Play 29 · ABM · Ads

ABM + Ads

ABM + Ads is a nine-step ABM and ads play for ads, LinkedIn, Meta ads, email and your CRM, from “Start from the ICP model” to “Close and feed back”. It uses Apollo, Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, Ocean.io, AI Ark and 22 more tools.

Ashwanth S, Founder

Motion: ABM, Ads
Channel: Ads, LinkedIn, Meta, Email, CRM
Steps: 9
Tools: 27

The workflow

Play 29

ABM + Ads

1Turn the ICP into a TAM

ICP modelTargeting criteria

FirmographicsTechnographicsFit signals

Firmographic fitMatch the ICP

With

Apollo

Sales Navigator

ZoomInfo

LookalikesLike your best

With

Ocean.io

AI Ark

2Score, tier and build the TAL

Research and score every accountClay and Claude

Tier 1Ad spend goes here

Tier 2Good fit

Tier 3Okay fit

One target account list feeds both signals and ads. Rebuilt monthly

3Track first, second and third party signals

1st partyYou own it

CRMRepliesProduct usageSite visits

With

HubSpot

Warmly

Amplitude

2nd partyShared with you

Ad engagementChampion movesWarm intros

With

Fibbler

Teamfluence

The Swarm

3rd partyPublic intent

Job postsTech stackFundingNews

With

TheirStack

BuiltWith

Explorium

4Run the ads motion that fits

Signals decide the motion per account

1:1 adsPer account

When a target account engages, the owner hears and reaches out to people confirmed to still be there.

Alert

Slack

Verify

BounceBan

Reach

Smartlead

HeyReach

1:many adsWhole TAL

Broader ads to every account on the list at once.

LinkedIn Ads

Meta Ads

Click lands on a no-brainer offer

5Nurture or accelerate to close

Clicked and engagedDemo or trial

Book

Chili Piper

No clickRemarketing

LinkedIn Ads

Meta Ads

YouTube

Did not closeNurture

Stays warm over time.

Send

Customer.io

Ad accelerationIn trial or post-demo

Ads built to speed up a decision already in motion: proof, objections, the buying committee.

LinkedIn Ads

Meta Ads

Closed won

The stack

Apollo

Sales Navigator

ZoomInfo

Ocean.io

AI Ark

Clay

HubSpot

Warmly

Amplitude

Fibbler

Teamfluence

The Swarm

TheirStack

BuiltWith

Explorium

Slack

BounceBan

Smartlead

HeyReach

LinkedIn Ads

Meta Ads

Webflow

Chili Piper

YouTube

Customer.io

Salesforce

Oriel · GTM plays library Oriel

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The diagram as text

1
Turn the ICP into a TAM
ICP model (targeting criteria): Firmographics, Technographics and Fit signals.
Firmographic fit (match the icp): With: Apollo, Sales Navigator and ZoomInfo.
Lookalikes (like your best): With: Ocean.io and AI Ark.
2
Score, tier and build the TAL
Research and score every account (clay and claude): Tool: Clay.
Tier 1: Ad spend goes here
Tier 2: Good fit
Tier 3: Okay fit
One target account list feeds both signals and ads. Rebuilt monthly
3
Track first, second and third party signals
1st party (you own it): CRM, Replies, Product usage and Site visits. With: HubSpot, Warmly and Amplitude.
2nd party (shared with you): Ad engagement, Champion moves and Warm intros. With: Fibbler, Teamfluence and The Swarm.
3rd party (public intent): Job posts, Tech stack, Funding and News. With: TheirStack, BuiltWith and Explorium.
4
Run the ads motion that fits
Signals decide the motion per account
1:1 ads (per account): When a target account engages, the owner hears and reaches out to people confirmed to still be there. Alert: Slack. Verify: LinkedIn and BounceBan. Reach: Smartlead and HeyReach.
1:many ads (whole tal): Broader ads to every account on the list at once. On: LinkedIn Ads and Meta Ads.
Click lands on a no-brainer offer: Tool: Webflow.
5
Nurture or accelerate to close
Clicked and engaged (demo or trial): Book: Chili Piper.
No click (remarketing): On: LinkedIn Ads, Meta Ads and YouTube.
Did not close (nurture): Stays warm over time. Send: Customer.io.
Ad acceleration (in trial or post-demo): Ads built to speed up a decision already in motion: proof, objections, the buying committee. On: LinkedIn Ads and Meta Ads.
Outcome: Closed won. Tools: HubSpot and Salesforce.

