Account List Builder: Create Account Lists and Groups

The Account List Builder allows you to create dynamic Account Lists in AdRoll ABM using your unique logic criteria and multiple data sources. Account Lists can be segmented into multiple Account Groups and are updated dynamically based on changes to the data sources: AdRoll, HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo, Bombora, G2, and static CSV files.

Who can access

All customers with a paid package can access the Account List builder. Available data sources vary by package.

To find your current package, log in to AdRoll ABM and navigate to Settings > Billing > Plans & Usage.

Account List Data Sources available

You can create Account Lists and Groups by combining data from AdRoll, HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo, Bombora, and G2, based on your integrations with AdRoll ABM. Access to data sources varies by package.

Account List Technical Limits

Create an Account List

Follow the steps below to create your Account Lists:

Step 1: Navigate to the Account List Builder feature

• Log in to AdRoll ABM and go to Audiences > Accounts Lists and click Create a List

Step 2: Add a filter by selecting a data source

To build your Account logic you can use one data source alone or build your own custom logic by combining multiple sources. The data sources available to build your account lists depend on your package.

Upload your own list using a CSV file

Bring over your own list of accounts by uploading your own list of website domains. This option results in a static list that needs to be refreshed manually, we suggest refreshing your static list quarterly at the very least. Depending on your sales cycle length you may want to refresh your CSV Account List more often.

When creating your Account List CSV make sure to follow the file requirements below:

• Prepare a CSV file including a list of website domains
• Make sure your CSV file is a single column of website domains
• Delete any headers
• Delete any additional columns
• Don't include subdomains, subpaths or URLs, only use main website domains ie. netxroll.com

AdRoll company, website engagement, intent, and fit data

Data Source	In AdRoll ABM
AdRoll Company Attributes  Domain Company Revenue Company Size Country (Account HQ location) Company Industry Technologies SIC Codes* SIC Description* NAICS Codes* NAICS Description* *Limited to Account Lists created from the Command Center. For Legacy packages: Creating Account Lists using only AdRoll Company Attributes counts towards your Discovered Account limit. Your package has a maximum number of Discovered Accounts per contract period. Learn more here.
ICP Fit Grade If you have more than one ICP, select the specific ICP you want to use as the training dataset that is used to grade the fit of accounts. Select the highest fit grades A and/or B to add accounts that closely resemble the attributes of your ICP. ICP Fit grades available range from A (highest fit) to F (lowest fit).
AdRoll Keyword Intent Intent Signal Recency Intent Level Keywords Use Keyword Intent to add Accounts that are showing interest in your product or category based on their content consumption across the web. To use this data source you will need to select your keywords first. Learn how to in our Keyword Intent Data guide.
Advertising Activity Ad Impressions Ad Clicks Use this data to add Accounts that have received a certain number of impressions or clicked on a certain number of AdRoll-served ads to focus on accounts demonstrating (or not demonstrating) engagement with your advertising.
Website Activity   Page Views + URL Visited Unique Visitors + URL Visited Conversions Use this data to add Accounts that have engaged on your website. Focus on accounts that have achieved a certain number of Page Views or Unique Visitors, and customize the specific URLs on your website these actions must be taken to hone in on high-value URLs like your pricing page or demo page.
Account News Use this data signal that collects important events and business news about a company related to the account's financial performance, organization structure, and product or partnership launches. Financial (IPO, acquisitions, pre-IPO, etc) Organization structure (new offices, etc) Launches (partnerships, products, etc)

Bombora Company Surge Intent

Use Bombora Intent data to add Accounts that are showing interest in your product or category based on their content consumption across the web. To use this data source you will need to select your Intent Topics first. Learn how in our Bombora Company Surge® Intent Data guide.

• Intent Level
• Intent Signal Recency
• Intent Topics

Salesforce Account, Opportunity, Campaign and Account Activity

Use this data source to add Accounts that exist in your Salesforce instance based on your own Account, Campaign, and Opportunity fields, and Account Activity data. We can ingest default and custom fields from standard Salesforce objects. Non-standard objects and their fields are not available.

Please refer to this FAQ for further guidance on troubleshooting if no accounts appear when selecting the Salesforce Campaign Object.

Learn more about the different Salesforce attributes available to build your Account List and Groups in this article.

HubSpot Company, Deals and Engagement

Use this data source to add Companies that exist in your HubSpot instance based on your own Company and Deals properties, and Company Engagement data. We can ingest default and custom properties from standard HubSpot objects. Non-standard objects and their properties are not available.

