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How to Personalize Your Ads for Target Accounts
How to Personalize Your Ads for Target Accounts
Personalizing your ads for target accounts means tailoring your messaging to specific accounts — or segments of accounts — rather than running one generic message across your whole ABM audience, because a message relevant to an account resonates more than a generic one. Personalization can range from segment-level (tailoring to an industry or account group) to company-specific (tailoring to an individual account), and deeper personalization takes more effort. So the practical approach is to match the depth of personalization to the value of the account: deep, company-specific personalization for your highest-value accounts, and lighter segment-level personalization for others. This guide covers how to personalize your ads for target accounts and when it’s worth it.
Key takeaways
- Personalizing for target accounts means tailoring messaging to specific accounts, not one generic message.
- A message relevant to an account resonates more than a generic one.
- Personalization ranges from segment-level (industry, account group) to company-specific.
- Deeper personalization takes more effort, so match it to account value.
- Deep personalization for top accounts, lighter segment-level personalization for others.
Why personalize ads for target accounts?
Because relevance resonates, so a message tailored to an account is more effective than a generic one. In ABM, you’re concentrating on specific target accounts, and a message tailored to an account — reflecting its industry, situation, or specific relevance — resonates more with that account than a generic message that could apply to anyone, because relevance is what makes a message land. So personalizing your ads for target accounts deepens the account focus that ABM is built on, making your concentrated effort on those accounts more effective by speaking to them specifically rather than generically.
This extends the logic of ABM. ABM concentrates resources on chosen accounts because they’re worth focused effort; personalization makes that focused effort more effective by tailoring the message to the accounts, so you’re not just reaching the right accounts but speaking to them relevantly. A generic message to your target accounts reaches them but doesn’t leverage the account focus fully, while a personalized message reaches them with relevance that resonates. So personalization is a way of maximizing the effectiveness of ABM’s account focus, by making the message as relevant to the accounts as the targeting is focused on them. Understanding why personalization enhances ABM is the basis for using it well.
What levels of personalization are there?
A spectrum from segment-level to company-specific:
| Level | Personalization |
|---|---|
| Segment-level | Tailored to an industry, vertical, or group of similar accounts |
| Company-specific | Tailored to an individual target account |
| Generic | Not personalized — one message for all (the baseline to improve on) |
Segment-level personalization tailors the message to a group of accounts sharing something — an industry, a vertical, a common situation — so the message is relevant to that segment, more so than a fully generic message, without being tailored to each individual account. This is lighter-effort personalization that still adds relevance. Company-specific personalization tailors the message to an individual target account — reflecting that specific company’s situation, needs, or relevance — which is the deepest, most relevant personalization but takes the most effort per account. Between these, you can personalize at whatever level fits, from broad segments to individual companies. Understanding this spectrum lets you choose the personalization depth appropriate to your accounts and resources.
When is deeper personalization worth it?
For your highest-value accounts, where the effort pays off. Deeper, company-specific personalization takes more effort — tailoring messaging to an individual account requires understanding and addressing that specific account, which is work you can’t do deeply for every account at scale. So deep personalization is worth it where the account’s value justifies the effort: your highest-value, top-tier target accounts, where winning them is worth a tailored, company-specific approach. For these accounts, the effort of deep personalization pays off because the accounts are valuable enough to warrant it, and the added relevance improves your chances with accounts that matter most.
For lower-value accounts, lighter personalization fits. You can’t deeply personalize for every account, and lower-value accounts don’t justify the same effort, so segment-level personalization — tailoring to their industry or group — adds relevance at a scale you can manage across many accounts, without the per-account effort of company-specific personalization. So the approach is to match personalization depth to account value: deep, company-specific personalization for top accounts where it’s worth the effort, and lighter, segment-level personalization for the broader set, where it adds relevance efficiently. This connects to account tiering: you tier accounts by value and invest more in the higher tiers, and personalization depth is one of the investments you scale by tier — deepest for the top, lighter below. Matching personalization to account value ensures your personalization effort goes where it pays off.
The personalization framework
Personalize for target accounts deliberately:
- Personalize for relevance — a message tailored to an account resonates more than a generic one.
- Know the levels — from segment-level (industry, group) to company-specific (individual account).
- Match depth to account value — deep, company-specific personalization for top accounts.
- Use lighter personalization broadly — segment-level personalization for lower-value accounts, efficiently.
- Tie it to account tiering — scale personalization depth by account tier, deepest for the highest-value.
Why not deeply personalize for every account?
