OPINION: Why your 2023 media plan needs account-based marketing

By Gareth O’Sullivan, Director of Client Media at The Creation Agency

In the world of marketing, change is constant. And in order to stay ahead of the curve, businesses need to be prepared to adapt their strategies regularly.

When it comes to media planning, this means being prepared for new platforms and channels that may emerge in the next few years. As we head into 2023, there are a few trends worth keeping in mind when crafting your media plan.

In this blog post, Gareth O’Sullivan, Director of Client Media at the curious agency, Creation Agency, discusses why FinServ firms should focus on account-based marketing (ABM) as they develop their plans for 2023.

Stay ahead of the competition by readying your business for these changes!

What is ABM?

Account-based marketing is a strategy that focuses on targeting key accounts with personalized messages and content. This approach allows businesses to build relationships with their target customers and better understand their needs.

ABM has become increasingly popular in recent years, as more and more businesses realize the importance of developing targeted relationships with their customers.

Why is ABM Important?

There are a few key reasons why account-based marketing is so important for FinServ firms. First, the financial services industry is highly competitive.

In order to stand out from the crowd, businesses need to find new ways to reach and engage their target customers. ABM provides a way to do this by customizing messages and content for specific target accounts.

Additionally, the financial services industry is constantly changing. New regulations and technologies are constantly emerging, which can make it difficult for businesses to keep up.

ABM can help businesses stay ahead of the curve by providing a way to target key accounts and stay up-to-date on their needs.

How to Get Started with ABM

If you’re ready to start implementing account-based marketing at your financial services firm, there are a few things you’ll need to do and be aware of.

To begin with, you need to keep in mind that your marketing and sales teams have the same approach to identifying and signing up important accounts.

At the end of the day, you’re all working toward the same goal.

Therefore, the first step is for representatives from both of these departments to come together and collaborate on an ABM plan. This way, you can operate as a unified team.

To put it simply, the marketing team spends its budget on the accounts that sales think are most important. It is crucial that sales and marketing work together in order for an account-based marketing campaign to be successful.

With that cleared up, here’s the key steps to get going with a successful ABM campaign.

Step 1. Identify high-value target accounts

This is the most important part of account-based marketing. You need to make sure that you’re targeting the right accounts – those that are most likely to convert and have the highest potential value.

To accomplish this, you’ll need to collect data with the sales team and seek for actionable information on your prospects. You’ll only be able to attract and convert leads successfully if you know who they really are.

Prospect profiling will be very beneficial for this and you’ll be able to get a more thorough profile of your prospect from gathering business intelligence.

Step 2. Create personalised messages

Once you’ve identified high-value target accounts and mapped key decision makers and stakeholders to them, you’ll want to focus on your approach.

One of the main benefits of account-based marketing is that it allows businesses to create personalized messages for their target accounts. This is important because it shows that you understand the needs of your target accounts and are willing to go the extra mile to meet them.

If you don’t personalise your messaging, you run the risk of coming across as generic and uninterested. Take the time to craft messages that are tailored to each target account – it’ll be worth it in the long run.

Even a banking customer survey found that 72% of respondents said personalization was “highly important”. Only 8% reported that it’s not important. The remaining 20% were neutral on the topic.

By appealing to your customers with content based on their interests, you can create a stronger connection. This bond will be beneficial for both sides and establish a foundation for future growth.

Step 3. Campaign execution

After you’ve identified the key accounts and have crafted your personalized messaging it’s time to execute the campaign. You’ll want to make sure that you’re using the right channels to reach your target accounts.

A mix of channels is best so that you can reach your target accounts through multiple touchpoints. In terms of the channels to use, this will vary depending on the accounts you’re looking to reach and where they are. Due to this, some financial services firms prefer to work with an account-based marketing agency with the expertise and platform knowledge to execute the campaign.

You’ll also need to track your progress and measure your results so that you can adjust your strategy as needed. This is important in order to ensure that you’re getting the most out of your account-based marketing campaign.

Step 4. Measure and optimise

Having complete and accurate data is crucial when running an account-based marketing campaign since you need this information to make decisions based on insights.

You will want to make sure that your tech stack can handle the performance tracking as well as highlight potential optimizations according to what your campaign uncovers. With this level of data, you’ll be able to make the right changes and be on track to produce a higher return on investment (ROI) than other marketing strategies.

Many organisations are under the impression that starting an ABM campaign is very difficult. Some fintech companies do not invest enough time or resources into account-based marketing, and consequently don’t see any real results.

Providing you align on key target accounts, have plenty of accurate data, and don’t set unrealistic expectations, you should see positive results. Of course, this is only based on sales and marketing working close together to achieve these goals.