Account Tiering Checklist for ABM Success

Samuel Hall
Jun 29
15 min read

Account tiering is the backbone of a successful Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategy. It helps businesses prioritise accounts based on their potential value and alignment with their Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Here's what you need to know:

Why it matters: Focus resources on high-value accounts to improve ROI, boost customer relationships, and align sales and marketing efforts.
How to start: Define your ICP using firmographics (e.g., industry, size), technographics (e.g., tech stack), and intent data (e.g., buying signals).
Tiering model:
- Tier 1: High-priority accounts with personalised engagement.
- Tier 2: Mid-level accounts with semi-custom campaigns.
- Tier 3: Lower-priority accounts managed through automation.
Tools and data: Use platforms like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, or CRM systems to identify and track target accounts.
Refinement: Regularly review account tiers, adjust based on performance, and ensure collaboration between sales and marketing.

Using Account Tiers for an Effective ABM Strategy

Step 1: Create Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

An Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is the cornerstone of effective account tiering. It defines the type of company that’s a perfect match for your products or services, giving your sales and marketing teams a clear direction to focus on prospects most likely to convert. The results speak for themselves - organisations with a well-defined ICP see 68% higher win rates, 30% shorter sales cycles, and 20% larger deals.

Unlike a broad target audience, which includes any company that could potentially buy your product, an ICP narrows the scope. It pinpoints the customers who are not just likely to buy, but also stand to gain the most from your offerings. This precision helps you craft strategies that deliver higher conversion rates with your top-tier buyers. To get started, focus on the key data that shapes your ICP.

Use Firmographics, Technographics, and Intent Data

Building a precise ICP requires three types of data: firmographics, technographics, and intent data. Together, these provide a full picture of your ideal customer.

Firmographics: These are the basic company details, such as size, industry, location, and revenue.
Technographics: This highlights their technology landscape, including the tools and systems they use.
Intent Data: These signals reveal what they’re actively looking for, their pain points, and how urgently they need solutions.

Start by analysing your existing customer base to spot patterns. Look for recurring traits like company size, industry, and revenue levels - these form the foundation of your ICP. But don’t stop there. Dive deeper into their technology stack, the solutions they already use, and their recent buying behaviours.

Here’s a quick guide to the questions each data category should answer:

ICP Data Category	Key Questions to Answer
Firmographics	What industry are they in? Where are they located? How many employees do they have? What’s their annual revenue?
Technographics	What technology do they use? What solutions are already in place? How advanced is their tech stack?
Intent Data	What challenges are they facing? How urgently do they need help? What signals indicate they’re ready to buy?

Collaborate with teams across sales, marketing, and customer success to refine your ICP. Each team offers unique insights: sales understands objections, marketing tracks engagement trends, and customer success identifies long-term value drivers.

You can also consider factors like customer lifetime value, referral potential, and product usage patterns. These elements help separate ordinary customers from those who become long-term advocates for your brand.

Once your ICP is defined, use analytics tools to sharpen your focus further.

Apply Tools and Analytics

With your ICP framework in place, tools and analytics platforms can help you identify prospects that align with your profile. Advanced platforms offer deeper insights into customer behaviour than traditional methods. For example, CRM systems collect detailed information on demographics, purchase history, and online activity. Organisations with a clear ICP see a 71% higher close rate, making these tools a smart investment.

Platforms like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, and 6sense combine firmographics, technographics, and intent data to identify companies that fit your ICP. These tools also highlight prospects showing active buying signals, making it easier to focus your efforts on the right accounts.

For instance, in March 2024, Telenet and LeadFabric used Turtl’s analytics platform to better understand their audience. This led to a 10x increase in subscribers. Telenet also leveraged intent data from the platform to refine their audience segmentation, driving 88% more conversions.

Data visualisation tools can further simplify the process by helping you spot trends quickly. Combine insights from CRM systems with qualitative data from surveys and interviews to get a complete picture of customer needs.

To keep your ICP relevant, schedule quarterly reviews. As market conditions shift and customer expectations evolve, updating your ICP ensures your account tiering remains accurate. Use new data, customer feedback, and market research to refine your profile.

Finally, consider segmenting your ICP into Core, Moderate, and Emerging categories. This approach allows you to allocate resources effectively while staying flexible enough to pursue promising opportunities that might not perfectly match your current core profile.

