Uncovering the Three Types of ABM Strategy Examples and Why They Matter

Expectations for account-based marketing (ABM) have never been higher. But as the landscape evolves—with larger buying groups and more complex decision-making processes—it’s becoming harder to know where to start or which approach will deliver the best results. 

When launching or scaling an ABM program, it’s critical to understand which strategies align with your business goals, account tiers, and available resources. 

In this article, we’ll break down each ABM type, their ABM definitions, and provide practical examples. Whether you’re just getting started or scaling ABM across hundreds of accounts, these examples will help you execute with clarity and confidence.  

Foundations First: The 4 ITSMA Principles That Guide All ABM Strategy Examples

Every successful ABM strategy—regardless of scale—starts with these four principles: 

1. Client Centricity & Insight: Deep understanding of key accounts. Analyze intent data to discover accounts’ actions and buying signals and identify topics of interest and how you can position your product as a viable solution. 
2. Sales and Marketing Alignment: Real partnership, not just coordination. Marketing and sales need to understand buyers’ intent signals to ensure sales teams can seamlessly bridge the individual research portion of the buyer’s journey with content and messaging that drives demand and deeper engagement with your brand. 
3. Reputation and Relationship Focus: Brand equity and trust matter more than quick wins. You want to show target accounts that you’re the partner of choice to help them achieve their goals.  
4. Tailored Programs & Campaigns: One-size-fits-all doesn’t work in ABM. Organizing your target accounts into tiered target account lists (TALs) allows you to quickly deliver content and messaging that speaks to their needs.   

These principles shape how you execute the three types of ABM below—and should remain your north star when designing your next campaign. 

The Three Types of ABM

ITSMA (now Momentum ITSMA) identifies three core types of account-based marketing: 

• 1:1 ABM (Strategic ABM) 

• 1:Few ABM (ABM Lite) 

• 1:Many ABM (Programmatic ABM) 

Each varies in scale, personalization, and resource investment, but all are rooted in the same foundational ABM principles. Here’s a quick look at each one, so you can decide which one will work best for your goals. 

1:1 ABM (Strategic ABM)

The most personalized account-based marketing strategy, 1:1 ABM is ideal for high-value accounts with complex buying processes and long deal cycles. Also known as “Strategic ABM,” this approach involves developing more personalized buyer experiences for individual accounts—often in close collaboration with the sales team. 

1:1 ABM is the most resource-intensive form of ABM, but it’s also one of the most effective. It’s widely used today to engage top-tier opportunities where a deeply tailored, account-specific strategy can deliver significant return on investment (ROI). When marketing and sales align around a focused plan, 1:1 ABM has the power to revive stalled deals, deepen relationships, and unlock long-term growth within your highest-value accounts. 

1:Few ABM (ABM Lite)

A scalable yet targeted approach, 1:Few ABM strikes a balance between personalization and efficiency by focusing on small groups of high-potential accounts (typically 5 to 10) that share similar characteristics, ABM challenges, or buying behaviors. 

Rather than creating fully personalized marketing plans for each account, this approach develops semi-custom strategies that can be reused across multiple accounts, grouped by shared needs and priorities (versus firmographic data, like industry or company size). This allows for meaningful B2B engagement while maintaining operational efficiency, and fosters closer alignment between sales and marketing without the resource demands of 1:1 ABM.  

1:Many ABM (Programmatic ABM)

A 1:Many ABM strategy—also known as “Programmatic ABM”—enables marketers to scale personalized messaging to hundreds of accounts without sacrificing relevance. This approach leverages marketing automation, advanced analytics, and intent data to deliver tailored campaigns across large target account lists that would be difficult to manage manually. 

Rather than building custom strategies, marketers create lead segmentation programs that address shared needs and pain points across broader groups. This makes it possible to reach a wide audience with messaging that still feels personal, while maximizing efficiency and driving measurable impact across the entire funnel. 

When supported by quality data, robust orchestration, and always-on programs, 1:Many ABM empowers even the largest enterprises to scale their ABM strategies effectively—achieving broad reach without losing the depth of engagement needed to influence buying decisions. 

Choosing the Right ABM Strategy for Your Goals

Selecting the right ABM approach isn’t just about scale—it’s about how effectively you engage accounts throughout their journey. It’s also important to understand that 1:1, 1:Few, and 1:Many strategies may evolve as your program grows and matures. 

As your program scales, several factors will influence which ABM strategy is best suited for your business: 

• Company growth stage: Different stages of growth bring varying priorities—from building awareness and scaling outreach to deepening relationships and maximizing account value. 

• Structure of your marketing team: The size and specialization of your marketing department—especially if your team includes demand generation marketers—impact your ability to execute different ABM strategies effectively. 

• Sales and marketing alignment: Strong collaboration between sales and marketing teams is critical for ABM success, influencing everything from account selection to campaign execution. 

• Characteristics of your target audience: Consider the complexity of your B2B buyers, the size of buying groups, and account tiers to determine the right level of B2B personalization and scale. 

Regardless of which ABM approach you choose, what truly matters is how you design and execute your strategy. It should be: 

Full-Funnel

A successful ABM strategy engages accounts at every stage of the buyer’s journey (from initial awareness through consideration and all the way to decision and renewal). Tailoring your approach to each buying stage ensures you’re nurturing accounts effectively, addressing their evolving needs and pain points, and guiding them toward conversion. This full-funnel mindset helps maximize the impact of your ABM efforts and drives stronger pipeline growth. 

