ABM List Building in 2025: Precision Prospecting for Modern B2B Sales

Major Takeaways: ABM List

What Defines an Effective ABM List in 2025?

• An ABM list is a curated selection of high-value target accounts and key contacts, built using your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and enriched with real-time intent data for precision targeting.

How Small Should an ABM List Be for Maximum Impact?

• Most successful ABM programs target fewer than 1,000 accounts, with Tier 1 focusing on as few as 20–30 high-value companies for deep personalization.

Why Does Intent Data Change ABM Targeting?

• Only about 5% of your target market is in-market at any given time, making intent data essential for prioritizing accounts most ready to engage.

What Role Does AI Play in ABM List Building?

• AI tools can analyze firmographics, technographics, and buying signals to rank accounts by purchase likelihood, boosting revenue potential by up to 79%.

Why Map Buying Committees Early?

• B2B deals involve an average of 7 decision-makers; mapping these stakeholders ensures multi-threaded outreach and higher deal win rates.

How Does Personalization Influence ABM List Success?

• Personalized outreach can double engagement rates, with 80% of buyers more likely to respond to messaging tailored to their role or business context.

Why Must Sales and Marketing Align on the ABM List?

• Alignment improves close rates by up to 67%, ensuring both teams focus on the same high-priority accounts with a coordinated approach.

Introduction

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) has gone from buzzword to B2B must-have. Virtually all B2B marketers (94%) now use ABM in some form, and 87% report it delivers higher ROI than traditional tactics (1). 

Why the surge? In an era of tighter budgets and intense competition, sales and marketing teams can’t afford to fish in an empty pond. Traditional outbound methods – blasting hundreds of generic cold emails or buying bloated contact lists – yield diminishing returns and wasted spend. If you don’t zero in on your ideal prospects, your competitors will. ABM offers a strategic antidote: focus your resources on a curated list of high-value accounts most likely to convert.

At its core, ABM flips the script on lead generation. Instead of casting a wide net and hoping good sales ready leads swim in, you start by identifying which companies you want as customers and build a targeted “wish list” of those accounts (1). Marketing and sales then work in unison to engage each target with personalized, relevant outreach. The results speak for themselves – organizations with strong ABM programs have seen deal sizes grow (58% of marketers report larger deals) (3) and sales cycles shorten (ABM can shrink sales cycles by ~40% on average (2)). In fact, aligning ABM efforts with outbound sales has led to 61% of companies citing improved pipeline quality as a key benefit (3). In short, a precise ABM list is the engine of pipeline growth.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll share how to build an ABM list for 2025 that drives real results. We’ll explore what an “ABM list” really means and why it’s critical, highlight emerging trends (like AI-driven targeting and intent data signals), and walk through a step-by-step framework to create and leverage your own ABM lead list. Throughout, we’ll use a first-person plural perspective to share our insights at Martal Group (acting as your extended sales partner) and speak to you directly with practical advice. Our goal: by the end of this post, you’ll have a clear roadmap and the latest tools to take your outbound lead generation to the next level. Let’s dive in.

ABM List Meaning: What Is an ABM Lead List and Why It Matters

An ABM list (or ABM lead list) is the carefully selected set of accounts and key contacts that your team will pursue with an account-based approach. Unlike a generic marketing lead list, which might contain thousands of loosely qualified names, an ABM list is highly curated and strategic. Think of it as your sales team’s “Most Wanted” list – the companies (and people within them) that best fit your ideal customer profile and offer the biggest revenue potential. ABM lists typically include detailed info for each target account (industry, size, tech stack, pain points) along with specific decision-makers and influencers to reach out to at each account.

Why does this matter in 2025? Because ABM turns the traditional sales funnel on its head. Instead of starting with a broad set of sales leads and narrowing down, ABM starts narrow – you identify and prioritize the right accounts first. By front-loading the targeting research, you ensure marketing and sales are focusing only on prospects with a high likelihood to convert. This precision pays off: companies practicing ABM have achieved an 81% increase in ROI compared to those sticking with scattershot marketing (10). Deals also tend to close faster – one study found ABM-engaged accounts closed 40% quicker than non-ABM deals on average (2). The logic is simple: when you’re talking to the right people at the right accounts, you can move to a win faster.

Moreover, an ABM list aligns your whole revenue team. Marketing isn’t tossing random leads over the fence; sales and marketing agree upfront on a finite list of target accounts to pursue. This alignment yields concrete benefits. Organizations that tightly synchronize sales and marketing around an ABM list see significantly higher close rates – integrating teams can increase deal closures by 67% (2) – and better retention of those customers (customer retention can improve by 36% with ABM alignment (2)). Everyone is rowing in the same direction, toward the same accounts.

It’s worth noting that an ABM lead list typically focuses on quality over quantity. In fact, many successful ABM programs concentrate on surprisingly small numbers of accounts. One industry benchmark found companies actively pursue an average of only 38 accounts at a time (4) in their ABM efforts. Another study showed 57% of ABM marketers target 1,000 or fewer accounts in total (4) – a drop in the bucket compared to mass marketing lists. By keeping the list manageable and well-researched, you can dedicate the level of personalization and multi-touch outreach needed to actually break through to each account. As ABM veterans like to say, a list of 50 highly-qualified accounts will outperform a list of 5,000 lukewarm leads every time.

In short, your ABM list is the foundation of your entire account-based strategy. It defines where your team spends its time and budget. A great list focuses your efforts on the prospects that really matter, yielding bigger deals, faster closes, and more predictable revenue. A poor list (or no defined list at all) means you’re back to spray-and-pray marketing – and likely missing the mark. Next, we’ll look at what’s new in 2025 influencing how smart teams build these lists.

