ABM System

This is a deep dive in the VRIFY case study.

As VP Marketing, I treated ABM as the weekly operating system that connects category attention to meetings, proofs, and pipeline.

ABM is how we turned category attention into meetings and pipeline.

We got precise about who we serve (ICP), how we focus (tiers), and what plays create meetings. Then we wired ABM into Sales stages and OKRs so progress was visible every week.

What changed: we stopped treating ABM as campaigns and treated it as a weekly operating system, ICP, tiers, plays, stage gates, and dashboards.

1) Thesis

• Outcome over outreach: the goal is qualified meetings and proof opportunities, not just touches.
• Fewer, bigger bets: concentrate on Tier‑1/2 accounts with capacity to buy and a near-term exploration program.
• Proof-led: every play advances proof → demo → win with clear next-step asks.

2) ICP and personas (who we serve)

Core ICP

• Explorers with funding (active or imminent programs, credible management), operating in priority jurisdictions.
• Adjacencies: producers (partnership path), funds/advisors (influence path).

Primary personas

• CEO (capital, board, story).
• VP Exploration / Chief Geoscientist (program design, technical validation).
• Influencers: IR lead, Technical Advisor, key board member.

Signals we look for

• Recent raise or announced drilling program, JV/option activity, new leadership, land package expansion, data backlog.
• Digital intent: site visits to use‑case pages, demo page engagement, event attendance signals.

Anti‑signals / de‑prioritize

• No funding runway, halted program, regulatory constraints, repeated no-shows.

3) Account data model (how we see the world)

• Firmographics: stage, market cap (if public), geography, commodities.
• Operographics: program status (planned/active/paused), datasets available, tech stack.
• Buying committee: named roles plus influence notes.
• ABM status: Targeted → Engaged Proof → Meeting → Demo → Win/Loss (tracked in Salesforce).
• Ownership: AE (first touch), AE and SA (meeting→proof), exec sponsor (Tier‑1).

4) Tiering logic (focus)

• Tier‑1 (strategic, lighthouse potential): high program certainty, budget, brand impact. Coverage target is 70% of the defined Tier‑1 list each quarter. Owner model is named AE + exec sponsor + SA.
• Tier‑2 (high‑potential, shorter cycles): credible budgets, near-term programs. Coverage target is 30%. Owner model is AE + SA.
• Tier‑3 (monitoring): nurture and inbound capture.

Promotion/Demotion rules

• Promote on funding/program announcements or new warm intent. Demote on stalled programs, repeated no-show, or budget freeze.

5) Plays library (meeting creation)

Event‑anchored plays (PDAC, Beaver Creek Precious Metals Summit, Denver Gold)

• Pre-event (T‑6 → T‑2 weeks): executive intro and value hook, technical invite, 3-touch proof teaser, scheduler link.
• In-event: on-floor demos, private sessions, exec handshake and follow-up routes.
• Post-event (T+1 → T+3 weeks): same-day recap and asset links, pilot offer, second-order intro ask.

Always‑on proof plays

• Use-case deep dive (CEO plus VP Ex): short Loom walkthrough of how DORA/Viz de-risk their next program decision.
• Customer proof spotlight: quantified case (e.g., RUA Gold, Canterra, SXG) → meeting ask.
• Advisor route: warm intro via shared advisor/board relationship.

Outbound sequence skeleton (Tier‑1)

D1 email (exec POV) → D3 LinkedIn note → D5 call → D7 email (technical angle) → D10 social proof drop → D12 call → D14 recap plus scheduler.

6) Channels and assets (what we use)

• Email (exec and technical tracks), calls, LinkedIn, field events, website landers, analyst briefs, one-pagers (DORA, Viz), case studies, demo/pilot offers.

7) Orchestration (who does what)

• AE/SDR: own sequences, book meetings, daily stand-ups during event windows.
• AE and SA: qualify, run discovery, propose pilot/proof, manage stage hygiene.
• ABM (Marketing): list curation, creative, messaging, enablement, measurement.
• Exec/Founder: strategic intros and late-stage unblockers (Tier‑1 only).
• DRIs and SLAs: named per account tier, same-day follow-up for Tier‑1 inbound.

8) Measurement (what good looks like)

Core targets (per quarter)

• Coverage: Tier‑1 80% coverage; Tier‑2 40% touched with quality.
• Meetings: Tier‑1 1.2 (list), 1.5 (engaged) meetings/account.
• Pipeline: 20% of new pipeline sourced by ABM programs (blended across tiers).
• Conversion: meeting→SQL 65%; proof→demo 60%; opp→win 80% (+30 pp).
• Velocity: time-to-first-meeting 30 days; proof-to-demo 60 days.

Dashboards

• ABM Coverage (T1/T2), Meetings/Account, Pipe by Tier, Demo→Proof. Weekly trendlines and stop/scale rules.

9) Operating rhythm

• Quarterly: refresh tiers and targets; prioritize new plays; OKR commit.
• Monthly: list hygiene; creative refresh; experiment readout; re-tiering.
• Weekly: SDR/AE/ABM stand-up; account-by-account unblockers; meeting reviews.
• Daily: follow-up SLAs; event windows run “war room” cadence.

10) Outcomes and learnings

Results

• Coverage: Tier‑1 80%, Tier‑2 40%, quality touches met.
• Meetings: Tier‑1 1.2 (list), 1.5 (engaged) per account.
• Pipeline: ABM-sourced 20% of new pipeline.
• Conversion: meeting→SQL 65%; proof→demo 60%; opp→win 80% (+30 pp).
• Velocity: time-to-meeting 30 days; proof-to-demo 60 days.

What we learned

• Event-anchored ABM outperforms generic outbound when execs, AEs, and creative ship together and meet daily.
• Persona-specific assets (CEO vs VP Ex) improve reply and meeting rates without adding touches.
• Strict stage hygiene and next-step specificity increase demo→proof conversion.