If you’re in B2B marketing, you know that chasing random leads is about as productive as yelling into the void. Account-based marketing (ABM) is the antidote: focus on the right companies, personalize your outreach, and stop wasting time on dead-end prospects. But actually running ABM campaigns? That gets messy—especially if you’re trying to wrangle data across sales, marketing, and customer teams.
This guide is for marketers, sales ops folks, and anyone at a B2B company who’s tired of wishful thinking and wants a clear, real-world approach to ABM using Einstein CoPilot. We’ll skip the hype and focus on setting up campaigns that, well, actually work.
Step 1: Get Clear on What ABM Really Means (and What It Doesn’t)
Before you touch any software, ask yourself: Do you really want ABM, or just a fancier way to spam more people? ABM isn’t just “personalization”—it’s about focusing on a shortlist of companies (accounts) that actually matter to your business.
What works: - Zeroing in on a well-researched list of target companies. - Aligning with sales so you’re not duplicating efforts or working at cross-purposes. - Tracking engagement by account, not just by random leads.
What doesn’t: - Treating ABM as a “set it and forget it” campaign. - Relying on generic email blasts with a company name mail-merged in.
Pro tip: If your list of target accounts is longer than your last grocery receipt, it’s probably too broad. Narrow it down.
Step 2: Prep Your Data and Accounts in Salesforce
Einstein CoPilot only works as well as your data. If your account and contact records are a mess, you’ll get garbage out.
Start with these basics: - Account records: Make sure all your target companies exist as Accounts in Salesforce, with clean, up-to-date info. - Contact mapping: Link key contacts to those Accounts. You want decision-makers, influencers, and blockers—not just whoever filled out a form. - Custom fields: Set up fields that matter for ABM (e.g., industry, company size, buying stage). - Ownership: Assign account owners so it’s clear who’s responsible for what.
Skip: Overcomplicating your data model with dozens of custom fields you’ll never use. Focus on what drives targeting and reporting.
Step 3: Set Up Einstein CoPilot for ABM
Here’s where the rubber meets the road. Einstein CoPilot is Salesforce’s attempt at an AI assistant for sales and marketing. It can help with prioritization, recommendations, and some campaign automation. But don’t expect magic—CoPilot is only as useful as the setup behind it.
What you actually need to do:
- Enable CoPilot (if you haven’t):
- Check your Salesforce edition and licenses. CoPilot is only available in newer, higher-tier plans.
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Work with your Salesforce admin to enable it. (Don’t try to DIY this if you’re not an admin.)
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Connect your data:
- Make sure CoPilot can access your Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, and Campaigns.
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If you’re using Pardot or Marketing Cloud, integrate those too.
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Configure ABM priorities:
- Use CoPilot’s scoring or prioritization features to highlight your target accounts.
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Set up rules for what makes an account “hot” (recent engagement, new decision-maker, etc.).
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Personalize recommendations:
- Set up prompts or workflows that nudge reps to engage with the right contacts at the right time.
- Build templates for outreach, but leave room for real human customization.
What to ignore: The fancier “AI” features that promise to write all your emails or replace your sales reps. Use CoPilot for nudging and insights, not auto-pilot.
Step 4: Build Your ABM Campaigns—The Right Way
You’ve got your targets and your data foundation. Now it’s time to actually run a campaign.
Here’s a grounded approach:
- Define your campaign objectives.
- What does success look like? (Meetings booked, pipeline $ from target accounts, engagement rate, etc.)
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Set one or two clear KPIs. Don’t get lost in vanity metrics.
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Map out the journey for each account.
- What are the key touchpoints? (Email, phone, LinkedIn, events, etc.)
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Who’s responsible for each step—marketing, sales, or both?
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Use CoPilot to surface insights and next actions.
- Set up dashboards or alerts for when accounts hit certain engagement thresholds.
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Use CoPilot’s recommendations to help reps know when (and how) to follow up.
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Launch targeted outreach.
- Use templates, but always customize for the real pain points of each account.
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Don’t bombard every contact—focus on the ones who actually matter.
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Track engagement by account, not just lead.
- Use Salesforce reports and CoPilot’s analytics to see which accounts are warming up—and which are ignoring you.
Pro tip: Start with a small pilot group of target accounts. Run the campaign, gather feedback, and improve before scaling to your full list.
Step 5: Measure, Learn, and Iterate
ABM isn’t a “set it and forget it” game. The best teams are constantly tweaking their approach.
What to actually measure: - Engagement by account (meetings, responses, content downloads). - Pipeline generated from target accounts. - Win rate and deal velocity compared to non-ABM accounts.
What to ignore: - Email open rates (alone, they’re almost meaningless). - Social media “likes” from people who don’t influence the deal.
Tactics that help: - Monthly reviews with sales and marketing to see what’s working and what’s not. - Adjusting your account list quarterly. Sometimes an account goes cold—that’s normal. - Using CoPilot’s recommendations as a starting point, not gospel. Combine AI with your team’s judgment.
Step 6: Avoid Common ABM Pitfalls
Let’s be honest—most ABM programs fail because they get bogged down or try to do too much.
Watch out for: - Over-automating. AI and tools like CoPilot can help, but they can’t build relationships or close deals for you. - Getting lost in data. Stay focused on actionable insights, not dashboards for the sake of dashboards. - Misalignment. If sales and marketing aren’t sharing notes, your ABM will stall.
Pro tip: Regular, blunt check-ins between marketing and sales are more valuable than another fancy report.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Stay Real
You don’t need a moonshot strategy or a room full of “AI-powered” tools to succeed at ABM. Get clear on your target accounts, clean up your data, use Einstein CoPilot for nudges and insights, and focus on real, human outreach. Iterate as you go. If you keep things grounded and practical, you’ll see real results—no hype required.