2025 Trends Shaping ABM List Building

B2B buying behavior and technology are evolving, and ABM list building is evolving with them. Here are some key 2025 trends and dynamics that experienced CMOs and sales leaders need to consider when crafting an ABM list:

• Buyers are harder to catch (and timing is everything). Research shows that at any given time, only about 5% of your B2B target market is actively looking to buy what you sell (5). In other words, even if a company fits your Ideal Customer Profile, there’s a 95% chance they’re not in-market right now. This has huge implications for building your list – you can’t just target based on fit, you also need to target based on readiness. In 2025, that means leveraging intent data and buying signals to zero in on accounts that are showing signs of interest. The good news is that new tools make this easier (more on that later). Companies using intent data to guide their ABM targeting see outstanding results – 97% of intent-identified leads generate more pipeline than leads without those insights (6). The bottom line: an ABM list is no longer static; it’s a dynamic selection that should factor in real-time intent and timing.
  
• ABM is mainstream – and budgets are shifting accordingly. Just a few years ago, ABM was experimental for many teams. Now it’s table stakes. As noted, 94% of B2B organizations have adopted ABM in some fashion (1), and most started in the past 5 years. Companies are ramping up investment in account-based programs: roughly 29% of B2B marketing budgets are now dedicated to ABM (4). This trend means two things for list building. First, your competitors might also be running ABM plays – targeting your ideal accounts – so having an accurate, insights-driven list is crucial to outflank them. Second, with more resources behind ABM, you can justify spending more effort (or partnering with experts or an ABM agency) to build and refine a high-quality list. We’re well past the days of ABM being a side experiment run by one marketer; it’s often a core go-to-market strategy with executive visibility, so the pressure is on to get the target list right.
  
• Data and AI are supercharging targeting. The year 2025 finds us in the golden age of data for B2B sales. Companies are leveraging AI and machine learning to analyze mountains of data and pinpoint the best accounts to go after. Predictive analytics can crunch firmographics, technographics, engagement history, and third-party intent signals to score accounts or potential customers. According to recent surveys, 79% of businesses report that integrating AI tools into their ABM strategy has led to revenue increases (2). How does this impact list building? In practical terms, you can use AI-based models to rank a universe of prospective accounts by “propensity to buy,” helping you prioritize who makes the cut for your ABM list. AI is also aiding contact discovery (e.g. tools that automatically find lookalike contacts or verify emails). In short, smart ABM lists in 2025 are increasingly data-driven – built with the help of algorithms that ensure no high-potential account is overlooked.
  
• Buying committees are bigger, so lists must go deeper. It’s now common knowledge that B2B purchase decisions are made by committee. In fact, an average B2B sale involves about 7 decision-makers or influencers in the process (4). This is slightly up from a few years ago, reflecting more cross-functional input on big tech and services buys. For ABM list builders, this means you can’t just add “Acme Corp” to your target account list and call it a day – you need to include the key personas at Acme Corp who your sales team will engage. That might be a mix of C-suite executives, VPs, directors, end-users, and procurement folks, depending on your solution. Mapping the buying committee at each target account (and adding all those names to your ABM contact list) is crucial to actually land and expand the account. We also see ABM programs tiering their contacts – e.g. ensuring at least one C-level contact per account for top-tier accounts, etc. The takeaway: in 2025, a strong ABM list isn’t just a list of companies, it’s a list of people – the specific stakeholders who collectively will decide whether to choose your solution.
  
• Personalization and privacy are raising the bar. Buyers today expect personalized outreach – a generic cold sales pitch won’t cut through the noise. 80% of consumers (and by extension, business buyers) are more likely to purchase from brands that offer personalized experiences (7). ABM by definition is about personalization at scale, but to do that effectively, your list needs to be rich with context. Leading teams are augmenting their lists with insights like what content each prospect engaged with, what challenges their industry is facing, recent news about the account, etc., and feeding that to sales reps for tailored messaging. On the flip side, data privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA, etc.) mean you must be careful about where you source contacts and how you store data. In 2025, reputable data providers and compliance are a key part of ABM list building (no more scraping random emails or risking privacy violations – the fines are too high and trust too important). The trend is toward quality, permission-based data and transparency in how lists are built.
  
• Sales–marketing collaboration is not optional. ABM list building used to be done occasionally by marketing with some input from sales. Now, successful programs treat it as an ongoing team activity. Given the high stakes, many companies have even created a dedicated ABM role or task force – in fact, 69% of organizations utilizing ABM have a dedicated ABM strategy leader (4). This person or team facilitates regular alignment meetings to refine target accounts, review new data, and adjust the list. We’re also seeing shared sales KPIs emerge (pipeline per account, account engagement score, etc.) that keep both sales and marketing accountable to the list’s outcomes. The message for 2025 is clear: building and maintaining an ABM list is a cross-functional effort. If your marketing ops team is picking target accounts in a vacuum, or your sales reps are freelancing their own prospect lists on the side, you won’t reap the full benefits of ABM. The process and tools need to be shared.

In summary, an ABM list in 2025 is more dynamic, data-fueled, and collaborative than ever. Teams are using sophisticated tech (AI, intent signals) to continuously refine who goes on the list, and doubling down on quality data to populate it. They’re also acknowledging that a great list requires both art and science – the quantitative insights plus the qualitative judgment of experienced sales reps who know, for example, when an account looks good on paper but has red flags from past experience. Next, let’s translate these trends into action with a step-by-step framework for building your ABM list.

Step-by-Step: How to Build an ABM Lead List in 2025

Building an effective ABM list is part science, part art. It requires strategic thinking, teamwork, and the right tools. Here’s our 7-step framework for creating an ABM list that your sales and marketing teams can rally around – and that will actually deliver results:

1. Align Sales and Marketing on Your ICP and Goals

The first step is getting on the same page internally. We always start by bringing marketing and sales leaders together to define the target criteria. Who is our Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)? What defines a “high-value” account for us (industry, company size, location, tech stack, pain points)? And what are our goals – new customer and lead acquisition, account expansion, or both? Iron out these definitions collaboratively. This alignment is not just a nice-to-have; it’s critical. When sales and marketing work from a unified ICP and target account criteria, companies see dramatically better outcomes – one study found integrated teams achieved 67% higher deal closure rates (2). Take the time to host a joint ICP workshop, review data on your best customers, and agree on what the ideal account looks like before anyone builds a list. We often share key customer success stories or data from our CRM to illustrate patterns, ensuring both teams see the same portrait of the “dream client.” By the end of this step, you should have a clear ICP document and buy-in across your revenue team.

