Let’s face it – in the current climate of uncertainty, you can’t control many of the external factors that affect your business. However, you can control how your B2B Marketing and Sales Teams react in the face of the pandemic and economic recession.
While it isn’t ideal for anyone, your team is going to have to get used to working in a state of uncertainty and constantly shifting goalposts. Your marketing budget needs to work harder and smarter than ever before to bring in more leads. If you want to not just survive but thrive, you’ll have to adapt, adapt, and adapt – by finding new and innovative ways to prospect.
Here are four key ways that your B2B business development strategy can adapt to the Covid-19 world.
Think about account-based marketing
While you might have mainly focused on demand-generation in the past, the current climate demands that you stop thinking solely of MQLs and SQLs. An ABM approach allows you to focus on individual clients, treating them as a market in themselves. It is a time-consuming process, but it allows you to spend more time focusing strategically on your lead generation.
Review your tech stack
It’s easy to get carried away when trying out the latest and greatest tech tools to help you optimise and report on your prospecting effort. You need a set of reliable and efficient tools that work well for your needs. Now is the time to conduct an audit of your tools, platforms, and plugins to make sure they are relevant to your strategy, report on your agreed KPIs, and are able to answer your questions around performance and marketing investments. Use any downtime you may have to make your organisation leaner and meaner.
Has your messaging evolved to suit the pandemic?
You might have spent a lot of time working on your messaging before the pandemic, but does it suit our current climate? Does it address the market’s expectations while still respecting your documented buyer personas? Make sure that your messaging is empathetic and highlights the ways that you can help and support your clients through this difficult time. If you don’t change your content to reflect the current events, you run the risk of seeming glib, disingenuous, or out of touch – don’t risk it.
Craft your brand story to resonate more with customers
Empathy and understanding are more important now than ever, and so it is essential to assess your brand story to ensure that it tells the right story. Think carefully about the following questions:
- Who are you speaking to?
- What messaging are they most likely to respond well to?
- How can your brand story and USP address their needs?
Don’t try to fit your clients into your narrative; build your narrative around them.