• Hubspot Company filters
• Hubspot Deals filters
• HubSpot Engagement filters

 

Marketo Lead fields and Account Activity

Use this data source to add Accounts that exist in your Marketo instance based on Lead attributes or Account Activity data.

• Account Activity: available automatically
• Standard Marketo Lead fields: available automatically
• Custom Marketo Lead fields: available upon request
   

Reach out to Customer Support to enable specific custom Marketo Lead fields.

G2 Intent data

Use this data to add accounts researching specific categories, company profiles, company alternatives, and comparing competitors on G2:

• Category Views
• Comparisons
• Alternative Views
• Profile Views

Using G2 requires a paid G2 subscription. Learn more about in the G2 Integration guide.

Step 3: Add a value and logic operator for each filter

To create your own custom logic You will see up to 6 different logic operators depending on the data type of the field.

Operator	In AdRoll ABM	Example
= equals ≠ does not equal contains does not contain is blank "--" is not blank "--"		Example: Companies located in the US that also include the word 'Finance' in your Salesforce Account Industry field.  "

Step 4: Combine different filters using AND or OR logic

By combining different data sources using use AND and OR statements you can create an Account List that fits your desired criteria.

Logic Function	Example
'AND' is applied when adding multiple data sources within the same block. 'OR' is applied when:    Combining multiple blocks into your logic Selecting multiple values within one filter

Step 5:  Exclude certain accounts from your list

If you have set up your General Exclusions in your account settings, you will be able to decide which ones you want to apply for each specific Account List.

Exclusion Settings	Example
Exclude current Customers Exclude competitors Exclude your own brand

Step 6: Review the size of your Account List 

Before saving your list, look under List Preview to understand how many accounts will be added to the list based on the logic you built

Step 7: Name and save your Account List

• When you are ready to save your list click Continue.
• Select if the Account List should be Dynamic or Static:
  •  
    • Select Dynamic List if you want accounts to be added and removed automatically from your Account List based on changes in the data sources you selected.
    • Select Static List if you don't want your Account List to be updated automatically. We will pull accounts one time after you save and those accounts will remain on this list until you update the Account List logic.
      
• Enter a name for your Account List under Account List Name.
• Click Save & Continue.

Next, you will be asked if you would like to create Account Groups or to go to your Account List. Account Groups are optional but are a good way to organize your Account List to engage them and to drill down your reporting insights. Go to the next section in this guide to learn how to create Account Groups.

Clone an Account List 

You can also clone an Account List if you wish to create a new Account List with slight modifications to your existing logic. To Clone an Account List follow below steps: 

1. Click on the name of the Account List you'd like to Clone.
2. Click on Manage List and select Edit List in the dropdown.
3. In edit mode, click on Clone List.
4. The Cloned List will be available under the Account List section with the naming convention “Account List Name [Cloned]”.

Segment Lists using Account Groups

Now that you've created an Account List, you can segment the accounts on that list by creating Account Groups so you can align a message and view reporting more granularly. 

• You can edit or add Account Groups at any time.
• Any accounts added to an Account List will dynamically route to the Account Groups automatically.
• View account-based reporting by Account Group Use Account Groups as audiences in engagement strategies including advertising.
• When you use an account group as an audience in an advertising campaign, we target individuals at those accounts.

If you want to learn more about what are Account Lists and Account Groups and the differences between them visit this help center article.

You have two options to create Account Groups:

A. Suggested Groups: Use our recommended groups based on the attributes, fields, and properties you used to build your Account List.

B. Start from Scratch: This offers you a fresh approach to building your Account Groups using the specific logic you want.

When starting from scratch you will create Account Groups using the same data sources available to build Account Lists:

Step 1: Click 'Add New Group'

Step 2: Name your Account Group

• Click the pen icon next to Untitled Group to enter a name for your Account Group.

Step 3: Add filters to create your own custom logic following the same method you used to create your Account List.

• To include or exclude individual accounts from a group select Company Attributes > Domain and then enter the domain of the accounts.
• Click Add New Group to create additional Account Groups. If there are duplicate accounts across multiple groups, there will be a prompt that shows all duplicates and enables you to suppress them from individual groups if you choose to do so. 
  

Example with 1 Account Group

Example with 2 Account Groups

Step 4: Save your Account Group

• Click Continue to view a review page.
• Select Save when you are finished editing the logic for your Account Groups.
  • Once saved, any new accounts dynamically added to your Account List will automatically route to the appropriate Account Groups.
  • You can edit Account Groups at any time after saving.

