Most B2B businesses across Ireland and the UK insist on "spray and pray" marketing as if they're flogging Coca-Cola to the masses. It's crazy.

The majority of companies I meet have heard of Account-Based Marketing (ABM), they're just not implementing it or botching the execution.

What is ABM?

Account Based Marketing strategically aligns sales and marketing teams to pursue quality over quantity. It flips the traditional funnel on its head. Rather than casting a wide net to generate leads you qualify later, you start with the qualified accounts—the specific companies you want as customers—and build personalised marketing programs and experiences to engage them.

This isn't radical. It's common sense. If you know precisely who your potential customers are, why wouldn't you focus your resources on them directly?

Get targeting

When you identify your target accounts and focus only on them, suddenly, your addressable market shrinks from "everyone in manufacturing" to "these 50 specific companies."

It's confronting. It means acknowledging that 90% of your "awareness building" activities are reaching people who will never, ever buy from you. That's not to say, a long and short approach shouldn't be built-in. Of course it should, but again, it needs to be tighter in the early stages.

ABM done right

Good ABM means:

1. Identifying your target accounts with ruthless precision. Not "companies in agri" but "these 72 specific organisations."

2. Understanding those accounts deeply. Not generic buyer personas but actual people with names, job titles, challenges, and ambitions.

3. Creating marketing that speaks directly to their specific situation. Not "5 Benefits of my product" but "How Company X Can Save £2.3M by using it."

4. Aligning sales and marketing completely. No more throwing leads over the wall. Both teams focus on the same accounts with coordinated approaches.

5. Measuring success differently. Forget lead volume. Focus on engagement with target accounts, meetings secured, opportunities created, and deals closed.

To be good at ABM, you need to be ruthless

Slash your target account list to a number you can actually focus on properly. If your list has more than 100 accounts, you're still hiding in the comfort of volume.

1. Spend 80% of your budget on these accounts. Yes, 80%. Be brave.

2. Create content so specific that it would be useless to companies outside your target list.

3. Make your sales team uncomfortable with how much you know about their accounts.

4. Accept that your marketing KPIs will change dramatically—and be prepared to defend them.

The B2B companies that master ABM win. It's as simple as that.

About the Author

Jonathan Drainey is a senior brand strategist and fractional marketing director based in Northern Ireland. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, he partners with select clients in Ireland and the UK to transform their IP into market-leading products and global challenger brands.

With a proven track record, Jonathan drives transformation and growth through innovation, brand leadership, strategic marketing, and operational efficiency. A strong advocate for product-centricity and the circular economy, he specialises in the agri-food, health, energy, tech, and industrial sectors.

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