Skip to main content

Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

kenbun's Account-Based Marketing features help you identify, track, and engage high-value accounts. Instead of scoring individual leads in isolation, ABM enables you to understand engagement at the account level and orchestrate coordinated campaigns.

What is ABM in kenbun?

Account-Based Marketing in kenbun automatically groups leads from the same company and provides:

  • Account-level engagement tracking - See collective activity across all contacts at an account
  • Account scoring - Score accounts based on firmographic attributes and collective behavior
  • Account-level triggers - Set up notifications when accounts hit engagement thresholds
  • Unified account view - View all contacts, activity, and engagement for each account in one place

When to Use ABM

ABM features are ideal when:

  • You sell to enterprises with multiple stakeholders
  • Sales cycles involve decision-making committees
  • You need to track engagement across an entire organization
  • Individual lead scores don't capture full account readiness
  • You want to identify which accounts to prioritize for outreach

Core ABM Concepts

Accounts

Accounts represent companies or organizations. kenbun automatically creates accounts by grouping leads with matching account_id values or email domains. Each account aggregates:

  • All associated leads (contacts)
  • Combined engagement score
  • Account-level metadata (company size, industry, etc.)
  • Surge activity across all contacts

Account Scoring

Account scoring works differently from lead scoring:

  • Lead scoring evaluates individual contact engagement
  • Account scoring evaluates firmographic fit (company size, industry, revenue, etc.)

Account scores are based on account attributes, not events. For example:

  • +50 points if company size is "Enterprise"
  • +30 points if industry is "Technology"
  • +20 points if country is "United States"

Account Levels

Similar to Engagement Levels for leads, Account Levels categorize accounts based on their account score:

  • Target - High-value accounts that match your ICP
  • Qualified - Good fit accounts worth pursuing
  • Standard - Average fit accounts
  • Low Priority - Accounts outside your ideal profile

Account Engagement Timeline

The engagement timeline shows all activity across an account:

  • Which contacts are engaging
  • What actions they're taking
  • When engagement is increasing
  • Channel breakdown (email, website, product)

This helps you understand the full picture of account interest.

ABM Feature Overview

Account Management

Navigate to Analyze > Accounts to:

  • View all accounts with engagement and score data
  • Filter by account level, engagement, or date range
  • Search by company name or domain
  • Sort by recent activity or score
  • Bulk export account data

See Account Management for details.

Account Scoring Rules

Configure scoring rules in Configure > Scoring to:

  • Create rulesets for account-level scoring
  • Define rules based on firmographic attributes
  • Assign weights to different criteria
  • Test scoring rules against your account data

See Account Scoring Rules for details.

Account Levels

Set up account levels in Configure > Levels to:

  • Define score thresholds for account tiers
  • Create custom level names and colors
  • Manage multiple level rulesets for different segments
  • Auto-categorize accounts as they're created

See Account Levels for details.

Account Field Mappings

Configure field mappings in Configure > Mapping > Account to:

  • Map event properties to account metadata
  • Extract company information from lead events
  • Standardize account data across sources
  • Enrich accounts automatically

See Mapping for the configuration guide, or Account Field Mappings for API details.

Account Triggers

Set up automated notifications when accounts:

  • Reach a certain engagement level
  • Hit surge thresholds across multiple contacts
  • Enter specific account levels
  • Show buying signals

See Account Triggers for details.

Enabling ABM Features

ABM features can be toggled on or off in your workspace:

  1. Navigate to Configure > Settings > Scoring Settings
  2. Find the Account-Based Marketing section
  3. Toggle Enable ABM Features to show/hide ABM UI

When ABM is enabled:

  • Accounts tab appears in the Analyze section
  • Account Scoring Rules and Account Levels appear in Configure
  • Account-level widgets appear on your dashboard
  • Account metadata becomes available in triggers and filters

When disabled, all ABM features are hidden but your configuration is preserved.

Govern Scoring Settings page showing the Account-Based Marketing toggle enabled under Core Scoring Settings

Getting Started with ABM

Ensure your leads have account information:

Option A: Include account_id in events

kenbun.track('Page View', {
account_id: 'acct_12345',
// other event properties
});

Option B: Set account_id via API

PUT /leads/{leadID}
{
"account_id": "acct_12345"
}

Option C: Use Profile Mappings Create a Profile Mapping that sets account_id based on email domain or other criteria. See Mapping for setup instructions.

