In the current crisis, companies are considering where they can save costs: Marketing seems obvious, but if they’re not careful, corporate executives will cut their feet.
editorial staff
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December 8, 2022
Alexandra Kolleth is Director of Corporate Sales at LinkedIn Marketing Solutions.
In view of the economic uncertainty, a third of German executives (34 percent) plan to make marketing cuts, according to a recent LinkedIn study. This puts the region second on the write-offs list, just after IT inventory. But before taking shortcuts, company leaders should stop and consider whether this is the right way forward. After all, companies primarily pursue one goal with their marketing measures: to increase sales.
Don’t invest less, invest differently
Budget cuts must therefore be carefully evaluated: it is often better instead to direct investments where they will have the greatest benefits in the short and medium term. More than a quarter of companies (27%) are already taking this to heart and planning to hire internally to reduce their reliance on marketing and advertising agencies. In the long run, this move can bring huge benefits.
But there are also short-term opportunities for companies to set up their marketing more efficiently. Managers pay close attention to key figures such as purchase intent (25%) – knowing when and why a buyer is interested in a product – ROI (16%) and brand awareness (14%). Consequently, planned marketing measures should pay attention to these factors. For example, one in five businesses (22%) want to invest in brand marketing campaigns in the near future to stay visible to customers. A third (34%) also expect to work more closely with customers or partners to support the value of their products and strategies.
Despite all the uncertainty, companies can also see the current situation as an opportunity to use their data to find out which activities have the greatest benefits and focus on them.
Little optimism in B2B marketing
This applies not only to B2C companies but also to B2B companies. However, in another LinkedIn survey, only half (50%) of their marketers are currently optimistic about the next six months. Almost a fifth (18%) even fear their department will lose importance. This isn’t surprising, as a good half of respondents (47%) also reported that their budget had already been cut. At the same time, more than two-thirds (68%) say they believe companies that don’t cut marketing spend during uncertain times will bounce back faster afterwards.
To avoid (further) cuts, B2B marketers need to do a better job of showing their executives the value of marketing. The respondents have particularly high expectations of brand building and are therefore planning brand marketing campaigns in the coming months, which on the one hand support existing and new customer relationships and on the other hand show their customers how the company can help them in the current situation. Overall, four out of five respondents (80%) also agree that targeted creative campaigns lead to effective business outcomes in B2B marketing.
Balance between savings and creative freedom
However, the question remains how creative marketing departments can be given the uncertainty and austerity measures. As a result, in the eyes of the executives surveyed, the biggest challenge (40%) right now is that excessive attention to ROI compromises the creative freedom of their marketing team.
“Companies need to be careful to keep the right balance in their savings plans, especially in marketing. Campaigns that actually make an impact require creative ideas and a “let’s try it now” attitude, says Alexandra Kolleth, director of corporate sales at LinkedIn Marketing Solutions (image). “But if company managers look only at the numbers and limit the options too much, especially in financial terms, one becomes more cautious. The result: meaningless or even forgettable campaigns. Even that doesn’t help anyone. So: saving yes, but not at the expense of creativity and courage!»
