How to Choose Scalable ABM Tools for Growth

Samuel Hall
4 days ago
16 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

Looking to grow your B2B marketing efforts with Account-Based Marketing (ABM)? Start by choosing the right scalable tools. Here's what you need to know:

Why Scalable ABM Tools Matter: They help businesses personalise marketing for a large number of accounts without increasing costs or resources. Scalable tools automate processes like content personalisation and account tracking, making it easier to expand into new markets and manage growth effectively.
Key Features to Look For:
- Automation: Streamline repetitive tasks and save time.
- Data Integration: Combine account data for better insights and personalisation.
- Performance: Ensure tools handle heavy workloads as your campaigns grow.
Budget Planning: Understand costs, including hidden fees like implementation, training, and overage charges. Choose pricing models (subscription, usage-based, or hybrid) that align with your growth plans.
Test Before You Commit: Run a proof of concept to ensure the tool meets your needs and complies with data regulations like GDPR.
Expert Resources: Leverage platforms like ABM Answered for advice, frameworks, and community support to refine your strategy.

Quick Tip: Start by assessing your current ABM programme's stage - early, mid-level, or advanced - and choose tools that match your needs today while preparing for future growth.

Ready to scale? Dive into the full article for a step-by-step guide to selecting the best ABM tools for your business.

4 Account Based Marketing Software Tools For 2022

Step 1: Review Your ABM Programme's Needs and Growth Plans

Before diving into tools, take a step back and assess your ABM programme's current stage and future growth plans. The right tools should align with your business as it evolves.

Check Your Programme's Current Stage

The maturity of your ABM programme dictates the tools you need. Knowing where you stand helps you avoid wasting money on features you're not ready for or missing out on essential ones.

Early-stage programmes need tools for personalised outreach and basic tracking.
Mid-level programmes benefit from advanced account research and stakeholder mapping.
Advanced programmes require tools that handle detailed performance measurement and complex attribution models.

To pinpoint your stage, look at key metrics like market reach, account engagement, pipeline velocity, customer win rates, retention rates, product adoption, and net revenue retention. Mitchell Hanson, Senior Director of Demand Generation at ZoomInfo, explains:

"It's an equation. You can fulfil the promise of ABM by making certain metrics do certain things. But they have to be the right metrics".

Unlike traditional marketing, ABM focuses on marketing-qualified accounts (MQAs) rather than marketing-qualified leads (MQLs). This shift means you need tools that handle account-level data instead of just individual leads.

Once you’ve identified your programme's maturity, think about how your tool needs will change as your accounts and regions grow.

Plan for Account and Regional Growth

Scaling your ABM programme isn’t just about adding more accounts; it’s about adapting your tools to meet new demands. A forward-looking strategy ensures your tools can grow with you, avoiding the hassle of replacing platforms later.

Start by analysing revenue streams by product, customer segment, and industry. This helps you identify which tool features will matter most as you expand.

For example, if you’re targeting hundreds or even thousands of accounts with short sales cycles and modest per-account spends (around £1,000), look for tools that support tiered segmentation. These platforms help allocate resources efficiently while keeping buyer experiences personalised.

Regional growth adds another layer of complexity. You’ll need tools that can handle time zones, languages, currencies, and cultural differences. Scalable tools should support multi-channel engagement, customisation, and seamless integration with your existing systems.

When entering new markets, your tools should allow you to create region-specific campaigns and messaging while maintaining brand consistency.

With your growth strategy in place, it’s time to identify any current challenges to refine your tool requirements further.

Find Pain Points and Gaps

Understanding where your current tools fall short is key to prioritising the features you need most. These gaps often become obvious during programme development or live campaigns.

Data and integration issues: Poor integration with existing tech stacks is a common frustration, with over half (51%) of B2B buyers citing it as a reason to switch vendors. Audit your tech stack for these gaps and prioritise platforms that unify functions efficiently.
Sales and marketing misalignment: This is a top challenge for many companies, yet alignment is crucial. Businesses with aligned teams are 67% more effective at closing deals. Pam Didner, author and fractional CMO, advises:
"Talk to each other… Salespeople… let them know what you are looking for… Marketing… you cannot create content and throw it to the other side of the wall and then expect salespeople to use it… try to understand each other's perspective…".
Personalisation gaps: In B2B buying, more than half (51%) of decision-makers expect a high level of personalisation. Samantha Ranieri highlights the importance:
"The moment that you lose out on personalisation in this saturated market, you're doing yourself a disservice".
Skills and resource constraints: UK marketers often cite internal skills gaps and resource shortages as major hurdles (34%), with another 35% struggling to get the data and reports needed to track results.
Measurement and attribution struggles: Many ABM teams face challenges tying revenue back to their efforts. Without clear attribution models, it’s hard to measure success effectively.

