What Do ABM Teams Actually Use for Account-Based Ads?
Scott Schnaars
What Do ABM Teams Actually Use for Account-Based Ads?
The Exit Five community asked what people are actually using for account-based advertising. The answers were refreshingly direct about what works and what does not.
The short version: most teams are buying more ABM tooling than they can actually operate. 6sense and Demandbase are the enterprise heavyweights. ZoomInfo and Bombora add intent signal layers. Clay handles enrichment. Each tool is defensible in isolation. The problem is they do not always connect to each other well, and the team running them is usually one or two people who also own sixteen other things.
Before adding anything to your stack, run this evaluation:
- Data quality test: take fifty accounts from your ICP and run them through the platform's coverage tool. The numbers in the sales deck are often different from the numbers for your specific market
- Integration test: ask specifically how it connects to your CRM and what the sync latency looks like. Real-time intent is not the same as nightly batch sync
- Activation test: map out the exact workflow your team would follow to act on a signal. If it requires a manual step to connect to your ad platform, it will not happen consistently
- Cost test: add the real cost including onboarding, ops support, and integration maintenance. Then compare to what you would need to see in pipeline influence to justify the contract
A smaller, well-integrated stack will outperform a larger, disconnected one every time. The right ABM platform is the one your team can use on a Tuesday afternoon without a dedicated admin.
Yirla connects account intent signals to your paid campaigns automatically. (https://www.yirla.com/integrations)
