Marketing in difficult market environments
Most B2B companies adjust their marketing budgets and activities in line with rising or falling sales in order to keep operating results reasonably stable in the short term.
This is understandable and easy to comprehend. The marketing mix is usually kept largely stable: slightly less is invested in all activities and channels, or slightly more when the economy is good.
Assuming that the various touchpoints play different roles in the purchase decision funnel, an alternative approach would be to change the mix and, in a more difficult market environment, shift budgets to channels and mechanisms that have an impact on sales.
For internationally active companies serving diverse market segments, for example, digital marketing and digital sales could be used to fully or partially offset weaknesses in individual regions of the world with growth in other market segments and regions. In some cases, an increase in marketing expenditure and countercyclical investment would even pay off in the short or medium term.
Whether during the financial crisis, the coronavirus pandemic or even in 2023/2024, by switching to faster 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 marketing, many internationally active companies could keep their sales and operating results stable or even increase them, even in difficult market environments.
This raises the question of why there is so little discussion about this.