2. Define (or Refine) Your Ideal Customer Profile

Now, drill down into the specifics of your ICP – essentially the attributes of a company that make it an ideal target. This includes firmographics (e.g. industry, annual revenue, employee count, geography), technographics (e.g. uses cloud X or e-commerce platform Y), and any other must-have characteristics (e.g. “must have an internal sales team of 5+” or “currently hiring data scientists”). Also consider negative criteria (who is not a fit). If you haven’t formally documented your ICP, do it now; if you have one, revisit it with fresh data. Many companies realize their ICP was too fuzzy – in fact, 36% of companies are still trying to strengthen or clarify their ICP according to a Demand Gen survey (5). Yet those who nail their ICP reap huge benefits. Why? Because they’re selling to customers who truly need and value their solution. So take the time to analyze your best customers (by revenue, retention, satisfaction) and identify common traits. Use that to sketch a clear profile of “Tier 1” accounts. For example, our ICP at Martal might be something like: “B2B tech companies in SaaS or IT services, 50–500 employees, headquartered in North America or Europe, with sales teams but no in-house outbound SDR function, and experiencing growth or funding events.” The more specific, the better. This profile becomes the blueprint for the next step.

3. Identify Target Accounts That Fit the Profile

Armed with your ICP, it’s time to build the initial account list. There are several avenues to source high-potential accounts:

• Mine your own data: Start with your CRM and marketing database. Are there past leads or dormant opportunities that fit the ICP but never converted? What about current or former customers that could be upsold or re-engaged (ABM isn’t only for new logo acquisition)? Pull those in first.
  
• Leverage third-party data: Use B2B databases and sales intelligence tools to find companies matching your ICP. For example, LinkedIn Sales Navigator is extremely useful – you can filter for industry, company size, location, keywords, etc., and build lists of companies. (LinkedIn has over 800 million profiles covering countless companies (6), giving you a rich hunting ground.) Other database tools like ZoomInfo, Dun & Bradstreet, Crunchbase, or industry-specific directories can help surface targets. Many ABM teams also subscribe to lead list providers or data vendors for this step – quality providers can supply lists of companies along with contacts (we’ll discuss top tools later).
  
• Tap your team’s knowledge: Don’t underestimate the value of sales reps’ and executives’ input. Host an “account brainstorming” session: ask your sales team “Who would you love to get in front of?” Often they have dream accounts in mind or intel from the field about companies showing interest. Marketing might contribute with lookalike analysis (e.g. “we do well in fintech, here are some up-and-coming fintech accounts that fit our ICP”). This qualitative input can produce targets you won’t find in a database.
  
• Prioritize and trim: You might start with a long list of potential accounts (hundreds or even a few thousand). Now apply a quality filter. Score or rank accounts based on how well they fit the ICP criteria (some tools can score automatically). It’s better to focus on a manageable number of targets rather than spreading yourself too thin. Most ABM programs begin with a pilot list in the low hundreds or fewer. In practice, 57% of ABM practitioners target under 1,000 accounts total (4), and many successful programs focus on just a few dozen tier-1 accounts at a time. Remember, ABM is about focus. As one ABM leader quipped, “If your target account list is basically ‘anyone with a pulse,’ you’re not doing ABM.” Be picky and keep the list size aligned with your team’s capacity to personalize outreach.

Pro Tip: Consider breaking your list into tiers at this stage. For example, Tier 1 = your 20–30 highest-value dream accounts (white-glove, one-to-one ABM), Tier 2 = the next 50–100 important accounts (one-to-few scaled personalization), Tier 3 = broader set of 500+ that still fit ICP (one-to-many, lighter touch). This tiering will help allocate resources later. Many ABM teams find that dedicating ~70% of effort to Tier 1, 20% to Tier 2, 10% to Tier 3 is a good mix.

(Below is an example of how you might structure tiers in an ABM list):

4. Incorporate Intent Data and Signals to Prioritize

Not all ICP-fit accounts are created equal – timing and interest level are critical. This step separates the hot prospects from the merely good-on-paper ones. Intent data refers to indicators that an account is actively researching or showing interest in solutions like yours. Sources include third-party intent providers (e.g. Bombora, G2 Buyer Intent, 6sense predictive data) which track web searches, content consumption, and other behaviors that correlate with buying intent. You may also have first-party intent signals, like accounts visiting your pricing page or frequently engaging with your emails/webinars. Use these signals to score and prioritize the accounts on your list:

• Identify which target accounts have high intent scores or recent trigger events (e.g. they downloaded a whitepaper on a relevant topic, or there’s news they secured funding – a signal they might invest in new tools).
  
• Score accounts on FIT + INTENT. A popular framework here is FIRE: Fit, Intent, Recency, Engagement (5). Fit = how well the account matches your ICP (you did this above). Intent = are they actively researching your space. Recency = when was the last engagement or signal (fresh signals are stronger). Engagement = are they already interacting with your marketing (site visits, email opens, etc.). You can assign point values or use software that does this scoring. Accounts with strong Fit + high Intent/Engagement should rise to the top of your ABM list, whereas low-intent accounts might be deprioritized or placed in a nurture bucket for later.
  
• Focus on the ~5% ready to buy. As noted, at any moment only ~5% of companies may be in-market (5). Intent data helps you find that needle in the haystack. For example, if you sell cybersecurity software and one of your target accounts has a spike in intent signals around “cloud security solutions” in the last 2 weeks, that account likely belongs at the front of the line for sales outreach. According to research, companies that really leverage intent data see a huge payoff – 97% of intent-driven leads contribute more to pipeline than those without intent focus (6).
  