Step 2: Group and Tier Your Target Accounts

Once you've nailed down your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), the next logical step is to organise and prioritise your target accounts. This involves grouping and tiering them based on their potential value and how closely they align with your ICP. Unlike basic segmentation, account tiering goes a step further by ranking accounts according to their potential impact and value, rather than just grouping them by shared traits. Here’s how to efficiently categorise your accounts.

Apply the 3-Tier Model

A three-tier system works well for structuring your target accounts, helping you allocate resources and tailor your approach based on an account's importance. Each tier reflects varying levels of investment and engagement.

Tier 1: These are your top-priority accounts. They align perfectly with your ICP, come with high revenue potential, and often display strong buying signals. Think of large enterprises with significant budgets and clear interest in your offerings.
Tier 2: These accounts still fit your ICP but may have a lower lifetime value or less immediate buying intent. They’re often mid-sized organisations or larger companies that don’t fully meet Tier 1 criteria.
Tier 3: These accounts meet some ICP criteria but are lower on the priority list. They might include smaller companies, businesses in related industries, or accounts showing limited engagement.

Your tiering decisions should factor in expected revenue, company size, industry, growth prospects, intent signals, and past engagement.

Tier Level	Account Characteristics	Resource Allocation
Tier 1	Strong ICP match, high revenue potential, strong buying signals	High-touch, highly personalised outreach
Tier 2	Good ICP fit, moderate revenue potential, some buying signals	Semi-customised, scalable campaigns
Tier 3	Partial ICP match, lower priority, minimal engagement	Automated nurture programmes

Align Sales and Marketing on Tier Criteria

For your tiering strategy to work, sales and marketing must be on the same page. Both teams need to collaborate to define the criteria for each tier and agree on why specific accounts belong in certain tiers.

Start by hosting joint sessions where sales can share insights about deal sizes, sales cycles, and competition, while marketing contributes data on engagement trends, content preferences, and online behaviours. Together, create clear, documented tier definitions that everyone can reference. Include measurable criteria like revenue thresholds, employee counts, required technology stacks, and minimum engagement scores.

Schedule monthly reviews to discuss any changes in account tiers and refine your criteria based on results. It’s also a good idea to appoint “tier champions” from both teams to oversee the process, ensuring criteria are followed and communication flows smoothly. This collaboration ensures consistent account handling throughout your Account-Based Marketing (ABM) efforts.

Leverage AI and Research for Precision

AI tools can take your tiering process to the next level, offering speed and precision. With nearly half of businesses already using AI to manage large data sets and 83% ranking AI as a top priority, it’s clear that these technologies can give you an edge.

For example, IBM Watson has been used by enterprises to analyse massive amounts of customer data, while Intel has leveraged AI to improve forecasting and uncover new sales opportunities. Invoca, a call intelligence platform, combined AI with manual research to tier 4,500 target accounts. They used tools like Datanyze, SimilarWeb, InsideView, EverString, and LinkedIn to gather firmographic data and metrics such as paid search spending and web traffic.

When adopting AI, choose tools that integrate seamlessly with your existing systems and provide adequate training for your team. Keep an eye on metrics like engagement and conversion rates to measure the effectiveness of your AI tools.

Finally, implement a dynamic tiering system that allows accounts to shift between tiers as their engagement levels and intent signals evolve. Set up automated alerts for when an account shows increased activity or qualifies for a higher tier. Conduct quarterly reviews to evaluate tier performance and make adjustments based on new data and market trends.

Step 3: Build Different Engagement Plans for Each Tier

Once you've grouped your accounts into tiers, the next step is creating tailored engagement strategies to maximise ROI. These strategies should align your resources with each account's potential. Using the SMART framework can help ensure your plans are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. As Melody Selby puts it, "A well-organised marketing plan is critical to operate more strategically and effectively in a dynamic market environment". Each tier requires a unique approach, balancing resource allocation with expected returns.

Tier 1: Custom, High-Touch Engagement

For top-tier accounts, a personalised, multi-channel strategy is non-negotiable. These accounts demand a deep understanding of their challenges and goals.