To tackle these issues, focus on tools that enable better collaboration between sales and marketing, integrate platforms for a unified view, and track metrics tied directly to revenue and engagement. Regularly review and adjust your KPIs to keep your strategy on track.

Step 2: Key Features of Scalable ABM Tools

To ensure your Account-Based Marketing (ABM) tools can grow alongside your ambitions, focus on features that eliminate the need for manual intervention. Automation, data integration, and performance are the backbone of tools that can handle increasing complexity.

Automation and Workflow Features

Automation is the driving force behind scalable ABM programmes. By automating workflows, businesses have seen efficiency jump by 67% and errors drop by 85%.

"Automation and workflow capabilities in HubSpot enhance productivity and efficiency for ABM teams".

Take the example of a B2B technology company that expanded its LinkedIn ABM programme from 50 to 500 target accounts. By using workflow automation, they improved efficiency and freed up 78% of their marketing team's time, allowing them to focus on strategic activities instead of repetitive tasks.

Start by automating routine tasks like campaign setup, audience segmentation, and performance tracking. Then, move towards more advanced trigger-based automation that reacts to account behaviours - such as when a prospect interacts with your content or starts researching your solutions.

For seamless collaboration between teams, automate processes like sales alerts, task assignments, and content recommendations. Standardising workflows for various campaign types can ensure consistency while still allowing customisation based on account-specific needs.

However, automation alone isn’t enough. To deliver personalised campaigns at scale, you need strong data integration.

Data Integration and Enrichment

Good data is the foundation of any ABM strategy, and as your programme grows, you’ll be managing more data points across numerous systems. Without seamless integration and effective enrichment, your tools could quickly become bottlenecks.

Data integration gives you a complete view of your target accounts, helping you understand their challenges and craft tailored messages. When done well, it allows for precise audience segmentation and messaging that addresses specific needs.

The results speak for themselves. Companies that have been using ABM for over a year report impressive outcomes: 19% see revenue growth exceeding 30%, 91% experience larger deal sizes (with 25% reporting increases of more than 50%), and many note an 84% boost in reputation scores and a 74% improvement in customer relationships.

A great example is Comply Advantage, which partnered with B2B data providers to enhance data quality. This led to a 15% increase in conversion rates, fewer email bounces, and more booked meetings.

To succeed with data integration, invest in a robust CRM system that consolidates information from various sources into a single view. Establish clear data standards to maintain consistency, and use automation to streamline the integration process - pulling in data, removing duplicates, and updating records in real time.

Once your data is integrated, your tools need to maintain top performance as your workload increases.

Performance Under Heavy Workloads

As your ABM programme scales up, your tools will face greater demands. More accounts mean more campaigns, more data to process, and more users accessing the system simultaneously. Tools that slow down or crash under pressure can disrupt your efforts.

To handle these challenges, your platforms need to be built for enterprise-level workloads. They should maintain speed and accuracy regardless of whether you’re running one campaign or dozens at the same time.

The trick lies in balancing personalisation with efficiency. Use ABM platforms, CRMs, and marketing automation tools to gather data and streamline processes. Visualise your pipeline to track which accounts are actively progressing through the sales funnel. By aligning your marketing and sales teams, you can plan strategies, identify key accounts, and monitor performance metrics effectively.

Regularly track performance metrics to anticipate potential issues and make informed decisions about where to allocate resources or adjust campaigns.

GumGum offers a creative example of handling complexity at scale. When targeting T-Mobile, they noticed CEO John Legere’s enthusiasm for Batman on Twitter. They crafted a custom comic book, "T-Man and Gums", and sent 100 copies to T-Mobile and its agencies. Legere’s thrilled response on Twitter led to a meeting within a week, eventually making T-Mobile a client.

This story highlights how scalable tools need to manage not just volume but also the intricacies of highly personalised campaigns - ensuring they perform reliably as your ABM programme grows.

Step 3: Budget and Cost Planning

Getting your budget right is essential when selecting scalable ABM tools. Costs can be substantial, with monthly fees exceeding £2,000 and annual licence costs ranging from £130,000 to £260,000.

To make smart decisions, you need to understand the . This ensures your investment supports both current needs and future growth. On average, ABM budgets hover around £280,000 (excluding headcount costs), while pilot programmes typically cost about £160,000. These figures highlight the importance of detailed cost planning. A good next step? Dive into pricing models to see which aligns best with your growth strategy.

