How do you define ABM?

I said it earlier, but it bears repeating: I don’t necessarily believe in ABM as originally defined. I think ABM is just really good targeting combined with specific, intentional marketing efforts. The industry has a habit of renaming things we’ve always done in slightly evolved ways, and ABM is no different.

ABM, in theory, was about treating a single account as a market of one, crafting hyper-personalized campaigns tailored to its specific needs. But in practice, ABM is rarely done at that level. Instead, it has evolved into tiered targeting; sometimes it's 1:1, sometimes 1:few, and often it's just really well-segmented 1:many.

To me, ABM is not a standalone strategy; it's a system. It’s just great marketing with strong targeting, tight sales alignment, and a clear understanding of customer needs. It’s about shifting from a lead-based model to an account-centric view where success is measured by engagement, pipeline velocity, and expansion within key accounts rather than just MQL counts.

At its core, ABM is an execution model, a system, and not a separate discipline. It’s how you prioritize, structure, and scale outreach to the accounts that matter most. Whether that’s through outbound plays, inbound nurturing, or a hybrid of both. It’s not about running a playbook called “ABM”; it’s about running the right campaigns, with the right message, to the right audience, at the right time.

If you’re doing intent-driven, multi-channel, sales-aligned marketing that leads to revenue growth, you’re doing ABM, at least as I define it, even if you’re not calling it that.