Which account-based marketing examples have real figures?
Six, below, each taken from a published case study we opened on 5 November 2026. All six are vendor case studies: the company selling the ABM, advertising or gifting tool wrote them about a customer, so the figures are self-reported, often without a baseline, and credit the vendor. We give only the figures each page gives, and say where a term such as "influenced pipeline" isn't defined.
| Company | Case study by, date | Play | Headline figure the page gives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thales (data security) | Demandbase, 6 Oct 2022 | 1:many and 1:few ads, weekly engagement reports for sales leaders | MQA stage rose from 11% to 20% of accounts |
| Visier (people analytics) | Demandbase, 1 Dec 2023 | LinkedIn ads written per product module, for customers likely to expand | Engaged accounts typically 37% to 38% against a 30% goal |
| Sagility (healthcare services) | Demandbase, 27 Apr 2022 | Ads to a niche list pointing to an executive's bylined article | 40% of the targeted audience visited the site for the first time |
| Coalfire (cybersecurity advisory) | Demandbase, 26 Mar 2025 | Pilot campaigns first, then expand | 40% growth in marketing-generated pipeline within six months |
| Snapdocs (fintech) | Sendoso, undated page; campaign March 2020 | A book posted to target accounts, including COOs, tied to a webinar | 7 new sales opportunities; $5.5M influenced pipeline |
| Lacework (cloud security) | Reachdesk, undated page; campaigns 2022 to 2023 | Small door-opener gifts to ICP accounts, gift cards to webinar registrants | Gifting influenced 25% of pipeline |
New to the term? Our ABM definition with the 1:1, 1:few and 1:many tiers covers it in two minutes.
Thales: how did it get sales to use ABM data?
Demandbase's Thales case study (6 October 2022) covers the EMEA team at Thales Cloud Protection and Licensing, where Elsa Toutlemonde, Account-Based Marketing Manager EMEA, was asked to move the team from lead generation to ABM. The first ad campaigns started as 1-to-many and 1-to-few programmes, then moved to smaller clusters based on intent, engagement and firmographics. The page says that in six weeks the average click-through rate was about 30% (against an industry average it puts at around 8%), and about 50% of the account list re-engaged by visiting the website after seeing the ads. Separately, it says the share of accounts at the marketing qualified account (MQA) stage went from 11% at the start of the campaigns to 20%.
The part a small team can use costs nothing: for the first month or two, Toutlemonde sent weekly reports on account engagement and intent to sales leaders only, not reps, until they started asking questions. Workshops and account lists built for individual reps came after.
Visier: what does an expansion ABM play look like?
Demandbase's Visier case study (1 December 2023) describes a 201 to 500 person company that lands an account with Visier Essentials, then upsells more modules over two to three years. The team reads which topics an account is researching, picks the module to promote, writes ad copy for that module only, and targets that account and role list on LinkedIn. Reaching several roles at one customer is the same skill as multi-threading a deal. The page says that after one year they had upsold one client at least two more modules.
For accounts in their OEM segment, Visier set a goal of at least 30% of its total addressable market engaging with ads and content; the page says engaged accounts typically trend towards 37% to 38%. For accounts with an open opportunity the goal was at least 80% interacting with marketing content, and the page says they consistently hit at least 95% to 100% of that target. It also reports a 234% higher click-through rate when using Demandbase and LinkedIn together, without saying what that is compared with.
Sagility: how can one article open a niche segment?
Demandbase's Sagility case study (27 April 2022) quotes Kevin Nolan, Global Head of Healthcare Marketing, on a product sold to a very select group of health insurers that carry one type of plan. The team defined that audience exactly, then ran ads pointing to an article bylined by a Sagility executive in a top-tier industry publication. The page says 40% of the targeted audience clicked the article and visited Sagility's website for the first time.
In a second play, the company announced a product in a new industry and, 48 hours later, sponsored that industry's annual conference for the first time. The team knew who the key players were and ran a targeted ad campaign to them; roughly 10% of targets visited the website, and the team turned those visits into conversations at the conference, per the page. The page doesn't give the size of either audience.
Coalfire: why run a pilot before scaling ABM?
Demandbase's Coalfire case study (published 26 March 2025) says Coalfire redefined its high-value accounts using intent signals, ran pilot campaigns to check targeting, and expanded only after that. The page reports a 30% increase in engagement, 25% higher lead-to-opportunity conversion, a 12% shorter sales cycle, 40% growth in marketing-generated pipeline within six months, and a 45% conversion lift for campaigns on cloud compliance advisory services compared with previous campaigns. It doesn't give the starting numbers, so these percentages can't be turned into deal counts.