• Use sales trigger events. Alongside intent data, set up alerts for sales triggers: e.g. leadership changes, new funding, mergers, product launches at your target accounts. These events can indicate a good time for outreach (new execs often shake up vendors, funding means budget to spend, etc.). An account on your list with a recent trigger might get temporarily “up-ranked” due to the timely opportunity.

By infusing your target list with these dynamic signals, you avoid the classic pitfall of ABM: focusing only on who to target and ignoring when to reach out. The output of this step is a prioritized ABM account list where each account is tagged with priority level or score based on both fit and intent. Now you know not just whom to target, but who is ready now versus later.

5. Identify the Key Contacts (Buying Committee) at Each Account

With your target accounts selected and prioritized, the next step is building out the lead portion of your ABM lead list – the actual people you need to engage. ABM is all about multi-threading into an organization, so plan to target multiple contacts per account, typically spanning different roles:

• Map the roles involved in the typical purchase: For example, in a tech sale you might need the CTO or IT Director (technical decision-maker), the CFO or finance head (budget approver), the end-user manager who will champion the product, and perhaps procurement. Create a mini “org chart” template for the buying committee. On average, expect ~7 stakeholders in a B2B purchase (4), though it can range from 3 to 10+.
  
• Find names and titles: Use tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator to search each target account for people with those relevant titles (e.g. “VP of Marketing at Acme Corp” or “Head of Data Engineering Acme”). Sales Navigator’s filters (company + title + location, etc.) are invaluable here. Other sources include your CRM (do you already know people at the account from past engagements?), ZoomInfo or contact databases (which can give you names, emails, phone numbers), and the account’s own website (press releases, leadership pages). Don’t forget referrals – if someone on your team has a connection to that company, leverage that to find the right contacts.
  
• Aim for 5–10 contacts per account (or more for larger accounts). You want enough coverage that if one person goes dark, you have other paths in. At minimum, try to get at least one contact for each key role: a decision-maker (economic buyer), a technical evaluator, a user champion, etc. For big enterprise accounts, you might have 15-20 contacts in an ABM sequence (spread across regions or divisions). For smaller mid-market accounts, maybe 3-5 contacts. Calibrate based on deal size and complexity.
  
• Include both high-level and mid-level players: ABM tends to be effective at engaging senior stakeholders (one stat shows marketers using ABM engage C-suite execs twice as often as those using broad marketing (8)). So be bold in adding CXO or VP-level contacts – personalized outreach can actually get their attention. However, don’t ignore managers and end-users who influence decisions; often a champion lower in the org will internally advocate for your solution if you win their trust.
  
• Verify contact info: It’s crucial to have accurate emails, phone numbers, and LinkedIn profiles for these contacts. Nothing kills an outreach sequence faster than bounced emails or wrong numbers. Use email verification tools (we routinely run our lists through verifiers like ZeroBounce or NeverBounce). Keep in mind that about 23% of emails in a typical B2B contact list may be invalid due to people changing jobs, etc. (6). Cleaning that out upfront protects your sender reputation and ensures your messages reach the targets. Also double-check spelling of names, company domain formats, and so on.

By the end of this step, your ABM list is no longer just companies – it’s a set of target accounts each with a roster of target contacts. This might be captured in a spreadsheet or (better) in your CRM/ABM platform with an “account record” linked to multiple contact records. For example, your entry for Acme Corp now includes the CTO Jane Doe (email, LinkedIn), the VP Finance John Smith, the Dir. of Ops Alice Lee, etc., along with any notes on each. This multi-threaded contact list will enable the personalized, multi-angle outreach that ABM requires.

6. Enrich and Segment Your ABM List Data

Now that you have the who (accounts + contacts) and some why (intent signals), it’s time to enrich and organize the list for actionable campaigns.

• Enrich data for personalization: Data enrichment means adding any missing information that could help tailor your approach. This could include firmographic details (company size, industry sub-sector, growth rate), technographic data (what software the company uses – often available via tools like BuiltWith or Apollo), or recent news (funding, new CEO, etc.). Also enrich contact data – e.g. find a contact’s professional bio, recent LinkedIn posts, or alma mater if relevant. Many teams integrate enrichment tools (Clearbit, ZoomInfo, etc.) to automatically append fields like company revenue, LinkedIn URLs, etc., to their lists. Enriched data powers better segmentation and personalization. In fact, studies show companies that invest in thorough data enrichment see 35% higher email open rates and 20% more leads converting to customers (6). The extra context lets you craft messages that truly resonate.
  
• Segment the list into clusters or categories: Not every account should receive the exact same messaging. Review your ABM list and group accounts by relevant segments: for example, by industry (you might have a cluster of fintech targets, a cluster of healthcare targets, etc.), or by company size/tier (enterprise vs mid-market might warrant different value propositions), or by persona challenge (maybe some accounts are tech-driven companies vs others are more old-school – different approaches). Common segmentation for ABM includes vertical industry segments and tier-based segments. Also segment contacts by persona (e.g. technical roles vs financial buyer roles) for tailored content to each. The goal is to enable customized touches at scale: you might prepare industry-specific sales email templates or role-specific cold call scripts for each segment. According to research, segmented and tailored outreach can significantly boost engagement – one report noted 73% of B2B marketers rate webinars as a top way to get quality leads in ABM (6) (often webinars are segmented by industry or role), and 56% of marketers say personalized content is key to ABM success (4).
  
• Tier for resource allocation: If you haven’t already tiered the accounts (as mentioned in step 3), do so now. Flag which accounts are Tier 1 (the ones that get the highest level of personalization and sales effort) vs Tier 2, etc. This will dictate the level of touch later (e.g. Tier 1 might get a personalized direct mail gift in addition to emails/LinkedIn touches, whereas Tier 3 might just get an automated cadence until they “raise their hand”). Tiering ensures you’re investing appropriately – your sales rep can’t manually personalize 500 emails a week, but they can do 20 if those are the most valuable accounts.

