Building the business case for ABM in financial services

In the first blog, we revealed how Account-Based Marketing (ABM) offers Financial Services (FS) firms a powerful way to deepen client relationships and achieve growth in a complex, competitive, and trust-driven industry. Now, we address the sponsorship and governance challenges that many FS organizations face with their ABM programs. 

Why governance is non-negotiable

Governance is the backbone of a successful ABM program, providing the structure, accountability, and oversight necessary for long-term return on investment. Without it, organizations may unwittingly thwart their efforts to become truly client-centric.

Our roundtable revealed a significant gap between FS firms and other organizations: most of the attendees are still in the ‘Exploring’ phase, where interest in ABM is driven by individuals, and marketing is the sole sponsor of research into its viability as a formal program.

Our research highlights some of the key governance challenges behind this silo, which include:

• Fragmentation: Without a centralized ABM function, efforts risk becoming disconnected “random acts of ABM.”
• Insufficient metrics: Many firms lack clear objectives and metrics of success, making it difficult to measure progress or demonstrate value.
• Leadership buy-in: Only 17% of FS executives believe their C-suite views marketing as a key driver of client-centricity, and 30% feel senior leaders still regard it as a tactical function.
• Budget constraints: 51% of FS firms cite limited budgets as their biggest barrier to ABM growth.

Strengthening sponsorship

To progress to the next phase, ‘Experimenting’, FS firms need sponsorship from business unit or geography-level sales and marketing leadership. As marketers build out their programs, they’ll need to solicit buy-in from the CMO and other business leaders.

Developing a compelling business case is the first step. Many of the attendees discussed the need to demonstrate internally how ABM can support C-suite priorities such as client retention, increased wallet share, and competitive differentiation.

Some key steps to achieving this alignment and sponsorship include:

• Establishing centralized ABM functions to bring together marketing, sales, and account teams
• Aligning ABM with corporate strategies through dedicated steering groups and program offices
• Defining a ‘North Star’ for ABM, such as unlocking growth opportunities and strengthening client relationships, to create a shared vision for success

Historically, many FS firms have taken a product-focused approach to their marketing strategies. To unlock ABM’s full potential, however, firms must shift to a client-centric model. This means embedding ABM as a core strategy for engaging key accounts, innovating solutions, and addressing client challenges. Governance and sponsorship are the linchpins of this transformation, helping firms move from isolated activities to a unified, client-focused growth engine. 

Be sure to check out the first blog in my series, Closing the ‘ABM gap’ in financial services and stay tuned for part three where I explore the issue of account selection.

Get in touch with andrew.rogerson@momentumitsma.com to dive deeper into the roundtable insights and discover how to secure governance and sponsorship to transform your ABM program into a client-centric growth engine.