The stack: Apollo, Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, Ocean.io, AI Ark, Clay, HubSpot, Warmly, Amplitude, Fibbler, Teamfluence, The Swarm, TheirStack, BuiltWith, Explorium, Slack, LinkedIn, BounceBan, Smartlead, HeyReach, LinkedIn Ads, Meta Ads, Webflow, Chili Piper, YouTube, Customer.io and Salesforce.

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The play in nine steps

01
Step 1: Start from the ICP model
Ad budget spent outside the ICP is the most expensive mistake in ABM. Define the target before the audience.
- Firmographics: company size, industry, location and growth stage.
- Technographics: the tools and stack they run.
- Fit signals: the behaviour and intent that tend to come before a purchase.
02
Step 2: Build the TAM two ways
Filters find the obvious accounts. Lookalikes find the ones your filters miss.
- Firmographic fit: pull matching accounts from Apollo, Sales Navigator and ZoomInfo.
- Lookalikes: find companies that resemble your best customers with Ocean.io and AI Ark.
- Dedupe on domain across sources before scoring.
03
Step 3: Research and score every account
Scoring before spending means Tier 1 gets the budget, not whoever the platform algorithm prefers.
- Research each account in Clay: firmographics, technographics and signals.
- Score with Claude in Clay and assign a tier.
- Tiers:
  - Tier 1: best fit, where ad spend goes
  - Tier 2: good fit
  - Tier 3: okay fit
04
Step 4: Build one target account list
When ads and outreach run off different lists, nobody can tell which touch moved the account.
- Consolidate scored accounts into one list that feeds both signal tracking and ads.
- Rebuild matched audiences monthly. Companies change size and people change jobs, so a static audience drifts off target.
05
Step 5: Track signals in three groups
Each group tells you something different about where the account is in its buying cycle.
- 1st party, data you own:
  - CRM history and sequences
  - Replies and product usage
  - Webinars and site visits
- 2nd party, shared with you:
  - Ad engagement and partner signals
  - Champion moves and warm intros
- 3rd party, public intent:
  - Job posts and tech stack changes
  - Funding and news
06
Step 6: Run the ads motion that fits
A Tier 1 account showing intent needs a person, not another impression.
- 1:1 ads, per account:
  - Alert the owner in Slack when the account engages
  - Check each contact is still at the company on LinkedIn and verify the email before sending
  - Reach out through Smartlead and HeyReach
- 1:many ads:
  - Run broader LinkedIn and Meta ads to the whole list at once
07
Step 7: Send clicks to a no-brainer offer
An ad that lands on a homepage wastes the click. The offer is what turns attention into a conversation.
- Point every ad to a landing page with one offer that is easy to say yes to, such as an audit or teardown.
- Clicked and engaged: move them toward a demo or trial.
- No click: remarket across LinkedIn, Meta and YouTube.
08
Step 8: Nurture or accelerate
Most accounts will not buy this quarter. The ones that did not close still need to remember you next quarter.
- Did not close on the offer: nurture through Customer.io.
- In a trial or post-demo and qualified: run acceleration ads on LinkedIn and Meta aimed at the buying committee.
09
Step 9: Close and feed back
The win data is what makes next quarter's TAL better than this one.
- Move qualified accounts to closed won in HubSpot or Salesforce.
- Record which signals and ads touched each won account, and use them to reweight the scoring.

Tools used

The 27 tools this play names. Each links to the other plays that use it.

Related plays

Play 23

HubSpot Account Tiering & Scoring

1Learn from the deals you already closed

Closed won and closed lost, last 12 to 24 months

Closed wonWhat good looks like

ACVSales cycleExpansion

Start with the highest revenue customers. Look for patterns in industry, size and geography.

Closed lostWhat to rule out

Poor-fit industrySize mismatch

The disqualification reasons that keep coming back.

