What happens when you're a solo marketer in a red ocean—no budget, crowded market, and limited differentiation? If you're Adam O’Brien, you go scrappy and win. On this episode of Scrappy ABM, host Mason Cosby sits down with Adam to unpack how he prioritized accounts, activated a lean channel mix, and built a brand in real time—all while leading marketing solo at a nonprofit-focused SaaS company.

From hijacking trade show audiences to building GPT-powered microsites, Adam shares how marketing created 80% of pipeline despite not sponsoring events, skipping ads, and selling in a highly relational, low-tech vertical. This isn’t theory—it’s the actual playbook, including failures, workarounds, and honest lessons from the field. If you're thinking about ABM but light on resources, this is your blueprint.

👤 Guest Bio

Adam O’Brien is the Founding Marketer at Stackpack and co-host of The Don't Be a SaaS Podcast. A product marketer at his core, Adam previously ran solo ABM programs targeting nonprofit organizations, leveraging deep persona research, manual sourcing, and creative content to build marketing-sourced pipeline from 0% to 80%.

📌 What We Cover

• Why the first step in ABM is always reviewing closed-won and closed-lost deals
• How Adam narrowed targeting to 250 accounts per rep using public nonprofit data
• The role of “mission sub-verticals” in fine-tuning outbound messaging
• Why trade shows were targeted—but never sponsored
• The “hijack the audience” strategy that replaced traditional event marketing
• Building community with donation page “glow ups” instead of webinars
• How a long ebook became a GPT tool—and why it drove 4–5x more traffic than the blog
• Creating a branded microsite to unify all assets and track buyer intent
• Why knowing your product market fit and messaging is non-negotiable for ABM
• How product limitations and crowded competition created unexpected challenges
• The critical importance of customer quotes, referrals, and reviews
• Advice for marketers launching ABM without resources: start with product marketing

🔗 Resources Mentioned

• Stackpack
• The Don't Be a SaaS Podcast
• Adam O’Brien on LinkedIn

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