Compare Pricing Models

ABM tools offer different pricing structures, each suited to specific growth scenarios. The most common models are subscription-based, usage-based, and hybrid options.

Subscription pricing: This model offers predictable monthly or annual fees, making it easier to plan your budget. Costs often depend on user tiers, optional add-ons, or whether pricing is based on the number of users or active users. Some providers even offer free trials or capped pricing to limit expenses.
Usage-based pricing: Here, costs are tied to actual usage, which can work well for programmes that are scaling. Examples include value metric-based pricing, success-based models, or credit-based systems. Companies using this model often see faster revenue growth - public companies with consumption-based pricing grow 38% faster than their SaaS counterparts. For instance, organisations that adopt usage-based pricing at launch often report better outcomes: 61% achieve 20% or more expansion revenue in the first year, and conversion rates improve from 8.3% (per-seat pricing) to 11.9%.
Hybrid models: These combine the predictability of subscriptions with the flexibility of usage-based pricing. Examples include per-active-user pricing, a mix of seats and credit drawdowns, or transaction-based subscriptions.

When choosing a pricing model, consider your growth plans. If rapid scaling is on the horizon, usage-based pricing might offer better value. For stable, predictable growth, subscription models provide clarity and control. The key is to avoid pricing structures that penalise you as your campaigns or account base expand.

For B2B SaaS companies, the annual investment per account varies. Top-tier accounts often justify spending between £12,000 and £20,000, second-tier accounts range from £4,000 to £12,000, and broader targets typically require £800 to £4,000 per account.

But pricing models aren’t the whole story - hidden costs can quickly inflate your total spend.

Hidden Costs to Watch For

Hidden costs can turn what seems like an affordable solution into an expensive misstep. These often emerge after you've committed to a platform, making them especially tricky for budget planning.

Here are some common hidden expenses to keep in mind:

Implementation and setup: Costs range from £160 to £20,000.
Training: Per-agent training fees can vary from £0 to £1,200.
Licensing: Some providers charge extra for shared workstations.
Development and customisation: Tailoring the platform to your needs can add unexpected fees.
Data/API overages: Extra charges may apply for exceeding limits.
Support and maintenance: Premium support packages can drive up costs.

Licensing issues can be particularly costly. For instance, some providers charge for every workstation user - even if agents share shifts. A call centre with 40 agents using 20 workstations could end up paying for 40 licences instead of 20, doubling the expense.

Another common issue? Realising too late that essential features aren’t included in the base price. A sales rep might quote £8 per agent per month but omit that critical analytics tools come at an extra cost. For a 50-agent team, this could mean an additional £4,000 annually once you realise these tools are necessary.

To avoid surprises, scrutinise all potential costs and insist on transparent pricing. A good rule of thumb: keep per-account investments under 30% of the target first-year contract value. This ensures your ABM tools remain cost-effective as your programme grows.

Step 4: Test and Evaluate Tools

Before committing to an ABM tool, it's crucial to test it under realistic conditions. This ensures the platform can support your growth and meet compliance requirements. Set clear goals and involve your entire team in the decision-making process. Start with a focused proof of concept to validate performance.

Set Up a Proof of Concept

A pilot programme acts as a safety net, helping you avoid choosing a tool that doesn't meet your needs. By testing an ABM platform with your current resources, you can identify what works, learn what improvements are necessary, and gauge success before a full-scale rollout. Keep the scope manageable - large enough to provide meaningful insights but small enough to minimise risk.

Define specific goals for the pilot. For instance, are you aiming to generate new business, close deals faster, or improve sales velocity? Measure these outcomes against your existing inbound close rates. Take inspiration from Snowflake, which ran a successful ABM pilot that delivered impressive results: a 300% growth rate and a 150% increase in click-through rates for one-to-one ABM ads over 15 months. This success allowed the company to quadruple its sales team and secure £500 million for further growth. To achieve similar outcomes, align your leadership team by clearly outlining your market position, growth goals, and key metrics. Additionally, ensure scalability by defining your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) based on firmographic, demographic, and intent data. Test various marketing channels and follow-up sequences to confirm the platform's flexibility and fit for your needs.

Check Compliance and Data Requirements

If your ABM tool operates in the UK or EU, GDPR compliance is non-negotiable. With the global average cost of a data breach projected to hit £4.88 million in 2024, ensuring compliance is critical to avoid severe financial and reputational damage. Your evaluation process must verify that the tool adheres to data protection standards, such as obtaining explicit consent for data collection, being transparent about data usage, and respecting individuals' rights to access, correct, or delete their data.

