Got your budget cut and you’re not sure how you’re supposed to meet your marketing goals now? I’ve got a few research-backed ideas for you.

Plus a discount.

Prefer to watch instead of read? Here you go:

 

 

Get 30% off My Regular Freelance B2B Writing Rates (8 Years of Experience, 5 Continents, Proven Results)

I’m currently offering 30% off my regular freelance B2B writing rates.

If we haven’t met, my name is Ayelet. I’ve been a freelance B2B writer since 2012. I’ve worked with companies in 5 continents, and my content has driven results in both engagement and revenue.

If that sounds good, get in touch to hear more info, and let’s work together.

Meanwhile, let’s dive into the research.

 

Get Your Customers to Market for You (the Simple Way)

You and I both know that you’re needed now more than ever before. That’s especially true if you’re in an industry that is all about the most important people in the organization – like customers, patients, students and teams.

Organizations need what you offer to serve these people better. They need it so that they can come out in one piece on the other end of the COVID-19 crisis.

But with tight budgets, they probably hesitate more than usual before they make a purchase. That’s why you need to make sure they know your company can deliver.

According to a study by Content Marketing Institute (page 27), case studies are the most effective type of content for provider evaluation and the final purchase decision.

Why?

Because no matter how great we say we are, we’ll never be as convincing as somebody else saying it.

And there’s more.

Basically, prospects who read a case study relate to the customer that you’re featuring on an emotional level. That’s because that customer used to be where the prospects are right now. She faced the same challenges, concerns, pressures from the c-suite. Yet she took action anyway. She tried you product anyway. And now she got the results that your prospects still long to get.

That connects prospects vicariously to your company on an emotional level, which is crucial in B2B. Check out these videos that dig further into research about that.

And, of course, in case studies, you combine this emotional connection with actual numbers that prove the value of your product. This way, you’re serving both of these needs.

But case studies are not the only way you can leverage the success that you’ve generated for customers to improve marketing results.

 

 

Optimize Current Customers’ Success, So that They’ll Buy More and Tell Their Friends

COVID-19 changed many things. But one thing it didn’t fundamentally change is that selling to current customers, who already know you and love you and trust you, is so much easier and more cost-effective than it is to sell to newbies. With people who either don’t know you or are still getting to know you, there’s still some trust building to do.

To go way into history in Internet years, a 1990 study by Harvard Business School and Bain & Company said that “increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%.” This stat gets quoted all the time, to this day, because it matters. Need newer stats to prove the value of prioritizing current customers to management? Check out this roundup of stats and case studies that I wrote about it for a client once.

But let’s get practical here.

How do you implement that?

Analyze what your customers are doing well with your product or service, and what they’re not. What separates those that optimize success from those that don’t see the results they want to see?

Then, create content that guides the folks that aren’t succeeding to, you know, succeed. You can even interview your successful customers to help their fellow customers out, and give you a case study along the way.

If your resources are limited now, maybe prioritize these types of guides. When the customers you already have will see better results, they’ll stay longer, upsell, cross-sell and tell their friends. A recommendation from someone your prospects trust on a personal level is really the best you can get.

I highly recommend collaborating with your customer success people if your company has any. If it doesn’t, check out this interview I did for a client with 9 customer success experts from around the world. The people who participated were so generous in sharing their experience, and in providing practical tips, so it will definitely help you.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that all your content suddenly becomes product-focused. But think what skills, knowledge, research and inspiration your current customers need to make it to the next level. Then develop content that serve these needs.

 

 

Reallocate Live Event Dollars to Low Cost, High ROI Channels

Speaking of content, it looks like a lot of marketers are reallocating their budgets toward that – toward content.

According to a recent survey by B2B Marketing Zone and Webbiquity about how live event marketing dollars will be reallocated, 3 of the top 5 ways include content creation, hosting webinars and other live events, and prioritizing SEO. The other two are search advertising and social media advertising. Special thanks to my LinkedIn connection, Tom Pick, founder of Webbiquity, for sending this survey over.

And a recent survey by Conductor found similar results. It found that over a third of marketers would “increase investments in low-cost channels like SEO” during a recession. The explanation? SEO also tends to have a high ROI, so it’s a win-win.

And, of course, if you want to get an even higher ROI,  remember that I’m currently offering 30% off my usual freelance B2B writing rates. Get in touch to hear more.

But regardless, if you haven’t prioritized content marketing until now, or haven’t seen the results you hoped to see, check out my coverage of a study about what the top performers in content marketing do differently. It was done pre-COVID-19, but it’s a great resource to get ideas of what you can test.

And remember to keep going. It’s a challenging time, but the only way out is to keep going. You’ve got this.