Account-Based Marketing Beyond Leads: Skills-Based Targeting for Growth

Skills-Based Targeting: The Next Level of ABM Awareness

Most ABM programs stop at targeting titles, roles, or individuals. While this can drive short-term engagement, it misses the bigger picture: influence spreads across entire organisations, not just one person.

This is where skills-based targeting changes the game.

Instead of narrowing your campaigns to a single decision-maker, skills-based targeting lets you orchestrate awareness across every stakeholder who shares the skills and expertise relevant to your solution.

That means:

• You’re not just speaking to “the Head of Innovation” - you’re reaching every professional within the organisation who carries the skills and influence to shape the decision.
• You never miss - because awareness campaigns land across the organisation layer, not a fragile list of individuals who might churn, change roles, or be missed entirely.
• You build recognition and familiarity over time, so by the time your sales team gets involved, the account as a whole already knows who you are.

Why Awareness > Demand Gen

Traditional B2B marketing often obsesses over demand generation, lead capture, and vanity metrics like clicks or form fills. ABM done right is different:

• It’s not about instant conversions, it’s about embedding your brand in the minds of your ICP.
• It’s a practice of awareness that requires patience, usually 6+ months of consistent presence before results become measurable.
• The payoff? By the time your sales team makes contact, the account has already had 7+ touchpoints with your brand. Research shows it takes at least seven exposures before someone forms recognition and perspective.

This is where ABM awareness compounds into growth.

From 20:1 Outreach to 3:1 Conversion

Here’s the measurable impact:

• Without awareness, sales outreach typically sits at a 20:1 ratio (20 attempts for one meaningful response).
• With sustained, skills-based ABM awareness, that can shrink to 3:1 because the prospect already knows you, trusts you, and understands your relevance.

That’s not just efficiency; that’s compounding ROI.

The Long Game, Done Right

Skills-based targeting acknowledges that buying committees are complex, often 6–10 people strong. It removes blind spots, ensuring your creative assets and brand message hit the skills clusters within your target accounts, not just an isolated job title.

Over time, this layered approach transforms cold outreach into warm conversations. When your team calls, they’re not strangers. They’re already a recognised, trusted presence.



BS+A are the market leading service providers of Creative ABM - we call it ABM+.
Click here to get in touch and start your awareness practice.

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