The state of marketing in the financial services industry

How do marketers working in the financial services industry (finserv) feel about the state of marketing and the trends driving it? To find answers, Demandbase asked The Harris Poll, which has been polling millions of people annually since 1956.

Harris surveyed over 500 B2B marketing leaders who work for companies with revenues of at least $100 million, with the majority working for companies generating over $1 billion annually. Many of those marketers work in finserv.

The Harris poll offers a fascinating look inside not only finserv marketing trends, but also how finserv marketing compares to the rest of B2B marketing. 

Overview of the survey: Finserv marketing vs overall B2B marketing

Before we dig into the specific survey numbers, here’s an executive summary of what the Harris survey revealed.

The results indicate a clear shift within finserv away from generalized, undifferentiated outreach and towards more precise, personalized, and coordinated marketing strategies. While B2B marketers outside finserv are more evenly split across go-to-market (GTM) approaches, finserv marketers show a significant preference for account-based strategies and coordinated, multi-channel activation. 

The more widespread deployment of account-based strategies within finserv is fueled by the industry’s desire for greater focus on fewer accounts as well as a growing comfort with AI-driven tools, particularly those that can automate complex workflows and personalize messaging at scale. However, this AI-related progress is hindered by significant data challenges, including data quality and system/app integration issues. 

Ultimately, the survey shows that the future of GTM within finserv is defined by: (1) a focus on data trust that supports more targeted, tailored outreach and (2) operational alignment across GTM teams fueled by a playbook of shared data.

Survey deep dive: Finserv has more focus on fewer accounts

The financial services industry is a clear leader in ABM adoption, with 87% of finserv respondents being either primarily account-based or deploying a hybrid of account-based and lead-first strategies, compared to 85% for the overall B2B marketing population. 

A significant portion of the financial industry (57%) feels they have “a very integrated” GTM strategy, compared to only 40% of the total B2B marketer population.

Financial service marketers also express a strong preference for targeted, high-touch, account-based strategies over broad, undifferentiated campaigns that go after generalized audiences. Finserv firms are more likely to prioritize account-based strategies that are “1 to 1” or “1 to few” and, relatedly, are much less likely to prioritize accounts on a “1 to many” basis (24%) compared to other B2B marketers (50% use “1 to many”).

Considering their greater focus on fewer accounts, it comes as no surprise that finserv marketers have more confidence than other B2B marketers in identifying and engaging buying groups. In fact, 55% of finserv marketers say they’re “very equipped” to do exactly that, compared to only 44% of other B2B marketers surveyed.

Survey deep dive: Finserv’s use of AI fuels precision and personalization

While other B2B marketers use a wider variety of AI tools, finance teams are more focused on specific use cases that propel precision and personalization. Overall, finserv marketers are much more comfortable using AI, with 55% of finserv respondents being at least “somewhat comfortable” with AI compared to 46% of all B2B marketers.

What are the specific use cases finserv marketers are addressing with AI tools? They’re more likely to deploy or evaluate AI-powered audience segmentation (61%) and generative content tools (56%). They’re also more likely to use AI for “next-best-action or journey recommendations” than other B2B marketers (52% vs. 48%). This indicates a clear desire to use AI tools to enhance the finserv customer journey.

Here are some other specific finserv use cases addressable by AI:

• Personalizing messaging and outreach at scale: The financial industry values this use case significantly more than other B2B marketers (55% versus 46%). 
• Automating complex or multi-step workflows: This is a top priority for finance, with 57% ranking it as “very important” compared to 46% of overall B2B marketers. This highlights a strong need for seamless integrations and orchestration.
• Consolidating insights: Finserv marketers are more likely to say this is “somewhat important” (59% vs. 52%), showing a desire for a single source of truth shareable across their GTM teams.

What are the top barriers to expanding AI in finserv?  Budget concerns are first (44%), while difficulty integrating AI with other systems/tech (41%) is a close second.

Survey deep dive: AI and finserv data are inextricably linked

Financial services marketers are more confident in their first-party data accuracy than other B2B marketers (54% vs. 44%) and also more confident in the consistency between sales and marketing data (54% vs. 47%). Finserv GTM teams also feel more equipped to align sales and marketing around shared data, with 51% saying they’re “very equipped” to do so compared to 43% of other B2B marketing teams.

Finserv’s clear focus on sharing quality data across GTM teams is a key enabler of AI effectiveness and shows finserv’s more mature approach to data hygiene and alignment, as compared to the rest of B2B organizations. 

That said, finserv teams are significantly more likely than other B2B marketers to say they struggle with data quality issues (55% vs. 48%). Trust in data is a mission-critical and ongoing goal for all finserv marketers. Finance teams place more emphasis on “trust in data,” with 57% ranking it as “very important” compared to 52% of all B2B marketers. 

Whether its AI tools, account engagement efforts, or personalized outreach at scale, quality data is the fuel propelling finserv’s revenue engine. As the old saying goes, garbage in leads to garbage out.

Future finserv investments

Where will finserv marketers be investing their budgets in the coming year? Compared to other B2B marketers, they’re more likely to invest in intent-based advertising (58% vs. 45%), CDP or CDP-lite solutions (54% vs. 45%), and buying-group-based targeting (48% vs. 44%). 

These future-looking investments clearly align with finserv’s ongoing focus on targeted, data-driven, and account-centric GTM solutions.

Want to learn more about tailoring your account-based marketing and aligning your teams around quality data? Reach out to us today.