Hey friend,
How’s it going? 🌻
Okay, so I want to start something new with this newsletter.
You know how I keep saying content marketing is so much more than writing blogs (I’ve said it on LinkedIn, I’ve said it in past issues, I’ll probably say it again), but saying it and actually showing what that looks like are two different things.
So I’m starting a series. I’m calling it Beyond Blogs.
Each issue, we’re going to dig into one area of marketing that content marketers don’t always get formally trained on, but absolutely should understand. Not so you become an expert in everything. But so you can walk into a room, understand what’s being discussed, and contribute something real.
Over the next few issues, here’s what we’re covering:
Part 1 (this one): ABM — what it is, and what role content actually plays in it
Part 2: Strategies that work for content in ABM campaigns
Part 3: Common mistakes content marketers make when working on ABM
Part 4: How to track ABM content performance and which channels to actually use
We’re starting with ABM because it’s one of those things that looks like “not your department” from the outside. And I want to change that.
Let’s get into it 👇
📌 TL;DR
ABM = account-based marketing. Instead of broadcasting to a crowd, you’re reaching a curated list of high-intent accounts who already fit your ICP
It looks like a sales and paid media thing from the outside — but every touchpoint in an ABM campaign runs on content
Generic content in ABM doesn’t just underperform. It signals you haven’t done your homework — and these audiences can tell
Content in ABM has one job: move a specific account forward, not generate traffic
As a content marketer, you don’t need to run the ABM program. You need to make the content land
First: what even is ABM? (the version nobody explains clearly)
ABM stands for account-based marketing. You’ve probably heard it. But let’s make it a bit simpler for you all!
Content marketing channels like blogs, social posts, YouTube videos, and podcasts work like a broadcast. You put something out, you hope it reaches the right people, and you trust that if it’s good enough, the right folks will find it, engage with it, and eventually convert. You know your ICP, you try to write for them, but at the end of the day, you’re talking to a crowd.
ABM flips that completely.
In ABM, you’re not talking to a crowd. You’ve already identified a specific set of accounts — companies that fit your ICP, have the budget, have an actual need, and are worth going after intentionally. Instead of waiting for them to come to you, you go to them. Through ads, emails, events, direct outreach, whatever the channel, you’re reaching out to people you already know are high intent.
The audience shrinks. But the value of every single touchpoint goes way up.
With a blog, if 10,000 people read it and 0.5% convert, that’s a win. With ABM, you might reach 200 accounts, and the expectation is that a meaningful number of them will move through the pipeline. The math is completely different, and so is the content game.
Why content marketers assume ABM isn’t their problem
ABM, on the surface, looks like a sales-and-paid-media thing.
There’s a list.
There are targeted ads.
Sales is doing outreach.
Marketing is running the campaigns.
Where does a content person fit? Everywhere, actually.
Is every email going out to those accounts? That’s content.
Every ad creative? Content.
The one-pager a sales rep sends after a discovery call? Content.
The landing page a prospect hits after clicking an ad? Content.
The case study that nudges a deal forward? Content.
The targeting in ABM can be flawless. The budget can be healthy. But if the content landing in front of those accounts is generic, forgettable, or just... not relevant to what they actually care about, all of that investment is wasted.
Here’s something I’ve seen up close, working on campaigns across different verticals.
The same message, sent to two different audience segments in the same industry, can perform very differently, not because the product changed, but because the pain-point framing didn’t. The KPIs that matter to one segment, the language they use internally, the problems they’re actually trying to solve right now, these things vary. A lot.
And that’s the thing about ABM audiences.
They’re not just high intent. They’re also informed. These are people who know their domain, understand their options, and can tell within two sentences whether a piece of communication was written for them or for someone vaguely like them.
Generic content doesn’t just underperform in ABM — it actively signals that you haven’t done your homework.
So what role does content play in ABM?
Here’s how I think about it.
In regular inbound content marketing, you’re creating content to generate traffic, awareness, and leads. You publish and wait. The goal is volume and reach.
In ABM, content has a different job. It’s not there to attract. It’s there to move a specific account forward, from awareness to consideration, from consideration to a conversation, from a conversation to a decision. Every piece of content serves the sales motion. It has a role in a sequence and a purpose at a specific moment in the buying journey.
That’s a fundamentally different way to think about what you’re writing and why.
ABM content builds awareness, but only with the right people
In ABM, you’re not trying to reach everyone. You’re trying to make sure the right accounts know you exist and understand what you solve.
Content here: think thought leadership, industry-specific posts, targeted ads — isn’t optimized for traffic. It’s optimized for recognition among a very specific group.
It supports the sales conversation, not replaces it
ABM content doesn’t close deals on its own. It makes the sales conversation easier. A well-written one-pager, a relevant case study, and a sharp follow-up email give sales something to work with at every stage. Your job as a content person is to understand what that conversation needs and fill the gaps.
It personalizes at the right level
This is where content skills really show up. A case study written for ABM isn’t a general success story; it’s tailored to the industry, company size, or specific pain point of the accounts you’re targeting.
So when the right person reads it, they see themselves in it. An email sequence isn’t a nurture drip; it’s a specific conversation with a specific type of person, at a specific moment.
A landing page isn’t your generic product page; it speaks to the exact problem that brought this person here. Personalization doesn’t mean rewriting everything from scratch every time. It means understanding what needs to change, the framing, the example, the language — to make something feel like it was made for them.
It creates engagement opportunities for the sales team
Good ABM content gives sales a reason to reach out. A relevant report, a piece of research, an invite to a webinar built around a pain point the account actually has, these are entry points. Content creates the opening. Sales walks through it.
It moves accounts through the funnel — not just into it
This is the biggest mindset shift. In inbound, you’re mostly thinking about top-of-funnel, how do I get people in? In ABM, you’re thinking about the whole journey. What does this account need to see at each stage to feel confident moving forward? Content has a role at every step, not just the first.
The underlying skill running through all of this: understanding what a specific person cares about, the language they use, the outcome they’re trying to achieve, is a content skill. Just applied in a very different context.
And that’s exactly why content marketers belong in this conversation. Not to run the ABM program. But to be the person who makes the content actually land.
BTW…
If you’ve worked on ABM campaigns before — as a content person or even in an adjacent role, I’d love to hear what your experience was like. Hit reply and tell me. It’ll genuinely help me shape the next few issues.
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Onwards and upwards,
Sreyashi