Personalisation is key. Develop messaging frameworks tailored to address specific business challenges. This could include custom research reports, case studies, or executive briefings. Dedicated landing pages that speak directly to their pain points and objectives can also make a strong impact.

Engage multiple stakeholders early in the process. Collaboration between sales, marketing, and leadership teams is essential. Host executive dinners, private roundtables, or exclusive events where senior leaders can connect directly with decision-makers. These in-person interactions often play a decisive role in securing high-value deals.

Your campaigns for Tier 1 accounts should be multi-channel and account-specific. Use a mix of personalised direct mail, LinkedIn campaigns, custom video messages, and strategic gifting to create multiple touchpoints. Allocate significant resources to these accounts, including dedicated account managers, involvement from senior leadership, and larger budgets for personalised experiences.

Tier 2: Scalable Semi-Custom Campaigns

Tier 2 accounts require a middle-ground approach - more personalised than mass marketing but still scalable to handle efficiently. These accounts fit your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) but don't justify the intensive resources of Tier 1.

Industry-focused content works well here. Group Tier 2 accounts by industry and create content series that address common challenges within those sectors.

Use templates for efficiency. Develop email sequences, social media campaigns, and content offers that can be quickly customised with company-specific details, industry references, and relevant case studies. This approach keeps the personal touch while managing a larger number of accounts.

Leverage targeted digital advertising. Platforms like LinkedIn, Google, and industry-specific publications allow you to serve tailored ads to these accounts. Retargeting campaigns can also help nurture prospects who show initial interest.

Collaboration between sales and marketing is crucial for Tier 2. Align on target accounts, share insights, and coordinate campaigns. Regular meetings can ensure consistent messaging and prevent overlap. Use engagement scoring systems to track performance, evaluating accounts based on fit, engagement, and revenue potential.

Tier 3: Automated Nurture Programmes

For Tier 3 accounts, efficiency is the priority. These accounts may not be immediate opportunities but can become valuable over time. Automation is your best ally here.

Marketing automation helps you stay connected with these accounts through drip campaigns. Focus on building brand awareness and establishing your thought leadership rather than pushing for immediate sales.

Content-based nurturing is another effective tactic. Create resource libraries, webinar series, and educational email courses that allow prospects to engage with your brand at their own pace. This keeps your company on their radar without requiring constant manual input.

Keep an eye on behavioural signals. Increased interaction with your digital content might indicate that an account is ready for more personalised attention. Conduct quarterly reviews to identify accounts showing heightened engagement or changing circumstances, so you can reclassify them as needed.

AI tools can continue to play a role here, helping you track campaign performance in real time and adjust messaging, timing, and content selection without heavy manual effort. This ensures your strategy remains aligned with your business goals.

For more detailed guidance and tools to implement these tailored engagement plans, visit ABM Answered.

Step 4: Assign Resources and Track Results

The success of an Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategy heavily relies on how well you allocate resources. Without a thoughtful distribution of budget, personnel, and tools across your account tiers, even the best targeting strategies might not deliver the desired results.

Resource allocation should reflect the strategic importance of each account, ensuring your efforts are focused where they'll have the greatest impact. By distributing resources appropriately across tiers, you can ensure each account receives the attention it warrants.

Distribute Resources by Tier

The way you allocate resources should match each tier’s revenue potential and overall importance to your business. For Tier 1 accounts - the most valuable opportunities - dedicate significant resources. Assign experienced account managers, involve senior leadership, and allocate generous budgets to create highly personalised campaigns.

For Tier 2 accounts, take a balanced approach. Use shared account managers who can oversee multiple accounts efficiently, allocate moderate budgets for semi-customised campaigns, and rely on scalable tools and templates to streamline your efforts.

Tier 3 accounts call for a leaner strategy. Focus on efficiency by leveraging marketing automation tools, sharing resources across accounts, and minimising manual work. This ensures your investment aligns with their lower strategic priority.

A great example of this approach comes from Invoca's marketing team, led by Julia Stead, VP of Marketing. In May 2025, they tiered 4,500 target accounts using tools like Datanyze, SimilarWeb, and LinkedIn. A special operations team, including marketing and sales leaders, personally selected Tier 1 accounts, while Tiers 2 and 3 were categorised using automated data and key attributes.

Once resources are allocated, the next step is to define clear performance metrics for each tier.

