Frontline Perspectives

Winning moves for 2010.

Based on everything I’ve read and the discussions I’ve had with our clients, it’s going to be another difficult year. Some of us will see sales decreases, some of us will drag along the bottom, and a few lucky ones will start to see our bottom lines change from red to black.

2009 was a year filled with frustration, and for many, fear. The companies that proactively analyzed where to make changes (and invariably cuts) are in a much better position than the ones that chose a wait-and-see approach.  None of those were easy decisions, but making them also provided clarity as to the true strengths and weaknesses of an organization.

Many marketing budgets were cut deeply  for 2009. For 2010 we are seeing a mix of holding to the 2009 budget, 5% decreases and 15-20% increases.  The question I am most asked now is…where do we spend the marketing dollars this year? What will make the biggest impact?

There isn’t a simple, one-solution-fits-all answer to this, but I do have strong opinions on the general principles that will strengthen your brand and build a foundation for future growth in these challenging times:

Customer communication: You better be talking to your customers this year. Retention is going to be essential for the stability of your revenue and you need to create ongoing dialog to be able to establish what’s really happening in the field. This should be a mix of things like: e-mails and e-newsletters, social media tactics, sales calls and presentations.

Build your online content arsenal: Now is the time to build resources that present your organization as solutions experts. Develop ways for prospects and customers to access the deep knowledge, expertise and experience of your company.This should include a mix of case studies, white papers, additional content pages on your Web site, point of view papers, feature article and blogs.

Database knowledge:  Analyze and segment your customer and prospect databases. Map your sales process and understand the complexity of decision makers, the length of the cycle and what wins deals. This information will fortify every marketing tactic you undertake this year.

Lead generation: This is the most difficult decision you’ll face this year – where to spend the lead gen dollars (finding the few prospects that will be buying this year- they are out there). Your best returns will come from online tactics – lower costs, the ability to track and measure easily, speed to market, and the ability to build on your efforts in customer communication and building your content arsenal (my first two recommendations).

Now, just because I haven’t mentioned trade shows, print ads, press releases, or a host of other tactics doesn’t mean they might fit into your firm’s program this year.  If these were major tactics in your 2009 budget, you shouldn’t abandon the efforts or you will lose any momentum you’ve generated.  The point I am making is that the above four tactics are proving to be most effective in this difficult market and if you’re looking for some direction on what will provide the best returns, these are excellent places to start.