Most ABM programs start with a plan and die with a calendar. Moréa Pollet spent three years watching that happen at InfluxData - and then figured out why. On this episode of Scrappy ABM, Mason Cosby sits down with Moréa to walk through exactly how her team rebuilt their ABM motion from the ground up, using Clay-powered enrichment, AI-generated personalization, and a LinkedIn funnel built for technical buyers.

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The conversation covers what killed version one (sales bandwidth, no real operationalization), what made version two stick (automating everything except the phone call), and the honest truth about measuring ABM success before pipeline is even on the table. InfluxData is an open-source company targeting software engineers - which means they're running ABM in one of the hardest targeting environments possible. The playbook Moréa shares is specific, scrappy, and repeatable.

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👤 Guest Bio

Moréa Pollet is the Director of Demand Generation at InfluxData, the creator of InfluxDB - the world's leading open-source time series database. She has been with InfluxData for over five years, building and evolving the demand gen function across PLG, enterprise, and hybrid sales motions. Her background spans international business, hospitality, legal, and technology marketing, and she holds degrees from San Francisco State University and SKEMA Business School (France).

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📌 What We Cover

• Why InfluxData's open-source roots made traditional ABM a poor early fit - and what forced a rethink
• How the team used Clay to enrich target accounts in the energy sector and surface specific tooling data that wouldn't exist in any standard database
• The decision to start with SDRs only (no AEs) to simplify the first version of the program
• How AI-generated personalization is driving higher open and reply rates - not lower ones
• The LinkedIn funnel structure Moréa built: layered content from brand awareness to pain-point-specific ads, with InMail finally working after two months of testing
• How content is segmented by role - technical webinars for practitioners, executive briefs and ROI calculators for decision makers
• Why early ABM success metrics were meetings booked, not pipeline - and how that changed in version two
• The one piece of advice Moréa wished she had from day one: go get executive buy-in before you go get sales buy-in

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

• InfluxData - open-source time series database platform
• Clay - data enrichment and automation platform used for account targeting and personalization
• Outreach - sales engagement platform used for SDR sequences
• Salesforce - CRM referenced in the context of integration challenges
• 6sense - mentioned as a tool not in budget during the original ABM build
• Demandbase - mentioned alongside 6sense as an enterprise ABM tool considered but not used early on
• LinkedIn - paid media channel; thought leader ads and InMail specifically discussed

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Resources:

Scrappy ABM: Visit for more ABM tips and strategies.

Connect with Mason on LinkedIn for a conversation about ABM.

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If you enjoyed today's episode and found valuable insights for your business, be sure to subscribe to the Scrappy ABM podcast for more expert discussions. Don't forget to leave a review and share this episode with your team or fellow marketers!

This is an interview of Mason on the GTM & AI Operators Show.

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What happens when you strip away the enterprise budget, the fancy ABM platform, and the eight-person marketing team - and still have to hit a revenue number? That's the premise behind Scrappy ABM, and in this episode, Mason Cosby sits down with Aakash Sinha on the GTM & AI Operators Show to break down what ABM actually is, when it works, and why most programs fail before they ever get going. Mason walks through the four core reasons ABM programs break down, how to tell if your ICP is real or just aspirational, and what it actually takes to build a program that generates pipeline without a bloated budget.

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👤 Guest Bio

Aakash Sinha is Founding Member - Marketing at Clazar, a cloud GTM platform that helps software companies list, manage, and co-sell on AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud marketplaces. Prior to Clazar, he served as Director of Marketing at SpotDraft and held marketing roles at Belong, Cashfree, and Entrepreneur First. He runs the GTM & AI Operators Show, where he interviews operators building and shipping in an AI-shaped world.

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📌 What We Cover

• The origin of Scrappy ABM and why Mason fell in love with account-based marketing at a vertical FinTech company
• The three prerequisites for ABM readiness: product-market fit, higher ACV, and a favorable CAC-to-lifetime-value ratio
• The Core Four reasons ABM programs fail: sales-marketing misalignment, poor fit, inadequate internal resourcing, and measurement gaps
• Why the "Susie problem" kills most ABM programs before they start - and the eight distinct roles every ABM program actually requires
• The difference between a real ICP and an inspirational one, and how to test yours using nothing but your CRM
• Mason's graduate-and-leave agency model and why outcome-based pricing produces happier clients and more referrals
• How Mason built a seven-figure business using LinkedIn content alone, and the "learning in public" strategy that drove the first four years
• Why podcasting works as a pipeline channel - especially for operators with fewer than 2,000 followers
• How Mason's view on conferences completely reversed as AI made digital trust harder to establish
• The three-layer buying committee strategy: bottom-up, top-down, and account-level presence
• Why early-stage companies should not run ABM, and what they should do instead

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

• Scrappy ABM - Mason's ABM consultancy and education brand
• GTM & AI Operators Show - Aakash Sinha's podcast
• Salesforce (accounts object configuration for ABM measurement)
• Claude (Anthropic's AI, used by Mason's team for content repurposing)
• HubSpot
• ClickUp
• B2BMX - B2B Marketing Exchange conference
• Fathom (call recording tool referenced in Mason's case study automation story)

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Resources:

Scrappy ABM: Visit for more ABM tips and strategies.