Step 2: Configure Account Field Mappings

Define how account metadata is extracted:

  1. Navigate to Configure > Mapping > Account
  2. Click Add Mapping
  3. Map event properties to account fields:
    • Map company_sizecompany_size
    • Map industryindustry
    • Map countrycountry

Step 3: Set Up Account Scoring Rules

Define what makes a high-value account:

  1. Navigate to Configure > Scoring and select the Account tab
  2. Click New Ruleset (e.g., "Enterprise Target Accounts")
  3. Add rules:
    • If company_size equals enterprise → +50 points
    • If industry equals technology → +30 points
    • If employees greater than 1000 → +40 points

Step 4: Configure Account Levels

Create tiers for account prioritization:

  1. Navigate to Configure > Levels and select the Account tab
  2. Create a new ruleset (e.g., "Account Tiers")
  3. Define levels:
    • Target - 80-100 points (purple)
    • Qualified - 50-79 points (blue)
    • Standard - 20-49 points (green)
    • Low Priority - 0-19 points (gray)

Step 5: Track Your Accounts

  1. Navigate to Analyze > Accounts
  2. View all accounts with their scores and levels
  3. Click an account to see:
    • Engagement timeline
    • Surge activity
    • Account metadata

Accounts list page showing the All Accounts and Unresolved Leads sub-tabs and an accounts table with rows for Lattice Fintech, Meridian Analytics, and Northwind Logistics, with columns for account name with domain, account level badges, account score, number of leads, and sessions

Step 6: Set Up Account Triggers

Create notifications for high-value account activity:

  1. Navigate to Configure > Triggers
  2. Create triggers using account-level conditions
  3. Get notified in Slack when target accounts engage

ABM Best Practices

Start with Your ICP

Define your Ideal Customer Profile before configuring account scoring:

  • What company size is ideal?
  • Which industries convert best?
  • What geographic regions do you target?
  • What budget ranges match your pricing?

Use these criteria as your scoring rules.

Monitor Engagement Patterns

Watch for account-level signals:

  • Multi-threading - Multiple contacts engaging simultaneously
  • Cross-functional interest - Different departments showing interest
  • Sustained engagement - Regular activity over weeks
  • Surge behavior - Sudden spikes in account-wide activity

Align Sales and Marketing

Use account levels to coordinate outreach:

  • Target accounts - Assign to sales for direct outreach
  • Qualified accounts - Nurture with targeted campaigns
  • Standard accounts - Include in general marketing
  • Low priority - Keep on radar but don't prioritize

Score Firmographics, Not Behavior

Remember:

  • Account scoring = Company attributes (size, industry, revenue)
  • Lead scoring = Individual engagement (page views, email opens)
  • Combined insight = High-value accounts with engaged stakeholders

A qualified account (firmographics) with a hot lead (engagement) is your highest priority.

Common Use Cases

Enterprise Sales

Track multiple stakeholders across long sales cycles:

  • Identify all contacts at target accounts
  • Monitor which departments are engaging
  • See when champions emerge
  • Coordinate sales and marketing touchpoints

Partner Programs

Manage accounts across partner relationships:

  • Track engagement by partner-referred accounts
  • Score accounts based on partner tier
  • Notify partners of account activity

Customer Expansion

Identify expansion opportunities:

  • Track engagement across existing customer accounts
  • Spot new departments showing interest
  • Identify potential champions for upsells
  • Monitor account health indicators

Pipeline Acceleration

Focus resources on ready accounts:

  • Filter for high-score + high-engagement accounts
  • Track surge behavior indicating buying intent
  • Prioritize outreach to most engaged accounts

Troubleshooting

Leads Not Grouped into Accounts

Problem: Leads are showing up individually instead of grouped by account.

Solution: Ensure leads have account_id set:

  • Include account_id in tracking events
  • Set account_id via API or CSV import
  • Create Profile Mappings that derive account_id from email domain

Account Scores Not Updating

Problem: Account scores remain at 0 or don't change.

Solution:

  • Verify Account Scoring Rules are created and enabled
  • Check that Account Field Mappings are configured
  • Ensure account metadata is being populated from events
  • Confirm primary ruleset is selected

Missing Account Metadata

Problem: Account details are blank or incomplete.

Solution:

  • Configure Account Field Mappings to extract data from events
  • Include company properties in your event payloads
  • Import account data via CSV with account metadata
  • Use enrichment integrations to populate firmographic data

API Access

All ABM features are available via API. For a full list of account-related API endpoints, see the API Reference.

Next Steps