2Define segments and scoring logic

SegmentsOne per account

Company sizeIndustryBusiness model

Scoring inputWhat it checks

Firmographics→Size, industry, location

Technographics→Tech stack

Signals→Recent activity at the account

3Build the Clay model and tier

Core fields

CompanyDomainLinkedIn URL

Enrichment fields

EmployeesRevenueIndustryTech stack

Logic fields

SegmentTierLast enriched

Clay formulas assign the tier

Tier 1Strong fit

Tier 2Good fit

Tier 3Low fit

4Sync tiers into HubSpot

New HubSpot properties

Account tierSegmentKey firmographics

Company and contact data mapped field by field, so the sync never creates duplicates.

5Keep tiers live with workflows

Tier workflowsProperty trigger

Company workflows with re-enrollment on, so the tier changes when the data does.

FallbackMissing tier

Accounts without a tier are flagged, not left to slip through.

FreshnessQuarterly

Re-enrich any account last enriched over 90 days ago, and re-check its contacts for job changes.

Job

Monthly data review, quarterly strategy update

Every account tiered in HubSpot

Oriel · GTM plays library

Play 23ABM · Outbound

HubSpot Account Tiering & Scoring

7 steps · CRM

Play 01

Signal Activation

1Collect signals from every party

First partyYour own data

Site visitsProduct usageEvents

Second partyShared with you

LinkedIn activityReview sitesPartners

Social

Trigify

Sales Navigator

Third partyPublic web

Arrives by webhook, API or native sync, each with a date and a source

2One table, one row per signal

Signal tableClean first

SignalCompanyContactDate

Domains, LinkedIn URLs and titles are normalized before anything else, then duplicates are removed.

Fill the gaps, then check they are still true

FirmographicsContact detailsTech stack

3Look up the CRM, then qualify

Who owns it todayCRM lookup

Account matched by domain, contact by email, current owner and open deals noted.

Account and persona fit

Claude checks the company and the person behind each signal against the ICP.

× Not ICP

Gate2

Score into tiers

Fit, tech stack and signal strength set Tier 1, 2 or 3.

× Weak signal

Segmented by size, industry, region and business model

4Route to a rep and write it back

Account statusWho gets the signal

Owned in the CRM→The existing owner

No owner yet→Next rep on the live round-robin

Open deal→Deal owner, as context only

Each signal written as its own CRM event, many per accountHubSpot or Salesforce

5Activate on every channel

Tier 1Priority accounts

Same-day human playNow

A rep works the account today with a short custom pitch.

Tier 2Good fit

SequencesAuto

Email plus a LinkedIn connection and DM, opening on the signal topic.

Smartlead

HeyReach

All tiersStay visible

RetargetingAuto

The same accounts see you in their feed and in search while the sequence runs.

Ads

LinkedIn Ads

Google Ads

Every signal reaches the right rep

Oriel · GTM plays library

Play 01Outbound · ABM · Inbound

Signal Activation

11 steps · Website, LinkedIn, Email, CRM, Call, Ads

+20 more

Play 14

Website Visitor De-anonymization

1Name who is on the site

Anonymous traffic on your website

Company matchWhich account

Ties the visit to a company, even when the person stays unknown.

Person matchWhich person

Names the visitor where a match exists, with their role and profile.

With

RB2B

Warmly

Visit context, logged on every hit

Pages viewedVisit frequencyTime on siteRecencyPricing page

2One record per company and per person

Visitor signals land in ClayTimestamps kept

3Enrich, then check it is still true

Company

IndustryHeadcountLocationProduct

With

Clay

Apollo

Person

RoleSeniorityWork emailMobile

Freshness checkData decays

Every record is re-checked before anyone is contacted: a person who changed jobs is swapped for their replacement, an email is re-verified, a dead number is dropped.

Job change

Verify

BounceBan

4Score the visit with AI

One scoring prompt in ClayScores three things

Account fitRole relevanceStrength of the visit

The prompt reads the enriched record and the full visit history. Disqualified visitors get no outreach.

5Route by tier, fastest on Tier 1

Tier 1Best fit

Same-day team playNow

The rep hears while the visit is fresh, then works the whole account.

Alert