If you’re running ABM campaigns and want real answers about what’s working (and what’s just burning your budget), this is for you. We’ll skip the marketing fluff and walk through how to actually use engagement data in Terminus to tune up your sales funnel. This guide is written for marketers, sales ops folks, and anyone who’d rather see the numbers than another “thought leadership” webinar.
Let’s get into it.
Step 1: Get Your Data House in Order
Before you start clicking around dashboards, make sure the basics are solid. Engagement data is only as good as what you feed it.
- Check your integrations. Is Terminus pulling in the right CRM and marketing automation data? If Salesforce, HubSpot, or Marketo isn’t connected (or is misconfigured), you’ll get garbage results.
- Clean up your target account list. Fancy charts won’t help if your list is outdated or stuffed with dead accounts.
- Define what “engagement” means for you. In Terminus, engagement can mean pageviews, ad clicks, email opens, events, or combinations. If your sales team only cares about product demo requests, don’t get distracted by vanity metrics like “impressions served.”
Pro tip: Sit down with sales and agree on what counts as a meaningful engagement. Otherwise, you’ll waste time chasing the wrong numbers.
Step 2: Know Which Engagement Metrics Actually Matter
Terminus throws a ton of data at you. Some of it’s useful, some of it is noise.
Metrics to Pay Attention To
- Engaged Accounts: Accounts showing the behaviors you care about (not just anyone who saw an ad).
- Engagement Spike: Sudden increases in activity — could mean an account is ready for outreach or just that a bunch of people got your newsletter.
- Engagement Minutes: A weighted score based on multiple actions (downloads, visits, etc). This is handy, but don’t treat it like gospel.
- Account Progression: Are accounts moving from “unaware” to “engaged” to “opportunity”?
What to Ignore (Most of the Time)
- Raw impressions served: The billboard effect is real, but it rarely moves the sales needle on its own.
- Clicks/CPC: Clicks can be bots, accidental, or just bored people. Only chase clicks if you see a clear pattern tied to real sales activity.
Honest take: If your sales team can’t tell the difference between a high-score “engaged” account and just another name in the CRM, you’re not tracking the right stuff.
Step 3: Slice and Dice the Data
Now for the fun part. Here’s how to dig into Terminus and actually spot useful patterns.
Start With the Funnel View
- Look at how many accounts are moving from awareness to consideration to opportunity. This isn’t just for showing off in meetings — it tells you where things are getting stuck.
- Sort by industry, company size, or territory. Are certain segments flying through the funnel while others stall out?
Segment Your Audiences
- By campaign: Are specific ad messages or content offers driving more engagement?
- By stage: Where are you losing people? If lots of accounts light up in awareness but vanish at consideration, your mid-funnel content might be weak.
- By channel: Does display perform better than LinkedIn or email? Don’t assume — look.
Zero In on Individual Accounts
- Drill down to see which contacts are most active. Sometimes a single champion can move the deal forward.
- Check if the activity is spiking right before deals are created. If not, your “engagement” might not be as predictive as you hoped.
Pro tip: Export the data and run a quick pivot in Excel or Google Sheets if you want more flexibility than Terminus’ built-in filters.
Step 4: Tie Engagement Data to Pipeline and Revenue
Here’s where most people stop short. Engagement is great, but unless it moves accounts closer to closed-won, it’s just a shiny number.
- Map engagement spikes to new opportunities. Did a surge in activity actually lead to sales conversations?
- Look for repeatable patterns. If accounts that hit 100 “engagement minutes” are 3x more likely to close, that’s gold. If not, rethink your scoring model.
- Work with sales. Ask if the “most engaged” accounts feel legit or if they’re just tire-kickers.
Reporting That Matters
- Funnel Conversion Rates: How many engaged accounts are turning into pipeline?
- Sales Cycle Length: Are more engaged accounts closing faster, or is it all just noise?
- Deal Size: Do highly engaged accounts spend more, or are they just chatty?
What to ignore: Weekly engagement reports with no connection to pipeline or revenue. If it doesn’t help you prioritize or close deals, skip it.
Step 5: Optimize Your Sales and Marketing Tactics
Once you know what’s actually working, double down on it. Here’s how to use your findings:
- Refine your target list. Drop accounts that never engage. Add lookalike accounts from those that convert.
- Adjust your content and messaging. If certain content pieces drive spikes in engagement right before deals are created, make more of that.
- Time your outreach. Have sales reach out when engagement spikes, not three weeks later when the lead is cold.
- Rethink your channels. If LinkedIn is outperforming display ads by a mile, shift your budget.
Pro tip: Don’t make a dozen changes at once. Test one change, track the results, then iterate. This isn’t a one-and-done process.
Step 6: Avoid Common Pitfalls
Lots of teams get tripped up by the same mistakes:
- Chasing vanity metrics. High engagement doesn’t always mean high intent.
- Assuming causation. Just because engagement and pipeline move together doesn’t mean one caused the other. Always sanity-check your findings.
- Overcomplicating the model. More data isn’t better if nobody understands it. Stick with the metrics that sales and marketing both care about.
Step 7: Build a Simple, Repeatable Review Process
You don’t need a 30-slide PowerPoint every month. Instead:
- Set a recurring meeting with sales to review which engaged accounts are real opportunities.
- Use simple dashboards to track funnel movement and flag stuck accounts.
- Regularly revisit your engagement definitions and scoring. Things change; stay flexible.
Honest take: The best teams don’t obsess over every data point — they use engagement data as a starting point, not the final answer.
Keep It Simple and Keep Iterating
Don’t get lost in the weeds or chase fancy dashboards. Use Terminus to spot real trends and take action, then tweak your approach as you learn. The best improvements come from small, focused changes and honest conversations between marketing and sales.
Engagement data is a tool, not a magic wand. Use it to work smarter, not just to fill another report.