AI-Enabled Account-Based Marketing Strategy for B2B SaaS Companies

This article is for B2B marketing and sales leaders currently defining their ABM game plan to include AI. The article covers two well-known ABM tools and discusses the value of these tools both independently and with a HubSpot CRM integration. From tools to tactics, this article has something for everyone, especially AI aficionados looking to augment their strategy and crush their quota from the start.

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) with AI is changing the game for B2B SaaS. Traditional ABM already helps you laser-focus on high-value accounts; adding artificial intelligence takes it to a whole new level.

An AI-enabled account-based strategy leverages machine learning and big data to find hidden patterns, predicting which accounts are most likely to convert, spotting subtle buying intent signals, personalising content for each visitor, and orchestrating the buyer’s journey in real time. The result? More precise targeting, timely engagement, and higher ROI without the usual guesswork.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore how AI enhances ABM through predictive insights, intent data, dynamic content personalisation, and intelligent journey orchestration.

We’ll also compare two leading AI-powered ABM platforms – RollWorks vs 6sense – including their features, HubSpot integrations, use cases, and pros and cons. You’ll see how HubSpot serves as the foundational CRM and marketing automation platform that supports these AI-ABM efforts.

Plus, we’ll highlight real-world SaaS case studies (no fluff, just facts) where AI-driven ABM has delivered impressive results. By the end, you’ll have a clear roadmap for leveraging an AI ABM strategy to supercharge your B2B SaaS marketing, and we’ll answer common FAQS. Let’s dive in!

How AI Enhances Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

AI isn’t here to replace your ABM strategy. It’s here to enhance it. Think of artificial intelligence as your trusty sidekick, crunching data and automating tactics behind the scenes so your team can focus on crafting killer campaigns and building relationships. Specifically, AI adds value to account-based marketing in several key areas:

Predictive Insights for Target Account Selection

One of the hardest parts of ABM is figuring out which companies to target and when. AI addresses this with predictive analytics. By analysing historical data (CRM records, website interactions, firmographics, etc.), machine learning models can score and rank accounts based on how likely they are to engage or buy soon. This predictive insight helps your sales and marketing teams prioritise the accounts that matter most.

For example, AI models can crunch thousands of data points to predict which accounts are in a “sweet spot”, perhaps scoring 90/100 on propensity to buy. Platforms like 6sense are renowned for such predictive modelling; in fact, 6sense’s predictive analytics capabilities are rated 9.0/10 by users, significantly higher than RollWorks’ 7.8/10 rating in that area​.

This means marketers using 6sense get very accurate forecasts of account engagement, allowing them to focus on the accounts most likely to convert. In practice, that could mean forecasting which accounts will enter a buying cycle in the next quarter, or predicting the optimal time to reach out based on intent signals.

The benefit? No more relying on gut feeling or static ideal customer profiles alone. AI-driven lead scoring and account grading show your team exactly where to spend their energy. As G2 reviewers note, 6sense’s lead scoring is particularly robust for prioritising leads. With these predictive insights, you stop wasting effort on accounts that aren’t ready and double down on those that are, boosting efficiency and conversion rates.

Intent Data & Real-Time Buying Signals

Wouldn’t it be great if you knew which target accounts are actively researching a solution like yours right now? AI makes that possible through intent data. Intent data are the digital footprints left when people at a company research topics online, such as reading articles, attending webinars, and comparing products. AI can gather and interpret these signals at scale to gauge an account’s buying intent.

For instance, RollWorks’ platform integrates Bombora Company Surge® data (a leading B2B intent data source) to detect when a target account shows a spike in interest around relevant topics​. Bombora monitors about 4 million websites and 16+ billion monthly interactions across 5,000+ B2B sites​.

When one of your target companies suddenly consumes a lot of content about, say, “cloud data security”,  and that’s your product category, Bombora’s AI flags it as a surge in intent. In RollWorks, this would show up as an “Account Intent” insight, telling you that the account might be in-market.

Likewise, 6sense’s AI analyses a mix of first-party and third-party intent signals (web visits, advertising clicks, content consumption) to identify accounts in different stages of the buying journey.

By integrating these AI-driven intent signals, companies can differentiate serious buyers from tire-kickers. In one example, a B2B company combined Bombora and 6sense intent data to pinpoint which prospects were truly in-market and aligned sales outreach accordingly, resulting in a 30% increase in conversion rates by focusing on “hot” accounts​.

