Now 99% of your target market is not actively looking for a product.
The hard-to-swallow pill for so many b2b marketers- 95% of your target market is not actively shopping- has become even bigger, nastier, and bitter to swallow.
Now 99% of your target market is not actively looking for a product.
What to do?
Here’s some advice I picked up from a B2B Institute’s article on the topic (they’ve done actual research on this stuff).
Most big B2B purchases get delayed as businesses cut costs to manage their margins.
Delays in purchases reduce the number of buyers in market – that’s what a recession is after all: a reduction in economic activity for two successive quarters.
So the 5% of current buyers shrinks to more like 1%, and the 95% of future buyers swells to more like 99%.
Meaning you pay the high price of generating leads, but they’ll go even less far than 18 months ago.
👉So what to do instead?
Double down on memory generation. And invest in effective brand advertising that increases future demand from future buyers.
Invest in media, invest in brain engine optimization, invest in building category entry points
It increases future demand from future buyers.
Peter Field observed, “Brand advertising is not about profiting in recession, it is about capitalising on recovery.” When buyers re-enter the market, the most memorable B2B brands will end up capturing the majority of sales.
🔥If you need to cut down on ad budget, B2B Institute recommends you should repurpose old ads/content for your ads.
Cut the expense on creative, but try to leave as much it for the media buying.
Because as other advertisers are cutting their budgets, media channels are becoming cheaper
So here’s your b2b advertising playbook for recession:
✅Don’t shift the budget to act now messages - most people can’t act now.
✅Invest more in brand advertising and building mental availability
✅If you need to cut budget, cut ad creative budget (given that you have great existing brand ads. Not just regular old boring B2B ads)
✅Don’t cut the media budget. Premium media channels become cheaper in recessions as advertisers go dark, keep your budget running.
Don’t forget that brand advertising will give sales an immediate lift.
But most of its effect will play over the years.
If you need more sales asap, get your sales team to work on it.
And experiment with pricing and offerings