Key Takeaways
- •CTR is a vanity metric. Account Penetration (coverage × frequency × progression) is the only ABM metric that matters for pipeline.
- •The 70% Audience Penetration Rule: Our methodology requires 70% of your target audience to see an episode before rotating to the next—ensuring narrative consistency and preventing 'out of order' consumption.
- •The Measurement Ladder moves from Clicks (Level 1) to Leads (Level 2) to Account Influence (Level 3)—the ABM zone.
- •Warm Account Lists are the outcome: Track which accounts consumed Episode 1-7 and hand Sales a list with context, not cold leads.
The ABM Measurement Gap
Last month, a VP of Marketing at a Series B SaaS company told me their ABM program was "crushing it."
They'd spent $40K on ads. Generated 8,200 impressions. 127 clicks. 14 form fills.
Then I asked: "Of your 150 target accounts, how many have you actually influenced?"
Long pause.
"I mean... we got 14 leads. So... maybe 14 accounts?"
I pulled up their account list. Cross-referenced it with their ad data. The reality: 6 of the 14 leads came from companies NOT on their target list. The other 8 were scattered across 8 different target accounts—meaning 142 of their 150 priority accounts saw zero influence from their $40K spend.
This is the ABM Measurement Gap.
We have dashboards full of performance metrics (impressions, clicks, CTR), but no visibility into the question that actually matters: "Are we penetrating our target accounts?"
In ABM, clicks are vanity. Account Penetration is sanity.
What is Account Penetration?
Account Penetration is the depth of your reach within a specific target account. It answers three fundamental questions:
- 1
Coverage
How many relevant decision-makers (buying committee members) at this account have seen our content?
- 2
Frequency
How many times has each decision-maker engaged with our narrative?
- 3
Progression
Did they stop at Episode 1, or did they consume the full Story Arc (Episodes 1-7)?
Example:
If you have 500 target accounts, knowing that you got "5,000 clicks" is useless if 4,900 of them came from interns at 3 accounts. You need to know that you penetrated 450 accounts with at least 3 decision-makers each.
The Measurement Ladder
Most B2B marketers are stuck on Level 1 or Level 2. ABM success lives at Level 3.
Level 1: Vanity Metrics
Clicks, Impressions, CTR, CPC. Good for optimizing creative, bad for measuring business impact.
Level 2: Campaign Metrics
Cost per Lead (CPL), Form Fills, Demo Requests. Better, but often misses the "dark funnel" influence where buyers consume content without filling out forms.
Level 3: Account Penetration
% of Target Accounts Reached, Buying Committee Coverage, Narrative Completion Rate. This is the ABM zone. This is where you track which accounts are actually warm.
The shift: Stop asking "How many clicks did we get?" Start asking "How many of our 500 target accounts consumed Episodes 1-3?"
How Sequenced LinkedIn Ads Enable Penetration Tracking
Traditional ad campaigns make penetration tracking nearly impossible because:
- • You don't control the order: Accounts see Episode 7 before Episode 1 (Narrative Chaos)
- • You don't control the frequency: Ad platforms optimize for clicks, not narrative delivery
- • You can't track episode-level progression: Did they see Ep 1 → Ep 2 → Ep 3, or random episodes?
Sequenced LinkedIn Ads solve this by:
1. Frequency-Based Sequencing (The 70% Methodology)
Here's why we use 70% as the threshold:
The Problem:
If you rotate from Episode 1 to Episode 2 when only 30% of your audience has seen Episode 1, then 70% of your audience will first encounter your narrative at Episode 2—missing all the problem-setting context.
Our Solution:
- • Episode 1: Run at high frequency (30 impressions/7 days) until 70% of your target audience has been reached
- • When 70% threshold is achieved: Rotate to Episode 2 (while Episode 1 drops to maintenance mode: 3 imps/7 days)
- • Episodes 2-7: Same pattern—don't advance until 70% penetration is achieved
This ensures that the majority of your audience experiences your narrative in the correct order, building context progressively rather than randomly.
2. Episode-Level Tracking
Because we control the sequence, we can measure:
- • Which accounts saw Episode 1? (e.g., 450/500 = 90% penetration)
- • Which accounts made it to Episode 3? (e.g., 320/500 = 64%)
- • Which accounts consumed all 7 episodes? (e.g., 120/500 = 24%)
This is impossible with traditional "spray and pray" ad campaigns where you have no visibility into narrative progression.
3. Warm Account List Generation
The accounts that make it to Episode 7 are warm. They've consumed your full narrative. They're ready for Sales.
This becomes your Warm Account List—the accounts you hand to Sales every week with:
- • Which episodes they consumed
- • Which content resonated (based on engagement)
- • Suggested talking points based on what they saw
Result: Sales doesn't call blind. They call warm, with context.
How to Measure It Manually
Accessing account-level penetration data manually is possible, but painful. Most ad platforms require:
- Exporting company-level impression data
- Cross-referencing with your CRM's target account list
- Calculating reach manually for each account
- Building custom dashboards to track episode progression
The Problem:
Even with manual tracking, you have no way to verify episode-level progression. Did Microsoft see Episode 1, then Episode 2, then Episode 3? Or did they see Episode 7, then Episode 2, then Episode 5? Without controlling the sequence at the ad platform level, you'll never know.
The Ampy Way: Verified Account Reach
Granular Visibility
Ampy tracks penetration at the Story Arc level. We don't just tell you "Microsoft saw your ads." We tell you:
- Microsoft: 142 Impressions
- Episode 1 Coverage: 85%
- Episode 4 Coverage: 42%
- Episode 7 Coverage: 18%
- Status: Warm (Consumed Eps 1-5, ready for Sales)
Because Ampy uses frequency-based sequencing, we can guarantee penetration. We don't flip the switch to Episode 2 until Episode 1 has achieved its penetration goal (e.g., 70% of the account list reached).
This stops you from presenting "Solution" content to an account that doesn't yet understand the "Problem."
Your Weekly Warm Account List
Every week, Ampy generates your Warm Account List:
This Week's Warm Accounts (23)
- 1. Microsoft - Episodes 1-7 consumed, 78% committee coverage
- 2. Salesforce - Episodes 1-6 consumed, 65% committee coverage
- 3. Adobe - Episodes 1-5 consumed, 72% committee coverage
- ...
Your Sales team knows exactly:
- • Which accounts are warm
- • What they've seen
- • What talking points to use
No more cold calls. No more "Just checking in" emails. Just warm, informed conversations.
The Bottom Line
If you're running ABM but measuring CTR, you're flying blind.
The only metric that matters is: "Are the right people at the right companies seeing your story in the right order?"
That's Account Penetration. That's your Warm Account List. That's what drives pipeline.
Book a 30-minute callSee how Ampy tracks account penetration and generates Warm Account Lists.
About the Author
Karl Newlin is the Founder & CEO of Ampy. With 12+ years in B2B Demand Gen, he pioneered the "Story Arc" methodology for LinkedIn ABM.
He helps B2B revenue teams turn executive thought leadership into targeted pipeline using Account-Based Influence.