If you’re running account-based marketing (ABM), you know the promise: less spray-and-pray, more focus, and bigger deals. But it falls apart fast if you can’t keep track of who’s who at your target accounts. Attio’s a new-ish CRM that's gotten some buzz for being flexible, but the reality is, it requires some setup to actually work for ABM. This guide is for folks who want to skip the hype and just get their contacts wrangled for real ABM results.
Here’s how to set up and actually manage your account-based marketing contacts in Attio—without getting lost in bells and whistles you’ll never use.
1. Understand What Matters (and What Doesn’t)
Before you touch a single field in Attio, stop and get clear on what you actually need:
- Focus on accounts, not just leads. ABM is about targeting whole companies, not random names.
- Map out buying groups. You want decision makers, influencers, blockers, and champions all linked to their company.
- Don’t overcomplicate it. You don’t need 50 custom fields or a five-stage workflow to get started.
Pro tip: If your ABM strategy is “everyone with a LinkedIn profile,” save yourself the headache. Get a (tight) target account list first.
2. Set Up Your Data Structure in Attio
Attio gives you “Collections” (basically lists), “Records” (people or companies), “Attributes” (fields), and “Relationships.” Here’s how to make these work for ABM:
Step 1: Create a Collection for Target Accounts
- Make a new Collection called “Target Accounts” or whatever makes sense for your team.
- Import or add your list of target companies. Start small—quality over quantity.
Step 2: Set Up Contacts Linked to Accounts
- Each company is a “Record”; each contact (person) is also a “Record.”
- Use Attio’s native “Organization” field to link people to their company.
- Make sure you’re not duplicating companies—Attio’s merge tools are decent, but don’t rely on them to fix messy imports.
Step 3: Nail Down Useful Fields
Don’t go field-crazy. For most ABM teams, these fields are enough:
- On companies: Industry, account owner, ABM tier (high/med/low), status (target, engaged, closed, etc.), key notes.
- On contacts: Title, role in buying process (decision maker, influencer, etc.), email, phone, last contacted.
Skip “lead score” unless you actually use it. If it’s just a number nobody looks at, drop it.
3. Import (or Add) Your Contacts Without a Mess
Attio offers CSV imports, integrations with email/calendar, and browser extensions. Here’s what’s worth doing:
- Import companies and contacts from CSV if you’ve got a clean list. Map fields carefully—Attio will try to guess, but double-check.
- Sync your email and calendar so Attio can auto-create contacts from conversations. This is handy, but you’ll get noise (like random recruiters or vendors). Clean up regularly.
- Skip browser extensions unless you’re scraping contacts all day. They’re fine, but they’re not magic.
Pro tip: Do a test import with 5-10 records first. Fix what breaks, then scale up.
4. Organize Buying Groups and Roles
Here’s where most ABM setups get sloppy: you have a list of contacts, but no idea who actually matters. Fix this with:
- A “Buying Role” field on contacts (e.g., Decision Maker, Budget Holder, User, Blocker).
- Tags for key personas or special notes (“C-level,” “IT Gatekeeper,” “Legal Sign-off”).
- Relationships in Attio to link contacts within an account—like showing who reports to whom. This is extra, but nice if you’re selling into big orgs.
Don’t waste time mapping out the whole org chart unless you’re selling six-figure deals. Focus on 3-5 key people per account.
5. Use Views and Filters to Stay Focused
Attio’s “Views” are basically saved filters. Set up a few that actually help:
- Accounts with no recent activity. Quick way to spot neglected targets.
- Contacts by role (e.g., show only Decision Makers at Tier 1 accounts).
- Accounts by ABM tier. Helps when you want to focus outreach.
Don’t bother with fancy dashboards unless you review them every week. One or two views that surface what you need are enough.
6. Track Engagement—But Don’t Drown in Data
Attio can pull in email history, meeting notes, and more. This is useful, until it isn’t.
- Track last contact date and next step for each account.
- Pin key emails or notes to company records so teammates see context fast.
- Ignore “email open rates.” These are unreliable and usually irrelevant for ABM.
If you’re logging every single interaction, you’ll spend all day in your CRM. Capture just enough to know where things stand.
7. Keep Data Clean (or Pay Later)
Dirty data kills ABM. Set a weekly or bi-weekly time to:
- Merge duplicate companies and contacts.
- Update buying roles and statuses.
- Remove dead accounts (or mark them as “Closed/Lost”).
If nobody owns this, your CRM becomes a junk drawer in a month.
8. Align With Sales (Or at Least Try)
The dream: marketing and sales are in sync, working from the same list, handing off accounts seamlessly. The reality: you’ll have to nudge this along.
- Share your Target Accounts view with sales.
- Agree on who updates what (e.g., sales owns “status,” marketing owns “engagement”).
- Keep notes and key info in company records—not in someone’s head.
Don’t waste time building fancy handoff workflows unless your team is big and mature. Start with shared visibility and go from there.
9. What to Ignore (For Now)
- Custom automations and workflows: Attio has some automation, but don’t bother until your basics are solid.
- Integrating every tool: It’s tempting to connect everything (Slack, LinkedIn, etc.), but it rarely saves time unless your process is already dialed in.
- Lead scoring and AI “insights”: Unless you have a big data team, these features are mostly window dressing.
Get the fundamentals working. Add tricks later if you actually need them.
10. Iterate, Don’t Overthink
Your first setup won’t be perfect. That’s fine.
- Start simple: companies, contacts, buying roles, status.
- Review and clean up monthly.
- Add complexity only when you actually hit a wall.
Remember: ABM is about focus. The more time you spend fiddling with your CRM, the less time you’re spending on real outreach.
Quick Recap
Managing ABM contacts in Attio isn’t rocket science, but it does take some discipline:
- Get your accounts and contacts linked up.
- Map buying roles.
- Use a few smart views and filters.
- Keep things clean and review often.
Don’t chase every new feature or integration. Keep it simple, focus on what moves the needle, and tweak as you go. That’s how you actually get value out of your CRM—and ABM.