In plain English, intent data is like having insider knowledge about your prospects’ research behaviour. AI-powered ABM platforms constantly listen for these digital buying signals.

When an important account starts showing interest (visiting pricing pages, reading multiple blog posts on a topic, comparing vendors on sites like G2), the AI alerts you. This allows your team to strike while the iron is hot, reaching out with timely, relevant messaging right when the account is exploring solutions.

Without AI, you’d likely miss these fleeting opportunities.

Dynamic Content Personalisation at Scale

ABM has always preached personalisation, treating each target account as a “market of one” with messaging tailored to their needs. The challenge is doing this at scale for dozens or hundreds of accounts without a massive content team. Enter AI and marketing automation.

AI-powered personalisation can dynamically tailor what each prospect sees or receives, based on their profile and behaviour. For example, AI algorithms can determine the best content to show a website visitor from Acme Corp versus one from Beta Inc.

If an executive from a target account visits your site, an AI-enabled chatbot might greet them by name and industry (“Hi [Name], we work with many fintech companies, can I help you find something?”). This isn’t groundbreaking and it’s happening now.

One cybersecurity company used an AI chatbot (Drift) to recognise target account visitors and serve up relevant case studies and instant meeting offers, resulting in 40% more booked meetings and a 25% shorter sales cycle.

Beyond chatbots, AI can personalise email content, web pages, ads, and more. Some marketing tools use natural language processing to tailor email copy to each account’s industry or past interactions.

Content recommendation engines (e.g. PathFactory, Uberflip) leverage AI to suggest the most relevant case studies, whitepapers, or videos to each account, based on what they’ve already consumed.

In one case, a tech firm using AI-driven content recommendations saw a 35% boost in content engagement and a 50% increase in pipeline velocity, simply by always showing prospects the content most likely to resonate.

Even without fancy new tools, you can start with what you have. HubSpot, for example, has dynamic content (“smart content”) features that allow you to swap out text, CTAs, or entire sections of a webpage/email based on a visitor’s industry, account, or lifecycle stage.

Because HubSpot’s CMS and CRM are integrated, you can deliver personalised web experiences driven by your contact/company data​. An AI ABM strategy can feed into this – use AI insights (industry, intent, stage) to segment contacts in HubSpot, and then HubSpot’s smart content displays the perfect tailored message to that segment.

The bottom line: AI helps make one-to-one personalisation possible at scale. It takes on the heavy lifting of deciding which message or asset each account should receive, so you can build meaningful, relevant experiences for each target account automatically. When prospects feel you truly understand their business, they’re far more likely to respond.

AI-Driven Journey Orchestration and Timing

ABM isn’t a single campaign – it’s a coordinated dance of touches across marketing and sales channels. Traditionally, marketers had to manually plan these touches (send email Week 1, schedule sales call Week 2, serve ads Week 3…).

It’s effective but labour-intensive, and if a buyer zigzags off the expected path, your playbook might not keep up. AI-driven journey orchestration solves this by automatically adjusting and timing interactions based on real-time buyer behaviour.

Think of journey orchestration as having an AI “campaign conductor.” It monitors how an account is engaging and decides the next best action: Should we send another content email, or is the account showing enough intent that sales should call them now? Should we pause ads because the account went cold, or double down because they just had a spike in site visits?

Modern ABM platforms like 6sense provide intelligent workflows that do exactly this. They can trigger actions or alerts when certain conditions are met – for example, if the account’s intent score rises and they visit the pricing page, then alert the sales rep and send a personalised case study email automatically.

AI makes these decisions dynamic. It can re-orchestrate the sequence of touchpoints on the fly. For instance, if an account suddenly engages heavily (downloads multiple whitepapers in a day), the AI might accelerate that account’s journey, moving them to a “fast track” sequence. Conversely, if an account goes silent, AI can pull back and nurture them more gradually.

As one expert noted, the future of ABM will see “AI-powered account orchestration – AI dynamically adjusting campaigns based on real-time signals,” along with automated, multi-channel engagement guided by AI. We’re already seeing the early stages of this now.

The benefit of AI orchestration is twofold: responsiveness and efficiency. Prospects get the right touch at the right time (since AI isn’t stuck to a rigid calendar), which improves their experience and likelihood to convert. And your team doesn’t have to micromanage every step for every account – the AI helps ensure no one falls through the cracks or gets spammed unnecessarily.

