05 Oct Making the most of your B2B resourcing in an economic downturn
Ensure your B2B marketing resourcing supports your organisation to thrive during economic uncertainty
As economic uncertainty driven by conflicts in Europe, price hikes, and supply chain uncertainty forces organisations to increase capital efficiency, B2B marketers are increasingly being asked to do more with less. We offer 4 ideas to help you to generate more new business.
In a climate bringing pressure on budgets and an increased expectation of results, now is the time to review your B2B marketing strategy. Also consider if your focus and messaging needs to be more refined? By focussing on less you could in fact generate more by laser-focused positioning, and a proactive and structured approach that will help your organisation to flourish.
Below are 4 things that you could do to spend less and generate greater results.
1. Reassess your tactics
Consider your resources and where they are best placed. Be ruthless in eliminating marketing tactics that aren’t directly tied to revenue generation: if it’s not converting, cut it out. Nearly everything you spend in a recession should have a clear return on investment.
This is where data is your friend, as it can tell you when and where to make changes to achieve the best results. By being able to see clearly which of your activities are most effective, you can make confident choices about where to focus your resources, and which activities to rethink. If your marketing is not already data-driven and measurable, it’s worth investing time and resources into systems and processes that allow you to precisely measure everything you do to help you make informed decisions when budgets are lean.
2. Review your resource strategy
In an uncertain economic landscape, cost-effective expert support as and when you need it is available in the form of freelancers and agencies. (Of course, we would say that, but hear us out…)
Using external resources gives you additional skills and agility to be able to expand (and sometimes contract) your team according to need. Their flexibility usually means they can provide an expert resource at short notice and without long-term commitment.
Similarly, agencies are a way to have a team of highly specialised marketers with broad and current expertise available on call. As agencies tend to work across a range of clients, they also provide an invaluable macro view of the whole marketing landscape to support your strategic planning.
Crucially, as marketing strategies and actions become increasingly varied and multi-faceted and many teams suffer from a skills deficit in particular areas, there is much to be gained by outsourcing specific specialisms.
3. Hone your messaging
Clear, sharp messaging is key. When budgets are squeezed, there’s no room for vagueness and ambiguity in your messaging.
Take the time as a team to thoroughly workshop and refine your message to ensure a laser-sharp focus runs through all your marketing activities. The content created consequently will reflect that focused message, and you will see the results in the leads generated and opportunities that follow.
4. Reach the right people at the right time
A well-planned, proactive approach is the way to ensure your marketing activities reach the right people at the right time, for maximum results.
Go deep, not broad – focusing efforts makes those efforts go further. With careful segmentation and targeting, you can run a lean strategy which gets results for your organisation.
With the world of marketing changing at pace and a host of external risks creating a challenging environment for marketers, a new approach is needed. Many globally successful businesses have been born out of times of economic uncertainty (hello, Amazon and Uber) thanks to the skills of their marketers who saw the opportunities for new thinking.
With the right approach, your marketing can support your organisation to thrive, not just survive, during economic uncertainty.
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