Create Account Lists using your CRM data

The following CRM data is available in the Account List Builder:

• Salesforce Account, Campaign, and Opportunity object fields. Requires your account to be integrated with Salesforce.
• HubSpot properties on the Company and Deal objects. Requires your account to be integrated with HubSpot.

AdRoll ABM accounts from Salesforce and HubSpot based on the website domain:

• If an account record in your CRM has a website domain associated with the record it will get ingested to AdRoll ABM.
• If an account in your CRM does not have a website domain associated with the record will not be ingested to AdRoll ABM.

• SFDC Account 1 = www.sfdc.com
• SFDC Account 2 = https://sfdc.com/us

• AdRoll ABM does not ingest CRM fields with HTML to be used in the Account List Builder.
• AdRoll ABM does not ingest CRM fields on custom objects. 
• Certain CRM fields may be inaccessible due to the permissions of the user who authenticated the integration.   

Create Account Lists using Intent data

We offer multiple types of intent data that should be combined to help you triangulate true intent to purchase. We recommend that you create intent based account lists using two sources:

• Bombora Company Surge®
• AdRoll Keyword Intent
• G2 Buyer Intent (optionally if you have G2 paid plan)

The video below shows how to create an Account List combining, Bombora Company Surge®, AdRoll Keyword Intent, and G2 Buyer Intent:

Using Bombora Company Surge® Intent data

The Bombora Company Surge® Intent data available in the Account List Builder to create your Account Lists and Account groups is powered by Bombora and included with your package. The following are the Bombora Company Surge® Intent attributes available:

•  
  • Intent Level
  • Intent Signal Recency
  • Intent Topics

You can use Bombora Company Surge® Intent data to add Accounts that are showing interest in your product or category based on their content consumption across the web. To use this data source you will need to select your Intent Topics first. Learn how to in our Bombora Company Surge® Intent Data guide.

Create an Account List using Bombora Company Surge® Intent data:

You can build an Account List combining 'Bombora Company Surge®' and 'AdRoll Company Attributes using an 'AND' statement to create logic that includes accounts surging with Intent that fall into your desired size/country/industry category. 

When building an Account List using Intent data you can discover new accounts demonstrating intent and engage those accounts with digital advertising.

• Log in to your account and go to Audiences > Accounts Lists  and click Create a List.
• Select Bombora Company Surge® as your source and adjust the three Intent filters below:
  • Select Intent Level. Click here to learn about how these levels are calculated.
    • Medium to Very High
    • High to Very High
    • Very High Only
  • Select a subset of Intent Topics that will be used in this Playbook
  • Select Intent Signal Recency:
    • Last 7 days
    • Last 30 days
    • Last 90 days

Expand a static Account List adding new accounts showing intent:

You can expand an existing Account List with these accounts surging in Intent by using 'OR' logic to combine statements including Intent Topics as follows.

Using AdRoll Keyword Intent

AdRoll Keyword Intent data is available in the Account List Builder so that you can create your Account Lists and Account groups. The following are the AdRoll Keyword Intent attributes available:

•  
  •  
    • Intent Signal Recency
    • Intent Level
    • Keywords

You can use AdRoll Keyword Intent data to add Accounts that are showing interest in your product or category based on their content consumption across the web. To use this data source you will need to select your Intent Topics first. Learn how to in our AdRoll Keyword Intent Data guide.

Create an Account List using AdRoll Keyword Intent data:

In this example, we will show how to build an Account List combining 'AdRoll Keyword Intent' and 'Salesforce Account' using an 'AND' statement to create logic that includes accounts that are your existing customers and are surging with Intent because they are researching your competitors.

• Log in to your account and go to Audiences > Accounts Lists  and click Create a List
• Select Salesforce Account as your source and choose the attribute that flags your existing customers. In our example, we used 'Salesforce Account' Account Type = SaaS Customer

• Click AND to add a new filter logic
• Select AdRoll Keyword Intent as your source and fill out the attributes as follows:
• Select Intent Signal Recency:
  • 'Last 7 days'
  • 'Last 30 days'
  • 'Last 90 days'
• Select 'Intent Level':
  • 'Very High'
  • 'High'
• Select the name of your competitors as your keywords.
  

The video below shows how to identify your existing customers that are researching your competitors:

Using G2 Buyer Intent

The Account List Builder allows you to create rule-based Account Lists and Account Groups that update daily. Both Account Lists and Account Groups can be created by combining data from Salesforce, HubSpot, AdRoll, and G2 Buyer Intent.  When building account lists with G2 intent date, you’ll be able to:

• Discover accounts in active research mode for your product, category, or competitors using G2 Buyer Intent.