It’s like putting parts of your ABM on autopilot, with a smart autopilot that knows when to call in human intervention.

In summary, AI enhancements turn a solid ABM program into a highly effective, precision-driven program. You’ll identify the best accounts faster, know when they’re ready to engage, speak to them in a hyper-personalised way, and nurture them through the journey more intelligently. Now, let’s look at tools that make this possible.

AI-Powered ABM Platforms: RollWorks vs. 6sense

To implement an AI-enabled ABM strategy, specialised platforms can provide the heavy lifting. Two of the top players in this space are 6sense and RollWorks. Both platforms help B2B companies identify target accounts, capture intent signals, and coordinate marketing and sales actions using AI and automation.

However, they have different strengths that may make one a better fit depending on your needs. Here’s a head-to-head comparison of 6sense and RollWorks:

RollWorks vs 6sense – which is right for you? It often comes down to your company’s size, goals, and tech stack. If you are an enterprise SaaS with a large target account list and need the most sophisticated AI insights (and have the budget to match), 6sense’s “big data” approach to ABM may deliver a greater edge.

Users frequently cite 6sense’s strength in uncovering unseen buying intent and providing next-level predictive analytics that boost the pipeline. On the other hand, if you are a mid-market SaaS or are newer to ABM, RollWorks offers an approachable, cost-effective starting point without sacrificing the core capabilities.

In fact, many reviewers note RollWorks is easier to start with and more affordable, while still covering much of the same ABM functionality, just with a bit less AI depth.

Integration with HubSpot CRM

A critical consideration in this comparison is how each platform plays with your existing CRM and marketing tools, especially if you use HubSpot. HubSpot is often the central hub for B2B SaaS marketing and sales teams, so any ABM tool needs to integrate smoothly.

• RollWorks & HubSpot: RollWorks shines here with a native HubSpot integration. It’s a bi-directional sync, meaning your HubSpot contacts and companies flow into RollWorks, and engagement data from RollWorks (like ad clicks, site visits, intent spikes) can flow back into HubSpot​.

  At HubSpot’s Inbound 2022 conference, HubSpot even highlighted its partnership with RollWorks, a strong vote of confidence. For teams using HubSpot Marketing Hub and Sales Hub, RollWorks feels like a natural extension; you can create HubSpot smart lists of target accounts to push into RollWorks campaigns, and use RollWorks’ insights inside HubSpot to drive workflows. The integration requires minimal IT work, install from the HubSpot Marketplace and off you go.

• 6sense & HubSpot: 6sense also offers integration with HubSpot, allowing you to sync accounts and contacts and view 6sense’s AI insights within the CRM. However, historically, 6sense was built with a Salesforce-first mentality (many early adopters were Salesforce shops).

  HubSpot integration for 6sense is a newer development, and while it’s improving, some users have noted gaps or extra steps needed for “full” integration. (Indeed, there have been discussions asking when a more complete HubSpot integration is coming for 6sense.)

  In practice, you can get HubSpot and 6sense working together – for example, by syncing 6sense’s account scores or buying stage classifications into HubSpot company properties – but expect a bit more configuration. It’s not as plug-and-play as RollWorks’ connector as of now.

The good news: Both platforms recognise the importance of HubSpot. If HubSpot is your system of record, you won’t be forced to switch CRM – you can augment it with either tool. RollWorks currently has an edge in the HubSpot+ABM combo thanks to its tighter native integration and HubSpot’s own endorsement.

Many B2B companies find the HubSpot + RollWorks stack gives them a seamless workflow: HubSpot acts as the brain (where your teams live day to day), and RollWorks functions as the muscle in the background, executing targeted ads and providing intent data, all feeding back into HubSpot.

Pros and Cons Summary

To recap the comparison in plain terms:

• 6sense Pros: Extremely powerful in data crunching and AI insights (it’s often lauded for uncovering deals “in the dark funnel” that you’d otherwise miss). Great for aligning marketing and sales with rich account intelligence. Its users credit it for improved lead prioritisation and even faster sales cycles. For example, ScienceLogic achieved 4× faster sales velocity by using 6sense to prioritise and engage the right accounts. If you need cutting-edge predictive ABM, 6sense delivers.

