In ABM, you are not just selling against a product problem. You are selling against competitor solutions. Every account you target is evaluating you against 2-3 alternatives. If your positioning is not clear and differentiated, you lose deals.
Competitive positioning in ABM is about understanding: 1. What competitors does each account consider? 2. How does each competitor position themselves? 3. What is unique about your approach that matters to this account?
When you answer these questions, you can create messaging and content that directly addresses why buyers should choose you over alternatives.
This guide walks through how to build and execute competitive positioning for ABM.
In broad demand generation, buyers are often unaware that alternatives exist. Your first job is awareness and education. Competitive positioning is secondary.
In ABM, by the time you are engaging an account, they already know competitors exist. They are often actively evaluating you against them. Your job is not to introduce competition, but to own the conversation about why you are the right choice.
Accounts spend 50-60% of their buying process researching before talking to sales. If your competitive positioning is not clear, they will make a decision based on outdated information, misinformation, or competitor messaging. You lose the deal before you have a chance to sell.
Not all competitors compete with you everywhere. Some compete in one vertical, some in one use case.
Create a competitor matrix:
| Competitor | Strengths | Weaknesses | Segments they dominate | Segments you dominate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RollWorks | Fast setup, advertising channel | Lacks visitor ID, weak attribution | Mid-market SaaS | Enterprise, attribution-focused |
| 6sense | Intent data, full stack | Expensive, complex setup | Large enterprise | Speed/ease of use |
| Demandbase | Visitor ID, full stack | Limited advertising, expensive | Enterprise, visitor ID use case | Faster implementation |
| Terminus | Advertising specialist | Platform gaps, marketing-only | LinkedIn specialists | Sales + marketing coordination |
Use your sales team to populate this. They know what they are selling against.
What is unique about your approach that competitors do not offer?
Differentiation should be in one of these dimensions:
Differentiation dimension 1: Speed and ease of use - “Abmatic sets up campaigns in 2 weeks. Competitors take 6-8 weeks.” - Who this appeals to: Busy VP of Marketing who wants fast ROI
Differentiation dimension 2: Visitor identification - “Abmatic identifies 2x more anonymous visitors than competitors.” - Who this appeals to: Companies that want to capture all buying signals
Differentiation dimension 3: Attribution accuracy - “Abmatic attributes revenue at the account level, not just the lead level.” - Who this appeals to: Finance-focused buyers who want to see marketing ROI
Differentiation dimension 4: Integration ecosystem - “Abmatic integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, and 15 other platforms out of the box.” - Who this appeals to: RevOps teams that need to minimize custom integration work
Differentiation dimension 5: Vertical specialization - “Abmatic was built for SaaS. We understand your sales cycle, your ICP, your metrics.” - Who this appeals to: Vertical-focused companies
Do not try to differentiate on all dimensions. Pick 2-3 that are true and that resonate with your target buyers.
For each key competitor, create a positioning narrative:
vs. RollWorks - RollWorks excels at: LinkedIn advertising, fast creative iterations - Where we win: Visitor identification, full-funnel measurement, ease of setup - Message: “Get the power of RollWorks’ ads with the precision of our visitor ID and attribution.” - Proof point: Customer switched from RollWorks, closed 2 additional deals because they could see which website visits led to closed deals.
vs. 6sense - 6sense excels at: Intent data breadth, large enterprise deployment - Where we win: Implementation speed, ease of use, streamlined setup for mid-market teams - Message: “6sense offers comprehensive intent data; Abmatic prioritizes faster time-to-first-campaign with simplified account targeting.” - Proof point: Mid-market companies value Abmatic’s focus on rapid deployment and account-coordination without extensive setup overhead.
vs. Demandbase - Demandbase excels at: Visitor identification, brand registry - Where we win: Integration efficiency, focus on sales-marketing coordination, account-centric reporting - Message: “Demandbase provides robust visitor ID; Abmatic focuses on coordinating that insight across your entire sales and marketing team.” - Proof point: Teams appreciate Abmatic’s approach to simplifying the go-to-market coordination without requiring extensive custom integration work.
For accounts actively evaluating you against competitors, provide content that directly addresses the comparison:
Type 1: Comparison guide - “Abmatic vs. [Competitor]: Feature, price, and implementation comparison” - Format: Simple comparison table with columns: Abmatic, [Competitor], Abmatic advantage - Distribution: Email to accounts evaluating you against competitor; link from sales resources
Type 2: Competitive positioning whitepaper - “The ABM Platform Market in 2026: Visitor ID, Attribution, and Ease of Use” - Format: Unbiased analysis of how different platforms approach ABM (position yourself as an analyst, not a vendor) - Content: Define the three dimensions of ABM platforms (visitor ID, attribution, ease), evaluate major competitors on each - Distribution: Offer as a downloadable resource on your website; email to accounts in evaluation
Type 3: Customer stories with competitive context - “How [Customer] Chose Abmatic Over RollWorks” - Format: Case study format with a section on “Why they evaluated Abmatic vs. [Competitor]” and “Why they chose Abmatic” - Distribution: Email to accounts evaluating competitor; include in account-specific messaging
Type 4: Win-loss analysis - “Top Reasons Customers Choose Abmatic Over [Competitor]” - Format: Data-driven: analysis of your wins against competitor (what convinced the customer to pick you) - Distribution: Sales enablement; email to prospects in evaluation stage
Sales teams often fumble competitive conversations. Arm them with a framework:
When an account mentions a competitor:
Step 1: Acknowledge their choice without being defensive. - “Yeah, [Competitor] is a strong player in ABM. They have done a good job in the market.”
Step 2: Ask what drew them to the competitor. - “What aspects of their platform are you most interested in?”
