GTM ENGINEERING 03 — ACCOUNT-BASED MARKETING
A named list, and a way in.
ABM fails when it is demand generation with a smaller audience. We build programs around the buying group — who decides, who blocks, who has never heard of you — and the plays that reach each of them.
40
TIER 1
5.4 ROLES
COVERAGE
1.7 / ACCT
MEETINGS
$3.4M
PIPELINE
IN BRIEF
- Strategy Engineered builds account-based programs for enterprise and mid-market B2B companies.
- Programs are built around the buying group, typically seven or more named roles, not a single lead.
- Scope covers account selection and tiering, buying-group mapping, account intelligence, play design, orchestration, and account-level measurement.
- ABM works one-to-few. Segment-level demand sits under Demand Generation.
01 — THE SITUATION
Most ABM programs are a target list and a retargeting budget. The list was chosen by revenue band rather than fit, the buying group was never mapped, and success is measured as engagement on accounts that were never going to buy.
The second failure is organisational. Marketing runs the program, sales runs the accounts, and neither can see what the other did. The account receives a sequence and a cold call in the same week from two people who have not spoken.
02 — WHAT WE BUILD
| Account selection and tiering | Named accounts chosen on fit and reachability, tiered by the investment each justifies. Rejections documented and defended. |
|---|---|
| Buying-group mapping | Every role that must say yes and every role that can say no, mapped by name, with gaps made visible. |
| Account intelligence | Hiring, filings, product moves and leadership change, monitored as triggers rather than collected as trivia. |
| Play design | The specific sequence for a tier-one account, a tier-two account, and an account that has gone quiet. |
| Orchestration | One shared view across marketing and sales, so nobody arrives twice or contradicts the last message. |
| Account-level measurement | Buying-group coverage, meeting depth and pipeline by account. Not lead volume. |
04 — THE FIRST NINETY DAYS
| 1–2 | Account selection and tiering. Rejections written down. Signal sources chosen. |
|---|---|
| 3–5 | Buying groups mapped for tier one. Coverage gaps identified by role, not by count. |
| 6–9 | Plays live across advertising, sequence and direct. Orchestration rules agreed with sales. |
| 10–12 | Coverage and meeting depth reported by account. Tier two opened on evidence from tier one. |
05 — WHAT YOU LEAVE WITH
THE TIERED ACCOUNT LIST
BUYING-GROUP MAP · ONE TIER-ONE ACCOUNT
TIER-ONE PLAY · SIX STEPS, THREE CHANNELS
06 — EVIDENCE
| METRIC | BEFORE | AFTER |
|---|---|---|
| Buying-group coverage, tier one | 1.8 roles | 5.4 roles |
| Meetings per tier-one account | 0.3 | 1.7 |
| Tier-one pipeline | $0.6M | $3.4M |
07 — HOW WE FIT
| YOUR TEAM | Strategy Engineered | WHAT YOU KEEP |
|---|---|---|
| Owns the account relationships and the sales conversation | Builds the list, the maps, the plays and the orchestration rules | The account plans, the intelligence, the play library |
| Runs direct outreach into mapped roles | Reports coverage by role and pipeline by account | Everything inside your CRM |
08 — ENGAGEMENT SHAPES
| THE DIAGNOSTIC | Two to three weeks. The written diagnosis of your revenue system and the sequenced recommendation. The smallest honest engagement we offer. |
|---|---|
| THE SPRINT | Four to eight weeks. One defined problem — a pricing study, an entry study, a launch architecture — taken from question to decision-grade answer. |
| THE RETAINER | Quarterly. Design and build, held to numbers agreed in advance. Reviewed — and cancellable — at every quarter boundary. |
| THE EMBEDDED | We operate inside the motion: a partner and pod accountable for a revenue outcome alongside your team, until the system runs without us. |
ENGAGEMENTS START AT $3,000. SCOPE IS SET AFTER THE FIRST CONVERSATION. WE DO NOT PRICE AS A PERCENTAGE OF MEDIA SPEND.
FAQ
- What list size does this need?
- Tier one is usually twenty to fifty accounts. Beyond a few hundred it stops being ABM and becomes segment marketing.
- Do we need an ABM platform?
- No. Most programs fail on account selection and orchestration, which are decisions rather than software. Tooling is chosen after the program is designed.
- How does this work with sales?
- It does not work without them. Orchestration across both functions is a workstream, not an assumption.
- How long before meetings?
- Coverage moves in the first quarter. Pipeline follows the account's own cycle, which in enterprise is rarely under two.
- Can this run on our existing LinkedIn budget?
- Frequently, yes — reallocated from broad targeting to named accounts, which usually costs less and converts better.
Bring us a hard problem.
Engagements begin with a conversation, not a proposal. Tell us where growth is stuck. We will tell you — plainly — whether we are the right instrument, and what we would do first.