• 6sense Cons: Costs tend to be high (it’s considered a premium solution). One Reddit discussion noted a $120k+ annual price tag for 6sense in an enterprise scenario, which might be “$40k more per year” than some alternatives, giving budget-conscious teams pause. It also requires more effort to implement and maintain – you’ll want ops people who can manage the data, integration, and workflow setup to fully realise 6sense’s value.

• RollWorks Pros: Lower barrier to entry in both cost and complexity. RollWorks even has starter packages that make ABM accessible to smaller marketing teams. It excels in account-based digital advertising – leveraging its AdRoll lineage to serve ads to your target accounts and measure engagement.

  Customers often praise how quickly they can get campaigns running and see initial results. The HubSpot integration and friendly UI are big pluses. RollWorks also provides strong support and resources (as reflected by slightly higher support ratings)​, which can be reassuring if you’re new to ABM.

• RollWorks Cons: Slightly less “intelligent” out-of-the-box – you may not get the same depth of predictive scoring that a 6sense or Demandbase offers. Its intent data relies on partners like Bombora and G2, so you might need additional subscriptions or to be on a higher RollWorks tier to fully leverage intent signals​.

  And while it covers the bases (ads, site analytics, basic journey stages), RollWorks might eventually feel limiting if your ABM program matures to require advanced customisation, personal AI models, or extensive sales integrations beyond what's provided.

In the end, many organisations actually use HubSpot + RollWorks as a combined solution, or HubSpot + 6sense, depending on needs. HubSpot provides the core CRM, marketing automation, and content personalisation capabilities, while the ABM platform adds AI-driven targeting and analytics on top.

HubSpot: The Foundation for AI-Driven ABM

No matter which ABM platform you choose, you’ll want a strong foundation to build upon – and that’s where HubSpot comes in. HubSpot serves as the centralised CRM and marketing automation platform that supports your AI-enhanced ABM strategy.

It’s the system where your team tracks engagement, manages contacts, and executes many of the touchpoints (emails, website content, sales tasks) that ABM comprises. Here’s why HubSpot is an ideal backbone for AI-led ABM:

• Unified Customer Database: HubSpot’s CRM keeps all your contact and company data in one place. This is crucial for ABM, where marketing and sales need a shared view of each target account. When you integrate an AI ABM tool, it plugs into this unified database – for example, feeding intent scores or account tiers into HubSpot properties. HubSpot becomes the single source of truth where AI insights meet your first-party data.

• Marketing Automation & Workflows: HubSpot’s Marketing Hub provides powerful automation that can be enhanced with AI triggers. You can create workflows that enrol accounts or contacts based on signals from your ABM platform. For instance, if 6sense tags a company as “Decision Stage” based on their intent surges, you could have a HubSpot workflow automatically move that account to a new tier, assign the sales rep a task to follow up, and send a tailored email sequence. HubSpot handles the execution, using AI data to make the right moves at the right time.

• Content Management and Personalisation: With HubSpot CMS and the personalisation tokens/smart content, you can dynamically customise what each account sees in emails or on landing pages. The more data you have (via AI insights), the more you can personalise. HubSpot’s CMS, being integrated with the CRM, lets you deliver “Amazon-like” personalised experiences on your B2B site, driven by contact or account attributes. For ABM, you might create a microsite or landing page for a specific vertical or even a specific large account, and HubSpot makes it straightforward to do so, while your ABM platform (like RollWorks) drives the right people to that page through targeted ads.

• Sales and Marketing Alignment: One often overlooked benefit of using HubSpot in an ABM context is how it aligns teams. Everyone from BDRs to CSMs can log into HubSpot and see the full timeline of interactions for an account – marketing emails sent, ads clicked (if synced from RollWorks), web pages viewed, meetings booked, etc. When an AI platform flags an account as high-priority, that insight is recorded in HubSpot for everyone to see. HubSpot’s built-in ABM features (like the Target Accounts dashboard, company scoring, and ABM playbooks) provide a framework to coordinate efforts. Essentially, HubSpot acts as the mission control where AI data is turned into action by your team.

