How to Run Account-Based Advertising: Platforms and Tactics

Most B2B ad spend is wasted. You're running ads to "marketing managers interested in marketing automation" in the US. That's 50,000 people. You'll reach 2,000. Maybe 10 will visit your site.

Account-based ads are different. You're running ads to 50 specific companies, targeting 500 specific people across those companies. Instead of 50K to 2K to 10, you're getting 50 companies -> 500 people -> meaningful engagement.

Here's how to set it up.

Why Account-Based Ads Beat Traditional B2B Ads

Traditional B2B advertising: - Broad targeting (title + interest) - Generic creative - Hope someone from the right company sees it - Low conversion rate (0.5-1.5%)

Account-based advertising: - Precise company targeting - Personalized creative per company (or by segment) - Guaranteed reach within target accounts - Higher engagement (3-8% conversion rate)

The catch: You need to spend budget focused. You can't run ABM ads to 10,000 accounts. You need to pick 100-300 accounts and focus there.

Platform Overview

LinkedIn Campaign Manager

Best for: Decision-maker targeting (C-suite, directors, managers)

How it works: 1. Create account lists (companies to target) 2. Target by job title, seniority, function 3. Create ads (sponsored content, text ads, InMail) 4. Measure profile views and clicks

Pros: - Best platform for B2B targeting - Good audience scale (400M+ professionals) - Supports account lists - Tracks job titles well

Cons: - Expensive ([pricing varies, check vendor website]per click) - Lower click-through rates than display ads - Limited creative options - Ad fatigue on platform

Budget: [pricing varies, check vendor website] for 100 account ABM campaign

Google Ads (Display + Search)

Best for: Intent-based targeting (people searching your category)

How it works: 1. Create audience lists (upload company domains) 2. Run display ads to those audiences 3. Bid on search keywords 4. Measure impressions, clicks, conversions

Pros: - Huge reach (billions of impressions) - Works on publishers B2B decision-makers visit - Lower CPC than LinkedIn - Excellent attribution

Cons: - Hard to target specific job titles - More volume = lower precision - Requires good creative to stand out

Budget: [pricing varies, check vendor website] for 100 account ABM campaign

6sense / Demandbase

Best for: Intent-based ABM (targeting companies showing buying signals)

How it works: 1. Connect your target account list to the platform 2. Platform identifies people from those accounts visiting competitor sites, third-party intent data 3. Serves ads to those specific people and companies 4. Tracks engagement and pipeline influence

Pros: - Behavior-based targeting (not just firmographics) - Pre-built intent data - Direct pipeline attribution - Best for multi-channel coordination

Cons: - Expensive ([pricing varies, check vendor website]) - Requires good integration with CRM - Relies on third-party data quality

Budget: [pricing varies, check vendor website] for enterprise ABM

The Setup: 5 Steps

Step 1: Build Your Target Account List

Create a spreadsheet with: - Company name - Website domain - Company size (employees/revenue) - Industry - Buying signals (hiring, funding, news) - AE assignment - Content personalization notes

Aim for 50-200 accounts per campaign. Too many = budget spread too thin. Too few = audience too small.

Save it as CSV. Most platforms let you upload.

Step 2: Create Ad Creatives (Segment Variants)

Don't run the same ad to all accounts. Create variants by segment.

Example: Running ABM ads to fintech vs. enterprise software

Fintech variant: - Headline: "Reduce compliance risk in your account process" - Ad copy: "Fintech companies are reducing onboarding time by 40%" - Image: Financial data visualization

Enterprise software variant: - Headline: "Shorten your sales cycle by 30%" - Ad copy: "Enterprise software companies are closing deals 2 months faster" - Image: Sales team in meeting

If budget allows, create a variant per top 20 account. Different pain, different message, different outcome.