By segmenting and enriching the list, you set yourself up to deliver relevant messaging that treats an IT director at a 200-person SaaS startup very differently from a CIO at a 10,000-person bank. The list should now essentially be campaign-ready – it’s the strategic intel on who to contact, with what angle, and how to slice them into targeted groups for outreach.

7. Maintain and Update the List Continuously

One mistake to avoid is thinking of your ABM list as a one-and-done deliverable. The list is a living asset and needs regular maintenance and refinement:

• Schedule periodic refreshes: People change jobs, companies pivot – so refresh your data frequently. Verify contacts every few months. Stats show almost 50% of lead data goes stale within a year (6). If you let your ABM contacts age without updating, you’ll be emailing ghosts or dead inboxes. Build a habit (and assign ownership) to keep the list current.
  
• Add and subtract accounts based on feedback: Monitor how accounts are responding. If an account on your list shows no engagement after prolonged effort, consider moving it to a nurture pool and replacing it on the active list with a fresh account (perhaps from your backlog of ICP fits). Conversely, if new high-potential accounts emerge (say you notice a competitor’s customer that now fits your ICP, or a new unicorn startup in your space), don’t be afraid to add them mid-cycle if resources allow. The ABM list should evolve as your market evolves. Many programs do a quarterly review of the target account list to decide if swaps or additions are needed.
  
• Incorporate sales insights: Encourage your sales reps and SDRs to provide qualitative feedback from the front lines. They might discover, for instance, that a certain target account has an incumbent solution with a locked-in long contract – meaning low odds of near-term win (perhaps that account should be deprioritized). Or they might learn that another target just brought on a new CEO who is open to new ideas – maybe bump that one up. Create a feedback loop where what sales learns in the field updates the targeting approach.
  
• Track metrics and refine criteria: As you run ABM campaigns, track which accounts progress (e.g. book meetings, enter pipeline) and which don’t. Analyze the patterns. Maybe you’ll find that accounts with a certain technology are converting at much higher rates – adjust your ICP criteria to emphasize that. Or you might find an industry segment isn’t responding – perhaps cull those accounts for now. Use data (win rates, engagement scores, pipeline velocity by account) to sharpen your list criteria over time. ABM leaders often attribute over 70% of their pipeline to targeted account efforts, but it comes from constant fine-tuning. Remember, companies with aligned, mature ABM strategies grew revenue 208% faster over 3 years than those without (2) – partly because they kept optimizing their target list and approach.
  
• Ensure data quality hygiene: Beyond just updates, keep your list “clean.” Merge duplicate entries, standardize naming conventions (e.g. “IBM” vs “International Business Machines” should be one account). Bad data isn’t just an annoyance – it can directly hurt revenue. Businesses lose over 10% of annual revenue due to poor data quality (6) through mis-routed leads, bounced communications, and inefficiencies. Good list hygiene = more effective outreach and accurate analytics on your ABM results.

By following these steps, you’ll have an ABM lead list that is targeted, prioritized, and primed for outreach. But a list alone doesn’t create pipeline – it’s how you use it. In the next section, we’ll discuss the tools and platforms that can help you effectively deploy your ABM list in multichannel, outbound campaigns, and how to convert those targeted contacts into meetings and deals.

Top Tools and Technologies for ABM List Building in 2025

Crafting an ABM list is a strategic exercise, but you’ll want to arm yourself with the right tools to make the job faster, easier, and more data-driven. The martech and salestech landscape in 2025 is rich with solutions for account-based strategies. 

Below are key categories of tools (with examples) that can elevate your ABM list building and execution, along with what each brings to the table:

• Sales Intelligence & Data Platforms: These are databases of company and contact information that help you discover and research target accounts. Tools like ZoomInfo (extensive B2B contact database with firmographic details and some intent signals) and Lusha (prospecting tool with an emphasis on data accuracy, ~81% verified data accuracy reported (6)) fall in this bucket. They enable you to search for companies that fit your ICP and then pull lists of decision-makers at those companies, complete with emails and phone numbers. 

Just be sure to filter wisely; a good data platform will let you apply granular criteria so you’re not boiling the ocean. LinkedIn Sales Navigator also deserves mention – while not a static database you export, it’s an incredibly powerful intelligence tool to build account lists and find contacts through advanced filtering (industry, headcount, job title, etc.) on the LinkedIn network. With Sales Nav, you have direct access to insights on 800+ million profiles and can save target account lists, set alerts for job changes, and engage via InMail (6). Most ABM teams consider LinkedIn Sales Navigator a must-have for list building and social selling.

• Intent Data and Signal Tools: As discussed, intent data is gold for ABM targeting. At Martal, we combine intent data with our proprietary AI SDR platform (trained on 40M+ emails and 15 years of performance data) to validate and prioritize accounts before outreach. This ensures SDRs focus only on the highest-probability targets.

Other platforms like Bombora (which aggregates third-party web consumption data to infer buyer intent) and G2 Buyer Intent (shows which accounts are researching products on peer review sites) can feed you weekly lists of accounts surging in interest for topics related to your solution. 6sense and Demandbase are ABM platforms that integrate intent data with AI; they can identify anonymous buying signals (like which target accounts are visiting your website unbeknownst to you) and surface accounts “in market” that aren’t yet on your radar. 

Using these tools, you might discover that out of your 500 target accounts, these 30 have a spike in searches for terms matching your use case this month – that’s actionable insight to prioritize outreach. Some of these platforms also provide account or lead scoring that combines fit and intent, simplifying your job of ranking the list. 