Because deep personalization takes effort you can’t spend on every account, so spreading it thin wastes it on accounts that don’t justify it. Company-specific personalization requires understanding and addressing each individual account, which is genuine work per account — so doing it deeply for every account in your ABM program isn’t feasible at scale, and attempting it would spread your personalization effort thin, investing significant effort in accounts whose value doesn’t justify it. The value of deep personalization is concentrated on high-value accounts, where the effort pays off because winning them matters; for lower-value accounts, the same deep effort isn’t worth it, so lighter segment-level personalization, which adds relevance at manageable effort across many accounts, is the appropriate level. This is why matching personalization to account value matters: it directs your deep personalization effort to the accounts where it pays off, while using efficient lighter personalization for the rest, rather than either deeply personalizing everything (unsustainable and inefficient) or personalizing nothing (missing the relevance that resonates). This connects to the broader principle of concentrating effort where it pays off, which underlies ABM and account tiering: personalization is an effort you concentrate on high-value accounts, scaling its depth by account value so your resources go where the return is greatest. So personalizing for target accounts effectively means personalizing at a depth appropriate to each account’s value — deep for the top, lighter for the rest — which maximizes the relevance-driven effectiveness of personalization while keeping the effort proportionate to the accounts’ worth, rather than treating all accounts identically regardless of their value or the effort personalization requires.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. How do you personalize ads for target accounts?
Tailor your messaging to specific accounts — or segments of accounts — rather than running one generic message, since relevance resonates. Use deeper, company-specific personalization for your highest-value accounts where the effort pays off, and lighter segment-level personalization (by industry or group) for lower-value accounts, matching personalization depth to account value. This deepens ABM’s account focus by speaking to accounts relevantly.
Q2. Why personalize ads for target accounts?
Because relevance resonates — a message tailored to an account is more effective than a generic one that could apply to anyone. In ABM, you concentrate on specific accounts, so personalizing deepens that focus, making your concentrated effort more effective by speaking to accounts specifically rather than generically. A generic message reaches your accounts but doesn’t leverage the account focus fully, while a personalized one reaches them with resonating relevance.
Q3. What levels of ad personalization are there?
A spectrum from segment-level to company-specific. Segment-level personalization tailors the message to a group of accounts sharing something — an industry, vertical, or situation — adding relevance at lighter effort. Company-specific personalization tailors to an individual target account, the deepest and most relevant but most effort per account. Between these, you can personalize at whatever level fits, from broad segments to individual companies, choosing the depth appropriate to your accounts.
Q4. When is deep personalization worth it?
For your highest-value, top-tier target accounts, where winning them justifies the effort of tailoring messaging to the specific account. Deep, company-specific personalization takes significant per-account effort, so it’s worth it where the account’s value warrants it — the accounts that matter most. For these, the added relevance improves your chances, and the effort pays off, whereas deeply personalizing for every account isn’t feasible or worthwhile.
Q5. Why not deeply personalize for every account?
Because deep personalization takes per-account effort you can’t spend on every account, so doing it for all would spread your effort thin, investing heavily in accounts whose value doesn’t justify it. Deep personalization’s value is concentrated on high-value accounts where it pays off; for lower-value accounts, lighter segment-level personalization adds relevance at manageable effort. Matching personalization to account value directs deep effort where it pays off.
Q6. What’s the difference between segment and company-specific personalization?
Segment-level personalization tailors the message to a group of accounts sharing an industry, vertical, or situation — adding relevance to that segment at lighter effort, applicable across many accounts. Company-specific personalization tailors the message to an individual account, reflecting that specific company’s situation and needs — the deepest, most relevant personalization but requiring the most effort per account. Segment-level scales efficiently; company-specific is reserved for high-value accounts.
Q7. How does personalization relate to account tiering?
Personalization depth is one of the investments you scale by account tier. You tier accounts by value and invest more in higher tiers, and personalization is such an investment — deepest, company-specific personalization for top-tier accounts where it’s worth the effort, and lighter, segment-level personalization for lower tiers. So account tiering guides how deeply to personalize for each account, concentrating personalization effort on the highest-value accounts.
Q8. Does personalization make ABM more effective?
Yes — it enhances ABM’s account focus by making the message as relevant to the accounts as the targeting is focused on them. ABM concentrates on chosen accounts; personalization makes that concentrated effort more effective by tailoring the message to resonate with those accounts, rather than reaching them with a generic message. So personalization maximizes the relevance-driven effectiveness of ABM, especially for high-value accounts where deep personalization pays off.
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