Top 5 B2B Marketing Strategies to Consider During the Economic Slowdown

Since the last one year, there have been a lot of changes in the market scenario comprising quite a few industrial conflicts too. Now, in the present day, it is a widely accepted fact that the Indian economy is facing quite a low phase. A significant decrease in the various fields that constitute integral parts of the Indian economy has led to this slowdown, which is better referred to as the economic meltdown in India.

As for statistics, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has come down from an impressive rate of 8.2% in 2016-17 to a stooping 5.8% in the fourth quarter of 2018-19. No wonder, this slowdown has deeply affected most of the industries like Automobile, Pharmaceuticals, Agriculture and so on.

And with all these, it has brought about a severe blow to the B2B marketing scope. B2B marketers, as a result, are at a loss of strategies to keep the pace up of their businesses. Amidst all that sounds not so promising, we must remember that disruptions act as speed breakers for the economy.

The good news is that for the B2B industry, the situation is not so negative. In fact, by implementing the right strategies and techniques, a B2B business can make the most of this slowdown. Wondering how? Here are a few B2B marketing strategies to consider in the wake of India’s economic slowdown.

Strategies for B2B Marketing amidst Economic Slowdown

With so many macroeconomic trends doing rounds, how should a B2B company allocate its marketing budget or execute its business in a comprehensive manner? Let’s find out a few means and opportunities.

Focus on Lead Management

Managing your leads in the wake of a slowdown means maximizing the value of each lead. When the economy is down, the risk-averse buyers take longer to research potential purchases. So, when you identify a new prospect through channels like a B2B exhibition, he is still in the awareness and research stage. So, what you precisely need is lead scoring to identify leads that are already highly engaged and lead nurturing to foster relationships with qualified leads that are yet to engage. In a down economy, you need to value these leads as corporate assets, converting them from prospects to sales opportunities.

Reinvent Your Exhibition Participation to Reach Your Audience

For the SMB community, it is of utmost importance to reach out to the target market F2F and stay connected. Exhibitions prove to be the best ways of doing so although the process needs a bit of redefinition and rebuilding to turn out to be more effective. In a period when the economy is slow and you are at a loss of strategies to convert leads, the perfectly digitized and innovatively designed exhibition tools can get you real-time benefits through an automated lead capturing and real-time response. Leveraging the platform further make these exhibitions extremely beneficial for both large enterprises as well as the SMBs. One should look for solutions which can give the organizations look for engagement plans which will Amplify Your brand, Quantify Your Leads and Multiply Your Business Footprints.

Optimize Your Landing Pages And Content.

Digital marketing holds special significance in B2B marketing as a whole. Now, when the times are tough, it is more important than ever to maximize returns on advertising. Irrespective of whether you are using email campaigns, AdWords etc. a dedicated landing page is the most effective bait in turning a click into a prospect. It is insightful and interesting to take a look at the statistics that indicate to only 40% of B2B companies having well-designed and optimized landing pages. An economic slowdown might be the best time to focus on these basics. The content your company is putting out for your audience should be relevant and a driving force for the community you are trying to reach. We often don’t neglect content strategies. If need be, hire a professional B2B specialist organization who understands your audience/customers as much or more than you.

Identify and Appeal to the Nervous Buyers

An economic slowdown or an impending recession means more risk-averse buyers, looking for safe solutions. For the large enterprises, this isn’t a concern but for the SMBs, it means going an extra mile to build and reassure trust. Strategically, you can include more customer references, expert opinions, reviews, and such other validations as part of the marketing strategy. Use methods that appeal to the mainstream pragmatists and engage in whole product marketing.

Avoid Being Cost-Centred

Lastly, for now, and the future as well, get rid of the idea that sales deliver revenue and marketing is just an added expenditure (or the notion, we can do without marketing). Using terms like ‘marketing budget’ instead of ‘marketing investment’ is partly responsible for this mindset. In the situation of an economic slowdown, marketing investments should be justified with a rigorous and comprehensive business case. In a way, this is the time when marketing should be increasing marketing accountability by pointing out the positive impact of each marketing activity on revenue and pipeline.

This might apparently seem to be challenging but marketers can certainly try this out. You can start with just preparing reports that showcase the total opportunity value for each lead source or campaign, which itself can make a big impact going forward.

Last but not the least; the economic slowdown is, with all our optimism, a temporary phase, which will eventually pass. But the strategies that you start using now will definitely reap long-term benefits. In fact, in B2B marketing, the excessive urge to get quick results often compels marketers to lose sight of the bigger picture. It is rather a mix of long and short-term tactics that work the best. Let’s discuss this in the next article.

At BizAnekdotes, we take care in understanding your business and generating results with the right mix of B2B Marketing & Exhibition strategies. If you want to gain more from your marketing efforts, we are here to bring you more opportunities in thought leadership, lead generation and sales by directing you in the right direction.