Beyond the logo

How B2B marketers are personalizing with relevance, not gimmicks

What does personalization
mean to you?

Open your inbox or LinkedIn messages right now, and you’ll likely have a few ‘Hey Firstname!’ I see you work in ‘industry’ messages!

But true ABM personalization needs more than that.

Building deep relationships and quality reputations with a stakeholder or DMU requires relevance in every way; from sharing content that understands their context, to using the right channels for the right recipients.

In ABM, sticking an account logo on an advert, or dropping a name into a subject line, just won’t cut it! And yet, this kind of ‘token personalization’ is still surprisingly common, especially as AI makes it easier. (Read on and we’ll explore how you should be using AI to personalize instead!)

So, what should true ABM personalization look like? And how can ABMers deliver it at scale, without burning out or compromising on quality?

Start with the ‘why'

Relevance, not just recognition

True ABM personalization should start with understanding. Before you begin, you need a strategic foundation that defines:

Who you’re speaking to (your ICP, and account tiering)
What their context is (where are they, and what are they trying to solve)
Why they need your message right now (how do you align with that challenge?)
And how they would digest your message best

Beyond the content format you’re using, a well-personalized ABM approach requires a mindset shift, from "how can I make this look personal?" to "how can I make this feel relevant?"

So, before you take that old ebook and simply personalize it with [Account name] in the title, do the groundwork to understand the details of your account’s context!

Then build your ABM content plan around that starting point; every step of your campaign should be mindful of the account’s context.

Achieving this requires real insight into the account’s current state; their challenges, strategy, internal conversations, and external pressures. It means understanding the people inside the account; their goals, pain points, and personalities, and shaping your message (and ABM value proposition) around what they actually care about.

Personalization isn’t just what you say to somebody, it's when you say it, and the reason why you're saying it. Often when people build ABM programs and look for personalization at scale, they haven't done the groundwork of building out an ICP.

So build a proper qualification and segmentation process into account selection, and tier those accounts into different groups by saying:

‘Okay, this group of accounts has this challenge, so we need to speak to them with this message, at this time, and which is personalized’.

Josh Weale, Director of ABM, strategicabm

"

Build the foundations

for deep personalization

The problem with superficial personalization (such as only using a company name or logo) is that it lacks depth, relevance, and intent.

Simply doing a ‘LinkedIn scrape’ - pulling a recent post from someone’s profile and calling it personalization - won’t stand out, as it’s surface-only, transparent (and we all see it all the time!).

How can you scale something meaningful? Build your foundation on substance.

Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): Who is it you want to speak to, and why?
Segmentation and tiering: Within your ICP, what makes one account worth deep personalization over another? What shared characteristics and challenges do they face?
Account insights: Go beyond the headlines to uncover the deep changes, trends and influences that are surrounding your accounts.

Solid, scalable, strategic groundwork for ABM personalization builds on:

All of this should inform the content and the channel strategy. After all, a beautifully written manifesto is wasted if your key stakeholders never see it!

ABM value proposition: Based on your insights, what’s the most relevant story or message narrative that will resonate with this account, or group of similar accounts? What priorities and alignment will help them? Recognize internal differences; procurement vs technical roles, central vs regional offices.
Message matrix: How does that value proposition story flex for different verticals, accounts, or stakeholders? What priority theme do you need to make clear in your content when speaking to each group?

Don’t just personalize the asset,

personalize the journey

True ABM personalization shouldn’t just apply to individual assets, it should create a connected experience.

Too often, ABM teams focus on crafting one highly personalized piece of content, while ignoring the rest of the journey and the wider context.

But consistency matters. And that personalized journey should be baked into your strategy; it informs the accounts you select, the value proposition you craft, and the channel approach you choose to engage those accounts.

Done well, consistent, memorable personalization becomes a common thread throughout every touchpoint.

One misconception around personalization is just focusing on one personalized content asset and thinking ‘that means we've personalized their experience’.

