Account-Based Advertising: The Rise of B2B Advertising and the Evolution of ABM

This IDC Market Perspective reveals that account-based marketing (ABM) is evolving from a niche sales strategy into a media-driven framework for engaging entire buying groups across fragmented, digital-first buyer journeys. Once centered on personalized outreach to high-value accounts, ABM now leverages innovations like programmatic advertising, AI-driven content creation, intent data, and identity resolution to deliver precision, scalability, and early engagement.Against this backdrop, advertising is proving to be an increasingly central pillar of modern ABM — no longer a supplementary tactic but a proactive driver of pipeline generation, brand visibility, and measurable impact. By activating paid media across social, display, video, native, and emerging channels such as connected TV and podcasts, ABM reaches decision-makers earlier in the process, often before they self-identify. This shift addresses long-standing challenges of limited reach and fragmented journeys while reframing ABM from demand capture to demand creation.To succeed, vendors must prioritize seamless ecosystem integration, advanced media orchestration, and AI-powered optimization. Capabilities like cross-channel delivery, dynamic creative personalization, and revenue-based measurement are critical. In addition, expansion beyond walled gardens or syndication networks enhances scale, transparency, reach, and relevance.ABM's transformation into an advertising-first strategy marks a turning point for B2B marketing. Platforms that unify data, AI, and media orchestration are positioned to define the next era — one where ABM functions as a full-funnel, omni-channel engine driving pipeline growth, conversion efficiency, and clearer ROI attribution."The extension of ABM into an advertising-first strategy marks an exciting opportunity for B2B marketers as they shift focus from merely capturing demand to creating it. The next era belongs to platforms that combine unified data, GenAI content, and orchestration to influence buying groups at scale." — Roger Beharry Lall, research director, Advertising Technologies and SMB Marketing Applications, IDC Show more