Creating a Target Account List

Kelly Arndt

What’s your best practice for creating a target account list for sales/marketing?

Context

We’re a small marketing team (5) and Sales team (6). We have a decent idea of our ICP based on firmographics, but our tech is a bit industry-agnostic… plus we are in an emerging market which means, that often times, Sales is up for whoever is interested at this exact moment (as opposed to high-value ACV deals).

Right now, I have dynamic lists in 6sense segmented by various thresholds 1st and 3rd party intent (including partners/competitors).

However, I am curious about whether it would be wise to create a static segment based on the 100 accounts we land and what best practices we should use to identify the most important deals to us?

jfewlessInverta

Hi Kelly - here are some thoughts!

Intent data provides a great foundation through 6sense for your master list. That being said, I'd recommend a hybrid approach that combines both dynamic and static targeting to maximize your effectiveness. Here's a structured approach:

1. First, deepen your ICP analysis beyond basic firmographics:
   • Analyze your existing customers based on ACV and LTV patterns
   • Look for patterns in solution/product adoption across your customer base
   • Map out which customers extract the most value from your technology
2. Layer in product-market fit indicators:
   • Identify segments that share specific challenges or pain points your solution addresses
   • Look for common use cases or implementation patterns among your most successful customers
   • This can help prioritize accounts even in an industry-agnostic solution
3. Leverage your intent data strategically:
   • Continue monitoring competitive research signals
   • Use intent data to validate both your ICP refinements and product fit indicators
   • Look for patterns in the intent data of your most successful customers to identify similar prospects
4. Implement a "hybrid" targeting approach:
   • Maintain your dynamic lists based on intent thresholds for ongoing prospecting
   • Each quarter, create a static "focus list" of 100-200 accounts that meet your refined criteria
   • These static lists become your priority accounts for concentrated sales and marketing efforts

This approach gives you the best of both worlds: you maintain the flexibility to capture emerging opportunities through dynamic lists while ensuring your highest-potential accounts receive focused, coordinated attention through your static segments.

The key is to regularly review and adjust both your static and dynamic segments based on results, ensuring your targeting strategy evolves with your market understanding and product adoption patterns.

Let me know if you have any other questions!