 Budgets are being cut in response to the current economic downturn. How are marketing managers responding?
According to a survey by MarketingSherpa, above-the-line advertising budgets are the first to be cut. (See chart)
As they turn their attention to below-the-line marketing activities, B2B marketing managers can borrow some useful direct marketing principles.
1. Conduct client reviews
Take the opportunity to speak to a few key clients. Ask them how the downturn has affected them and how you can better improve your service to them.
Try asking these questions, if you don’t already have the answers:
- Who are the current/new decision makers in his/her organization? Please describe their mandates.
- What are the top 3 criteria used in choosing vendors? Will this change?
- How has your company performed against these criteria? How can it improve?
- Are there others in the organization that will benefit from your services? Don’t be shy, ask for a referral!
2. Evaluate sales trends
Evaluate sales performance over the past 10 years and if possible, identify client groups and/or product lines that have been resilient to economic uncertainty. Focus on developing marketing campaigns around these products.
Another area to investigate is marketing ROI. Can you trace the source of your new business? Do not just evaluate past marketing campaigns, extend your evaluation to all sources of new business:
- Advertising: Magazines / newspapers / online
- Media: business press / trade press
- Website: Online searches / links from other websites
- Events: Sponsorships / speaking engagements / workshops / webinars
- Direct mailing: post / email
- Telemarketing
- Publications: White papers
- Referrals: existing clients / business associates / previous staff
- Trade associations: contacts / events
3. Fortify your customer database
It is useful to conduct some periodic housekeeping with your client database, especially at a time like this, when people are more likely to move on.
Besides ‘cleaning up’ your database, why not take the opportunity to update your list with new prospects? Here are some good sources for potential contacts:
- Recent event/seminar speaker lists
- Industry association member/board director list
- Company press releases
- Magazine and press articles
- Industry portals
- New appointments pages
- Government bodies
- LinkedIn and other professional networking sites
- Various business chambers
- Lists of award winners
Having completed all the above, review your marketing plans and your value proposition.
Some of these suggestions can lead to rather tedious work but the results can help you market smarter, both in the near future and in the long term.
Download the Economic Downturn & Marketing Survey by MarketingSherpa.
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