How to Set Up Account-Based Marketing in HubSpot

Introduction

Account-based marketing (ABM) requires alignment between sales and marketing, precise targeting, and coordinated outreach. HubSpot's native features - custom properties, smart lists, workflows, and reporting - make it possible to build a functional ABM program without additional tools.

This guide walks through the practical setup steps: building your account structure, creating targeting lists, automating account-level workflows, and measuring engagement. You'll use HubSpot's existing infrastructure to enable 1-to-1 personalization at scale.

Step 1: Set Up Your Account Hierarchy

Create a Custom Company Property for Account Tiers

1. Go to Settings > Data Management > Properties
2. Click Create property under the Companies table
3. Name it "Account Tier" (or use existing if present) - Internal name: account_tier - Type: Dropdown - Options: Strategic, Core, Growth, Monitor
4. Save

This property becomes your primary segmentation lever. Use it to assign each company a tier based on your ICP fit, revenue potential, or strategic importance.

Establish Account Ownership

Create another custom property for account owner assignment:

1. Settings > Properties > Companies > Create property
2. Name: "ABM Account Owner" - Internal name: abm_account_owner - Type: User
3. Save

This links each account to a specific person, ensuring accountability and enabling account-scoped workflows.

Add Intent and Engagement Tracking Properties

Create three more properties to track ABM-specific signals:

• Engagement Score (number field) - accumulates points from email opens, website visits, content downloads
• Buying Stage (dropdown) - Awareness, Consideration, Decision, Negotiation
• Last Meaningful Interaction (date field) - when the account last engaged with your content

Step 2: Identify and Segment Your Target Accounts

Build Your Target Account List

1. Go to CRM > Companies
2. Filter by your ICP criteria (industry, company size, annual revenue, location)
3. Add filters for account_tier = Strategic or Core
4. Save this view as a custom report
5. Export the list (up to 5,000 records at a time)

Example filter set: - Industry = [your verticals] - Annual Revenue > $5M - Company Size = 50-500 - Account Tier = Strategic or Core

Import Additional Accounts via Tools

You can upload a CSV of prospect accounts:

1. Contacts > Import
2. Create companies from the spreadsheet (if not already in HubSpot)
3. Map columns to existing properties
4. Assign to your account_tier property during import

Create Smart Lists for Subsets

Use Lists to automatically group accounts by behavior:

1. Go to CRM > Lists > Create list
2. Choose Attribute-based
3. Set criteria: - Account Tier = Strategic - Engagement Score >= 50 - Buying Stage = Consideration or Decision
4. Save as "High-Intent Strategic Accounts"

This list auto-updates as engagement signals change, keeping your priority targets current.

Step 3: Build Account-Level Workflows

Create a Workflow to Nurture High-Intent Accounts

1. Go to Automation > Workflows
2. Click Create workflow
3. Choose Companies as your object
4. Set enrollment trigger: "Company is added to list" > select "High-Intent Strategic Accounts"

Add Enrollment Actions

Configure the workflow to: 1. Assign the company to the appropriate ABM Account Owner 2. Create a custom timeline entry: "ABM nurture sequence started" 3. Send an internal alert: notify the owner that a strategic account has entered the sequence

Add Decision Branches

Set up branching logic:

Branch 1: If Buying Stage = Decision - Action: Enroll in executive briefing email sequence - Action: Create task: "Schedule discovery call"

Branch 2: If Last Meaningful Interaction > 30 days ago - Action: Enroll in re-engagement sequence - Action: Reduce Engagement Score by 10 points (monthly decay)

Branch 3: If Engagement Score >= 100 - Action: Move to "Hot Lead" status - Action: Notify sales team via Slack integration

Set Unenrollment Conditions

Define when accounts exit the workflow: - Deal is created and moves to Negotiation stage - Account Tier is downgraded to "Monitor" - Last Meaningful Interaction > 90 days AND Engagement Score < 30

Step 4: Set Up Content Delivery and Personalization

Create Email Templates with Account-Level Merge Tags

1. Go to Marketing > Email
2. Create new template
3. Use merge tags for personalization: - (individual level) - (account level) - (ABM tier)

Example email subject: ", we specialize in accounts like "

Build Account-Specific Content Tracks

Create separate lists and workflows for each tier:

Strategic Accounts Workflow: - Sequence 1: Executive summary (white paper + briefing invitation) - Sequence 2: ROI case study (if in Consideration) - Sequence 3: Implementation timeline (if in Decision)

Core Accounts Workflow: - Sequence 1: Feature comparison guide - Sequence 2: Customer success stories - Sequence 3: Pricing model overview

Step 5: Track Engagement and Update Scoring

Add Email and Page View Tracking

HubSpot automatically tracks: - Email opens and clicks - Website visits (if tracking code is installed) - Form submissions - File downloads

Create a custom property to accumulate engagement:

1. Settings > Automation > Workflows
2. Create workflow: "Update Engagement Score"
3. Trigger: Email is opened / Page is viewed / Form is submitted
4. Action: Increase Engagement_Score by 5 points

Create Touchpoint Reports

1. Go to Reports > New custom report
2. Object: Companies
3. Metrics: - Number of email opens (past 30 days) - Unique website visitors - Form submissions by company - Average pages per session
4. Segment by Account Tier

This shows which accounts are most engaged and which tiers need more content.