Our account-based marketing strategy guide shows how to build that first list and tier it.
Snapdocs and Lacework: does direct mail still work in ABM?
Two gifting vendors' stories show direct mail used inside ABM. Sendoso's Snapdocs story (undated page) says that in March 2020 Snapdocs moved the launch of a 115-page book, The Definitive Guide to Digital Closings, from an in-person event to an ask-me-anything webinar, and still posted the book. Marketing and SDRs chose the target accounts together, including chief operating officers at every high-value target company, and recipients were asked to confirm their address first. The page reports an 84% response rate using that address confirmation, seven new sales opportunities, seven accounts moved to lower funnel stages and $5.5M of influenced pipeline to date; it doesn't define influenced.
Reachdesk's Lacework story (undated page) quotes Vasileios Kospanos, Senior Field Marketing Manager, who joined in April 2022. The team sent door-opener gifts such as muffins and cupcakes to selected accounts matching its ICP, sent 2022 World Cup bundles to mid-funnel prospects, and offered webinar registrants a coffee or breakfast gift card. The page says gift cards for 50 attendees came to less than £500, which by our arithmetic is under £10 a person (500 / 50 = 10), that one webinar led to a deal closed in 38 days in February 2023, and that Reachdesk influenced 25% of pipeline.
What can a small team copy from these ABM examples?
Pick by the problem you have now. This table uses only what the six pages describe; the first steps are our suggestions.
| If your problem is... | Borrow from | First step this week |
|---|---|---|
| Sales ignores marketing's account list | Thales | Weekly engagement note to the sales lead, four weeks, no asks |
| Existing customers don't buy the rest of the range | Visier | One message per add-on, sent to its users at each customer |
| A tiny segment nobody can reach by phone | Sagility | One bylined article answering that segment's question |
| You don't know if the play works yet | Coalfire | Run it on 10 accounts and write the numbers down first |
| Senior buyers who don't answer email | Snapdocs | Ask permission, then post something they will keep |
| Webinars with low turnout | Lacework | A small, stated thank-you for attending |
Every one of these programmes depended on knowing which accounts were active and why. One way to get it is to buy intent data; our post on whether buyer intent data is worth it sets out what those vendors cost. Siela's Lead Finder covers part of the job for small teams: it looks for people asking how to solve the problem you solve, hiring for the work you automate or engaging with a competitor, and gives every lead a hot, warm or cold score with a one-line reason.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good example of account-based marketing?
A useful one is Thales EMEA in a Demandbase case study from October 2022: it started with one-to-many and one-to-few ad campaigns, then narrowed to smaller clusters, and sent weekly account engagement reports to sales leaders before asking them to change anything. The page reports the share of accounts at the qualified stage rising from 11% to 20%.
Are ABM case study results reliable?
Treat them as examples of what was tried, not proof of what it will do for you. Most are written by the vendor whose tool was used, report percentage lifts without the starting numbers, and use terms such as influenced pipeline without defining them. The method, the account selection and the dates are the most reusable parts.
What does 1:1, 1:few and 1:many mean in ABM?
One-to-one means a programme written for a single high-value account. One-to-few means one programme for a small cluster of accounts that share a problem or industry. One-to-many means a lighter programme for a larger list, personalised by role and industry. Thales, for example, began with the last two before moving to smaller clusters.
Can a small company do account-based marketing without ABM software?
Yes. Several plays in these case studies need no platform at all: a weekly engagement note to sales, an article for one narrow segment, a two-week pilot on ten accounts, or a printed guide posted to buyers who agreed to receive it. Software mostly helps with finding which accounts are active and with ads at scale.
How do you measure an account-based marketing campaign?
Count by account rather than by lead. Typical measures in these examples are the share of target accounts that engaged, the share of accounts at a qualified stage, meetings and opportunities at target accounts, and pipeline from them. Set a goal before launch, as Visier did with its 30% engaged-account target, so the result means something.
Sources
- Demandbase case study: Thales (6 Oct 2022)
- Demandbase case study: Visier (1 Dec 2023)
- Demandbase case study: Sagility (27 Apr 2022)
- Demandbase case study: Coalfire (26 Mar 2025)
- Sendoso success story: Snapdocs (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Reachdesk customer story: Lacework (checked 5 Nov 2026)