help sales and marketing coordinate on target accounts:
File manager: Create dedicated folders for each account. Reps can quickly find what they need to educate prospects and handle objections during sales calls.
Slack integration: Sales and marketing teams waste time switching between Slack and their CRM to share account updates. A Slack integration connects both tools and simplifies team communication.
Sales sequences: Give reps a clear task list for each target account. This reduces their workload and keeps outreach on track. This is where sales sequences come in handy.
These automated tools contain a list of tasks like enrolling a contact in an automated sequence and following up with them to guide the sales conversation in the right direction. It also helps align sales and marketing teams when it comes to content creation and distribution. For instance, marketing teams can build a sales sequence and have reps enroll assigned accounts into it to coordinate outreach with other content releases like blog posts.
3. Attract and close leads
You’ve identified target accounts. And your sales and marketing teams are aligned with your ABM strategy’s goals.
Next, reach the right buyers with targeted content and build relationships that move deals forward.
Here are some of the HubSpot ABM tools that help your marketing and sales teams in this stage:
Buying roles: This contact property allows you to mark the role of the target contact on the buying committee. Some examples of buying roles include legal, finance, decision-maker, etc.
Playbooks: This is a sales enterprise feature in HubSpot that helps reps discover the right strategies they must deploy during different stages of the sales cycle to convert prospects.
Company lists: HubSpot’s company lists are similar to contact lists — you can segment companies based on different criteria and create targeted ads for a particular company or a specific decision-maker within the company.
4. Measure your success
Track your ABM campaign to see which accounts are most likely to close.
HubSpot’s ABM reporting tool provides 3 types of reports you can use to gather insights on your ABM campaigns:
Account-based marketing reports: You can use this report to find how many accounts you have in each Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) tier and which accounts engage the most with your content. Use this data to prioritize the right accounts.
"My Target" accounts reports: Salespeople usethis report to keep track of recently closed deals and recent engagements from target accounts.
Target account landscape reports: Both sales and marketing directors can use this dashboard to get a high-level overview of the entire target account list and its associated activities.
Expert tips to make HubSpot's account-based marketing tools work for you
Here's how to use HubSpot's ABM tools to build a program that generates pipeline.
1. Segment your ICP into tiers
Segment your ICP into tiers. This shows reps exactly which accounts to prioritize and which to skip.
“Tier your ICP contacts with workflows in HubSpot to automate and distribute these audiences to your team in a way that makes sense and requires minimal effort on their end. Give your SDRs pre-qualified contacts, and they'll focus on what matters: converting accounts,” says Isaac Ware, my colleague and Director of Demand Generation, UserGems.
If you’ve already defined your ICP, set up a workflow that automatically filters your contacts into different tiers to lighten your workload even more.
2. Expand your list with HubSpot ABM's AI-based tools
Beyond ICP tiers, use HubSpot's AI tool to expand your contact list. "You can also use HubSpot's AI segmentation suggestions if you are struggling to find more target accounts."
It uses company size, revenue, and engagement data to find accounts similar to your targets.
Or use UserGems' Account Tracking to automatically identify new accounts that match your ICP.
3. Check out who's championing for you
HubSpot has a “champion” property within buying roles, allowing you to see how many champions are on your side based on your past interactions.
Champions are people who can influence the decision without being decision-makers themselves.
They don't make the final decision, but they can sway it. For example, an account manager may not be a decision-maker. But they can sway the decision. Using HubSpot’s champion property gives you a chance to find out who they are and start building a rapport with them.
These can also come in handy if you need to multithread an account.
Personalize your HubSpot ABM tools for exponential growth
Customize HubSpot's ABM tools with integrations for automated pipeline generation, gifting, and advanced ad targeting.
Here are some recommended tools to help you with these features:
Pipeline generation: SDRs need a steady pipeline to hit their revenue targets. Without it, they can’t produce a steady stream of qualified leads to achieve their aggressive revenue targets. HubSpot tracks leads who engage with your website and social. UserGems tracks job changes among your best buyers, so you can reach them at new companies with relevant context and reduce CAC. For example, Electric, an IT solutions company, created a new customer acquisition channel by tracking the job changes of decision-makers with User Gems.
Advanced ad targeting: You can’t use Hubspot to create a highly targeted audience based on granular interactions customers have with your website. But the Hubspot- LinkedIn ads integration helps you convert any CRM data point into a specific set of audiences and create targeted messages for them to improve your engagement.
Gifting: Creating hyper-focused content is one way to build a personalized experience. But a more memorable way to create an impression and forge a personal relationship with a target account is to send them gifts. Use tools like Postal to send digital rewards to target accounts for completing a specific action like accepting your email invite or participating in a survey.