• Measurement and Attribution: At the end of the day, you’ll measure ABM success in terms of pipeline and revenue. HubSpot’s reporting can track how target accounts are progressing: you can create dashboards for ABM that show engagement by account, deal creation by account tier, and multi-touch attribution for target accounts. By pulling in data from your AI ABM tools (like advertising engagement or external intent data) into HubSpot, you enrich your reporting. You’ll be able to show, for example, that marketing-sourced pipeline increased by 25% after implementing 6sense​, or that accounts engaged via RollWorks ads moved faster through HubSpot deal stages than those that weren’t, proving the ROI of your AI ABM strategy.

In short, HubSpot is the glue that holds everything together. It provides the customer-facing execution layer and the internal visibility needed for ABM to succeed. Arise GTM often recommends the combination of HubSpot + RollWorks for B2B SaaS companies because it covers all bases: HubSpot gives you a world-class CRM, CMS, and marketing automation platform (the HubSpot Growth Suite Pro offers all the tools needed to launch ABM), and RollWorks brings in the AI-driven targeting and “aircover” through ads and intent data. 

This kind of tech stack removes friction by keeping everything in a single integrated ecosystem​. The same principle applies if using 6sense – integrating it with HubSpot ensures your fancy AI insights actually translate into coordinated marketing and sales actions.

Pro Tip: If you’re just getting started, ensure your HubSpot is correctly configured for ABM first. Define your target account properties, set up company tiers, and connect sales and marketing using the tool. HubSpot has documented guides on setting up account-based marketing within its platform.  Once that foundation is in place, layer on the AI ABM tool to enhance what you’ve built. This way, you won’t be automating chaos; you’ll be automating a well-oiled process.

SaaS Success Stories: AI ABM in Action

Nothing speaks louder than real-world results. Here are a few case studies of SaaS companies that leveraged AI-driven ABM strategies (using platforms like 6sense and RollWorks) and saw impressive outcomes:

• ExtensisHR (HR Software): ExtensisHR wanted to align marketing and sales through data-driven ABM. By implementing 6sense’s AI platform, they were able to target the right accounts more effectively and personalise outreach. The results were tangible, a 25% increase in marketing-sourced pipeline and 23 marketing-influenced deals closed in one year. With AI insights, marketing became a proven source of high-quality pipeline for the sales team, demonstrating how an AI-enabled ABM strategy can directly boost revenue opportunities.

• Okta (Identity Management SaaS): Even well-established SaaS companies like Okta turn to AI to amp up their ABM. Okta leveraged RollWorks, along with intent data integrations, to run highly targeted, intent-based campaigns. The outcome was a remarkable 24× uplift in conversion rates for those account-based campaigns​. In other words, by focusing on accounts showing intent and tailoring messaging to them, Okta saw target accounts convert at vastly higher rates than before – a testament to the power of combining intent intelligence with account-based outreach.

• NS1 (Networking SaaS): Smaller SaaS firms can see gigantic wins, too. NS1, a DNS solutions provider, adopted an ABM approach using RollWorks and achieved astonishing growth in pipeline.  They reported a 69× increase in new pipeline creation and a 498% lift in unique visitors from target accounts after rolling out their AI-assisted ABM program​. Additionally, they saw a 3× increase in ROI on influenced revenue. Such exponential results show that when an ABM program really clicks (the right target accounts, the right personalised tactics, and tools like AI to scale outreach), it can produce transformative growth. While 69× is an outlier, it showcases the upper bound of what’s possible.

• Digital Guardian (Cybersecurity SaaS): Digital Guardian’s marketing team focused on ABM advertising with RollWorks and reaped strong rewards. They saw a 4× ROI in pipeline generated and 2× the conversion rate of leads becoming sales-qualified leads (SQLs) compared to their previous efforts​. This means their investment in account-focused ads and web personalisation paid for itself four times over in pipeline, and they doubled the efficiency of moving leads down the funnel. The use of AI-driven ad targeting likely helped zero in on the prospects who mattered most, improving conversion to SQL.

These case studies (sourced from RollWorks and 6sense’s documented customer successes) illustrate that AI-powered ABM isn’t just theory – it’s delivering real, measurable improvements for SaaS businesses. Whether it’s dramatically higher conversion rates, larger pipeline, faster sales cycles, or higher ROI, the common thread is focus. By focusing on the best-fit accounts and leveraging data and AI to engage them more effectively, these companies achieved results that traditional broad marketing couldn’t.

