đŸ›©ïž ABM Has Left the “Pilot” Stage

This isn’t a headline we expected to be writing until at LEAST 2026.


But alas, here we are



💡 Emerging Trend: While launching an account-based motion for the first time, organizations are ditching the small-scale ABM pilot in favor of a full Account-Based GTM implementation across all revenue teams.


We’ve uncovered this through our on-going ABM Benchmark Audits of organizations from ranging from $5 million to +$20 billion in ARR.

ABM → Account-Based GTM

❌ The OLD Way: Small Pilot Program  

Initiate of the Implementation: VP of Marketing / Director of Demand Generation


Initial Program size: Small, labeled as a “Pilot” ABM program.


ABM Type: Either Enterprise ABM 1:Few (<25 accounts or less in a cluster) or a small batch of Growth ABM (50s or 100s).


Overview:

ABM is seen as an innovative approach. Although widely adopted, it’s still viewed as an experimental marketing-led motion.

Either a dedicated ABM practitioner, or existing demand generation team member is responsible for the implementation of an “ABM Pilot”.

This includes a small batch of accounts, accompanied by a few sales partners. There isn’t a broad implementation and it’s kept intentionally small to prove out the motions effectiveness.


✅ The NEW Way: Org-wide Implementation

Initiate of the Implementation: C-suite (CEO, CMO, CRO).


Initial Program size: Fully integrated, organization-wide implementation of an Account-Based GTM motion.


ABM Type: Growth ABM is mainly applied first given that it’s infrastructure is native to scaled coverage.


Overview:

The C-suite holds an underlying sense of FOMO given the fact that their peers are realizing success with mature Account-Based GTM motions.

They either internally promote or externally hire an individual to oversee the org-wide implementation of an Account-Based GTM motion spanning across all revenue teams.

This is seen as a transformational and cultural shift, as ALL revenue teams are now aligned on a list of target accounts and modernized account-based metrics that actually drive alignment and cohesion.


đŸ’Ș 5 Reasons Why This Just Makes Sense

  1. Sales has already been account-based for YEARS
 the other GTM teams are just catching up.
  2. Entire GTM is unified around an agreed target account list, fostering strategic clarity and resource efficiency.
  3. Marketing, sales and customer success rally together to achieve unified account-based metrics; it’s not function Vs. function anymore.
  4. Focus on identifying and engaging the buying group as a GTM team, marketing isn’t just “throwing MQLs” at the sales team.
  5. Teams leverage the Growth ABM and Enterprise ABM architectures to build a holistic account-based motion.

đŸ€” Rethinking the “ABM” Title

With this NEW way, comes new titles.


At this point, we can all agree that labelling your program as ‘Account-Based Marketing’ is wildly misleading.


It’s not just some marketing campaign or tactic, it’s a full-scale GTM motion.

As we continue to see the trend of org-wide implementations, this is also being accompanied by a new title / role.


We’re seeing the emergence of the “Account-Based GTM” title in real-time.

Here are TWO examples from organizations that are drastically different in size who have implemented this within the last 12-months.


1. Example: $1.3 Billion ARR Company

2. Example: $33.3 Million ARR Company

ALL of the above is why we’ve gone all-in on Account-Based GTM at ForgeX.

It’s the underlying architecture that every B2B revenue team will, and should be using.