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Expert strategies, case studies, and best practices for B2B marketing teams.
Expert strategies, case studies, and best practices for B2B marketing teams.
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Enter your URLRevenue Attribution & Measurement
While leads and impressions can help measure campaign activity, they are insufficient to measure the success of ABM campaigns.
Account-based marketing campaigns target high-value accounts with longer sales cycles and need metrics that can track progress throughout the sales process. So if you focus on things like lead volume or closed deals, your dashboard will look empty for months, and make it seem like your campaigns are failing even when they are not.
To measure the success of ABM campaigns, you need account-level engagement metrics. These metrics measure the marketing impact on target accounts, including revenue impact, pipeline progression, buying committee coverage, and ROI.
In this article, we will look at 12 key b2b marketing metrics and KPIs you can use to measure ABM success.
In traditional demand gen, success is measured in terms of lead quantity. But ABM measurement shifts the focus from individual lead volume to account-level engagement and revenue. It focuses on how target accounts are progressing through their buying journey and how they are contributing to the pipeline.
| Traditional lead gen | ABM |
|---|---|
| Focuses on lead quantity | Focuses on lead quality |
| Tracks individual lead behaviour (MQL) | Monitors buying group behavior (MQA) |
| Focuses on net-new acquisition volume | Focuses on penetrating high-value accounts |
| Marketing and sales teams have different goals and KPIs | Marketing and sales teams work together and have shared KPIs |
An effective ABM strategy needs account-based metrics because:
B2B buying decisions involve multiple stakeholders, and each of them often interacts with different content throughout the journey. So when you look at each interaction in isolation, you may not fully understand what’s happening at the account level. But with account-level engagement metrics, you can easily monitor the buying group behavior and account progress. This is the core of the ABM approach: judging marketing effectiveness at the account level, not by individual clicks.
In traditional marketing, marketing teams run campaigns, find leads, and forward them to the sales team. And in most cases, the sales team complains of low lead quality while marketing teams celebrate the lead volume they get from campaigns.
In ABM, sales and marketing teams work together toward the same goal. They measure campaigns using shared revenue metrics or KPIs to stay aligned. This makes it easier for both teams to see exactly how their joint marketing and sales efforts move accounts forward.
High click-through rates don’t matter in ABM unless they lead to more closed deals in the pipeline. This is why you can never measure ABM success on activity alone. Instead, you should focus on how the accounts are moving closer to the buying decision.
Let’s look at the metrics we can use to measure the performance of their ABM programs.
ABM metrics fall into four main categories:
These measure how target accounts interact with your marketing campaigns. They include activities like website visits, ad clicks, event attendance, and content downloads. At this stage, we are measuring attention from the target audience.
These metrics are important because they show you the accounts that are warming up and the ones that are still cold. From there, you can also tell which ads are driving those marketing activities and which ones need adjustments.
They show how members from the target accounts are engaging with your campaigns. You can use these to gauge the strength of your relationship with your target audience. For example:
This pillar measures the value of new opportunities created by the ABM campaigns. You use these when you want to see the connection between marketing and revenue. For example:
If you are getting new pipeline opportunities regularly, then it means your ABM efforts are working. But if accounts are not progressing through the funnel, you should adjust messaging and find content that resonates more with the audience.
Revenue metrics are the most concrete measure of ABM success. They measure the total revenue influenced by the campaign. For example:
Let’s look at the metrics one by one.
AES combines the activities of all the stakeholders from an account and gives you an aggregate score that tells you the account’s buying intent. Teams score every activity based on importance. For example, low-value activities like reading a blog post have scores between 1 and 10, while high-value activities like demo requests get up to 50 points. To get the account engagement score, you sum up all the activities from members. This gives you a holistic view of the account’s interest.
Formula:
Σ (Activity A × Weight A) + (Activity B × Weight B) + … for all contacts in an account = Account Engagement Score
Why it matters:
It helps sales and marketing teams identify highly engaged accounts that need attention. A high score means an account is interested in your solution, and sales should prioritize outreach. But low scores act as an early warning for potential customer churn.
When to use it:
Use it as an early-stage indicator. It helps you monitor how accounts are warming up before opportunities are created.
Buying group coverage measures how many stakeholders you are reaching within a target account. This metric is important because B2B purchases involve multiple stakeholders. So when you engage more stakeholders, you increase your chances of closing the deal.
Formula:
Buying Group Coverage = Engaged Buying Committee Members ÷ Total Buying Committee Members
A high coverage score shows you are reaching a majority of the buying committee, while a low score indicates a weak relationship with decision-makers.
Why it matters:
Deals often stall when we focus on one decision-maker at the company. So if that person loses interest or changes priorities, you risk losing the deal completely. But when you influence 4-5+ stakeholders per account, you are more likely to close the deal. Buying group coverage helps you measure your influence on the buying committee, so you know which accounts still need nurturing.