Key areas to focus on include consent management, data encryption, and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC). With 94% of consumers seeking greater transparency around how their data is used and 72% believing their online behaviour is tracked by advertisers, these features are essential. During testing, confirm that the platform follows data minimisation principles, has clear data retention policies, and includes proper Data Processing Agreements (DPAs). Take a privacy-by-design approach and establish feedback loops to adapt strategies based on user preferences.

"GDPR compliance is critical for anonymous website visitor tracking tools used in EU-focused B2B marketing and sales."– iBeam Consulting

Requirement Type	UK Standard	Implementation Guide
Data Privacy	GDPR compliance	Obtain explicit consent for all tracking

Once compliance is confirmed, ensure your team agrees on how the tool will integrate into your existing workflow.

Get Team Agreement

The success of your ABM strategy relies on strong collaboration between marketing, sales, and service teams. To ensure the chosen tool meets everyone's needs, involve all relevant stakeholders in the evaluation process. Engage teams such as sales, customer success, and product development to collaboratively define your ICP, fostering a shared understanding of what makes an account ideal.

Use a RACI model to assign roles and responsibilities clearly, ensuring all perspectives are considered. A brief alignment session can help uncover differences in how teams use the tool and establish shared working standards.

"Working agreements helped teams create stronger buy-in from every team member, share ownership of decisions, and develop long-term solutions to problems with ways of working."– Atlassian's Teamwork Lab

Regular review sessions are also key to maintaining alignment across teams, ensuring that marketing, sales, and customer success stay on the same page as your ABM programme evolves.

Thorough testing, compliance checks, and team alignment are the cornerstones of selecting an ABM tool that supports scalable growth. By taking these steps, you'll choose a platform that not only meets your needs today but grows with your programme in the future. This rigorous approach ensures your ABM tool becomes a seamless part of your strategy.

Step 5: Use Expert Resources and Community Support

After testing and evaluating your options, it’s time to lean on expert resources to fine-tune your decisions. Navigating the world of scalable ABM solutions can be tricky, but turning to specialised platforms and communities can save you time, money, and headaches. These resources provide proven frameworks, real-world examples, and direct access to seasoned professionals who’ve already tackled the challenges you’re facing. They help bridge the gap between strategy and execution, making your ABM journey smoother and more effective.

Dive into ABM Answered's Video Library

ABM Answered offers a video library packed with over 1,000 resources designed to address common ABM obstacles. From selecting the right tools to implementing strategies, this platform provides actionable advice you can use immediately. These videos are particularly helpful in identifying the features that truly matter for scaling your ABM programme.

One key takeaway from the platform is the shift in mindset needed when scaling ABM tools. As one expert explains:

"ABM is a fundamentally different approach to video strategy. Not only do you need to rethink production and adopt scalable personalisation techniques, you need access to user-level data so you can measure account engagement".

This insight highlights why traditional marketing tools often fall short in ABM programmes and underscores the importance of purpose-built solutions.

Video content isn’t just helpful - it’s incredibly effective in B2B marketing. According to Vidyard’s ABM team, 74% of B2B marketers report that videos convert better than other content types. Their annual Virtual Selling Report reveals that videos outperform text-based emails in generating opens, clicks, and responses. Even more impressive, videos are shared 1,200% more on social media than text and image content combined.

Beyond videos, ABM Answered offers research tools that help you understand your audience better. These tools can uncover how your customers speak, identify emerging trends, and highlight industry pain points. Using this data, you can refine your campaigns to align more closely with your audience’s needs. For example, Kelly Maloney Schermerhorn’s framework, available on the platform, provides a step-by-step guide to creating customised content for specific accounts. This framework is invaluable for developing the personalisation capabilities your programme will require as it scales.

Leverage ABM Answered's Community

ABM Answered also offers a collaborative community where you can connect with professionals who have hands-on experience in scaling ABM strategies. This network provides insights that vendor demos and case studies often miss - like hidden costs, integration challenges, and real-world performance.

Engaging with this community is particularly useful during the tool selection phase. Members share honest feedback and practical advice based on their own experiences, helping you avoid common pitfalls. As ABM expert Eli Rubel puts it:

"Strong brands come from strong points of view".

This perspective emphasises the value of diverse opinions when choosing solutions that align with your growth goals.

The community also supports ongoing strategy development. Tiago Luzio captures this collaborative spirit:

"ABM thrives when teams work toward the same goals".

By exchanging insights, members help each other achieve alignment across teams during both implementation and campaign execution.

