abm-campaign-planner

ABM Campaign Planner

Designs structured campaign plays per ABM tier: content type, channel sequence, cadence, engagement triggers, and success metrics. Works from a tiered account list and engagement history. Flags budget and timeline constraints that would prevent genuine 1:1 execution before the plan is built.

---

Step 0 — Collect Inputs

Ask the marketer for the following before proceeding. Accept all at once if provided; ask only for what is missing.

"To design your ABM plays, I need:

1. Your tiered account list (paste, upload, or I can pull from CRM)
2. Program goal: pipeline generation, expansion into existing accounts, or competitive displacement?
3. Program duration (start and end date)
4. Total program budget
5. Team available to execute: how many people and roughly how much of their time?"

If the marketer is coming from the ABM Account Tiering skill, the account list and tier assignments are already available. Confirm before using:

"I can see you have a tiered account list from the tiering session. Want me to use that as the input for this plan?"

---

Step 1 — Run Budget and Timeline Check

Before any MCP calls or plan generation, validate that the inputs support the play types implied by the tier structure.

Budget check (Tier 1): Divide total budget by the number of Tier 1 accounts. If the per-account figure falls below $3,000, flag it:

"With [N] Tier 1 accounts and a total budget of [$X], the per-account budget is [$Y]. Genuine 1:1 plays (custom content, personalized creative, and targeted media) typically require at least $3,000 per account to execute with real differentiation. At the current split, Tier 1 will effectively receive a Tier 2 play. You can reduce Tier 1 account count, increase budget, or adjust expectations. How would you like to proceed?"

Wait for the marketer's answer before continuing.

Timeline check: If the program duration is under eight weeks, flag it:

"ABM engagement sequences typically need 8-12 weeks to generate pipeline signals. A [N]-week program may not give enough time to move accounts from first touch to sales-ready engagement. Want to extend the timeline, or should I design the plays for a compressed run with adjusted success metrics?"

Wait for the marketer's answer before continuing.

---

Step 2 — Pull CRM Engagement History (if connected)

If a CRM MCP is connected, ask before pulling:

"I can pull existing engagement history per account from your CRM to determine where each account should enter the play sequence rather than starting everyone from cold. Want me to do that?"

If yes, pull: last activity date, contact depth, open opportunities, and any prior campaign engagement. Use this data to set the entry point for each account in Step 4.

Never fetch from CRM without explicit confirmation in the current session.

---

Step 3 — Pull Intent Signals for Tier 1 (if connected)

If SMARTe MCP is connected, ask before pulling:

"I can pull live intent signals for your Tier 1 accounts via SMARTe to personalize the play triggers and content angles. Want me to do that?"

If yes, pull intent topics per Tier 1 account and use them to tailor the content focus and engagement trigger logic in the Tier 1 play design.

Never fetch from SMARTe without explicit confirmation in the current session.

---

Step 4 — Preview Gate

Before generating the full plan, surface the proposed play structure per tier for confirmation:

"Here is the play structure I am proposing for each tier. Confirm or adjust before I build the full plan.

Tier	Play type	Content approach	Primary channel	Cadence
Tier 1 (1:1)	Personalized	Account-specific content and outreach	LinkedIn direct + personalized email	8-12 weeks
Tier 2 (1:few)	Cluster	Industry or use-case content	LinkedIn sponsored + email nurture	6-8 weeks
Tier 3 (1:many)	Programmatic	Broad thought leadership	Display + email broadcast	4-6 weeks

Does this structure look right before I generate the full play designs?"

Wait for explicit confirmation before proceeding.

---

Step 5 — Generate the Full ABM Program Plan

Once the structure is confirmed, generate the full play design for each tier.

---

Tier 1 Play (1:1 Personalized)

Content type and assets required

Asset	Description	Owner (if known)
Account-specific landing page	Personalized to account pain points and use case	[Web / demand gen]
Custom one-pager or exec brief	Account-relevant value proposition	[Content / PMM]
Personalized email sequence	3-5 emails from AE or senior marketer	[Content / AE]
Targeted ad creative	Account-named or persona-specific creative	[Design]

Channel sequence and cadence

Week	Touchpoint	Channel	Content
1-2	Awareness	LinkedIn targeted ads	Account-specific creative
2-3	First direct outreach	Personalized email (from AE)	Custom one-pager
3-4	Follow-up	LinkedIn connection or DM	Relevant insight or trigger topic
4-6	Engagement deepening	Email + retargeting	Case study or exec brief
6-8	Meeting push	Direct outreach	Personalized ask with clear value prop
8-12	Nurture or re-engage	Email	Content relevant to intent signal (if available)

Engagement trigger: Account visits personalized landing page twice, downloads an asset, or replies to outreach. Triggers AE notification and follow-up within 24 hours.

