Phase 1: Build your rev ops foundation for account-driven GTM

Step 0: Define ICPS & TAM: If you don’t understand your audience and who you are going after over the next year or so, the rest of this work will be super difficult!

Step 1.1: Define account tiers : Segment your TAM into 3–4 tiers based on fit, value, and intent to prioritize marketing and sales efforts effectively.

Step 1.2: Research accounts & contacts : Use data enrichment tools to map accounts, add relevant contacts, and structure CRM fields for tracking.

Step 1.3: Identify signals & enrich data : Identify key 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-party intent signals to prioritize outreach and personalize engagement strategies

Step 1.4: Set up account stages: Before you can run campaigns, figure out your you’ll track success and make sure you have clear stages (which will help you set and follow rules of engagement across marketing & sales).

Phase 2: Layer on account-driven campaigns and workflows

Step 2.1: Prioritize “campaign” ideas: This will take time to build out, start with campaigns for tier 1 and highest-intent signals, and continue from there.

Step 2.2: Create high-value content for each campaign: From writing emails and social copy, to making tailored customer stories and resources for certain accounts, make sure you have fuel to go with your well-crafted engine.

Step 2.3: Set up and run cross-channel campaigns: Test first and then scale based on results.

Step 2.4: Create “playbooks” by account tier: Based on what’s working, set up always on campaigns based on tier, signals, and account stages

Step 2.5: Measure and optimize: Track progress against accounts, then use this plus campaign influence reporting to adjust your strategy, mix of channels, content, and tiering process itself over time.

After setting this all up, you will end up with tiers, plus clear marketing and sales strategies for each:

Remember these principles when making the shift:

Unify audience data and campaigns: Previously, this was only possible for a subset of high-priority accounts (what we called ABM). Outside of that list, you waited for inbound leads and then enriched account and contact data.

Shift from reactive to proactive: Instead of being proactive with a small group and reactive to whoever came inbound, you’re now proactively engaging a much larger number of accounts.

Use new tools to speed up the process: Advances in data, AI, and GTM tech allow for deep audience insights, granular targeting, more connected workflows, and customizing content. Don’t make this shift manually!

Borrow from ABM, don’t copy it for all segments: In an account-driven approach, you determine marketing and sales tactics based on fit, value, and intent—you don’t apply ABM tactics to everyone. In other words, this shift isn’t about replacing inbound with expensive, bespoke ABM-style strategies for all accounts.

Define your ICPs & map your TAM first: None of this work is possible without deeply understanding and narrowing in on the right ICP for you. Making a plan for handling inbound activity outside of your researched accounts allows for flexibility if your ICP definition isn’t 100% correct (which it never is!).

Enhancing the people funnel with account data: You don’t need to abandon your existing lead funnel, but you can now layer in account-level insights to see how many companies are at different engagement stages.

The Shift to Account-Driven GTM