On paper, ABM looks simple: named accounts, tailored journeys, personalized outreach. In reality, many campaigns stall because Marketing and Sales never truly launch together.

Marketing invests in ads, sequences, and content. Interest spikes. Then… nothing. Reps aren’t clear on who was targeted, what prospects saw, or how to pick up the story. ABM turns into expensive noise.

Caitlin Cricco, Sr Director of Enterprise Marketing at Digital Science, sees successful ABM as a joint go-to-market motion, not a marketing program. Alignment comes down to four essentials: 

1. Start with a shared ABM brief

Before anything goes live, Sales and Marketing align on a simple brief:

• Target account list and segments
• Personas and buying centers in play
• Goals in revenue terms, not just MQLs

If Sales can’t see “their” accounts and why they were chosen, you’re not ready to launch. That “joint launch” doesn’t just feel better; it usually shows up in the numbers, too: higher Sales Acceptance Rates (SAR) and faster Sales Velocity because reps can recognize intent immediately and pick up the exact story Marketing has already started.

2. Turn personas into value pathways

Caitlin pushes beyond static persona decks. For each role, teams align on:

• The business problem that matters most
• The outcome that role is accountable for
• 2–3 proof points that feel real in their world

This becomes a value pathway Sales can actually use: “People in this role care about X, we help them get to Y, here’s the proof.”

3. Make the campaign see-through for reps

Reps shouldn’t guess what prospects just experienced. Give them a quick view of:

• Core messages and offers running in market
• Key assets by persona (stories, benchmarks, checklists)
• What a “typical” journey looks like for an engaged contact

The goal is simple: when a prospect responds, the rep can continue the narrative instead of starting from zero.

4. Arm Sales for the moments of interest you’re trying to create

Alignment breaks if Marketing generates engagement that Sales can’t act on.

Caitlin’s teams define, up front:

• What qualifies as real buying intent
• How quickly reps should respond
• The talk tracks, emails, and questions that match each trigger

That’s the core of ABM enablement: not a huge playbook, but a handful of clear moves tied directly to the campaign.

When Sales and Marketing build ABM this way, campaigns stop being “something Marketing is running” and start feeling like a coordinated revenue play. That’s when alignment shows up where it matters most: in the quality of the conversations your team is having with the accounts that matter.