Connect with Mason on LinkedIn for a conversation about ABM.

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If you enjoyed today's episode and found valuable insights for your business, be sure to subscribe to the Scrappy ABM podcast for more expert discussions. Don't forget to leave a review and share this episode with your team or fellow marketers!

Building an effective account-based program brings up a lot of specific questions. On this episode of Scrappy ABM, host Mason Cosby answers the most frequent questions pulled directly from previous ABM in a Day workshops. Mason addresses exactly what re-engagement means and when accounts should cycle out of your program.

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Mason details the minimum viable tools required to run a successful strategy. He warns against buying new software before establishing a clear plan. Instead, he explains how your strategy should inform the tools you use. You only really need a CRM, a marketing automation platform, and a sales outreach tool.

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The conversation also addresses the common conflict between outbound sales outreach and marketing automation sequences. Mason explains how to turn sales into a distribution channel. This ensures target accounts get the same message across multiple channels, making your overall outreach more intentional.

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📌 What We Cover

• How the re-engagement stage targets accounts that received an offer but decided not to purchase right now.
• Why accounts that refuse to engage should cycle off your program to make room for higher propensity accounts.
• The importance of naming marketing plays clearly so salespeople understand them without needing to do research.
• The three minimum viable tools needed for success: a CRM, a marketing automation platform, and a sales outreach system.
• How to use exclusion lists to ensure target accounts receive specific, curated experiences instead of generalized marketing.
• Why identifying the exact problem your customers experience before they need your solution generates meaningful engagement.
• How small total addressable markets make account-based marketing the most logical solution for vertical SaaS companies.
• Why sending the same messaging through marketing automation and BDR outreach is highly effective for engagement.

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

• ABM in a Day Workshop: scrappyabm.com/workshop
• Tools mentioned: Factors, RB2B, Marketo
• People mentioned: Dr. Brené Brown
• Scrappy ABM: Visit for more ABM tips and strategies
• Connect with Mason on LinkedIn for a conversation about ABM

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If you enjoyed today's episode and found valuable insights for your business, be sure to subscribe to the Scrappy ABM podcast for more expert discussions. Don't forget to leave a review and share this episode with your team or fellow marketers!

Account-based marketing does not strictly require massive budgets or gated landing pages. Sometimes, all it takes is showing up where your target accounts already spend their time online. On this episode of Scrappy ABM, host Mason Cosby speaks with Greg Rokisky about a highly specific, low-cost marketing play.

Greg details the process of building an organic social account program during his time at Sprout Social. He explains how his team partnered closely with sales to identify target accounts and monitor their activity. When a target brand had a viral moment, Greg's team engaged directly on platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn.

This strategy created a "bouncy trampoline" effect. Social engagement became a jumping-off point that account executives could use for warmer outreach. Greg and Mason also discuss how to make one-to-one video content that still works for a broader audience, and how to measure the revenue return of simple online interactions.

Greg Rokisky serves as the Senior Social Media Marketing Manager at Calendly, a scheduling automation platform designed to eliminate the back-and-forth of booking meetings. Prior to Calendly, Greg worked as a Senior Social Media Strategist at Sprout Social, where he led campaigns and built out the organic programs discussed in this episode.

Greg is a strong advocate for a social-first customer journey and the creator economy. He focuses on inclusive, human-centered storytelling. You can connect with Greg Rokisky on LinkedIn to see more of his content.

• How Greg transitioned from standard social media management to pioneering a target account program.
• The process of creating a "bouncy trampoline" for sales by engaging with quick-service restaurant brands on social channels.
• Using organic comments as a direct handoff to account executives for warmer outbound messaging.
• Building one-to-one content that remains valuable for a one-to-many public audience.
• Tracking success through a pilot program and moving toward a custom W-model attribution strategy.
• Connecting online interactions to in-person events like Dreamforce and South by Southwest.
• The missed opportunity of not tying the B2B creator economy into the account strategy from day one.

• Sprout Social
• Sales Assembly
• Dreamforce
• South by Southwest
• Scrappy ABM: Visit for more ABM tips and strategies. (Link ScrappyABM.com)
• Connect with Mason on LinkedIn for a conversation about ABM (Link Mason's LinkedIn)

If you enjoyed today's episode and found valuable insights for your business, be sure to subscribe to the Scrappy ABM podcast for more expert discussions. Don't forget to leave a review and share this episode with your team or fellow marketers!

Roughly 80% of ABM programs fail. The main reason is that companies start by targeting accounts that have never heard of them. It takes three to six months for your brand to even be remembered. By that time, the program has usually been killed. Welcome to Scrappy ABM. Host Mason Cosby breaks down exactly where you should build your target account list to nearly guarantee a win.

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If you focus on a completely net new audience, you are setting yourself up for a long wait. It can take anywhere from 3 to 24 months for those accounts to enter the pipeline. Mason explains why starting with people who already know you exist gives you the best potential for success. You already have a sheer amount of data on these accounts, making it easier to measure success.

