Marketing in Uncertain Times – Relationship One

November 14, 2022 Stan

Today, every news and social media feed is full of depressing news — a recession is looming; gas prices continue to climb; inflation is rampant; the war in Ukraine continues to wage; and in the US, we are more politically splintered than ever. And even closer to our work homes, we are being asked to do more with less; technology and services spending has slowed and even halted; rumors of headcount reductions abound. These are truly uncertain times.

In the recent Twilio Segment Growth Report study, it is estimated that 93% of businesses are taking measures to adapt to current economic conditions and/or preparing for a recession or economic downturn. Those businesses also report that their focus is shifting to customer retention and loyalty rather than client acquisition strategies, since acquiring new customers often comes at a significant cost. In the same study, 63% of marketers expect budgets to decline and anticipate budget shifts to those channels that provide the greatest ROI. And, an astonishing 83% of study participants state that they plan to simplify and consolidate their marketing tech stack within the next 12 months. We need to be ready for these changes.

As marketers, our primary job is to drive revenue through compelling content and offers that accelerate the deal cycle. We are also driven to inform our customers and turn them into staunch advocates for our goods and services. How do we cut through the noise and focus on what is important for ourselves, our customers, and our employers?

There are some “back-to-basics” tactics we can employ to help navigate through turbulent economic times. The first thing we need to do is to refocus on our KPIs. Many times we get so busy doing “all the things” we forget to look up and make sure that we’re still aligned to our “north star”. Take a moment at least every 90 days to review your KPI metrics. Are you still on track to meet your weekly/quarterly/yearly goals? Are you still measuring the right things? How do these KPIs fit into the larger corporate goals and initiatives? If any of your answers to these questions are ‘No’ or ‘I don’t know’, it’s time to develop a plan and execute changes that will get those answers to ‘Yes’! Need help with that? Relationship One’s Strategic Services team is ready to assist.

It is also a good time to rethink your overall marketing communication mix. According to a recent State of Marketing Budgets study by Integrate, 53% of B2B marketers report that they intend to decrease their spend on ABM/ABX marketing and 54% plan to increase investment in content creation/strategy, customer marketing, and digital efforts. For the first time in many years, the focus on buyer-driven, cross-channel efforts, always-on or “evergreen” campaigns, and traditional outbound/demand generation outpaces ABM efforts. To meet our goals in the coming year, we will need to rethink our definition of demand generation and make sure we are meeting our customers where they are. Our buyers are sophisticated, demand precision, and want to know that we know who they are and anticipate their needs.

To meet our customers’ expectations, data is the key. With your martech infrastructure and data repositories, do you have the ability to personalize your messaging? Just inserting “Dear <first name> at <your company>” into your outbound emails is no longer enough. Do you have the data intelligence to know and anticipate the customers’ interests and communication channel preferences? Do you have campaigns and technologies in place to allow your customers to self-serve and consume content at their desired pace? Are there places where your customers dead-end with communication paths? Are you fully using your content in different ways and in different messaging formats to drive awareness and adoption?

I’ll leave you with this final thought from the Integrate study that really resonated with me: “Marketers must leverage data and sustain a relentless focus on buyers to keep them at the center of their marketing efforts.” By refocusing on those metrics that matter and those tactics that work, we can be ready for any storm that comes our way. Now is the time to prepare to make sure your marketing efforts are measurable, sustaining customer engagement, and tailored to their interest and needs.

Want to learn more or need help building your marketing journeys? Give us a shout!

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