HubSpot’s account-based marketing (ABM) tools help sales and marketing teams focus effort on a defined set of high-value target companies. The setup takes about an hour once you understand the workflow, and the payoff is a coordinated view of which accounts are engaging and which need attention.
Go to Settings > Sales > ABM and toggle ABM tools on. HubSpot automatically creates the ICP Tier and Buying Role properties, plus a Target Account flag on company and contact records.
Navigate to Contacts > Target Accounts. Add companies manually or use a workflow to auto-enrol companies that match your ICP criteria.
Set Tier 1, 2, or 3 on each company record. Tier 1 accounts receive the most focused outreach. Lower tiers stay in the funnel but are not prioritised for high-touch activity.
On each target company, tag each key contact with a buying role. Champion or Decision Maker covers active supporters, Budget Holder tracks financial sign-off and Blocker flags internal resistance. This tells your team who to prioritise at each account.
Use the ABM overview dashboard in Sales to check engagement scores and open deals for each account, alongside recommended next actions.
What is HubSpot ABM and when does it make sense?
HubSpot ABM is a set of tools within Sales Hub Professional and Enterprise that gives B2B teams a structured way to pursue named accounts. Rather than managing a broad lead funnel, you identify a shortlist of companies that match your ideal customer profile. You then align marketing and sales activity around those specific accounts.
It makes most sense when your average deal size justifies high-touch outreach and your sales cycle runs longer than a few weeks. For teams in Southeast Asia working in enterprise software or consulting, ABM gives structure to what is otherwise a scattered set of informal relationship-building efforts.
ABM does not replace your general inbound funnel. It runs alongside it, ensuring your highest-priority accounts receive focused attention rather than being mixed in with low-fit leads.
How do you enable ABM tools in HubSpot?
ABM tools are included in Sales Hub Professional and Enterprise. To turn them on, go to Settings > Sales > ABM and toggle ABM tools on. HubSpot automatically creates the ICP Tier and Buying Role properties, plus a Target Account flag on company and contact records.
If you are on Marketing Hub Professional or Enterprise, you can still use the Target Accounts list for ad targeting and smart content. The full ABM dashboard with account engagement scoring requires Sales Hub Professional or above.
How do you build and score a target accounts list?
The target accounts view lives under Contacts > Target Accounts in your portal navigation. You can add companies to your target list manually, or use a workflow to auto-enrol companies that meet your ICP criteria.
A common approach is to set up a company-based workflow that checks industry and annual revenue, then automatically sets the ICP Tier property. Tier 1 companies receive the most focused outreach. Tier 2 gets regular nurture. Tier 3 stays in the funnel but is not prioritised for high-touch activity.
For teams new to ABM, starting with 20 to 50 Tier 1 accounts is a manageable scope. Review the list monthly and reassign tiers as deals progress or stall. For a full overview of managing company records, see the HubSpot contacts and companies guide.
What are buying roles and why do they matter?
Buying roles are a contact property in HubSpot ABM that describe each person’s function in a purchase decision. HubSpot ships four buying roles by default. Champion and Decision Maker identify supporters and decision authority. Budget Holder tracks financial sign-off. Blocker flags internal resistance early. You can add custom roles if your sales process calls for them.
Assigning buying roles to contacts at target accounts tells your reps where to focus attention. A Champion who is engaged but has no contact with the Decision Maker is a coaching opportunity. A Blocker you have not yet addressed is a risk to the deal. The ABM dashboard surfaces these gaps so the team can act on them rather than discovering them late in the cycle.
Buying roles are set on the contact record itself under the Buying Role property, or can be set in bulk from the Target Accounts view.
How does the ABM dashboard work?
The ABM dashboard in HubSpot shows engagement scores and open deals for each target account, plus recommended next actions for the team. It is accessible from the main navigation under Sales > ABM Dashboard.
Engagement score is calculated from email activity, meeting bookings and website visits. It gives a rough signal of which accounts are warming up versus going cold, without requiring manual review of every contact record.
Recommended actions appear when HubSpot detects gaps: a target account with no open deal or no contacts with buying roles assigned. These are prompts, not automated tasks. Your reps still decide what to act on.
Can you connect HubSpot ABM to LinkedIn Ads?
Yes. If you have LinkedIn Ads connected to HubSpot under Marketing > Ads, you can sync your Target Accounts list directly to LinkedIn as a Matched Audiences list. This lets you run account-targeted LinkedIn campaigns that show ads specifically to people at your named accounts.
The same principle applies to Google Ads via Customer Match lists, though company-level targeting is less precise on Google than on LinkedIn.
For practical outreach to contacts at target accounts, HubSpot Sequences is the most effective tool. Sequences allow personalised, timed email outreach that pauses automatically when a contact replies.
How do you use ABM with HubSpot lists?
Your Target Accounts list is a live company list in HubSpot. You can reference it in workflows or use it to filter contact views. Smart content rules can also show different messaging to contacts associated with target accounts.
To create a contact-level list based on target account membership, build an Active List under Contacts > Lists with the filter: “Associated company is in list > Target Accounts.” This gives you a contact list you can use for email sends or workflow enrollment. See the HubSpot lists guide for the full configuration.
What results can you expect from HubSpot ABM?
ABM shifts focus from volume to fit. Teams that adopt it typically see their pipeline concentrate in fewer, higher-quality deals. Whether that translates into faster close rates or higher win rates depends on how well the target account list is defined and how consistently the team executes the outreach.
The clearest early signal is coverage: what percentage of your Tier 1 accounts have an open deal and a contacted Decision Maker. If those numbers are low, the bottleneck is usually in account selection or outreach cadence rather than in the HubSpot tools themselves.
Frequently asked questions
Which HubSpot plan includes ABM tools?
Sales Hub Professional and Enterprise. Marketing Hub Professional can access the Target Accounts list for ad targeting but does not include the full ABM dashboard.
Can you use ABM in HubSpot Starter?
No. The ABM feature set requires at least Sales Hub Professional.
How many target accounts should you start with?
A starting range of 20 to 50 Tier 1 accounts is manageable for most teams. The list should be reviewed and refined monthly based on deal activity and engagement signals.
Does ABM replace inbound marketing in HubSpot?
No. ABM runs alongside inbound. It focuses effort on a defined account list, while inbound continues to generate leads from the broader market.
Can you sync target accounts to LinkedIn Ads?
Yes. With LinkedIn Ads connected in HubSpot, you can sync your Target Accounts list to LinkedIn Matched Audiences for account-level ad targeting.
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