Being a B2B start-up is incredibly challenging, especially, in today’s volatile business climate filled with uncertainties.
Budget allocation to support growth is a high-priority issue for B2B startups, and marketing is often the first place most businesses reactively cut back when the economy slows down. However, this is a misguided mistake. Any cut in spending will likely only impact short-term nominal savings while putting brands at a disadvantage heading into the bounce-back period (which will happen eventually).
So how should B2B startups weather the storm of slashed marketing budgets and downsizing marketing departments and still maintain growth in the long run?
The Importance of Marketing for B2B Startups during a recession –
To flourish as a B2B Startup, you must advertise your company by increasing brand recognition, generating leads, and driving sales. Otherwise, your business will quickly cease to exist – before anyone had a chance to care you existed in the first place. This holds true during a recession as well, although strategy and focus might shift to achieve growth.
Marketing is the growth engine of your Startup. And when you are fighting an uphill battle, you don’t turn off your engine.
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Research repeatedly shows that during a recession, those who maintain or even increase their marketing expenses come out of the crisis faster and on top stronger.
Here’s why:
- Stand out: By continuing to market their products and services, B2B startups can differentiate themselves from competitors who may be cutting back on marketing.
- Save on media costs: with competitors cutting back, the demand for paid marketing goes down. Good news for those still in the game who’ll benefit from negotiating fees with vendors and attaining lower media costs.
- Reach new customers: Marketing can help B2B startups reach new customers who may be looking for solutions to the challenges posed by the recession.
- Strengthen brand: By advertising and promoting their brand precisely during this time will significantly increase their chances of retaining potential customers’ attention and maintaining their strong brand identity.
- Maintain relationships: Not only will this help them with their existing customers, but also with those who might not need their product or service now, but will need it in the future, and will remember the brand when that time comes.
- Clean house: The slowdown is a chance to invest in improving existing marketing infrastructure. This could be anything from a website’s ‘face-lift’ in appearance, a slew of new engaging content, or “back of the house” improvements to the marketing tech stack such as Hubspot workflow automation improvement, deeper lead nurturing sequences, and more.
Therefore, investing in marketing during a recession can be crucial for the survival and long-term success of B2B startups. The key is not to slash but to balance and optimize for reach, efficiency, and frequency considering short-term and long-term goals together, and your current position –
Cost-effective marketing for B2B startups during a recession
Some cost-effective marketing strategies that can help your business maintain visibility while also attracting customers without breaking the bank:
- Utilize social media: Social media is a cost-effective way to reach a large audience. Use platforms like Facebook LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram to share updates, promotions, and engaging content. This will help build your brand and connect with potential customers and provide them with valuable information about how your product or service can solve their problems.
- Email marketing: Email marketing is an affordable way to reach your existing customers and keep them informed about your latest products, services, and promotions. You can also use email to provide valuable content that can help build trust and loyalty.
- Referral programs: Offer referral programs to your existing customers to encourage them to refer their friends and family to your business. You can offer discounts or other incentives to those who refer new customers.
- Partnerships and collaborations: Partner with other businesses that have a similar target audience to your own. Collaborating on marketing campaigns, events or other activities can help you reach new audiences and build your brand.
- SEO: Invest in search engine optimization (SEO) to improve your website’s visibility on search engines. This can help drive more traffic to your site and increase the chances of converting visitors into customers.
- Content marketing: As previously mentioned, a content marketing strategy that includes blog posts, videos, infographics, and other types of content can help educate your audience about your products and services, build brand awareness, and position your business as a thought leader in your industry.
Full stack marketing for B2B startups during a recession
Beyond budgets, all of the above-mentioned strategies still require experience and skill upon execution in order to be truly worthwhile. For many B2B startups, this becomes the next big challenge – who will create all this wonderful brand awareness on a budget?
Many startups find the answer lies outside their company by using outsourced marketing services. There are several benefits of hiring an external full-stack marketing service if you are a B2B startup under financial strain:
Expertise: A full-stack marketing service has a team of experts with a wealth of experience in various industries. They can provide insights and recommendations on the best marketing strategies to help your B2B startup weather the recession and stand out from the competition.
Cost-effective: Hiring an external marketing service can be more cost-effective than hiring a full-time in-house marketing team, especially for a startup with limited resources. A marketing service can also provide access to specialized tools and resources that may be too expensive for a startup to invest in.
Flexibility: A marketing service can provide a range of services that can be tailored to your startup’s needs. This flexibility allows your startup to focus on its core competencies while leaving the marketing efforts to the service.
Faster Results: Marketing service hubs have the experience and resources to execute marketing campaigns quickly, which can help your startup see results faster.
Measurable Results: A marketing service can help you track and measure the results of your marketing efforts. This data can help you make informed decisions about future marketing strategies and investments.
Overall, hiring a full-stack marketing service can help your B2B startup navigate the challenges of a recession and emerge stronger on the other side.
So, what’s your battle plan?
