So, you want to actually make account based marketing (ABM) work—without the buzzwords, headaches, or endless spreadsheets. This guide is for sales and marketing folks who want real results, not just another dashboard to stare at. I’ll walk you through setting up and managing ABM in Myteamfluence, cut through what matters (and what doesn’t), and help you avoid the common traps. No fluff. No magic formulas—just what works.
Step 1: Figure Out If ABM (and Myteamfluence) Is a Good Fit
Before you dive in, let’s be honest: ABM isn’t magic. It works best if:
- You sell high-value products or services to other businesses (B2B).
- Your deals typically involve more than one decision-maker.
- You’re targeting a small-ish list of companies, not the whole universe.
If you’re selling $10 widgets to thousands of anonymous buyers, ABM will be a slog. But if you’re after ten big accounts who could make your year, it’s worth it.
Myteamfluence is built for ABM, so if you already use it (or are considering it), you’re in the right place. It’s not the only tool out there, but it does a solid job of keeping everyone—sales, marketing, and whoever else—in sync.
Step 2: Define Your Ideal Accounts
Don’t overthink this, but don’t skip it either. ABM falls apart if you target the wrong companies.
How to Do It
- Start with your best customers. Who actually pays you, and sticks around?
- List the traits they share.
- Industry, company size, location
- Tech stack, budget, pain points
- Build a list. Myteamfluence lets you upload a CSV or connect your CRM. If your data’s a mess, clean it up first. (Seriously. Garbage in, garbage out.)
Pro Tip: Ten well-chosen accounts beat a hundred “maybe” accounts. Focus matters more than quantity.
Step 3: Map the Buying Committee
This is where most teams get lazy. Don’t just grab one contact per company—most B2B deals need buy-in from a bunch of people.
In Myteamfluence
- For each account, add all relevant stakeholders:
- Decision-makers (the boss)
- Influencers (IT, ops, finance—whoever can say no)
- End users (the folks who’ll use your product)
- Assign roles or tags so you know who’s who.
What to Ignore: Don’t waste time tracking every LinkedIn connection. Stick to people who actually have a say.
Step 4: Set Up Account Profiles and Segmentation
You want to see everything that matters about an account in one place.
How to Do It
- In Myteamfluence, create an account profile for each target company.
- Add notes, documents, and relevant history (emails, calls, etc.).
- Use segments or tags to group accounts—by industry, deal stage, or priority.
This lets you tailor your outreach (and your reporting) later. Don’t get hung up on tagging every possible detail. Start simple—refine as you go.
Step 5: Build Account Plans That Don’t Suck
ABM fails when teams “personalize” by swapping out a company name and calling it a day. But you also don’t need a novel for each account.
What Works
- One-page summary per account:
- Key contacts and their roles
- Pain points (real ones, not guesses)
- What would make them buy (or run away)
- Next steps for each contact
Use Myteamfluence’s planning templates, but customize them. If you need to, build your own. Skip anything that feels like busywork.
Step 6: Coordinate Marketing and Sales Outreach
Here’s where most ABM tools overpromise. Myteamfluence does a decent job of showing who’s talked to whom, and when, but it won’t magically make your teams collaborate.
In Practice
- Log all activities in the account timeline—emails, calls, meetings, LinkedIn touches.
- Set reminders for follow-ups so things don’t fall through the cracks.
- Use shared notes to avoid sending three different emails to the same person.
Pro Tip: Weekly check-ins between sales and marketing beat any software for actual alignment. Use the tool to keep score, not to replace real conversations.
Step 7: Personalize Content—But Stay Sane
Personalization is the ABM buzzword that gets abused most. You don’t need a new whitepaper for every account. You do need to sound like you understand their world.
How to Use Myteamfluence
- Store content by segment: industry, pain point, or deal stage.
- Track which content you’ve sent to which contacts.
- See what gets engagement.
If you’re spending hours rewriting case studies for every account, you’re doing too much. “Personalized” can mean a short note tying your value to their specific problem.
Step 8: Track What Matters, Ignore the Noise
ABM reporting can get out of hand—especially if you try to measure everything. Myteamfluence gives you dashboards and reports, but focus on:
- Account engagement: Are they opening, replying, visiting your site?
- Progress by stage: Are deals moving forward? Where are they stuck?
- Real pipeline: Are these accounts actually buying, or just nibbling?
Skip “vanity metrics” like email opens if they don’t tell you anything useful. Customize reports so you see what matters.
Step 9: Automate (Carefully)
Automation can help, but it can also make your outreach feel generic. Use Myteamfluence’s automation features for:
- Reminders and task assignments
- Content delivery (to segments, not individuals)
- Simple follow-up sequences
Don’t automate first-touch emails to CEOs. Don't rely on drip campaigns for complex deals. Use automation to save time, not to replace real work.
Step 10: Review, Adjust, and Don’t Get Complacent
ABM isn’t “set it and forget it.” Things change—personnel, budgets, what matters to your accounts.
Keep It Simple
- Review your target account list every quarter. Prune dead weight.
- Ask sales and marketing what’s actually working, not just what looks good on a dashboard.
- Use Myteamfluence to spot patterns—then act on them.
If an account’s ghosting you, move on. If a new stakeholder pops up, add them. Iterate. Don’t wait for perfect data.
Honest Takes: What Works, What Doesn’t
- Works: Tight alignment between sales and marketing, short and actionable account plans, focusing on a realistic number of accounts.
- Doesn’t: Overpersonalizing to the point of burnout, obsessing over minor metrics, using the tool as a crutch for bad process.
- Ignore: Fancy integrations you’ll never use, endless tagging, and any feature that takes more time to set up than it saves.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Keep Moving
ABM can be powerful if you stay focused and don’t overcomplicate things. Use Myteamfluence to keep everyone on the same page, but remember—the tool won’t do the real work for you. Start small, get the basics right, and don’t be afraid to adjust as you learn. You’ll get farther by iterating than by planning for perfection.
Now go pick your top accounts, set up the basics, and actually talk to your customers. The rest will follow.