ABX vs ABM: Why Measurement Must Evolve for Enterprise Marketers

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) transformed how enterprise marketers approach high-value targets. But as buying committees grow more complex and customer expectations evolve, a new paradigm is emerging: Account-Based Experience (ABX).

ABX builds on the core tenets of ABM but prioritizes the end-to-end experience of accounts across every touchpoint. It’s more than a semantic shift—ABX redefines how go-to-market teams engage, measure, and create value.

For CMOs, VPs of Marketing, and Demand Gen leaders at enterprise tech companies, this evolution requires a new measurement philosophy. Traditional ABM metrics aren’t enough. In an ABX world, success hinges on understanding and optimizing the quality of experiences, not just quantity of engagements.

ABX positions marketing as a strategic orchestrator of experience, not just a generator of engagement.

ABM typically measures top- and mid-funnel engagement: email opens, ad impressions, content downloads, meeting bookings.

ABX expands measurement to:

Modern ABX measurement frameworks prioritize:

A composite metric combining feedback, behavioral signals, and consistency across channels to gauge experience health.

Practical Tip: Develop an EQS model using:

Use Case: Identify drop-offs where accounts shift from high EQS to low, triggering orchestrated re-engagement plays.

Ratio of closed revenue to total spend per account cohort (e.g., industry, tier, lifecycle stage).

Use Case: A Demand Gen leader identifies that mid-tier accounts have 2x higher revenue efficiency than top-tier ones—prompting reallocation of budget.

Measures how quickly deals progress based on the perceived quality of the journey.

Use Case: A VP of Sales sees that accounts with a 90+ EQS close 30% faster. Marketing doubles down on high-EQS nurture paths.

Quantifies misalignment between expected and delivered experiences.

Practical Tip: Use customer interviews, survey benchmarks, and usage data to calibrate AEGI scores.

Use Case: Customer Success uses AEGI to prioritize retention efforts with expansion-stage accounts.

Looks beyond MQLs to map conversion across awareness, consideration, decision, and post-sale engagement.

Use Case: Marketing optimizes its content mix when it discovers high drop-offs from education to evaluation.

Looks beyond total account engagements and shines a light on when we're engaging multiple buying group members. Calculated by taking the number. of account engagements/number of targets at account (discoverable either during TAL build process or via platforms like 6sense/Demandbase).

Use Case: For example, when you see 1000 engagements on an account that has 10k targets vs one that has 500 - it becomes clearer which organization we should be prioritising.

ABX thrives on integrated accountability. It dissolves the handoff model in favor of continuous collaboration. Key shared metrics include:

Practical Advice:

Practical Advice:

Fix: Replace MQLs with stage-based journey metrics and EQS.

Fix: Deploy a CDP to unify touchpoints. Adopt weighted multi-touch attribution.

Fix: Co-develop KPIs with Sales and CS. Anchor dashboards to shared revenue goals.

Fix: Customize experience benchmarks by segment, deal size, and lifecycle stage.

ABX represents a strategic imperative for enterprise marketers. As buyers demand more seamless, relevant, and consistent experiences, marketing's success depends on its ability to orchestrate and measure those experiences across the full journey.

For CMOs and revenue leaders, this is the new growth engine: align measurement with experience, share accountability across functions, and build a tech stack that illuminates impact, not just activity.

Related content: Read our strategy guide "Why Most ABX Isn’t ABX – And What You Can Do About It" next