Multi-Channel

Reaching your target accounts requires presence across multiple channels and touchpoints. A multi-channel ABM approach leverages a marketing media mix across various paid and owned media channels, such as: 

• Content Syndication: Distributing relevant marketing content through a trusted partner to increase reach and credibility. 

• Display Advertising: Targeted banner ads that raise awareness and reinforce key messages across the web. 

• Social Advertising with LinkedIn Ads: Leveraging LinkedIn’s precision targeting to reach decision-makers with personalized messaging. 

• Audio Advertising: Engaging prospects through audio advertising like podcasts and streaming services creates a more intimate and memorable experience. 

• Connected TV (CTV): Delivering targeted video ads on streaming platforms to reach business audiences on emerging and new marketing channels. 

• Events: Hosting or participating in virtual and in-person events to build direct relationships and foster deeper engagement. 

• Company Website: As buyers continue to become more independent in their research behaviors, websites serve as a continuously updated channel that buyers can visit to learn about and engage with your brand. 

By engaging prospects where they prefer to consume ABM content and interact, you increase the chances of meaningful ABM engagement and deepen relationships across diverse buying committees. 

Always–On

ABM success depends on maintaining continuous engagement with your target accounts. An always-on ABM program ensures that your messaging is consistently reaching stakeholders, even before they actively enter the buying cycle. This proactive approach helps surface pain points early, influence competitive positioning, and keep your brand top of mind so that when accounts are ready to buy, you’re the trusted partner they turn to first. 

ABM Strategy Examples in Action 

To help bring your ABM strategies to life, below are examples demonstrating how organizations apply the three core ABM types (1:1, 1:Few, and 1:Many) to drive meaningful pipeline growth, strengthen customer relationships, and maximize marketing ROI.  

1:1 ABM Example: B2B Tech Company

Problem: A B2B technology company identified a stalled deal with one of its top 5% target accounts—a global enterprise that had gone cold during the final stages of negotiation. Recognizing the high revenue potential, the company’s marketing team works directly with the account’s sales lead to reengage the account. 

Strategy: Together, marketing and sales developed a highly customized 1:1 ABM plan that included: 

• Tailored content aligned to the client’s specific business challenges based on recent buyer behavior and intent data 

• Executive briefing materials and industry-specific case studies 

• Personalized outreach from company executives and subject matter experts to address the account’s specific challenges 

• A custom landing page with curated resources for the account’s buying committee 

Result: This highly personalized engagement reactivated interest across multiple stakeholders, including previously unresponsive decision-makers. The account re-entered the pipeline, leading to a closed-won deal and expanded opportunities to upsell in the future because of the precise tailoring of messaging and executive involvement, which demonstrated deep commitment and relevance to the client’s unique challenges. 

1:Few ABM Example: Financial Services Company

Problem: The marketing team at a financial services company needed a more effective way to engage a segment of high-potential accounts that weren’t responding to broad-based demand programs. These accounts shared similar needs—like navigating digital transformation and regulatory shifts—but lacked the ultra-high value that would justify 1:1 treatment. 

Strategy: The marketing and sales teams collaborated to: 

• Identify shared buying signals across a group of accounts, such as regulatory pressures and digital transformation goals 

• Build audience cohorts around these common needs 

• Develop tailored content and messaging relevant to each cohort 

• Referenced the Madison Logic Platform to activate coordinated, cross-channel campaigns, including ABM Content Syndication, ABM Social Advertising with LinkedIn Advertising, and ABM Display Advertising. 

Result: The campaign delivered a clear lift in engagement rates and increased revenue contribution from the target account list because of the tighter alignment between segmentation and personalization, which ensured messaging addressed real, shared business challenges rather than generic themes. 

1:Many ABM Example: Cisco Webex Simplifies a Complex Sales Cycle

Problem: Cisco Webex faced a complex sales cycle, needing to engage multiple personas across a large list of strategic accounts. With hybrid work driving long-term demand, the challenge was delivering personalized, relevant messaging at scale to support both new business and upsell opportunities. 

Strategy: Ian Michiels, Sr. Director of Global Field & Partner Marketing for Cisco Webex, and his team leveraged the Madison Logic Platform to: 

• Target industries, accounts, and buyer personas most likely to purchase, using advanced data and insights 

• Integrate with Salesforce to personalize account experiences across multiple channels as prospects progressed through the customer journey 

• Deliver segmented, multi-channel campaigns—including channels like ABM Content Syndication and ABM Display Advertising—with content tailored to each stage of the pipeline 

• Optimize messaging and ABM content strategies based on revenue performance and engagement signals 

Result: The program delivered a 10x increase in engagement with target accounts and significantly accelerated pipeline velocity. By aligning content and channels with each stage of the buyer’s journey, Cisco was able to influence key decision-makers, build stronger account relationships, and directly connect ABM efforts to revenue impact. 

From Understanding to Execution: Your Next Step with ABM Strategy Examples

ABM is a specialized approach focused on high-value prospects, so it doesn’t look the same for every business. Whether you’re nurturing key deals, breaking into new logos, or re-engaging cold accounts, there’s an ABM strategy and execution path tailored to your goals. 

While understanding the three types of ABM is the first step toward implementing an ABM approach, the real key is to fluidly evolve between strategies as your priorities change. Platforms like Madison Logic make this possible by enabling marketing and sales teams to run dynamic, data-driven programs that are both precise and scalable. 

Ready to see how ABM can fuel your next growth phase? Request a demo to create your personalized strategy roadmap, or explore our Full-Funnel ABM Playbook for step-by-step guidance to develop and refine your ABM strategy.