But remember, to get to that asset, your target will have been to a website page, found in a blog article,maybe they’ve seen someone's LinkedIn profile or watched a video.

If your personalized asset is siloed between all those other points, you’re missing the potential of the full personalized experience.”

Josh Weale, Director of ABM, strategicabm

"

Use AI,

but use it strategically

There’s no shortage of tools that promise dynamic personalization at scale. But to truly scale ABM personalization, human-led strategy must come before technology.

Why? Because AI tools are only as good as the clarity of the inputs you provide. Garbage in, garbage out!

To personalize with meaning, you must start with that validated, deep foundation of account insight, defined ICP, account focus, and a clear ABM value proposition narrative.

Then, you can think about using AI to scale on top of those guardrails.

While it may seem easy to ‘prompt and go’, don’t be tempted! Without that foundation, you’re likely to scale something that won’t meet the mark.

Remember, AI tools shouldn’t define the whole message for you. Provide your chosen tool with a clear strategic understanding of “why” and “what” you’re personalizing, to maximize potential.

One-to-many?
One-to-one?

Let the ‘level of personalization’ match ‘account need’

Personalization isn’t one-size-fits-all. Nor should it be. The depth of personalization you choose should align with the value and stage of the account.

Not every instance needs a hyper-personalized, One-to-one approach! In fact if you try to do One-to-one-level personalization for every account everywhere, you’ll burn out fast. (And you just won’t have time!)

Equally, if you fail to go deep where it matters, you’ll never stand out.

Here’s how to amp up, and tone down that personalization, depending on campaign need:

At One-to-many: Personalization is lighter; at a cluster or vertical level. Industry tailored content, and modular role-relevant messaging can help you deliver the right message to the right cluster segment.
At One-to-few: You’re refining down to a smaller focus; maybe at an account, region or defined challenge level. Layer in that relevance in your value proposition for further specificity; tailored channel relevance and clear multithreading through assets is more critical.
At One-to-one: You’re speaking to a known stakeholder, or group of individuals. Personalization here is at its most resource intensive, and should go deep. Beyond the individual’s role or company, work to identify their unique professional challenges and pains, and consider interests and personal touches if relevant, to build the relationship. It’s critical that formats align with the stakeholder’s communication style, and that every touchpoint connects to build a cohesive story from their perspective.

Personalization should feel relevant, coherent, intentional, and not creepy! Just because you know something about a stakeholder, doesn’t mean it’s right to share that.

The best way to check? Think: would this make me feel understood, or uncomfortable? When you get it right, you reflect your audience’s world, and they feel that you value them.

Lucy Jones, Head of Content, strategicabm

"

Ditch the logo swapping,
personalize with meaning!

In ABM, personalization makes the difference between everyday campaign content, and experiences that feel unique and resonate.

Get it right, and you’ll stand out ahead of a lot of Marketers who fall for the misconception that token personalization is enough! As we explored on ABM Under the Hood, Episode 13:

True personalization goes beyond tokens. It starts with insight: what’s happening in the account, who’s in the buying unit, and how your solution maps to their goals. Real ABM personalization means adapting value propositions, messages, and content to each account's context—not just sticking a logo on a deck.

ABM Under the Hood: Busting 9 common ABM myths

So, build great personalization into the core of your ABM campaign from the start; drive it with strategic groundwork (insight development, value propositions and message matrices) and thread relevance across the account journey to meet accounts where they most need you.

[Firstname], you’ve got this! 😉

ABM personalization lessons

1 Logo ≠ personalization
Sticking a name or logo on content isn’t enough. Go deeper.

2 Insight first, always
Personalization starts with real understanding—not formatting.

3 Consistency builds trust
A single asset won’t do it. The full journey needs to feel joined up.

4 AI needs guardrails
Use AI to scale—but only after strategy sets the direction.

5 Empathy wins attention
The best personalization feels relevant, intentional, and human