ABM Campaign Example: An Exact Program We Use at Scrappy ABM

Article at a Glance

What does an ABM campaign look like in practice?

Most ABM campaign ideas you see online stay high-level, but this one goes deeper. I’m walking through the program Scrappy ABM runs below so you can see how the pieces fit together.

What ABM campaign ideas work without a massive budget?

LinkedIn Live, podcasting, virtual speaking, and content-led outbound are all core parts of this program, and most of them are either free or close to it. The ABM plays that move accounts forward don't have to be expensive, they just have to be relevant.

How do you know when an account is ready to buy?

In this program, the website does that work. It's built as a sales tool. When an account starts spending time on specific pages, that's the signal they're product-educated and likely evaluating, so the conversation shifts.

What ABM plays move accounts from awareness to pipeline?

Content at every stage, with outreach that follows the signal. Each stage of this ABM strategy has a specific goal, from expanding your network to identifying accounts ready to talk. I'll walk through all of it.

ABM strategy advice is everywhere, and most of it sounds something like: "focus on the right accounts and deliver personalized experiences at scale."

Which is fine, but what does that look like on a random Tuesday?

That's what this is. I’m sharing an ABM campaign Scrappy runs, broken down with numbers attached. What we spend and use, and why we made the changes we did along the way.

If you've been looking for ABM campaign ideas that go beyond the theoretical, this is the one to bookmark.

Stage #1: Awareness

Every ABM strategy has to start somewhere, and for me, it starts with a bit of an unglamorous ABM play: sending 20 blank LinkedIn connection requests every day.

No fancy message or pitch. Just a connection request to the right people. The goal at this stage is to get on the radar of accounts that match our ideal customer profile before they're actively looking. By the time they’re ready to evaluate a solution, I’m a familiar name in their feed.

Referrals are the other awareness source worth calling out. Some of our warmest leads have come from existing clients sending someone our way, and those people skip almost every stage of the funnel. They go from awareness to booked call because the trust is built in.

Neither of these things requires a big budget, but they do require consistency.

Stage #2: Initial Engagement

Once someone is in the network, the goal shifts to content engagement, aka content that speaks directly to the problem. For us, that problem is this: 78% of ABM programs fail despite massive investments in technology. That's the hook, and it drives everything my team and I create at this stage.

The channels we use to get that content in front of our ICPs are LinkedIn Live, podcasting, and events. Virtual speaking is free, and occasionally, we do get paid for it.

One of the more underrated ABM campaign ideas at this stage is using LinkedIn Live registration forms to capture contact information and opt-ins. Every person who registers is moving from a rented audience (LinkedIn's) to an owned one: our newsletter. That's a big deal for long-term ABM plays because you stop being dependent on an algorithm to reach the people you want to build relationships with.

From there, we track content engagement at both the account and contact level inside HubSpot. This data is what drives the next stage of our ABM strategy.

Stage #3: Meaningful Engagement

This is where we shift from broadcasting to building relationships.

For accounts showing consistent engagement, we move into content-led outbound. That means reaching out 1:1 and offering content that directly follows up on what they've been engaging with. It's one of the more time-intensive ABM plays in the program, but it converts because it’s relevant instead of random.

The other ABM campaign idea we use at this stage is inviting engaged contacts onto the podcast. This one might be the most underrated play in the whole program. ABM experts generally don't need to hire us, but their network might. So getting them on the show builds a 1:1 relationship fast, and those guests become a source of referrals down the road.

The through line across both of these ABM campaign ideas is the same: follow the signal. Reach out when the data tells you someone is paying attention.

Stage #4: MQA

MQA stands for Marketing Qualified Account, and the way we find one is straightforward: the website does the work.

A lot of company websites are brochures, but ours is built to be a sales tool. We educate through so many channels (the podcast, LinkedIn, events, the newsletter) that by the time someone starts poking around on the website, they're likely evaluating.

So when an account spends significant time on certain pages, we treat that as a signal that they're product-educated and getting close to a buying decision.

This is also why having a multi-page website matters more than most people think. Before we built ours out, we had a single page, meaning we had almost no ability to track intent at the account level. Adding proper pages was a core part of making our ABM campaign ideas measurable.

Stage #5: Reengagement

By this stage, an account has been in the ecosystem for a while. They've engaged with content, spent time on the website, and shown enough signal to know they're not just casually interested. Reengagement is where we lean into that.

We use RB2B to find visitors on specific product pages, and from there the ABM play is simple: send them content that goes deeper. It’s the kind of stuff that helps someone build an internal business case for moving forward.

This is one of those ABM campaign ideas that only works well if the earlier stages are doing their job. If someone lands on a product page cold with no prior relationship, deeper content alone won't move them. But if they've been engaging with the podcast or LinkedIn content for a few weeks or months? A well-timed case study that speaks to their situation can be the thing that tips them toward booking a call.

Stage #6: Conversion

This is the stage every ABM campaign is ultimately building toward, and honestly, if the earlier stages are working, this one should follow.

The account books a call, there's a follow-up, and the sales process begins.

By the time someone books a call, they've been in the ecosystem long enough to know who we are, what we do, and whether it's worth a conversation. The call is almost a formality at that point.

That's the payoff of a well-built ABM strategy. Conversion stops feeling like a battle and starts feeling like a natural next step for accounts that are ready.

Build Your Own Version of This

You don't need to copy this program step for step. The structure is what matters: awareness feeds engagement, engagement surfaces intent, intent drives conversion. That logic works regardless of your budget or team size.

Pick one or two ABM campaign ideas from each stage and start there. Then let the data tell you what to build next.

Want a way to map it all out? Grab our ABM Program Planning Template and build your own version without a 12-tab spreadsheet situation!