Spending on B2B Marketing for Business Growth
Categorized in: B2B Digital Marketing
For most B2B’s, marketing seems to ebb and flow. When business is good and you have plenty of leads, it’s easy to let it fall away. Yet, business goes in cycles, whether it’s the natural rhythm of the sales cycle, seasonality of your business, or circumstances beyond your control (like the economy), it doesn’t matter. A savvy business rides these cycles thoughtfully, while also taking extra time to plan for the future.
So, what happens in the lean times? Typically, businesses that had once done well are now facing silence and stagnation. Those that planned for these moments via their marketing plans are a lot better off than those who didn’t. Which camp will you fall into?
Make Sure Your Marketing Is Consistent
What often happens to businesses is that when things are good, marketing is somewhat ignored. Since there are plenty of leads, there’s no need to push and overly market, right? Well, that’s actually not true. This is where the trouble starts. Ignoring marketing creates a stressful cycle. Business is good, so marketing falls away. Business isn’t good, so then you market in a big rush. Then, a lot of business trickles in at once, so the cycle continues.
The whole issue here is that the marketing efforts weren’t consistent in the first place. Think about it this way. What if you have a six-month sales cycle? Well, if you get leads month one and they put in the sales cycle and some become customers six months later, then you get leads month two and some become customers six months later, and so on… Eventually the year will feel more consistent, with leads and business coming in on a more consistent basis.
Growth Should Be the Priority
In other words, focusing on business growth should be the priority, and the growth should be manageable. Spending on marketing in a consistent way makes sense because it’s easy on the budget and delivers a maximum profit. Although you can’t predict every factor affecting your business and your ability to get less, keeping things steady will make things a lot more manageable.
So, think about what growth means to your company and then figure out the role marketing plays in it. Marketing should be used to attract new business, and they should be given the resources needed to make it happen.
Don’t Take On More Than You Can Handle
It’s true that when marketing is erratic, work is erratic. This means that you could have some really lean times, followed by such busy times that you have to decline work. This puts you in a frustrating situation – you may have had to decline work. Well, taking a steady approach prevents this from happening, work can trickle in, and you won’t be in a situation where you have to choose. It’s generally not a good idea to take on more work than you can handle.
When it comes to marketing, you’ll want to keep things consistent. Make sure that you spend money on your marketing throughout the year to create a steady, doable marketing plan that is designed for consistency and steady growth.
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