Account-based marketing (ABM) makes a lot of noise in B2B circles—and for good reason. If you’re tired of spraying and praying with generic campaigns, ABM promises focus: you zero in on the companies that actually matter. But the “promise” and the reality aren’t always the same. Running ABM campaigns can get messy fast, especially once you start wrangling data, targeting, and sales alignment.
That’s where 6sense comes in. It’s a popular ABM platform that claims to help you find, target, and win the right accounts by using intent data and AI. In theory, it takes the guesswork out of “who should we market to?” and makes your campaigns actually worth the effort. But, as with any tool, it’s only as good as your process.
This guide is for marketers, demand gen folks, and revenue teams who want clear, practical steps for launching ABM campaigns in 6sense—without getting lost in a forest of buzzwords or buried in to-do lists. Let’s get straight to it.
Step 1: Define Your Goals (Don’t Skip This)
Before you touch 6sense, decide what success looks like. ABM isn’t magic—it just makes targeting smarter. If you chase every shiny metric, you’ll burn out fast.
Questions to answer: - Are you trying to fill pipeline with net-new logos? - Do you want to accelerate deals already in play? - Is this about expanding in existing accounts?
What matters: - Get buy-in from key stakeholders (sales, SDRs, execs). If they’re not on board, your “ABM campaign” is just marketing doing its own thing. - Be specific. “Drive engagement” doesn’t cut it. “Book 10 meetings with Fortune 500 healthcare companies in Q3” is better. - Tie your goals to real business outcomes, not just clicks or opens.
Pro tip: Write your goal on a sticky note and stick it to your monitor. If the campaign starts to drift, check the sticky.
Step 2: Build a High-Quality Target Account List
6sense’s core strength is helping you find and prioritize accounts—but you need a starting list. This is where most ABM campaigns go off the rails: too broad, too random, or based on gut feel instead of data.
How to do it: - Start with your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile): - Look at your best customers. What do they have in common? (Industry, size, tech stack, geography, etc.) - Don’t just take sales’ word for it—pull actual data from your CRM. - Use 6sense’s data to refine: - Upload your initial list or connect your CRM. - Let 6sense score accounts based on fit and intent signals (who’s actually showing buying behaviors online—not just fitting your profile). - Prioritize ruthlessly: - Focus on a realistic number of accounts. If you’re a team of one, 50 accounts might be plenty. If you’re bigger, maybe 200. - Ignore the urge to “cast a wide net.” ABM is about focus.
Common pitfalls: - Letting sales add every wish-list account. Push back gently, but firmly. - Relying only on intent data. Intent is helpful, but it’s not a crystal ball.
Step 3: Map Buying Committees and Key Contacts
ABM isn’t about blasting one person at each company. You’re marketing to buying groups—usually 6–10 people, all with different roles and priorities.
Inside 6sense: - Pull in contact data for each account, focusing on decision-makers and influencers (titles like VP, Director, Manager in relevant departments). - Use 6sense’s contact enrichment features, but double-check accuracy—you’d be surprised how stale some data can be. - Group contacts by role (champion, blocker, end user, exec sponsor). Even a simple spreadsheet helps here.
What works: - Personalizing messaging for each role. What matters to IT is different from what matters to finance. - Collaborating with your sales team—they often know who’s really involved, even if it’s not obvious in your CRM.
Ignore: - The urge to target every contact. Stick to those who are likely to matter.
Step 4: Segment and Prioritize Accounts in 6sense
Not all accounts are created equal. 6sense uses predictive analytics to sort your accounts by “buying stage” (like awareness, consideration, decision). This is where the platform actually earns its price tag.
How to use this: - Segment by buying stage: Group your accounts by where they are in the buying journey, according to 6sense’s models. Accounts showing intent but not engaged? They need different messaging than those deep in research. - Assign owners: Make sure each account has someone in sales/SDR who “owns” it. No orphan accounts. - Set up alerts: Use 6sense to notify you when an account moves stages or shows a spike in intent.
Pro tip: Don’t chase every signal. Focus on accounts in “decision” or “consideration” stages for sales outreach—earlier stages are better for light-touch nurture.
Step 5: Build a Multi-Channel Campaign Plan
Here’s where most ABM campaigns get stuck: teams spin up one email or a few LinkedIn ads and call it ABM. That’s not how it works. You need to show up where your buyers are, in more than one way.
Core channels to use: - Email: Not spray-and-pray—think personalized, relevant, and sent to the right people. - Display ads: 6sense can handle targeted ads to your account list. Keep creative tailored, not generic banners. - LinkedIn: Use matched audiences and custom content. Don’t just retarget everyone—focus on your actual contacts. - Sales outreach: Arm your SDRs with talking points and send them alerts when accounts are “hot.” - Website personalization: Use 6sense to adjust site content or CTAs based on account info.
Deciding what to say: - Map messaging to each stage and each role. Early-stage? Focus on education. Late-stage? Show value, social proof, and urgency. - Don’t overcomplicate. Start small, iterate, and add channels as you see what works.
What to ignore: - Overly complex nurture flows. Most buyers don’t care about your 8-step drip sequence. - Vanity metrics like impressions. Focus on meetings, pipeline, and real engagement.
Step 6: Execute Campaigns in 6sense
Now you’re ready to build and launch. 6sense has a lot of moving parts—don’t get lost in the weeds.
How to set up: - Audience creation: Upload or sync your segmented account and contact lists. - Activation: Build campaigns for each channel inside 6sense (ads, email, etc.), or push lists to your marketing automation and ad platforms. - Personalization: Use dynamic fields in ads, emails, or web pages to speak directly to each account or segment. - Sales integration: Make sure your sales team gets real-time alerts and daily digests on account activity. If they’re not acting on the data, figure out why.
Tips: - Start with one or two channels. Get those right before layering on more. - Use 6sense’s A/B testing features for ads and messaging. Don’t just “set and forget.” - Keep a close eye on your dashboards. If something isn’t working, don’t be afraid to pause and adjust.
Watch out for: - Overcomplicating with too many segments or rules. - Relying solely on automation; human follow-up still matters.
Step 7: Measure What Matters, Not Just What’s Easy
6sense throws a lot of data at you. It’s tempting to chase every metric, but most of it won’t matter to your boss.
Metrics that actually matter: - Meetings booked with target accounts - Pipeline created (opportunities from ABM accounts) - Deal velocity: Are deals moving faster? - Win rates for targeted accounts vs. non-targeted - Sales feedback: Are reps seeing better conversations?
How to track: - Use 6sense’s reporting, but always cross-check with your CRM. Numbers should match up. - Set up regular reviews with sales. If you’re only looking at dashboards, you’re missing the story behind the numbers.
What to ignore: - Clicks and opens. They’re nice to have, but they don’t pay the bills. - Overly granular attribution models. Don’t get stuck trying to prove that one display ad “caused” a deal.
Step 8: Iterate, Don’t Overthink
No ABM campaign is perfect out of the gate. The best teams treat campaigns like experiments: test, learn, and improve.
How to do this: - Run quick retros after each campaign. What worked? What bombed? - Adjust your account list and messaging as you get real-world feedback. - Don’t be afraid to cut tactics that aren’t delivering—even if you spent weeks building them.
Pro tip: Document what you learn. Even a simple Google doc with “here’s what we tried, here’s what happened” will save you headaches later.
Wrapping Up
Getting ABM right with 6sense isn’t about fancy dashboards or endless segmentation. It’s about focus, ruthless prioritization, and keeping your eye on what actually drives revenue. Start simple, ignore the hype, and build on what works. The rest is just noise.