As fear and uncertainty rip through global markets surrounding the novel coronavirus, businesses wrestle with the potential longer-term economic impact of the outbreak and what to do next. The “R” word is increasing heard, with stocks shaving more than $3 trillion in value in a matter of weeks, leading many to believe a recession is inevitable.
The fallout is unchartered territory for business-to-business (B2B) marketing pros who depend on in-person interactions to generate new leads and build brand awareness. Major events across nearly every industry have been hastily canceled. Mobile World Congress in Barcelona was among the first, and others fell like dominoes, including music and digital media conference South by Southwest, healthcare technology conference HIMSS, the World Petrochemical Conference, cybersecurity event Black Hat Asia and Dell Technologies World.
This is a big hit to B2B marketing. Gartner’s 2019 Tech Marketing Benchmarks Survey found technology and service providers spend an average of 11% of their marketing budget on third-party trade shows and hosted event spend an average of 6%.
Focus on business first, marketing second.
The impulse for many when the bottom falls out of one program is to say, “Where can I now invest that unspent money?” However, as marketing professionals, we are not only champions for business growth, but also stewards for the health and preservation of the overall business. After all, we want to ensure there’s something to market when the dust settles.
For some businesses, it might mean maximizing EBITDA (profitability). For others, it’s minimizing the hemorrhaging of a top-line billings decline. Every business operates differently, and each must evaluate its risk tolerance when it comes to marketing investments through a downturn — no matter how strong you think your product is.
Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital recently referred to the coronavirus as “the black swan” of 2020, advising companies it invests in to “question every assumption” about their business and for marketing teams to “rein in customer acquisition spending.”
Reallocate money with caution.
In lieu of reining in spending altogether, a reallocation of marketing funds from something like canceled event sponsorships may be necessary. In this case, it’s critical to look closely at the estimated return on investment (ROI) for any newly allocated lead generation or brand-building program. In other words, can you get an apples-to-apples return as a responsible corporate citizen?
While a trade show might normally provide a three-pronged benefit of lead gen, brand awareness and access to key contacts, a substitute marketing investment in Google search advertising might only result in targeted lead gen at a later stage in the buying cycle. In this case, you might simply be a stalking horse for product/price negotiations against a competitor, and brand awareness might be presented too late in the sales process, making it difficult to control the narrative. This, of course, may be an acceptable risk considering the circumstance.
Do more with less.
While a pullback in spending might be inevitable, it’s an opportunity to recalibrate corporate objectives, strategies and tactics to focus on driving more efficiency. Analyze the lead-to-sales funnel in greater detail, looking at the stages of lead acquisition, marketing qualified leads (MQLs) and how leads are converting to sales. This can open the door for opportunities to implement new A/B testing across lead nurturing efforts, prospect communications and promotional offers.
Also, challenge individual team members to “find another gear” by encouraging more risks and experiments from within the walls of the organization. Provide teams with a direct opportunity to influence the long-term outcome, all while ensuring they’re compensated in line with the company’s success. The byproduct is a motivated team that steps into shoes they wouldn’t normally fill. And the macro result is a win-win: The company achieves increased creative output while employees stretch their skills for career growth.
Think digital.
At a time when no one wants to travel or shake hands, digital marketing seems like common sense, right? And while most of us are already investing in digital marketing anyway (at least, I hope you are), these situations of crisis can force us to reexamine our tactics and opportunities.
• Add or increase paid search advertising. This seems like an easy lever to pull. But try focusing on long-tail use-case terms, and make sure you have the web content ready to support those terms; otherwise, it’s like setting money on fire.
• Crank up the volume on customer success stories and peer reviews. Encourage satisfied customers to publish reviews on trusted third-party sites. This could include Google or LinkedIn reviews, or event tech review sites like Capterra or Gartner Peer Insights. Capture and regurgitate stories on your blog.
• Review and optimize your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. Embrace tools like SEMrush, Google Search Console or Moz to gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of your website and top content pages. Examine the high-volume search terms, and focus on improving the conversion rate of those journeys.
• Create strong video content published on YouTube. This also provides a healthy substitute to written content for SEO. Produce customer stories like those mentioned above, as well as “how to” and “did you know” explainer segments to answer pressing questions your target buyer might have.
Snuggle up to partners.
As the saying goes, “Two heads are better than one.” If your business sells through partner channels, this is an exceptional time to work closely with those who are faced with similar challenges to sustain or grow their business. Schedule workshops and brown-bag discussions to brainstorm co-marketing programs and motions with your selling partners. Communicate often to ensure alignment on messaging and the promotions that will best resonate with buyers facing difficult decisions about costs and resourcing.
The coronavirus global outbreak is evidence that B2B marketing teams must always be ready for the unexpected. We must be prepared to dynamically adapt our plans and investments, keeping in mind the human aspect of the situation and placing emphasis on the preservation of the business.