Pro tip: connect intent tools to your CRM/marketing automation so that when an account shows high intent, it triggers an alert or task for sales. Given that responding to a hot intent signal quickly is key (engaging a buyer within hours of a spike can dramatically increase your odds of connecting), automation helps you capitalize on the data. 

• ABM Orchestration & Advertising Platforms: These are platforms specifically designed to execute and manage ABM campaigns at scale. They often combine several capabilities: account identification (some have database and intent data built-in), the ability to run targeted digital ad campaigns to your list (e.g. display ads that only your target accounts will see), and analytics to measure engagement by account. If you plan to do programmatic account-based advertising (like IP-based ads, LinkedIn ads targeting specific companies, retargeting campaigns for named accounts), these tools are extremely useful.

For instance, RollWorks data shows that accounts exposed to coordinated ad campaigns move through pipeline 234% faster on average (3) – highlighting that ads can warm up the account while your SDRs and AEs are doing direct outreach. These platforms also often provide an “account dashboard” where you can see all touchpoints and engagement for each target account (great for tracking how your list is performing). While these may be overkill if you’re just starting ABM on a small scale, for mature programs they’re a central hub for managing the list and campaigns together.

• Sales Engagement & Outreach Tools: Once you have your target accounts and contacts, you need to actually reach out – ideally in a coordinated, multi-channel way. Sales engagement platforms like Outreach.io, Salesloft, HubSpot Sales Hub, or Apollo let your team set up sequences (cadences) of emails, calls, and social touches for specific contacts. They help ensure no one falls through the cracks and provide productivity boosts like email templates, automated task reminders, and engagement tracking. 

For ABM, these tools are how you operationalize personalized outreach at scale. You can load your target contact list, assign them to tailored cadences (e.g. a “Fintech Tier 1” sequence with highly personalized steps, versus a lighter “Manufacturing Tier 3” sequence), and monitor replies, call connects, etc. Many also plug into LinkedIn for automating connection requests or InMails as part of the cadence. A good sales engagement tool is crucial for ABM because it enforces the discipline of consistent, persistent outreach across channels – which is often what it takes to break into a tough account. Pro tip: make sure to coordinate marketing touches (like those ads or a piece of direct mail) with your sales touches via these platforms. An aligned cadence might be something like:

• Day 1 – SDR email,
• Day 3 – LinkedIn connect, 
• Day 5 – marketing sends a custom case study PDF, 
• Day 7 – SDR call, etc. 

Omnichannel marketing is key; in fact, using at least 3 channels can double engagement and boost reply rates by over 50% according to our experience (and industry data) (8).

Some newer AI-powered sales engagement tools (including Martal’s own AI Sales Platform) also optimize send times, personalize snippets using AI, and protect sender reputation automatically – all helpful for ABM teams sending highly targeted emails. LinkedIn Sales Navigator can be considered in this category too for the social outreach part. Also, don’t forget old-fashioned phone dialing – consider tools like cloud dialers or conversational intelligence platforms (e.g. Dialpad, Gong) that can help with call efforts to those key contacts.

• CRM and Marketing Automation: Your CRM (e.g. Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, Microsoft Dynamics) and potentially a marketing automation platform (e.g. Marketo, HubSpot Marketing, Pardot) round out the tech stack to support ABM list management. The CRM is where your accounts and contacts live – make sure it’s configured for account-based focus (using account records properly, linking contacts to accounts, and capturing account-level attributes like industry, tier, owner, etc.). 

Many CRMs now have ABM-specific features or integrations (Salesforce has an ABM toolkit, HubSpot has an ABM view and properties). Marketing automation is used to run nurture campaigns and track engagement from the marketing side (e.g. if a target account contact visits your website or downloads content, it scores them or alerts the owner). These systems ensure that as your ABM list engages, the data is captured and can trigger the next actions. They’re also vital for measurement – attributing pipeline and revenue to your ABM efforts. For instance, you might create dashboards that show pipeline created by target account, win rates for ABM accounts vs non-ABM, etc., using CRM data. While these platforms might not be flashy, a solid CRM with ABM tracking in place is what ties everything together and avoids siloed lists or lost insight.

• Data Enrichment & Validation Services: As a subset of the data platforms, it’s worth highlighting tools purely focused on keeping your list accurate. Services like NeverBounce, ZeroBounce, or Kickbox specialize in email verification (to achieve ~98-99% email deliverability by weeding out bad emails (6)). Others like Clearbit or Adapt can enrich a contact with social profiles or a company with firmographics via API. If you have a sizable list, running it through these services before kicking off outreach is a best practice to reduce bounce rates below 2% (important for email sender reputation) and to fill in any missing gaps. Some providers also offer human-verified contacts or research-on-demand for very targeted lists (e.g. CIENCE or Swordfish offer human-curated lead research, though one must ensure compliance and non-competitiveness). The ROI on data quality tools is usually high – for example, one study noted that companies with fully enriched data spent 40% less time on research and more time selling (6), accelerating sales cycles.

In summary, the tools you choose should map to your needs and scale. If you’re a lean team with a small ABM pilot, LinkedIn Sales Nav plus a good CRM and maybe a basic sequencing tool could suffice. If you’re a larger org with hundreds of target accounts and serious pipeline goals, investing in intent data, a robust data platform, and perhaps an ABM platform for ads/analytics will pay off. 

We’ve found that combining multiple tools strategically yields the best results – for instance, using Martal’s AI platform alongside 6sense and LinkedIn, we’re able to automate personalized touches and get a 360° view of account engagement. In fact, leveraging such tool stacks has helped increase lead response and booking rates by 30–70% in our campaigns (9) (AI helps send the right message at the right time, increasing connections). The key is ensuring all tools integrate and feed into a unified account view so that your ABM list remains the single source of truth.

Next, let’s touch on some best practices to keep in mind as you put your ABM list to work, and then we’ll conclude with how all of this ties back to driving real revenue – and when to consider partnering for help.

