What To Do When What Was Working… STOPS WORKING!

Businesses, especially ones that have well-established systems and methodologies, tend to ebb and flow. It's pretty common for a business to slow in the dog days of summer and pick up in the fall, but I hear frustrations from some and jubilation from others.

Some clients are seeing traffic to their website drop and associating that with a drop in leads. Others have seen an increase in business over the same period in similar markets.

I learned long ago that the bigger and older the organization, the harder it is to see what's happening and why. It's even harder to evoke change. The analogy is big companies are like aircraft carriers, which take longer to change course, while smaller ones are like PT boats buzzing and moving more swiftly.

I had a conversation with a large company that serves many smaller ones. Their clients are seeing diminished traffic and leads, and the big company has no answers as to why and has not started pivoting its methods for success.

I have seen a steady downward trend of Google search traffic and, ultimately, organic web leads through many online marketing strategies of the recent past that worked like a charm.

How Did We Get Here?

I was conversing with a client about how business has changed since COVID-19 (2021-2022). Before that time, you could meet people in person at networking events, conferences, and more. Marketing and connection emails were being sent and opened (albeit at a 20-30% open rate). Phone calls were being received and returned. In most ways, it was not easy, but it was feasible to create leads through standard means that have worked for years.

The consensus was that the profits were in the list. Email was (and still is) a controllable medium. You own the data and can add and manage who gets what. You could add people to your list from data you collected, such as accounting, CRM, and others. As long as you provided value, people would not unsubscribe or maybe even email or call you with orders.

Another way was to use social media to create interest and lead people back to your website. Once there, you could tease them with videos, ebooks, and more to trade their contact information for something of value. As long as you did not Sell, Sell, Sell all the time, you could keep them engaged and on your list.

Then, around 2021-2022, everything changed, and it got harder to get emails through, especially to new people who did not already know, like, and trust you and your company or products/services.

So what changed?

When the COVID lockdowns occurred, companies scrambled to create systems that would allow people to work from home. That meant helping them set up their home computers or getting them a corporate laptop.

Phones were another issue. People were having work calls forwarded to their personal or business cell phones, or the company had to provide hardware for a VOIP phone.

Also, security for all company information and technology had to be implemented and strengthened over time. Email, websites, and more implemented two-factor authentication and strengthened passwords.

Then, factor in the family or personal distractions that occurred. People were spending more time with their families and had to learn how to focus while addressing family needs just behind a door or out in the open.

Remote working was becoming a norm, and people have become used to the flexibility and improved time management offered by not having commute time.

One big factor late to the game was that companies raised salaries and benefits to attract new talent. Also, younger workers focused more on work-life balance and valued their time more than money. They also did not have the commitment to company and career instilled in older generations.

It was hard to keep up with who was working where. Selling or marketing to a workforce acting more like an amoeba than a structure exacerbated finding and reaching new clients.

What Is Working Now?

The companies seeing results are returning to basics through organic marketing. That means knowing who is in your audience, creating quality connections, and doing everything they can to have more conversations.

The hierarchy of organic marketing and online marketing are the same (in reverse order):

1. Quoting or generating a sale (building trust)
2. Having a one-on-one conversation (meetings)
3. Connecting on a personal level (getting their info)
4. Getting people to your website (create web traffic)
5. Identifying quality prospects (define and reach avatars)
6. Create attention via social media or broad marketing (awareness marketing)

More recently, ads and content have flooded Google and social media. That worked well for a while, but Google Search is being replaced with AI and greater ad competition (and cost).

Organic marketing starts with gathering data about your current customer base and reaching them with thought leadership content that focuses on what is top of mind with them. Then, you can find out what topics or slants on solutions are available and focus on them for a short time. That is the content you want to promote via social media and ads if you have the time and budget to reach a broader scale.

Making quality connections means that your people should reach out and try to connect in multiple ways to establish personal (meetings, emails, and phone calls) that can be augmented by social media (LinkedIn) connections.

Some companies have the size or staff (larger companies) to help facilitate the connections, while others have to do it themselves or augment with outsourcing. Either way, this is not a nicety; it's a necessity in today's business environment.

Closing Thoughts

Change is hard. It's hard to pinpoint or even see why search traffic is significantly diminishing, but it is for most companies. It's hard to get people to see why they need to change their actions and get them to do what they perceive as more work. It's hard to see how spending more time and money may or may not yield more sales or better results.

I can guarantee you one thing: Doing more of the same or spending more money on the problem will probably not create a solution.

It's time to realize that our changing business environment will be better served by reaching out to people on a more personal level. That's hard, takes time, and is scary for some. However, the companies that are seeing the best results are the ones that are getting less digital and more organic.

After all, we are all in the solving-problems-for-people business!

Comment below and share your thoughts, ideas, or questions about business-to-business sales and marketing today! Do you have a sales or marketing communications strategy that works for you? What tips or techniques can you share that work for you and your business?

To learn more about this and other topics on B2b Sales & Marketing, visit our podcast website at?The Bacon Podcast.