Step 3: Understand their specific need. - “Is that because you want better visitor ID? Or faster setup? Or something else?”
Step 4: Provide your perspective. - “We take a different approach. We prioritize [your differentiation]. Here is why that matters: [tailored to their need].”
Step 5: Provide proof. - “We had a customer, [similar company], who evaluated us against [competitor]. Here is what they found: [specific comparison].”
Step 6: Get a clear next step. - “Would it be helpful to run a side-by-side setup with us to see the difference in implementation time?”
Prospect: “We are evaluating RollWorks and Abmatic.”
AE: “Great. RollWorks has built a strong business on advertising, and they do that well. What are you most interested in: the advertising channel itself, or the full ABM program?”
Prospect: “Honestly, we want to know what is actually working. Our head of finance keeps asking, ‘Which accounts are actually buying because of our marketing efforts?’”
AE: “That makes sense. And that is where most companies hit a wall with RollWorks. They are strong on ads, but attribution at the account level is weak. You end up with good ad metrics (CTR, CPC) but no clear answer on which accounts the ads actually influenced. Abmatic was built from the start to answer that question: Which accounts are we influencing?”
Prospect: “How do you do it differently?”
AE: “Two ways. First, we identify anonymous visitors to your website and match them to accounts. So you know that three people from Acme Corp visited your pricing page. Most platforms stop there. Second, we connect that to your CRM. So when Acme closes a deal, you can see: Did the people from Acme who visited our site influence that deal? That account-level connection is where the ROI clarity comes from.”
Prospect: “Interesting. Can you show me how that works?”
AE: “Absolutely. And actually, I have a case study from [similar company] that made the same decision. They were torn between us and RollWorks. Let me share that before we do a demo. You will see exactly how they think about it.”
Mistake 1: Attacking the competitor
DO NOT say: “RollWorks is expensive and hard to implement.”
DO say: “RollWorks is great at advertising. We focus on measurement and coordination. Different strengths.”
Attacking competitors makes you look defensive and insecure.
Mistake 2: Claiming superiority on dimensions you do not own
Do not claim you are better at something you are not. It will come out in conversation, and you lose credibility.
If you are not better at intent data, do not claim you are. Own what you are actually better at.
Mistake 3: Misrepresenting competitor capabilities
Do not say a competitor cannot do something if they can. Do your homework. Inaccurate claims get caught and damage trust.
Mistake 4: Making the conversation about competitors instead of the customer
The goal is not to win a competitive debate. The goal is to understand what the customer needs and show why you solve it better.
Keep conversation focused on the customer’s needs, not on competitors.
Mistake 5: Not preparing for the conversation
Your sales team should know your competitive positioning cold. They should be able to explain the difference between you and each competitor in one sentence. If they cannot, they are not ready.
Measure how well your competitive positioning is working:
Competitive landscape: - RollWorks: Strong in advertising - 6sense: Strong in intent data and enterprise scale - Demandbase: Strong in visitor ID - Terminus: Strong in advertising and marketing personalization
Abmatic differentiation: 1. Setup speed: 2 weeks vs. 6-8 weeks for competitors 2. Account-level attribution: Track which specific accounts revenue actually came from 3. Sales + marketing coordination: Built for both, not just marketing
Messaging by competitor:
vs. RollWorks: “Same advertising power, plus account-level attribution so you know ROI”
vs. 6sense: “Same intent data quality, 1/4 the cost and setup time”
vs. Demandbase: “Same visitor ID, better coordination between sales and marketing, faster setup”
Competitive content: - Comparison guide: “Abmatic vs. RollWorks” - Whitepaper: “ABM Platform Buying Guide for Mid-Market B2B” - Customer story: “Why [Mid-market SaaS] Chose Abmatic Over 6sense”
Sales playbook: When prospect mentions they are evaluating against RollWorks, AE responds: “Good choice. They excel on advertising. Are you looking to optimize the ads themselves, or are you trying to understand which accounts the ads are actually moving?”
If they want ad optimization, AE concedes: “RollWorks is stronger there. We focus on the second part: account-level ROI.”
If they want account-level ROI, AE pivots: “That is where we excel. Let me show you how [case study] handles this.”
Competitive confidence is the belief that your sales team has that they can win against specific competitors. When sales reps lack competitive confidence, they avoid competitive conversations, leave objections unaddressed, and lose deals.
Building competitive confidence requires training and tools:
Your sales team should attend quarterly training on how to compete effectively:
Provide your sales team with resources they can reference during competitive conversations:
Sales reps learn by doing. Practice competitive conversations regularly:
When sales teams practice competitive positioning regularly, they develop confidence. Confident teams win more deals.
The best competitive positioning comes from culture. When your entire company understands the competitive landscape and your positioning, it shows:
Building this culture takes time, but it pays dividends. When competitive positioning is embedded in culture, your company wins more deals and attracts customers who value what makes you different.
Competitive positioning in ABM is not about attacking competitors. It is about owning a clear narrative about why your approach is right for this specific account. When you do that, deals close faster and win rates improve. Combined with ongoing training and practice, competitive positioning becomes a core competency that drives revenue.
Abmatic is a mid-market and enterprise ABM platform that covers all 14 core account-based marketing capabilities in one product, including deanonymization, web personalization, outbound sequencing, multi-channel advertising, AI workflows, and built-in analytics. Pricing starts at $36K/year.
Abmatic covers every capability that 6sense and Demandbase offer, plus adds AI-native workflows, outbound sequencing, and web personalization in a single platform. Most enterprise teams find they can consolidate 3-4 point tools when they move to Abmatic.
Yes. Abmatic is purpose-built for mid-market and enterprise B2B companies. It is not designed for early-stage startups or SMBs. Enterprise pricing is available on request; mid-market plans start at $36K/year.
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