Beyond the Tech: How Marketers Are Making ABM Work Again

Let’s be honest—most ABM challenges don’t come from choosing the wrong platform. They’re strategy issues dressed up in dashboards.

That was the takeaway from our latest IQ Live, where Katrina Gonzalez, Senior Director of Marketing at pharosIQ, sat down with Corrina Owens—fractional ABM strategist, GTM advisor, and builder of marketing systems that actually work.

Corrina’s been the first marketing hire, built RevOps from scratch, and helped scale Gong from SMB to enterprise. She’s lived the roll-up-your-sleeves version of ABM.

Her take? Surprisingly refreshing and super actionable.

Here’s what stood out from the conversation, plus a few smart moves to level up your own GTM strategy.

ABM Isn’t a Tech Stack — It’s a Gut Check

Let’s stop blaming the tools.

Corrina put it plainly: ABM isn’t about which tool you use. It’s about whether your strategy actually deserves attention in the first place.

ABM works best when you use it to test your market assumptions. Think of it like a testbed for messaging, industries, or personas. If your brilliant campaign idea flops on a micro-scale, it’s better to learn that with 20 accounts than 2000 accounts.

Want a smarter way to vet tools? Here’s your step-by-step guide to evaluating AI marketing solutions. 

Marketing Should Drive the List

Corrina made a solid case: if marketing is sitting on the data, why isn’t marketing leading the target account list?

We’re not saying sales are out of the picture, but when marketing owns the intel on intent, buying behavior, and past performance, letting sales pick accounts based on “gut feel” alone doesn’t cut it.

Corrina’s advice – build your ABM list during annual planning. Tie it to board-level priorities and make it a strategic initiative, not a rogue campaign. Set SLAs with sales about how accounts get added (or removed). It’s not glamorous, but it helps align the teams. 

Intent Data Isn’t Dead—It’s Just Getting Smarter

Forget the old-school intent alerts that told you someone visited your website. Today’s signal intelligence is smarter, more specific, and way more useful.

Katrina explained how pharosIQ uses AI to go deeper – surfacing signals about who’s on the buying team, what they care about, and how their pain points are shifting in real time. No more guessing what to say. No more chasing ghost leads.

Yes, Dinners and Direct Mail Still Work

When you’ve tested every digital channel, it’s often the simplest stuff that cuts through.

Corrina shared how small, curated events, especially executive dinners, continue to punch above their weight when it comes to driving real conversations and revenue. Why? Because people buy from people.

And yes, direct mail is having a moment. Not because it’s flashy, but because it stands out. A well-timed physical touchpoint tied to a campaign moment or intent signal, can break through the noise and build connection.

Final Thought 

ABM works but only when it’s treated like a strategy.

The best marketers are treating ABM like a strategy lab. They’re using signals to test markets, build GTM alignment, and give sales something better than just “warm leads.”

So if your ABM needs a rethink, or you’re just tired of throwing budget at software that doesn’t deliver, let’s talk. We’ll help you turn signal into strategy, and strategy into pipeline.