When to use it:
Track it throughout the buying sales cycle, especially for enterprise deals where buying committees are larger and more complex.
Account penetration rate measures the percentage of potential revenue a company has captured within its existing accounts in relation to the total addressable market. It shows whether you’re maximizing the value of each account or leaving money on the table.
Formula:
Account Penetration Rate = (Current Revenue ÷ Total Account Potential) × 100
Why it matters:
With this metric, teams can identify accounts with untapped potential and focus their marketing efforts on them. Plus, it provides a more holistic view of an account’s needs and challenges, enabling teams to provide a more comprehensive solution and earn more revenue.
When to use it:
Review it regularly, on a monthly or quarterly basis, to identify active clients with untapped opportunities. You can also use it during contract renewals to check whether the client is fully dependent on your solutions or is seeking products from competitors.
This is the account-level version of marketing qualified leads (MQLs). An MQA is an account that has shown enough buying signals to warrant sales’ attention. This metric is important because it tracks the collective activities of members within an account, allowing teams to identify and engage high-intent accounts before they lose interest.
A target account becomes an MQA when:
When to use it:
Use it as the primary handoff point between marketing and sales. Since both teams share KPIs in ABM, there won’t be arguments over lead quality.
Account progression rate tracks the movement of accounts through the funnel. It measures the percentage of accounts that successfully move from one stage to the next.
Formula:
Account Progression Rate = (Number of Accounts Moving to the Next Stage ÷ Original Number of Accounts) × 100
This metric matters because it helps in identifying bottlenecks in the sales funnel. For example, if 80% of accounts move from awareness to MQA, but only 10% move from MQA to pipeline, then there is a problem with the sales pitches. Once you identify the problem, you can easily fix it.
When to use it:
Review account progression rates regularly to find weak points in the buyer’s journey and fix them before they stall pipeline.
Influenced pipeline refers to the total number of pipeline opportunities created from the ABM campaigns. When your campaigns bring in new opportunities regularly, then it means they are working.
Why it matters:
Not every opportunity comes from marketing. However, since marketing plays a significant role in the education of accounts, it should get credit. Influenced pipeline captures that contribution and helps prove the value of ABM to leadership.
When to use it:
Use it to prove marketing’s contribution to pipeline creation and revenue.
Pipeline velocity measures the speed at which an account moves down the pipeline. A high velocity means that campaigns are effective, while a low velocity indicates that there is friction in the pipeline. It combines opportunity volume, deal size, win rate, and sales cycle length into a single metric.
Formula:
Pipeline Velocity = (SQLs in the pipeline × average deal size × overall win rate) ÷ length of sales cycle (days)
Why it matters:
It highlights areas where sales cycles can be accelerated. You can also use it to compare ABM accounts with your non-ABM accounts and find out if your ABM strategies are more effective than outbound campaigns. A good ABM campaign should have a higher velocity rate than outbound campaigns.
Sales cycle length measures the average time it takes for a target account to move from initial contact to a closed deal.
Formula:
Sales Cycle Length = Total no. of days taken to close each deal ÷ Total no. of deals won within a set period
Why it matters:
This is important because it tells you how effective your sales engine is. If you have a longer sales cycle than your competitors, then it means there is friction in the process that needs to be addressed. Meanwhile, a shorter sales cycle indicates that your marketing and sales teams are aligned.
When to use it:
You can use it to predict when open opportunities in your CRM will close, and also to spot stages where deals get stuck for a long time.
Also known as deal conversion rate, win rate measures the percentage of target accounts that convert to customers.
Formula:
Win Rate = (Total no. of accounts converted ÷ Total no. of target accounts engaged) × 100
Why it matters:
A high win rate is a sign that you’re targeting the right accounts and that your ABM campaigns are effective too. Win rate can also tell you which campaigns are working and which ones need adjustments.
When to use it:
Calculate win rate at each stage of the sales funnel to find inefficiencies and refine your ABM strategy.
Average deal size measures the average revenue generated from closed deals. It shows companies how much customers are willing to invest in their offerings.
Formula:
Average Deal Size = Total Revenue ÷ Number of Closed-Won Deals
Why it matters:
By evaluating average deal size, companies can determine what products are selling well, which customers bring the most revenue, and how much they make per sale.
When to use it:
Use it for revenue forecasting. It gives you a better sense of what to expect from the current quarter and plan for future quarters.
This KPI measures the total revenue generated from target accounts. It is the clearest indicator of ABM success.
Use this metric when reporting campaign performance to executives. It also helps when making decisions on budget allocation.
This measures the profitability of campaigns by comparing the revenue generated to the cost of the campaign.