Through ABM Answered’s community, you can ask specific questions about tools, learn from others’ experiences, and even collaborate on custom solutions through the platform’s incubator programme. This kind of direct access to experienced practitioners offers a level of context and nuance that vendor materials simply can’t provide.

As your ABM programme grows, the community remains a valuable resource for fresh ideas and creative problem-solving. Whether you’re facing new challenges or looking to maximise the value of your investments, this network ensures you always have a place to turn for guidance and support.

Conclusion: Choose the Right Tools for Scalable Growth

When it comes to selecting the right ABM tool, it's less about chasing the platform with the most features and more about finding a solution that aligns with your programme's current stage and long-term goals. The right tool should support your strategy and deliver measurable results.

Focus on tools that simplify workflows and integrate seamlessly with your existing systems. As your programme grows, this integration becomes even more important to keep your team aligned and operations efficient.

Budgeting wisely is key. Avoid overspending on features you won't use, but don't cut corners on essential capabilities that support growth. The best approach? Assess your programme's current needs alongside your future ambitions. A thoughtful evaluation ensures your investment pays off both now and as you scale.

Data quality plays a huge role in ABM success. Effective segmentation and personalisation rely on accurate, high-quality data. It's worth noting that 91% of companies using ABM report an increase in average deal size, with 25% seeing growth of over 50%.

Ultimately, the right tool is one that grows with you, meeting today’s needs while preparing you for tomorrow.

Key Takeaways

Start with your programme's maturity level: Before committing to a platform, ensure your organisation has clear ABM objectives, stakeholder support, and strong sales and marketing alignment. Identify must-have features, necessary integrations, and your overarching goals.
Prioritise scalability: Look for tools with automation capabilities, robust data integration, and the ability to handle heavy workloads. The future of ABM tools lies in their ability to use data-driven insights and automation to create highly personalised experiences at scale.
Consider total cost of ownership: Don't just focus on upfront costs. Take a close look at pricing models, potential hidden fees, and long-term budget impacts. Make sure the vendor offers strong support and training resources.
Test before committing: Run a proof of concept, check compliance and data requirements, and get team buy-in before scaling. Starting with a few high-value accounts and expanding as results come in is a smart way to mitigate risks.
Tap into expert resources: Platforms like ABM Answered provide access to frameworks, case studies, and advice from experienced practitioners. These resources can help you sidestep common mistakes and maximise the return on your tool investment.

FAQs

What key features should I look for in scalable ABM tools for my business?

When selecting Account-Based Marketing (ABM) tools that can grow with your business, focus on features that meet both your operational and expansion needs. Start with integration - the tool should work effortlessly with your existing systems like CRMs and marketing platforms to avoid disruptions.

Strong targeting and segmentation features are a must. These help you zero in on high-value accounts, ensuring your efforts are focused where they matter most. Equally important are analytics capabilities that allow you to monitor performance and engagement, giving you the insights needed to make informed, data-driven decisions.

Ease of use is another key factor. Choose platforms that your team can quickly adopt without a steep learning curve. Lastly, opt for tools backed by dependable customer support, so you have guidance as your needs evolve. The right tool will not only simplify your ABM efforts but also grow alongside your business objectives.

How can I choose ABM tools that will scale with my business as it grows?

When choosing ABM tools that can grow with your business, it's essential to focus on solutions that align with your company's changing needs. Seek out tools that offer flexible account tiering, robust campaign management features, and the ability to integrate smoothly with your current systems. These capabilities will help your tools evolve alongside your strategies as they become more advanced.

It's also wise to select vendors with a strong track record of providing scalable solutions and reliable customer support. This ensures you'll have the support needed to overcome future challenges and keep your ABM strategy on track as your business grows. By keeping scalability at the forefront, you'll create a solid base for consistent growth and long-term success.

To effectively evaluate an ABM tool, consider starting with a pilot programme. This allows you to test its capabilities in real-world conditions. Pay close attention to key metrics like lead conversion rates, audience engagement, and how seamlessly it integrates with your current systems. Collect feedback from your team to gauge its ease of use, and confirm that it aligns with your budget and can scale as your ABM strategy evolves.

When it comes to GDPR compliance, ensure the tool adheres to data protection by design and by default principles. This means it should handle personal data in a lawful, transparent manner and for clearly defined purposes. Verify that it supports crucial GDPR features, such as obtaining explicit consent, enabling access or corrections to data, and allowing data deletion. Conducting regular audits of its data handling processes can help maintain compliance with these regulations.

How to Choose Scalable ABM Tools for Growth

4 Account Based Marketing Software Tools For 2022