The #1 Thing Marketers Need to Change as the Economy Begins to Recover

Now that the nation is on a rapid push forward to re-open and companies look to create a new normal that somehow involves “business as usual,” marketers are faced with a unique challenge in order to salvage their 2020 KPIs. Plans that were carefully crafted at the end of 2019 in preparation for a year of growth have all essentially been thrown out of the window, and so marketers now, more than ever before, need to be agile and nimble and make quick decisions with ROI as the end goal. As cited on Ad Exchanger, ninety-five percent of marketers have changed their 2020 marketing plans since March, according to a Dentsu Aegis Network survey, reflecting just how acutely the pandemic has heightened the need for flexibility.

Rather than a more traditional focus on traffic or organic search or top of funnel engagement, marketers will need to shift their focus towards programs and practices that will provide the most “bang for their buck” and the most measurable ROI. Budgets may be cut, but growth goals will likely continue to increase, since most companies have at least a full quarter of missed opportunities to make up for beginning in Q3.

In the same survey post referenced above from Ad Exchanger quoting the chief client officer at Dentsu Aegis Network, it is noted that “More than half of brands surveyed cited cash flow as their most pressing challenge, putting ‘a greater focus on ensuring that every dollar they do spend drives a higher ROI,' Swayne said. That means it's crucial to be able to quickly move money out of channels such as out of home into something easier to optimize.”

So where can you, as a marketer, optimize your practices, re-allocate your budget, and ensure that every dollar you spend drives ROI for your company? The unfortunate reality for many marketers is that not only is their budget tighter and their Q3 goals likely much higher, but their manpower is more limited because cuts have been made and teams have become lighter. So the decision to outsource some of your demand generation practices might be the only way to move forward. But if you are outsourcing, you will need to have real-time stats and data pointing to whether or not your new source is working.

As you evaluate new or existing demand generation programs under the lens of increased ROI, here are some helpful questions to ask yourself:

• Which of your programs and practices drive the highest volume of leads to the top of your funnel? Since sales cycles are shortening, for the remainder of 2020 you should shift your budget to mid-funnel and lower funnel lead generation.
• How much of your demand generation budget is currently being allocated towards programs that cannot be directly traced to demos, wins, and ultimately ROI? If the success of your demand gen programs feels like a black box, you're not alone, but you need to fix it ASAP. Just because you are generating leads and impressions doesn't mean that those leads are moving down the funnel into demos and wins. If you can't prove ROI, move your budget to a program that helps you directly trace its impact.
• Can you confidently say that any of your inbound lead programs can be easily scaled to meet your target cost per acquisition? This is the true test for every marketer - finding a demand generation program that can be increased without cost being drastically increased.

As you evaluate your current budget and determine where you can be more flexible and which practices you cut, just remember that determining ROI for marketing programs is not just a fad that marketers are being held accountable for post COVID-19. Going forward, all marketers will need to be agile and think on their feet...abandoning practices that aren't proving their worth or increasing the company's bottom line as a whole.

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