Hi Joel,

What should Marketers focus on in a downturn? Whatever's WORKING. It's a good time to focus on ROI and to see which activities are generating results and cut back on those that are simply wasted effort.

The other thing that I think in-house Marketers should focus on is their relationship with two keys functions in the business - Sales and Finance. Too many Marketing departments have a 'them and us' mentality, glossing over the figures whenever possible, and then complain that Sales get all the credit for their successes and Finance want them to achieve more with less.

Focus any spare time on networking with other departments to find out what their key priorities are otherwise marketers can find they are not staying up to date with what their business needs from them. Get Sales on-side and give them what they need to convert the leads into contracts (and whether they are getting the right leads in the first place). Get Finance on-side to make sure that all the figures work out and Marketing can demonstrate where it's adding real value. And if activities aren't adding any tangible value, take a long hard look at why you're doing them in the first place.

This isn't simply a budget-cutting exercise, it's about using the company's money wisely. Marketing needs to work on its own PR (I feel a Credit Crunch related memo to the Board coming on!) and position itself not as a cost centre but as a department that invests the company's money in activities that generate a good ROI. Otherwise it's no surprise that money gets snatched away from the Marketing budget when the banks need to call in an overdraft or have an opportunity to invest funds elsewhere!

Another thing to bear in mind is that all too often Marketing initiatives fall flat on their faces because the internal processes and communication channels aren't there to make them run smoothly or they are blocked by people who don't understand what the Marketing department is trying to achieve.

There, that's my own rant over!!

Hannah

Joel, Downtimes are an opportunity for marketers, but without having to "spin" things. Why? Because even if sales are down 50 percent in your industry, 5 out of the 10 are still buying.

During an economic downturn BtoB marketers should focus on marketing tactics that drive leads and sales. This is especially effective when their competitors' marketing budgets have been cut and they are less visable in the marketplace.

Also, one-to-many marketing can be a cost-effective way to handle the earlier steps of the sales process (prospecting, nurturing and qualifying leads), allowing your company's more expensive one-to-one sales efforts to be focused on the later steps of the sales process (demo, propose, close). This results in more qualified leads in the sales funnel, more sales and lower sales costs.

Mac McIntosh, Sales Leads Experts