ABM List Building Best Practices and Pitfalls to Avoid

Building a potent ABM list is as much about process and mindset as it is about data and tech. As you implement the steps above, keep these best practices in mind to maximize your chances of success (and steer clear of common missteps):

• Quality Over Quantity – Always. It’s tempting to keep adding more accounts to “cover more ground,” especially when leadership asks about total addressable market. But ABM is inherently a quality play. A smaller list of well-qualified, well-researched accounts will beat a massive list of random prospects every time. In fact, when one company audited their outbound efforts, they found that poor-quality lists cost 60% more over time due to the extra cleanup and low returns (6). Focus your list on the accounts that matter most, and commit to doing the deeper research and personalization those deserve. It’s better to really pursue 50 great accounts than to send lukewarm touches to 500. If anyone questions why your list isn’t bigger, educate them that ABM is about focus and that broad-based demand gen can cover the rest of the market.
  
• Invest in Data Hygiene and Accuracy. An ABM list is only as good as the data in it. Prioritize keeping your list up-to-date and accurate. Build in routine checks for new emails or job changes (many teams use tools that automatically update contacts when they change roles – consider enabling those). Remember that almost half of B2B contact data decays each year (6), so without maintenance your list can get stale fast. Also, enforce standards: e.g. every account on the list must have a valid website, industry tag, and at least X contacts; every contact must have a verified email and role tag. Cleaning and completing data isn’t glamorous, but it directly impacts results. Bounced emails, wrong names, or mis-targeted titles can derail an otherwise brilliant ABM campaign. In our experience, rigorous data hygiene has a side benefit too – it forces sales/marketing to regularly review the list and catches issues (like “Why do we have 5 duplicate entries for Acme?” or “This account doesn’t actually fit our ICP, let’s replace it”).
  
• Leverage Multichannel Touchpoints (and coordinate them). Your ABM list is the starting point for a campaign, not a one-off email blast. Plan multi-touch, multichannel cadences to engage those target contacts. That means combining email, LinkedIn, phone calls/voicemails, targeted ads, events, even direct mail or personal video messages – whatever channels make sense for your audience. Why? Because reaching busy executives requires meeting them where they pay attention. Maybe your champion lives on LinkedIn, while their boss responds to voicemails. Research shows that prospects who receive touches across both marketing and sales channels move down the pipeline 234% faster than those with sales outreach alone (8). The big best practice here is coordination. Use a shared calendar or sequence tool to orchestrate touches so that, for example, marketing’s display ad softens the ground before the SDR’s call, or a LinkedIn comment by your exec is followed by an email reference to that interaction. An uncoordinated approach (like sales blindly emailing while marketing unknowingly spams the same contacts) can backfire or just be ignored. Your ABM list should be the reference point that all teams use to align their outreach – it’s literally a list of who the company is talking to this quarter. When done right, this orchestration yields omnipresent messaging that makes your solution hard to ignore. One client we worked with saw a 50% increase in meeting acceptance once we layered LinkedIn touches and personalized mailers on top of email – the synergy made the difference.
  
• Personalize, Personalize, Personalize. We’ve said it throughout, but it bears repeating: personalization is the heart of ABM. You have a narrow audience – use that to your advantage by crafting highly relevant communications. Reference the target’s specific business challenge, mention a recent company event (e.g. “Congrats on your acquisition of XYZ – that must be expanding your APAC presence, which we can support…”), address the person’s role (“As a CFO, you likely care about ROI and risk…”). This isn’t theory – personalization directly drives response rates. 80% of buyers are more likely to respond or purchase when the outreach is tailored to their business (8). Conversely, generic pitches will especially flop with an ABM audience, because by definition these folks are high-value and get bombarded with vendor messages. Use the research you gathered in list building to add personal touches. Even small details help (“Noticed on LinkedIn you attended Mobile World Congress – many of our clients did too, and here’s an insight we shared…”). Pro Tip: create a personalization checklist for your SDRs/AEs to fill for each Tier 1 account – e.g. key pain point to mention, competitor in their account to mention, recent news to mention, etc. This ensures every outreach touch has at least one custom element. Yes, it takes extra time, but it’s worth it. And you can templatize parts: perhaps 70% of an email is a standard framework, 30% is custom to that account. That scales reasonably well. In our own campaigns at Martal, we often prepare industry-specific messaging frameworks and then let the reps plug in account-specific details – enabling both efficiency and true one-to-one relevance.
  
• Keep Sales and Marketing Closely Aligned (Communication is Constant). Alignment isn’t a one-time meeting at the start. The best ABM programs have ongoing tight collaboration. Set up regular (weekly or biweekly) ABM stand-up meetings to discuss the target list: Which accounts are engaging? Which ones are stuck? Any intel from recent calls? Do we need to swap out any accounts? This forum keeps everyone accountable to the list and allows quick adjustments. Also share visibility – marketing should have access to sales cadence activity and outcomes, and sales should see marketing engagement data. Consider joint tools or dashboards that both teams use (for example, an account engagement scorecard showing emails clicks, ad views, meeting set, etc., per account). An aligned ABM team might even co-author emails or make joint calls for high-stakes accounts. And certainly, they celebrate wins together when a target account converts! The data shows aligned teams not only close more deals, they also see a 24% faster growth rate on average (8) and higher customer retention. A tip here is to assign an “account quarterback” for each tier 1 account – it could be a salesperson or a dedicated ABM manager – who is responsible for coordinating all touches and rallying the team around that account. That person makes sure marketing sends the whitepaper when promised, the SDR follows up the next day, the exec sponsor pings their contact on LinkedIn, etc. This level of coordination can be the edge needed to crack a tough nut account.
  
