4 ways to maintain your marketing momentum in lean times.
For marketers facing financial challenges, cutting back can mean falling behind.
Though B2B companies typically allocate a smaller percentage of revenue to marketing than their B2C counterparts, expectations are just as high. In fact, according to a June 2023 LinkedIn study, 47% of B2B CMOs said they now have a more direct role in driving revenue and growth—and 40% reported more pressure to prove ROI in less time.
That’s particularly stressful in the current landscape. A 2022 Gartner report found marketing budgets across the board have continued to fall short of pre-pandemic levels. And many B2B businesses are dealing with ongoing staff cuts and flat or shrinking budgets.
Faced with these challenges, the instinct for many B2B marketers is to pull back on spending. But pumping the brakes now could actually lead to a crash down the road. History offers a cautionary tale: During the last recession, brands that cut ad spending risked losing 15% of their revenue, while 60% of brands that increased their marketing spend saw a 17% increase in sales.
The simple truth is that marketing can’t be flipped on and off like a switch. It’s more like pedaling a bike. Even when you’ve gained momentum, you can’t afford to coast—or you risk slowing down or even sliding backward when you try to make it up the next hill.
Slowing marketing efforts is not the answer.
Here are a few ways slowing your marketing efforts right now can hurt your business in the long run.
So how can you make the most of your marketing dollars in challenging times?
Four ways to maintain momentum.
Here are four ways to find quick wins with a lean marketing budget. They can help keep your business moving forward, even if your funding is at a standstill.
领英推荐
1. Reassess your relevance.
Successful brands don’t stand still—they continually adapt and evolve as their industries and customers do. So start by understanding what your customers’ needs, preferences, and pain points are today.
Online surveys, social media polls, and your website analytics are all fast, cost-efficient ways to gain customer insights. You can further stretch your marketing dollars by focusing on your top two or three customer segments and creating simple personas or profiles for each one to help tailor your messaging appropriately.
2. Refresh your story.
Once you understand what makes your most important customers tick, you should make sure your messaging is as meaningful as possible to them. Sometimes—especially if you haven’t made any changes in a long time—this might require a full rebrand. But if that’s not in the cards (or budget), prioritize the most critical pieces of your brand story.
3. Keep an eye on your competition.
By monitoring your competitors’ moves, you can discover marketing channels they may be overlooking, get inspired by their successful strategies, and find new ways to differentiate your brand. This can seem like an overwhelming undertaking if your team is already stretched thin. But there are easy ways to gather valuable competitive intelligence that won’t break your budget or burn your people out.
4. Engage employees.
Employees can be your most effective marketing partners. But because their plates are probably just as full as yours, try these simple ways to get them engaged:
When faced with a lean marketing budget, remember: Small dollars can have a big impact. Keep the marketing momentum going with smart, smaller-scale efforts that keep your customers connected, your sales numbers steady, and your brand in the spotlight. We can help—get in touch!?