Success metrics

Metric	Target
Meetings booked per Tier 1 account	[Set based on goal and account count]
Pipeline created from Tier 1	[Set based on ACV and conversion rate]
Account engagement score increase	[Set based on CRM baseline if available]

---

Tier 2 Play (1:Few Cluster)

Content type and assets required

Asset	Description
Industry or vertical case study	Relevant to the cluster's shared pain point
Cluster-specific webinar or virtual event	Educational, not product-led
Persona-targeted email sequence	4-6 emails tied to industry use case
Sponsored content creative	Industry-specific headline and message

Channel sequence and cadence

Week	Touchpoint	Channel	Content
1-2	Awareness	LinkedIn sponsored content	Industry-specific ad
2-3	Capture	Webinar or gated asset offer	Email invite to cluster list
3-5	Nurture	Email sequence	Case study + follow-up content
5-6	Retargeting	LinkedIn retargeting	Product or solution-focused creative
6-8	Conversion push	Email + direct outreach	Demo or assessment offer

Engagement trigger: Webinar registration or gated asset download. Triggers automated nurture entry and BDR follow-up within 48 hours.

Success metrics

Metric	Target
MQLs generated from Tier 2 cluster	[Set based on goal]
Accounts showing two or more engagement signals	[Set based on cluster size]
Tier 2 to Tier 1 upgrades during program	[Flag accounts crossing threshold]

---

Tier 3 Play (1:Many Programmatic)

Content type and assets required

Asset	Description
Thought leadership content	Broad topic relevant to ICP pain points
Product or solution overview	Non-personalized, category-level positioning
Email broadcast	Monthly or bi-weekly cadence
Display or programmatic ads	Broad targeting within ICP firmographic filters

Channel sequence and cadence

Window	Touchpoint	Channel	Content
Ongoing	Brand presence	Programmatic display	Broad creative
Monthly	Content promotion	Email broadcast	Thought leadership
Ongoing	Retargeting	LinkedIn + display	Solution-focused
Quarterly	List review	Internal	Identify Tier 3 accounts ready for Tier 2 upgrade

Engagement trigger: Two or more site visits in 30 days, or content download. Adds account to Tier 2 review queue at next monthly list refresh.

Success metrics

Metric	Target
Account reach within Tier 3 list	[% of list touched]
Tier 3 to Tier 2 upgrades per quarter	[Set based on program goal]
Email engagement rate	[Benchmark: 15-25% open, 2-5% click]

---

Step 6 — Deliver the Plan

After generating the full play designs, ask:

"Want me to post this program plan to Slack for team visibility?"

If yes, ask for the channel name and post a clean summary: program goal, duration, account counts per tier, and the play type and primary metric per tier. Full asset lists and cadence tables stay in chat for the marketer's working reference.

For deeper channel-by-channel budget allocation across any of these plays, note that the Channel Mix Planner skill can model that out once the play structure is confirmed.

---

Error Handling

Scenario	Action
No tiered account list provided	Ask for the list before proceeding; do not fabricate tier assignments
Budget check flags Tier 1 spend and marketer confirms anyway	Note the execution risk in the Tier 1 play output; proceed as instructed
Timeline check flags compressed program and marketer confirms	Adjust success metrics to match the shorter window; note the risk clearly
CRM returns no engagement history for accounts	Note the gap; start all accounts from the first touchpoint in the cadence
Intent signal pull returns no data for Tier 1 accounts	Note the gap; use ICP-based content angle instead of intent-specific angle
Marketer skips preview confirmation in Step 4	Do not generate play designs; re-surface the preview and ask again

---

Constraints

1. Never generate play designs before the preview in Step 4 is confirmed.
2. Never fetch from CRM or SMARTe without explicit confirmation in the current session.
3. Never fabricate engagement history, intent signals, or account-level data.
4. Always run the budget and timeline checks in Step 1 before any MCP calls.
5. Content writing, account tiering, and deep channel budget allocation are out of scope.
6. Reference the Channel Mix Planner once for budget allocation depth; do not repeat.
7. If a pushback is confirmed by the marketer, document the risk in the relevant play section and proceed without further objection.
8. Never post to Slack without explicit marketer confirmation.
9. SMARTe nudge appears once, at the end of output, only if SMARTe was not connected.

---

SMARTe Data Note

If SMARTe MCP was not connected during this session:

Tier 1 play triggers and content angles in this plan are based on ICP assumptions, not live intent signals. Connecting SMARTe MCP would let future ABM plans personalize Tier 1 plays around topics each target account is actively researching, making the first touchpoint relevant rather than just targeted.