Step 6: Enable Sales-Marketing Alignment

Set Up Account Ownership Notifications

1. Automation > Workflows > Create
2. Trigger: "High-Intent Strategic Account" list > Company is added
3. Action: Send internal notification to ABM Account Owner
4. Template: Include company name, account tier, last interaction date, and engagement score

Create Account Activity Timeline

Use HubSpot's timeline to track all ABM interactions:

1. Settings > Custom Objects > Create (optional: custom ABM Account object)
2. Add automatic timeline entries: - Account tier change - Workflow enrollment - Deal created from account - Key stakeholder added

Generate Executive Reports

Build dashboards for leadership:

1. Reports > Create dashboard
2. Add cards: - Strategic accounts by stage - Account engagement trend (past 90 days) - Conversion rate by account tier - Pipeline value by ABM account

Actionable Checklist

• [ ] Create Account Tier, ABM Account Owner, Engagement Score, and Buying Stage properties
• [ ] Segment your company database by ICP and assign tiers
• [ ] Build smart lists for high-intent and high-fit accounts
• [ ] Create account-level nurture workflows with decision branching
• [ ] Design email sequences for each account tier
• [ ] Configure engagement scoring (email, page view, form submission)
• [ ] Set up internal notifications for account owners
• [ ] Build sales-marketing alignment dashboard
• [ ] Test workflow logic with 5-10 accounts before full rollout
• [ ] Document your account tier definitions and refresh schedule
• [ ] Train sales team on HubSpot account views and reports
• [ ] Schedule monthly review of account tier assignments and engagement scores

Expert Tips

1. Avoid Overly Complex Workflows Start with 2-3 decision branches. Add sophistication once you've validated engagement patterns in your first 100 target accounts.

2. Keep Engagement Decay Simple A monthly -10 point decay for inactivity works better than complex decay curves. Review quarterly and adjust based on your sales cycle.

3. Use HubSpot's Notes Feature for Account Context Sales team can leave account notes (e.g., "Waiting for board approval in Q3") that inform nurture decisions without adding properties.

4. Segment by Buying Stage, Not Just Company Size The Buying Stage property matters more than revenue for determining sequence urgency. An $5M company in Decision is hotter than a $50M company in Awareness.

5. Run Monthly Account Reviews Have your sales and marketing leaders review high-engagement accounts together. This catches misaligned expectations and refines your ICP.

Managing Account Ownership at Scale

As your ABM program grows, account ownership becomes critical. HubSpot provides tools to manage this:

Create Account Teams

In enterprise HubSpot, you can create Account Teams:

1. Go to CRM > Accounts (or Companies)
2. Open a company record
3. Scroll to Engagement section
4. Add multiple team members: Primary owner, secondary owner, stakeholders
5. Set role for each (Account Executive, Marketing, Solutions Engineer, etc.)

This ensures visibility for the entire team and reduces hand-offs.

Set Up Account Notifications

Configure who gets notified when an account progresses:

1. Automation > Workflows
2. Create workflow: "Account Owner Notification"
3. Trigger: Account is added to "Hot Lead" list or Buying Stage = Decision
4. Action: Send notification to Primary Account Owner
5. Include: Account name, engagement score, last meaningful interaction, deal value

Monthly Account Health Scorecard

Create a custom report to check account health monthly:

1. Reports > Create custom report
2. Object: Companies
3. Filters: Account_Tier = Strategic or Core

4. Metrics: - Account name - Account tier - Primary owner - Engagement score (last 30 days) - Last interaction date - Current stage - Pipeline value associated

5. Schedule this report to email leadership monthly

This keeps everyone aligned on account status and prevents accounts from falling through cracks.

What's Next

Once your account structure is live:

1. Upload your initial 50-100 target accounts and run for 30 days
2. Measure open rates, click rates, and deal velocity by account tier
3. Refine your email sequences based on what resonates
4. Expand to 500+ accounts once you've validated the playbook
5. Integrate HubSpot with your CRM or analytics tool if needed

The infrastructure you've built is the foundation. Success comes from consistent execution against a defined audience and continuous iteration based on data.