• Measure Account-Level Results and Iterate. In ABM, success is measured at the account level (not lead volume). Make sure you’re tracking metrics like: account engagement (are target accounts visiting our site, responding to outreach?), meetings set per account, sales pipeline created from target accounts, and ultimately revenue won from those accounts. Also track subtler metrics like which job titles are responding most, how many touches to first engagement, etc. This data helps refine your approach and prove the value of the ABM list. For example, if after a quarter you see that 30% of target accounts moved to pipeline and the average deal size is 2x your regular deals – that’s a big win to report. If certain accounts had zero engagement, do a retrospective on why (wrong contacts? wrong message? truly not in-market?) and adjust your list criteria or tactics. One powerful metric we use is the “coverage” of the buying committee – e.g. have we engaged at least 3 personas in each target account? If not, maybe we need more contacts or different content for certain roles. By focusing on account-level progress, you’ll avoid the trap of vanity metrics (like sheer email open rates) and stay focused on what matters: penetrating and winning the accounts on your list. And if something’s not working, don’t be afraid to pivot – ABM is still marketing, which means testing and learning. Maybe your assumption that healthcare companies would be great turns out wrong; it’s OK to swap many of them out for a different vertical next quarter. Continuous improvement mindset is key.
  
• Beware of Common Pitfalls: A few pitfalls we frequently see:
  
  • Going too broad too soon: As mentioned, trying to do ABM on 1,000 accounts with a team of two will result in superficial touches. Start narrower (or tier the effort) to maintain quality.
    
  • Under-investing in content/offers for targets: Personalized outreach often requires custom content (case studies per industry, an exclusive invite, a bespoke audit offer, etc.). If you don’t have something of value tailored for your targets, even the best list won’t convert well. Don’t rely on the same generic ebook for everyone – consider what specific insights or micro-content you can send to each segment or account (e.g. a mini slide deck analyzing the target’s situation). This takes work but dramatically increases credibility.
    
  • Ignoring signals and stubbornly chasing unresponsive accounts: ABM does not mean “never give up” on a target no matter what. Yes, it’s targeted, but if an account shows zero engagement after, say, a 3-month intensive sequence (and you’ve tried multi-channel), it’s possible you need to put them on the back burner and rotate in fresh targets. Some accounts just won’t be ready – and banging your head against the wall indefinitely isn’t productive. Always keep a “next best account” list handy to swap in. That said, don’t give up too early either – ABM is a long game. It’s a balance.
    
  • Forgetting to enable your sales team: If marketing builds the list and sets the strategy, but sales doesn’t fully buy in or understand the approach, things fall apart. Invest in training your SDRs and AEs on the rationale behind the list, the research available, the messaging guidelines. Perhaps create battle cards for top accounts. When sales feels co-ownership of the list and is armed with insights, they’ll execute much better.

By adhering to these best practices, you’ll avoid the most common failures of ABM initiatives (which often boil down to poor targeting, lack of personalization, or misalignment). Instead, you’ll have a finely tuned ABM program where the list is a living, breathing asset that continually yields high-quality pipeline.

Conclusion: From Target Lists to Bigger Deals – Setting Your ABM Strategy in Motion

Building a robust ABM list is a strategic investment that can transform your B2B lead generation outcomes. It’s not a trivial effort – we’ve covered a lot, from defining your ICP and scouring data sources, to leveraging AI intent signals and keeping the list fresh over time. But the payoff is huge: when your sales and marketing teams know exactly whom to focus on and have deep insight into those targets, every outreach touch becomes more impactful. Instead of random cold calls, you’re opening conversations with the companies that truly matter to your business growth. Instead of generic pitches, you’re addressing specific needs with personalized solutions. The result? Better pipeline, higher win rates, and a more predictable path to revenue.

As you roll out your ABM list building in 2025, remember that this approach is iterative and dynamic. Start with your best hypothesis of a target list, but let real-world feedback refine it. Use the latest tools to stay ahead of the curve – whether it’s an AI platform that identifies new intent signals or a sales engagement tool that automates touches – yet don’t lose the human touch of creativity and relationship-building. ABM is ultimately about forging genuine connections with the right accounts. A well-built list simply ensures you’re spending your energy on those connections that count.

Finally, consider how you’ll execute on that list. If your organization has limited in-house bandwidth or expertise for multi-channel outreach, you don’t have to go it alone. This is where partnering can make sense. At Martal Group, we specialize in operationalizing ABM and outbound programs for B2B companies – from building intent-driven lead lists to orchestrating the omnichannel cadences needed to engage them. We serve as a fractional SDR team that acts as an extension of your salesforce, using our proprietary AI-driven platform and seasoned outreach specialists to engage your target accounts via email, LinkedIn, calls, and more. We’ve helped clients fill their pipelines by setting qualified appointments with the very companies on their ABM wish-list. We also offer Martal Academy training to upskill internal teams on the latest outbound and ABM techniques. The takeaway: if you have an ambitious growth goal but not the internal SDR capacity or technology to chase 100% of those dream accounts, we can help you bridge the gap. Sometimes outsourcing inside sales or part of the execution (or getting expert guidance on list building) can accelerate your results significantly – letting your in-house team focus on closing deals while we focus on opening doors.

As you refine your ABM list strategies for 2025, keep your eyes on the prize: bigger deals, faster. By applying the frameworks and tools we’ve outlined – and perhaps partnering with specialists like us for an extra edge – you can transform a simple spreadsheet of target accounts into a predictable engine of B2B growth. Your high-value prospects are out there looking for solutions. Build your list, personalize your approach, and go after them with confidence. Here’s to turning your ABM list into a roster of new customers and long-term partnerships!

Ready to take your ABM program to new heights? We’d love to share how our team at Martal Group can help you build laser-focused lead lists, execute omnichannel outreach, and fill your calendar with qualified B2B meetings. Reach out for a free consultation – let’s partner to make your 2025 pipeline the strongest yet.

References

1. LeanData
2. G2 Learning Hub
3. RollWorks
4. Huble
5. The CMO
6. Persana AI
7. AI Marketing Engineers
8. Martal Group –  ABM Statistics
9. Martal – AI B2B Marketing
10. The CMO – ABM