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We explore the four core places to look for these target accounts: website traffic, closed lost opportunities, your active sales pipeline, and your current customer base. By focusing on these engaged audiences, you can shorten sales cycles and directly address past objections. This approach builds trust and helps you secure buy-in before you go after cold prospects.

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📌 What We Cover

1. Why targeting completely cold accounts causes most ABM programs to fail early.
2. Using website traffic to identify highly engaged people who visit your pricing page or view your webinars.
3. Building specific programming to overcome past objections in your closed lost opportunities.
4. Starting a small pilot program with one to three sales reps to shorten a 6 to 18-month sales cycle.
5. Mapping out a customer journey to find expansion dollars within your current customer base.
6. Defining a real ABM program as a B2B revenue strategy that aligns marketing, sales, and customer success.
7. Measuring success on a data set of best-fit customers rather than guessing with unknown accounts.

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

1. Scrappy ABM Newsletter: Subscribe to get playbooks every single week at scrappyabm.com/newsletter.
2. Scrappy ABM: Visit for more ABM tips and strategies.
3. Connect with Mason on LinkedIn for a conversation about ABM.

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If you enjoyed today's episode and found valuable insights for your business, be sure to subscribe to the Scrappy ABM podcast for more expert discussions. Don't forget to leave a review and share this episode with your team or fellow marketers!

Struggling to get buy-in for your ABM program budget? Securing hundreds of thousands of dollars for marketing initiatives requires a specific, structured process. In this episode of Scrappy ABM, host Mason Cosby walks through the exact four steps for building ABM programs and getting leaders on board quickly.

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Instead of asking for a budget right away, marketers must first audit their current efforts. Mason Cosby explains how to map out everything from SEO to organic social events. He breaks down how to categorize these programs by their intended purpose to create your first account progression model.

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This model guides accounts from initial awareness straight to buying readiness. By identifying specific gaps and presenting a clear plan first, you can ask leadership for help solving large initiatives rather than just asking for dollars. You will learn how to complete this entire mapping process and secure the resources you need in under an hour.

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📌 What We Cover

1. Write down everything you are currently doing from a marketing perspective, including SEO and paid media.
2. Categorizing existing programs by their purpose to build your first account progression model.
3. Mapping tactical details using the four D framework: data, distribution, destination, and direction.
4. Answering the six critical questions for every single playbook at every stage of your program.
5. Moving from repurposing current content to building new assets to fill specific gaps.
6. Asking leadership for help solving a problem rather than directly asking for a general ABM budget.

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

1. ABM Planning Template: Visit scrappyabm.com/plan to get a full program mapped out in about an hour.
2. Scrappy ABM: Visit for more ABM tips and strategies.
3. Connect with Mason on LinkedIn for a conversation about ABM

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If you enjoyed today's episode and found valuable insights for your business, be sure to subscribe to the Scrappy ABM podcast for more expert discussions. Don't forget to leave a review and share this episode with your team or fellow marketers!

Most ABM programs fail not because they have a bad strategy, but because they execute in the wrong sequence. Marketers often start with a blank canvas and build strictly at the awareness stage for cold accounts. Brand recall typically takes three to six months. Because of this timeline delay, executive leadership often cuts the program before it generates any actual pipeline.

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On Scrappy ABM, Mason Cosby explains why mathematically paying off debt with the Avalanche method is the fastest, but the Snowball method is actually the most successful. The Snowball method works because human psychology requires momentum and early wins. Mason applies this exact logic to scaling an ABM program long-term.

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Instead of starting at the top with unaware buyers, Mason recommends starting with audiences that already know your brand. By focusing on Closed-Lost opportunities, customer win-back programs, or pipeline acceleration, you can skip the three to six months of brand recall. You get a quick win, prove that coordinated sales and marketing efforts work, and secure the momentum needed to build out the rest of the strategy.

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📌 What We Cover

1. Why starting your ABM program at the awareness stage often leads to the program getting cut.
2. How the psychology of the Debt Snowball method applies to securing early wins and generating pipeline.
3. Targeting known audiences first: Closed-Lost, win-back programs, referrals, and pipeline acceleration.
4. Using a conversion mechanism to offer a free one-to-one audit process that highlights the gap in a prospect's current state.
5. Validating your conversion mechanism with a highly targeted cohort of 30 to 50 right-fit accounts.
6. Building consistent feeder programs, like webinars, podcasts, or email nurtures, to build trust and drive opt-ins.
7. Scaling back up to the awareness stage only after validating the bottom-of-the-funnel steps.
8. A breakdown of a cybersecurity client progressing accounts from an automated assessment to a one-to-one consult.

🔗 Resources Mentioned

1. Actionable Tactical Playbooks: scrappyabm.com/newsletter
2. Scrappy ABM: Visit for more ABM tips and strategies
3. Connect with Mason on LinkedIn for a conversation about ABM

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If you enjoyed today's episode and found valuable insights for your business, be sure to subscribe to the Scrappy ABM podcast for more expert discussions. Don't forget to leave a review and share this episode with your team or fellow marketers!