Set Tier-Specific KPIs

Tailored key performance indicators (KPIs) are essential for tracking the effectiveness of your resource allocation. Each tier should have metrics that align with its strategic goals and the resources invested.

For Tier 1 accounts, focus on deep engagement metrics. Monitor executive-level meetings, track buying committee engagement (aim for over 70% of decision-makers), and evaluate revenue pipeline growth. Top ABM programmes often see 25–35% of engaged accounts convert to meetings, compared to just 5–10% in traditional demand generation efforts.

Tier 2 accounts require a mix of engagement and efficiency metrics. Measure account engagement scores, monitor the creation of marketing qualified accounts (MQAs), and track pipeline velocity to ensure steady progress through the sales funnel.

For Tier 3 accounts, focus on metrics driven by automation and volume. Monitor email engagement rates, content consumption, and lead nurturing progression to identify accounts that might be ready for promotion to higher tiers.

Research shows that organisations with mature ABM practices are 70% more likely to report strong revenue impact. Furthermore, companies with well-defined measurement frameworks are 2.5 times more likely to achieve their ABM goals.

Compare Resource Allocation and Results

Regularly compare the resources you’ve invested with the outcomes you’re achieving. Conduct this analysis quarterly to ensure your tiering strategy is delivering the best possible ROI.

Tier	Resource Allocation	Expected Outcomes	Key Success Metrics
Tier 1	High allocation with dedicated managers and senior leadership	Higher win rates and faster sales cycles (e.g., 27% higher win rates, 24% faster cycles)	Executive meetings, buying committee engagement, deal size
Tier 2	Moderate allocation with shared account management and scalable support	Consistent pipeline progression and solid deal sizes	Engagement scores, MQA generation, pipeline velocity
Tier 3	Minimal allocation using automation and shared resources	Increased brand awareness and future opportunity identification	Email engagement, content consumption, tier progression

Top-performing ABM programmes often achieve a 7:1 return on investment. Mature programmes deliver 27% higher win rates and 24% faster sales cycles compared to traditional methods. If your results fall short of these benchmarks, it’s time to re-evaluate your resource distribution.

Measure ABM ROI at every level - programme-wide, by tier, and by specific tactics. This granular approach helps pinpoint which strategies are working and where adjustments are needed.

Some companies extend ABM principles to customer success, achieving a 25% increase in net revenue retention. Additionally, formal advocacy programmes for ABM accounts can generate up to 40% of new business opportunities through referrals.

Step 5: Review and Improve Your Tiering Approach

Account tiering isn’t a one-and-done task. It needs to evolve alongside shifting market conditions and changing buyer behaviours. Without regular updates, your tiering strategy risks becoming irrelevant. The most successful ABM programmes treat tiering as a flexible, ongoing process, supported by a disciplined approach to reviews and feedback.

Schedule Regular Reviews and Gather Feedback

To keep your tiering strategy aligned with market realities, schedule systematic reviews. Just like tracking KPIs and allocating resources, these reviews are essential to ensure your ABM efforts deliver results. A quarterly review of performance metrics can help validate ROI and identify accounts that may need to be reassigned. Alongside this, gather qualitative feedback from your sales and marketing teams. Their frontline insights can reveal which accounts are thriving, which are underperforming, and where new opportunities might emerge.

Be prepared to adjust tiers in response to trigger events like significant company growth, new funding rounds, leadership changes, or shifts in buying intent. These events often signal the need for immediate tiering adjustments. By routinely reviewing metrics and staying open to feedback, you can respond quickly and ensure your tiering remains relevant.

It’s equally important to ensure that both sales and marketing teams are on the same page. Clear communication about tiering decisions helps prevent misunderstandings and keeps everyone aligned with your objectives.

Tap into Community Insights and Tools

Once you’ve established a process for regular reviews, you can strengthen your strategy by leveraging insights from the ABM community and using specialised tools. Engaging with the ABM community can help you refine your approach and uncover potential blind spots. For example, platforms like ABM Answered offer a wealth of resources, including over 1,000 short-form video solutions tailored to common ABM challenges, such as optimising account tiering. These community-driven insights allow you to learn from others who’ve faced similar issues and found effective solutions.