Importantly, each of these companies also had the foundational pieces in place: a clear ICP (ideal customer profile), alignment between sales and marketing, and a solid CRM (like HubSpot or Salesforce) tracking their efforts. AI ABM isn’t a magic wand – but when layered on a strong go-to-market foundation, it can be a force multiplier for growth.

Ready to explore AI-led ABM for your business?

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about AI ABM Strategy

What is an AI-enabled ABM strategy?

An AI-enabled ABM strategy is an account-based marketing approach that leverages artificial intelligence tools and data to optimise targeting, engagement, and conversion of high-value accounts. In practical terms, it means using AI-driven insights, such as predictive analytics, intent data, and automated personalisation, to enhance a traditional ABM program.

For example, instead of sales and marketing manually guessing which accounts to pursue, an AI ABM strategy might use predictive scoring to identify likely buyers, then automatically personalise content for those accounts. It’s still ABM (focusing on key accounts with tailored outreach), but “smart” with AI assistance.

The goal of an AI ABM strategy is to improve efficiency and effectiveness by letting machines analyse patterns and handle routine tasks, so your human team can focus on creative and strategic work.

How does AI improve account-based marketing?

AI improves account-based marketing by making it more data-driven, timely, and scalable. Here are a few key improvements:

• Better Targeting: AI predictive models analyse data to find the accounts most likely to convert, so you concentrate on the best opportunities. You waste less time on accounts that aren’t a good fit or aren’t ready to buy.

• Identifying Buying Intent: AI can detect intent signals (web searches, content consumption) that indicate when an account is in-market. This tells your team when to reach out. Companies have used AI intent data to align outreach with buyer interest and saw conversion lifts of 30% or more​.

• Personalisation at Scale: AI automates the personalisation of messages. It can tailor emails, ads, or website content to each account’s industry, behaviour, or stage, making your outreach feel 1-to-1 for hundreds of accounts. This boosts engagement (one company saw a 35% increase in content engagement by using AI content recommendations​).

• Optimised Timing & Orchestration: AI keeps an eye on each account’s journey and triggers actions at just the right time – something humans managing dozens of accounts might miss. It can pause, accelerate, or tweak campaigns in real time based on what works​, ensuring no opportunity slips through cracks.

• Efficiency for the Team: By automating data analysis and some interactions (like chat responses or initial outreach emails), AI frees up your sales and marketing folks to focus on strategy and relationship-building. It’s like having a virtual assistant for your ABM program that never sleeps.

In short, AI makes ABM programs more predictive (looking forward, not just reactive), precise (targeted and relevant), and proactive (acting on data signals immediately). The outcome is often higher conversion rates and a bigger pipeline from your target accounts, without a proportional increase in effort.

What is the difference between RollWorks and 6sense?

Both RollWorks and 6sense are popular AI-powered ABM platforms, but they differ in focus and depth:

• 6sense is often seen as a more advanced, enterprise-grade “Revenue AI” platform. It excels in predictive analytics and intent data. 6sense will not only tell you which accounts to target, but also predict their buying stage and what they might buy. It’s powerful but comes at a premium cost​. Integration-wise, 6sense initially focused on Salesforce CRM, though it now integrates with HubSpot and others. It’s great for companies that need cutting-edge data science in their ABM (and have the budget and team to support it).

• RollWorks is part of NextRoll (originating from AdRoll) and is known for being more approachable for mid-market. It specialises in account-based advertising and orchestration. RollWorks helps you serve ads to the right people at target accounts, identify engaged accounts, and coordinate marketing touches. Users often find RollWorks easier to use and implement than 6sense​. It has a native HubSpot integration, which HubSpot itself has endorsed, making it ideal for HubSpot-centric teams. RollWorks might not have as sophisticated predictive algorithms as 6sense, but it covers the core ABM needs (and uses partner data like Bombora for intent signals). It’s also typically more budget-friendly.

In summary, 6sense vs RollWorks can be thought of as depth vs ease. 6sense offers deeper AI insight and a broader ABM feature set (including sales intelligence tools), suited for enterprise-level ABM operations. RollWorks offers user-friendliness and strong digital marketing execution, suited for teams that want quick wins and tight integration with tools like HubSpot. The best choice depends on your company’s size, objectives, and technical resources.

How does HubSpot support an AI-enabled account-based strategy?