Step 3: Set Up LinkedIn Campaign

1. Go to Campaign Manager
2. Create new campaign (objective: "Awareness" or "Lead Generation")
3. Upload your account list: - Most ABM software lets you create a "Matched Account List" - Or manually add company domains to audience exclusions
4. Set targeting: - Company: Your account list - Job titles: Decision-maker titles (CMO, VP Marketing, Director of Sales, etc.) - Seniority: Director+
5. Upload creative
6. Set daily budget ([pricing varies, check vendor website]/day for 100 accounts is common)
7. Launch

Expect 2-4% CTR on LinkedIn (higher than display, lower than search).

Step 4: Set Up Google Display Ads

1. Go to Google Ads
2. Create new campaign (objective: "Sales" or "Brand Awareness")
3. Upload your account list: - Use "Customer Match" feature - Upload company domains
4. Select placements where B2B decision-makers hang out: - Industry publications - LinkedIn (yes, you can buy GDN on LinkedIn) - Business software sites
5. Upload creative
6. Set daily budget ([pricing varies, check vendor website]/day for 100 accounts)
7. Launch

Expect 1-3% CTR on display ads.

Step 5: Coordinate With Sales

Tell your AEs: "We're running ads to [Company List]. If someone from those companies visits our site, they'll see ads. When they visit your site, you'll know they're interested."

Create a Slack channel. Log every visitor you can identify from target accounts. Sales can proactively reach out: "Hi [name], saw you checked out our pricing page yesterday..."

Budget Allocation

For [pricing varies, check vendor website] ABM ad spend across 3 platforms:

• LinkedIn: pricing varies, check vendor website - where decision-makers are
• Google Display: pricing varies, check vendor website - where they browse
• 6sense/Demandbase: pricing varies, check vendor website - intent-based precision

This mix ensures: - Reach on primary platform (LinkedIn) - Reach on secondary channels (Google) - Intent-based efficiency (6sense)

As you scale, shift budget toward what's working. If LinkedIn is getting 0.5x ROI and Google is 2x, shift money to Google.

Measurement

Track: - Impressions: How many people see the ads? - Clicks: What's your CTR? (Target: 2-4%) - Website visitors: Are they actually visiting your site? - Actions: Are they demoing your product, requesting a call? - Pipeline: Are they creating opportunities? - ROI: Pipeline influenced / Ad spend

Create a simple dashboard: - Impressions: 50,000 - Clicks: 1,200 (2.4% CTR) - Website sessions: 800 (from ads) - Demo requests: 40 - Opportunities created: 8 - Pipeline: [pricing varies, check vendor website].6M - Ad spend: [pricing varies, check vendor website]- ROI: 160x (pipeline / spend)

Update weekly. If a segment or platform is underperforming, investigate or pause.

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Targeting too many accounts If you're targeting 1,000 accounts with [pricing varies, check vendor website], you're spending [pricing varies, check vendor website]per account per month. That's not enough for consistent impressions. Pick 100-200. Dominate those.

Mistake 2: Using generic creative Running the same "Scale your sales" ad to fintech and healthcare gets ignored. Use segment-specific creative. Double your CTR.

Mistake 3: Disconnecting ads from sales Sales doesn't know you're running ads. A prospect visits your site. Sales doesn't follow up. Ad doesn't convert. Integrate: when a prospect from a target company visits, flag it in Slack or CRM.

Mistake 4: Only running top-of-funnel ads Reach is good. But you need conversion. Use ads to drive: - Demo requests (not just awareness) - Comparison pages (intent content) - Landing pages with a clear ask

Mistake 5: Not retargeting Someone from Account A visits your site but doesn't demo. Run retargeting ads to them for 30 days. Second touchpoint is where conversions happen.

Your ABM Ads Are Just Acceleration

Remember: Ads don't close deals. They accelerate them.

The goal is to: 1. Get eyeballs (ads do this) 2. Generate curiosity (landing pages do this) 3. Sales team closes it (conversations do this)

Run ads to the accounts your sales team is hunting. Coordinate with email campaigns and 1:1 outreach. That coordination is where the magic happens.

Start with one platform (LinkedIn is the easiest). Build it. Measure it. Then add Google Display or 6sense if you have the budget.