TL;DR: Account-based marketing (ABM) flips traditional inbound marketing on its head — instead of casting a wide net, you identify a small number of high-value financial services accounts and treat each one as a market of one. This guide covers what ABM is, why it drives ROI through efficiency, personalisation, and customer lifetime value, and the three practical steps to get started: mining your existing accounts, finding new targets, and building the right tech stack with tools like Demandbase and 6sense.
The financial industry is a fiercely competitive market with investment firms, banking institutions, stock brokerages, and more all vying for a piece of the money-flavoured pie.
The fact that financial services is such a lucrative and, therefore, competitive industry is just one of the reasons why so many marketing teams are using ABM strategies to cut through the noise, build long-term relationships with clients, and realise revenue potential.
If you’re looking for ways to improve your financial services marketing and think that ABM may be in your future, here’s what you need to know:
The financial industry is a fiercely competitive market with investment firms, banking institutions, stock brokerages, and more all vying for a piece of the money-flavoured pie.
The fact that financial services is such a lucrative and, therefore, competitive industry is just one of the reasons why so many marketing teams are using ABM strategies to cut through the noise, build long-term relationships with clients, and realise revenue potential.
If you’re looking for ways to improve your financial services marketing and think that ABM may be in your future, here’s what you need to know:
What Is Account-Based Marketing (ABM)?
When we say ‘ABM for financial services’, we’re talking about the practice of combining sales and marketing to narrow down high-value accounts and create hyper-personalised messaging for decision-makers in those companies in the financial sector.
So, rather than casting a wide net with conventional B2B marketing strategies, account-based marketing for financial services treats every key account as a ‘market of one’ (a term you might hear a lot when reading about ABM). This paves the way for higher engagement, faster revenue growth, and better long-term customer satisfaction.
Whereas general inbound marketing may involve narrowing down your ideal customer profile (ICP), defining their needs and pain points, and creating content across multiple channels based on their internet behaviour, ABM does things a little differently. Or rather, it takes all these principles but applies them to one (or a select few) prospects from real companies.
An Example of ABM in Financial ServicesAn Example of ABM in Financial Services
Let’s imagine that you’re an enterprise tax accounting firm specialising in software companies operating within the EU. Your marketing and sales teams will narrow down the account selection based on firmographics, engagement history, intent data, etc., and then identify the key decision-makers within these target accounts.
After they’ve completed this step, your marketing and sales ninjas will create highly targeted content (for example, EU tax compliance articles and LinkedIn ads) that speaks directly to the CFOs and finance directors in those companies.
Once the deal is over the line, and the prospect is on your client list, ABM helps financial companies continue to deepen their relationship and look for ways to:
- Upsell or cross sell
- Expand services into additional departments or regions
- Deliver ongoing value and maintain customer loyalty
Using the same targeted, personalised approach your team used to nab new accounts, you’ll now be focused on retention and expansion rather than acquisition, therefore increasing customer lifetime value.
How Can ABM Drive ROI for Financial Services Companies?
By focusing strictly on a few hot accounts, strategic ABM programmes can help financial services marketing teams improve budget spend, shorten sales cycles, and generate higher-value deals.
Lowering spending improves ROI. ABM accomplishes this by targeting specific accounts and focusing these efforts on a smaller number of high-value customers that are more likely to convert.
By closing more deals and increasing conversion rates, marketers can also speed up their sales cycles, thus contributing to even greater and faster returns.
Lowering spending improves ROI. ABM accomplishes this by targeting specific accounts and focusing these efforts on a smaller number of high-value customers that are more likely to convert.
By closing more deals and increasing conversion rates, marketers can also speed up their sales cycles, thus contributing to even greater and faster returns.
As we’ve said before, one of the key differences between ABM and inbound marketing is hyper personalisation for key accounts.
But how does this improve ROI? B2B companies are more likely to do business with the brand that’s actively engaging with them using tailored content, customised demo offers, and real-life interactions.
High-value clients are far more likely to work with financial services firms that demonstrate a genuine understanding of their needs and provide clear solutions to their biggest challenges.
As we’ve said before, one of the key differences between ABM and inbound marketing is hyper personalisation for key accounts.
But how does this improve ROI? B2B companies are more likely to do business with the brand that’s actively engaging with them using tailored content, customised demo offers, and real-life interactions.
High-value clients are far more likely to work with financial services firms that demonstrate a genuine understanding of their needs and provide clear solutions to their biggest challenges.
Building a strong relationship in which the existing customer feels like their business is valued is the little personal touch needed to maintain long-term client satisfaction.
If you’ve spent time, effort, and resources on nurturing these customer relationships, you’ve established yourself as a strategic partner, and not just a service provider. Stronger customer relationships are harder to break and are more likely to lead to customer referrals, which significantly reduces your customer acquisition costs.
How to Get Started with Account-Based Marketing Strategies
Want to start building ABM campaigns? Here’s what you’ll need to focus on:
Find the Hidden Gems Within Your Current AccountsFind the Hidden Gems Within Your Current Accounts
It’s the classic ‘they were right under our noses the whole time’ moment. Looking at your existing client roster should be the first ABM tactic to try.
Examine your current customers and identify those with the highest revenue potential, even those that aren’t bringing in high revenue at the moment. If these are active accounts, then you’re already several steps ahead.
Now, take a look at your roster again to identify those accounts that meet your ICP. What do they all have in common? What trends do they follow? By studying your active client list, you can take a second look at your contacts with similar firmographics and push harder on those accounts you know would make a perfect partnership.
Find New Target AccountsFind New Target Accounts
Unlock new potential by expanding your search to outside companies. This is where your sales teams can really help. Who better than the sales crew to help you identify your hot leads?
Similarly, check your competitors to discover which companies are working with them. Are their competitors looking for the financial services you offer? Do a little digging: LinkedIn, business associations, industry conferences, and real-life networking are all great places to find new target accounts.
Once your financial services organisation has uncovered these key accounts, you’ll next need to add another layer of research on top of that: Who is it that you’re actually targeting?
You’ll need to know more than just the name of the decision-makers and their individual roles at their company you’re targeting. The more details you can gather, the more precise your personalisation efforts will be.
Build Your Tech Stack & Learn From Your DataBuild Your Tech Stack & Learn From Your Data
Data and marketing go together like peas and carrots. And when you have the right ABM technology integrated into your CRM, all that data is delivered in a relevant package that allows your team to learn and adapt quickly.
Consider using ABM tools like Demandbase, 6sense, and Marketo to align your sales and marketing efforts, target the right accounts, and create personalised campaigns.
The data you collect from your ABM efforts makes it easier to analyse client behaviour, account engagement, and revenue impact, which is the type of data-driven insights you need to refine your strategies over time.
Important metrics your tech stack will help you gather, include:
- Number of target accounts
- Target account engagement (site visits, downloads, registrations, interactions, email opens, etc.)
- Sales velocity
- Form completions
- Conversion rates
- Average deal size
- Revenue won
- Upsells
- Referrals
- Churn
All of these metrics will give you the insights your team needs to refine your campaigns for the best results.
Final Thoughts for Finance MarketersFinal Thoughts for Finance Marketers
As we mentioned at the top of this post, the financial industry is one of the most lucrative—and therefore one of the most competitive—markets out there. With a data-backed ABM programme, your marketing efforts will be laser-focused on the accounts that matter most.
By aligning sales and marketing, building a strong tech stack, and learning continuously from your data, your financial services firm can create personalised experiences that win trust, deepen relationships, and unlock lifetime value.
