Multiple research studies have shown that cutting marketing spending during an economic downturn is a mistake. Staying in front of prospects while competitors pull back gives you an opportunity to capture market share. Plus, you’ll be in a much stronger position for growth when the economy begins to pick back up.
The reality is, some businesses simply don’t have the resources to continue marketing at pre-crisis levels. So how do you cut back on marketing spending while minimizing the effect on sales? The type of marketing analytics you have available directly impact the ease of your decision-making, now and in the future.
Start with defining your goal.
What’s the most important thing you’re trying to accomplish right now? Generate immediate sales? Keep your pipeline full so the Sales team can jump back in when the timing is right? Solidify current customer relationships to protect against aggressive competitors? Clarifying your business priorities before adjusting your marketing plans seems obvious, but it’s surprising how often companies jump to slashing programs based on cost rather than alignment with short-term and long-term needs.
Focus on value metrics, not vanity metrics.
Digital marketing has unleashed a massive amount of data for marketing teams to sift through. Don’t lose sight of the end result you’re after. Clicks, impressions, page views, opens, likes…metrics like these are a means to an end. Value metrics tie directly to your ultimate goals. How many qualified leads came out of this campaign? How many visitors downloaded content or signed up for your webinar or asked for a demo…and what’s your conversion rate based on these activities? The closer you can tie marketing investments to sales results, the better your decision-making will be.
Evaluate the content you already have in place.
Now is a good time to take a look at how well your existing content is performing. Is it being read and downloaded? If not, are you sharing it in the right places or is the information just not valuable enough to your prospect? Do you have older blog posts that could be freshened up and republished with a minimal investment of time? Fresh content adds value for readers and positively impacts SEO. How does your content fit into your sales funnel and are there gaps where you could add information to keep prospects engaged? This can also provide Sales another reason to reach out.
Test everything you can to improve results.
Digital marketing is flexible and easy to monitor and adjust. You can experiment with different combinations of ad buys, keywords, subject lines, copy, offers, and creative design. If you have the resources available, don’t be afraid to look at existing campaigns that are doing well to test different approaches. You’ll never know if you could get even better results unless you try to improve them. Test, learn, test!
Traditional media can be measured, too.
Don’t assume that traditional advertising is a blind investment, especially when the call to action drives prospects to digital channels like your website or social media. Direct marketers have long relied on vanity urls for ad-specific landing pages, offer and coupon codes, QR codes, and even customized phone numbers.
Marketing Automation and Customer Relationship Management systems provide a wealth of data that helps you track the path to purchase and identify which campaigns are producing the best results. However, these tools are only effective when combined with a solid marketing strategy. Make sure your team has one.