• Select the G2 Buyer Intent data object and choose between:

  Category Views* Alternatives Views* Comparisons* Profile Views *Field only available to G2 customers with a G2 Power package. Click here to learn more.

• Combine G2 Buyer Intent data with your CRM and MAP data, and with AdRoll Company attributes to create your Account Lists.

In the example below, we will walk you through how to use G2 Buyer Intent data to create an Account List:

• Log in to your account and navigate to Audiences > Account Lists.
• Click Create Account List.
•  In the dropdown Select Data Source choose G2 Buyer Intent.

• In the dropdown Select Buyer Intent Type choose Profile Views.

• Define the logic for Profile Views as one or more page views within the last 30 days.

We offer four different G2 Intent data fields to define the logic that defines your new Account List by adding additional G2 Intent data, in this example, we added 4 different logics to define our Account List using G2 Intent data:

Account List Builder FAQ

Can the same Account be included in multiple Account Lists?

Yes, the same account can exist in multiple Account Lists and Account Groups.

If your Account List Settings are set to update dynamically, accounts will be automatically added or removed from your Account Lists and the corresponding Account Groups when applicable. Accounts added to an Account List will dynamically route to the Account Groups you define.

Why are some Accounts not added to my Account Groups?

Before adding an account to an Account Group, it must first exist in the corresponding Account List.

To add new Accounts, you must first update your Account List logic. Simply editing your Account Group logic will not suffice. For example, if I want to add the "adroll.com" email domain to an Account Group you need to follow these steps:

1. Edit the Account List logic to add "adroll.com"
2. Edit the Account Group logic to add "adroll.com"

If you attempt to edit the logic of your Account Group and you miss step 1, "adroll.com" will not be added.

Can I see which Accounts were added or removed to an Account List or Account Group?

Not today, but we will be adding a change log in the future.

How can I further refine the specific activity or engagement an Account has performed?

It’s very common for our customers to specify the specific email that was opened or the specific page on the website that a Unique Visitor must have visited. AdRoll ABM enables this level of customization for certain data sources and data types, but not others. Activity and Engagement data with customization:

• Website Activity Data: after selecting the Page Views or Unique Visitors activity, you can add a specific filter based on which URLs those Page Views or Unique Visitors must have occurred.  For example, give me accounts that have had at least 3 Unique Visitors to the demo page.
• Salesforce Activity: after selecting any Activity, you can further refine the attributes about that activity.  For example, give me accounts that have received at least one email where that email’s subject line contains the word “urgent”.
• HubSpot Engagement: after selecting any Engagement, you can further refine the attributes about that engagement.  For example, give me accounts that have received at least one email where that email’s subject line contains the word “urgent”.
• Marketo Activity: after selecting any Activity, you can further refine the attributes about that activity.  For example, give me accounts that have received at least one email where that email’s subject line contains the word “urgent”.
• AdRoll Intent Data: after selecting the data source, you can specify the specific topics the account must have demonstrated intent.

Activity and Engagement data without customization:

• Advertising Activity: We do not allow specifying the ad creative that was served as an impression or clicked.  This is an enhancement we will offer in the coming months.
• G2 Buyer Intent: G2 customers can have multiple Profiles and Categories. However, we do not allow specifying which Profile or Category was viewed.

Why do Page Views and Unique Visitors in Account List Builder differ from those in reports?

The reporting area shows the advertising performance of Accounts already on an Account List.  When building a new Account List, accounts will be included so long as the account has visited your website, regardless of whether the account is already on an Account List.

Why doesn't the Account List builder pull any accounts when using the Salesforce Campaign object?

When trying to build an Account List using the Salesforce Attributes Campaign Name, the list might not populate any accounts. When the Campaign object is selected, AdRoll ABM looks for associated Contacts under Campaign Members. If the Campaign doesn’t have any Contacts associated with it under Campaign Members, the Account List builder cannot return any accounts.

Workaround:

Ensure campaign contacts are set as Type = Contact and that their associated accounts have valid domains. Once completed, wait 24 hours for accounts to appear after the next Salesforce sync.

Watch Video Lessons

🎥   Getting started with the Account List Builder (4min)

In this video we’ll go over the following topics:

   🤔  Why you need to create account lists

   👉  How to get started

   📄  Upload a CSV file to create a static Account List

🎥  Build an Account List using your own CRM data (3min)

In this video we’ll go over how to create an Account list using

      Your Salesforce data

        Your HubSpot data

🎥  Account List building logic (4min)

In this video we’ll go over the following topics:

  ➕  Combining list logic to build your account lists

  👌  Finishing the job with a thorough review