Formula:
ABM ROI = (Revenue Generated − ABM Investment) ÷ ABM Investment × 100
Every ABM metric leads to ROI, making it very important. Leaders want to know the ROI of their ABM — whether the campaign generated more revenue than it costs.
Use Account-Based ROI as the final measure of ABM success. It connects marketing activity directly to business outcomes.
Make a list of the companies you would like to work with. Focus on high-value accounts that match your ICP. You can always start small and expand the scope later on through lookalike audiences.
Monitor how target accounts interact with your brand across various touchpoints. Look at website visits, content downloads, ad clicks, and event attendance at the account level. This is where account-based advertising and personalized marketing campaigns start to pay off.
When campaign and CRM data are disconnected, it’s difficult to see the business impact of ABM campaigns. You can connect both through revenue attribution platforms — alongside your marketing automation platforms — and get answers to burning questions like:
Track the activities of members per account. Most visitors remain anonymous, making it difficult to identify members. But with website visitor identification tools, businesses can identify a portion of their visitors and track their every movement with ease.
Once you connect your campaign data to your CRM, you can track how target accounts progress through the funnel. Look at the revenue generated, campaign ROI, pipeline velocity, and average deal size.
Analyze the results to see the accounts that generated the most revenue, and the campaigns that influenced pipeline. From there, you can refine your ICP list to match the accounts that converted faster and focus ad spend on high-performing campaigns. This feedback loop is what turns a one-off effort into a successful ABM strategy.
If your team can’t pinpoint which accounts are engaged, where they are in the pipeline, or what’s driving revenue, then your ABM dashboard is just a glorified spreadsheet. A strong ABM dashboard should connect everything into a single view.
Attribution platforms like DemandSense help make that possible. They connect LinkedIn ad engagement, company-level activity, CRM records, and pipeline data in one place.
In the meantime, here are the elements you should keep in mind when building an ABM dashboard:
Track all the activities for each member at your target accounts. This enables teams to score account engagement and find accounts more likely to convert.
Measure the percentage of key decision-makers actively engaged in each account. This ensures your marketing efforts reach all stakeholders within the buying committee.
Connect account activity to your CRM so you can see how target accounts progress from awareness to opportunity to pipeline to closed deals, and the campaigns that drive pipeline.
B2B accounts take time to convert to deals. Ensure your dashboard includes both early buying signals and revenue outcomes. Leading metrics help with monitoring campaign health, while the lagging metrics confirm the business impact and the real ABM effectiveness.
ABM campaigns are a team sport. Since sales and marketing share goals, they should have a shared dashboard so they can monitor campaigns together. This alignment ensures decisions are made fast and unanimously.
Many people struggle to measure ABM success because they use the wrong metrics. Traditional lead-based metrics fall short because they can only measure individual leads. To measure ABM success:
First, focus on account-level engagement metrics. These metrics can measure the real progress of accounts throughout the sales cycle and reflect the true effectiveness of ABM.
Secondly, align marketing and sales. Most account-based marketing strategies fail when these two teams operate separately. Ensure they have shared revenue and KPIs so they can work together to achieve the set goals.
And lastly, connect campaign and engagement data to your CRM. When everything is connected, one can easily monitor account progress from the moment they start engagement to the moment they become customers. Done well, these B2B marketing tactics turn scattered marketing programs into one measurable account based marketing strategy.
ABM campaigns, when done correctly, are more efficient than traditional demand gen campaigns. But when the campaign data exists separately from the CRM, it’s hard to measure the true impact of ABM. It’s hard to measure the success of any B2B campaign when systems are disconnected.
DemandSense helps close that gap by connecting engagement metrics and CRM in one place. So instead of stopping at surface-level marketing metrics like clicks, teams can see how companies are actively engaging with ads, how they behave across channels, and whether that engagement is progressing into pipeline and revenue. That’s the real value of ABM — and the only way to prove the marketing effectiveness behind it.
We measure ABM success using account-level engagement metrics. These metrics measure the marketing impact on target accounts, including revenue impact, pipeline progression, buying committee coverage, and ROI.
Pipeline velocity is considered the most important metric. It measures how fast target accounts move through the sales funnel and how much revenue they generate. It is the ultimate ABM metric because it combines deal size, win rate, and sales cycle length into a single formula.
Traditional marketing focuses on lead volume. ABM focuses on the quality and depth of engagement within target accounts. ABM measurement revolves around account engagement, account penetration rate, account win rate, and pipeline velocity, while lead-based measurement tracks clicks, impressions, leads, and CPL.
ABM focuses on accounts, while LinkedIn ad metrics can only measure individual leads and activity. Since B2B buying decisions involve multiple stakeholders, we need metrics that can track their activities at the account level. That’s one of the biggest benefits of ABM measurement: it ties personalized marketing to account-level outcomes rather than vanity activity.
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