HubSpot plays a foundational role in an AI-enabled ABM strategy as the central hub for your customer data and marketing activities. Here’s how HubSpot supports it:

• Unified Data Platform: HubSpot’s CRM holds all your contact and account data, which AI tools use for analysis. By integrating an ABM platform with HubSpot, any AI-derived insights (intent scores, fit scores, etc.) attach directly to the account records. HubSpot basically ensures the AI has good data to work with and that the insights return to a place where your team can act on them.

• Execution of Campaigns: HubSpot’s Marketing Hub allows you to execute the personalised campaigns that AI ABM recommends. For example, if 6sense identifies a set of hot accounts, you can use HubSpot to send them a personalised email sequence or show smart content on your website just for them. The AI might inform the strategy (“these 10 accounts are in Decision stage, hit them with case studies”), and HubSpot is where you build and launch that tactic (email, content, sales task, etc.).

• Automation & Workflows: HubSpot’s workflow automation can incorporate triggers from AI insights. You might have a workflow that says, “if account’s intent score >= 90 (as updated by the ABM platform), then notify the rep and add the account to XYZ campaign.” This marries AI triggers with HubSpot’s automation engine.

• Native ABM Tools: HubSpot itself has ABM features (like target account properties, company scoring, ABM dashboards). While not AI-driven on their own, they provide a framework to run ABM: you can label target accounts in HubSpot, track engagement, and use HubSpot reports to measure account-level success. These features, combined with an AI tool feeding in more data, give you a full view of your ABM funnel.

• Sales Alignment: Since many sales teams use HubSpot Sales Hub for tasks and pipeline, having your ABM intel inside HubSpot keeps sales in the loop. Reps can see which marketing campaigns touched their accounts, and marketers can see sales activities – all in one timeline. If an AI suggests the “next best action,” you can log that in HubSpot for the rep to follow up.

In essence, HubSpot is the enablement layer for AI ABM. The AI provides the insightful ideas, and HubSpot provides the tools to act on those insights and engage customers. For teams adopting RollWorks or 6sense, HubSpot ensures those tools are not siloed – everything comes together in your CRM and marketing platform, which increases the effectiveness of your overall strategy.

Do we still need an ABM platform if we have HubSpot?

If you’re doing basic ABM, HubSpot alone can cover a lot of ground, but for AI-enhanced ABM, you’ll likely want a dedicated platform like 6sense or RollWorks. HubSpot’s strength is in managing relationships and executing campaigns, but it isn’t built to provide deep predictive analytics or third-party intent data out of the box. 

HubSpot’s ABM features let you label target accounts and personalise content (which is a great start), but they won’t tell you which accounts are surging in research activity on external sites, or use machine learning to score account fit – those are the domains of specialised ABM tools.

Think of it this way: HubSpot is your engine and can run fine on its own, but an AI ABM platform is like a turbocharger. Sure, your car drives without it, but the turbo gives you that extra power and efficiency.

If your budget is extremely tight, you can manually implement an ABM strategy using HubSpot (with careful planning, data research from sales, maybe some intent data from tools like ZoomInfo or Bombora separately). However, it will be labour-intensive and less precise compared to using an AI platform.

Many growing B2B SaaS teams start ABM in HubSpot to prove out the concept (e.g. create target account lists, run a few personalised campaigns). Once they see traction, they add a platform like RollWorks to scale the program, because RollWorks will automate the ads, gather intent signals, and generally make the ABM efforts more impactful.

HubSpot remains in place as the core CRM/marketing hub. So, you can do ABM without a specialised tool, but an AI-powered ABM platform integrated with HubSpot is the recipe for taking it to the next level.

By now, you should have a solid grasp of how AI can amplify your account-based marketing strategy, what tools like 6sense and RollWorks bring to the table, and how HubSpot ties it all together for B2B SaaS success. AI-enabled ABM is not just a buzzword – it’s a practical, proven approach to drive more revenue from the accounts that matter most.

Ready to supercharge your ABM with AI? Don’t go it alone. Our team at Arise GTM has helped companies just like yours implement data-driven, account-centric strategies that deliver results. If you’re eager to accelerate your pipeline and want expert guidance on tools and best practices, let’s chat.

Speak with our team at Arisegtm.com and let’s explore how AI-led ABM can fuel your growth. Your best customers are out there – together, we’ll make sure you win them over with the power of AI and ABM!