Specialised ABM tools can also play a significant role in improving your tiering process. These lightweight tools are designed to integrate seamlessly with your existing systems, providing targeted functionality without the complexity of a full-scale platform. Look for tools that enhance personalisation, boost engagement, and provide robust analytics. Ensuring these tools work well with your CRM and marketing automation systems is critical to avoid creating data silos.

Data integration is a cornerstone of effective tiering reviews. By combining information from your CRM, marketing automation platforms, and ABM tools, you gain a comprehensive view of account performance. This integrated approach helps identify inconsistencies and supports more informed tiering decisions.

Regular benchmarking against industry standards can also highlight areas for improvement. For instance, research shows that ABM outperforms traditional marketing techniques, with 87% of marketers reporting higher ROI. Mature ABM programmes often achieve 60% higher win rates and 38% larger deals on average. If your results don’t measure up, it may be time to revisit your tiering criteria or rethink how you allocate resources.

The competitive landscape is evolving fast, with ABM adoption increasing by 139% in recent years. To keep up, you need to embrace a mindset of continuous improvement. By staying connected to the ABM community, using the right tools, and conducting regular reviews, you can ensure your account tiering strategy remains sharp and aligned with your business goals.

Conclusion: Key Points for ABM Success

Account tiering elevates your ABM programme into a targeted and results-driven strategy. By categorising accounts based on their potential value and alignment with your ideal customer profile (ICP), you create a structure that enhances both efficiency and impact.

Consider this: companies with advanced ABM programmes report a 10% higher deal win rate, while personalised emails achieve a transaction rate that's six times higher than generic ones. These metrics highlight what separates successful ABM initiatives from those that fall short.

To ensure success, focus on five essential elements:

Develop a detailed ICP: Move beyond basic demographics to include factors like technology usage, behavioural patterns, and competitive positioning.
Adopt a flexible three-tier system: Regularly adjust account tiers based on engagement and changing priorities.
Customise experiences by tier: Offer bespoke content and dedicated resources for Tier 1 accounts, targeted campaigns for Tier 2, and programmatic ABM for Tier 3.
Align sales and marketing teams: Foster collaboration through shared objectives and consistent communication.
Treat tiering as an ongoing process: Continuously refine your approach with regular reviews and insights to adapt to shifting market dynamics.

This framework provides the groundwork, but the real impact lies in its execution. By starting with a well-defined ICP, methodically establishing account tiers, and maintaining regular evaluations, you can create a sustainable strategy that delivers consistent ABM success.

FAQs

How can I define and refine my Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) to improve account tiering?

To shape and fine-tune your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) for better account tiering, start by examining your current and past customers. Look for common traits like their industry, company size, location, and key behaviours. Work closely with your sales and marketing teams to identify patterns that point to high-value accounts.

Regularly update your ICP using data insights and feedback to keep it aligned with market trends and your evolving business objectives. A well-maintained ICP helps you categorise accounts into tiers with greater precision, allocate resources wisely, and achieve stronger outcomes for your ABM strategy.

What are the best tools for tracking and analysing account engagement in an ABM strategy?

To keep tabs on and evaluate account engagement within an Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategy, it’s worth exploring dedicated ABM platforms and engagement analytics tools. These technologies offer valuable insights into account activities, making it easier to base your decisions on solid data.

Platforms like Metranomic and Madison Logic come equipped with features to consolidate data, monitor engagement, and provide meaningful account insights. If you’re looking to dive deeper into how accounts interact, tools such as LeanData and Cognism are excellent for tracking engagement trends and measuring essential metrics like conversion rates and activity levels.

By leveraging these tools, you’ll gain a clearer understanding of your accounts’ behaviours and preferences - key knowledge for ensuring your ABM strategy hits the mark.

How can AI improve the accuracy and efficiency of account tiering in ABM?

AI can transform the account tiering process by leveraging predictive analytics to pinpoint and rank high-value accounts. This means you can concentrate your efforts on the most promising opportunities without relying on manual guesswork. Instead, decisions are grounded in solid, data-driven insights.

Beyond this, AI takes over repetitive tasks like data analysis and segmentation, allowing for more accurate audience targeting and tailored engagement strategies. The benefits? Greater efficiency, shorter sales cycles, and smarter decision-making - all of which contribute to achieving ABM success.