In B2B marketing, targeting strategies are often the deciding factor between campaigns that generate pipeline and those that stall. Two dominant approaches—people-based targeting and account-based targeting—have emerged as the most widely adopted. Each has clear strengths and weaknesses, and knowing when to apply them can significantly improve your ROI.
According to Salesforce, 79% of marketing leads never convert into sales, largely due to poor targeting. This underscores why choosing the right strategy is critical for B2B success.
What Is People-Based Targeting?
People-based targeting centres on reaching specific individuals inside organisations. Instead of looking only at the company as a whole, this approach focuses on roles, responsibilities, and behaviours.
For example, you might target “Marketing Directors at SaaS companies with 50-200 employees who recently engaged with lead generation content.” The person is the starting point, while the company context comes second.
This approach works best when your solution addresses role-specific pain points, where an individual can influence or even independently purchase.
What Is Account-Based Targeting?
Account-based targeting flips the focus to the organisation first. Here, companies are selected based on firmographic data like revenue, headcount, or growth stage. Once accounts are chosen, marketers engage multiple decision-makers within those organisations.
Research from Alterra Group shows that 97% of marketers see higher ROI with account-based marketing compared to traditional methods, highlighting why many B2B teams favour this strategy.
For instance, you might target “financial services firms with £10-50 million annual revenue experiencing rapid growth,” then identify the relevant stakeholders within those companies.
Why People-Based Targeting Works
The main advantage is precision. Messaging can be highly personalised, addressing pain points unique to an individual’s role. This often results in stronger engagement, with LinkedIn reporting that personalised outreach generates 15% higher open rates and 35% more replies.
People-based targeting can also shorten sales cycles. Harvard Business Review found that working with the wrong stakeholders can extend cycles by 22%. By identifying decision-makers upfront, you remove unnecessary delays.
It’s also cost-efficient for smaller campaigns or niche audiences. Instead of spreading budget across an entire account, resources are concentrated on the individuals who matter most.
Why Account-Based Targeting Wins Deals
Account-based targeting ensures comprehensive coverage of the buying committee. Gartner data shows that an average of 6.8 people are involved in a B2B buying decision, and account-based marketing ensures you reach them all.
It also tends to drive higher deal values. By engaging multiple stakeholders, you uncover cross-sell and upsell opportunities. Research from FlipMyFunnel found that companies using ABM generate 208% more revenue than those relying solely on traditional marketing.
Another advantage is resilience. When you build relationships across departments, you’re less vulnerable if a single contact leaves the company. The approach also naturally aligns marketing and sales, since both teams focus on shared target accounts.
Where People-Based Targeting Falls Short
The biggest drawback is limited visibility. By focusing too narrowly on individuals, you may miss wider company priorities such as budgets, initiatives, or strategic roadmaps.
There’s also the risk of dependency: if your primary contact leaves, the opportunity may collapse. And because many B2B deals involve multiple decision-makers, people-based targeting can result in incomplete decision mapping.
Where Account-Based Targeting Struggles
ABM demands more time, money, and resources. Researching an account, mapping stakeholders, and tailoring content for each role is resource-intensive. Campaign launches can take longer due to the upfront intelligence required.
Execution is also complex. Coordinating outreach across multiple contacts increases the risk of message overlap or inconsistency. For smaller businesses with limited budgets, the higher initial costs can be a barrier.
Which Approach Should You Choose?
The answer depends on your business model.
- People-based targeting is ideal when sales cycles are shorter, when your product solves specific role-based challenges, or when budgets are limited. It’s also effective for niche markets with well-defined decision-makers.
- Account-based targeting works best for complex, high-value deals where multiple stakeholders are involved. Enterprise sales, in particular, benefit from the structured, multi-contact approach ABM provides.
Many successful B2B companies now adopt a hybrid model: using account-based targeting to define priority organisations, then applying people-based tactics to engage the most relevant individuals within those accounts.
Making Targeting Work With the Right Tools
No matter which strategy you choose, execution relies on the right tools. Platforms that combine email outreach, LinkedIn automation, cold calling, and website visitor identification ensure you reach the right people—or the right accounts—at the right time.
The real difference between success and failure isn’t just whether you target individuals or accounts—it’s how consistently you engage them with personalised, relevant messaging. Companies that get this balance right turn targeting strategies into measurable revenue growth.
