Hey Trooper!

Fifteen Years. Fifteen Years. I’ve been running my business for almost fifteen years. 😱

(That’s supposed to rhyme with the line from Kanye West’s song ‘Gold Digger’. I can’t stand the man, but man I love the song).

This week, it hit me that 15 years ago, I was the Vice President of Advertising and Promotion at NBC in Los Angeles. By October of that year, amidst the chaos of the Great Recession, I found myself laid off.

Back in 2009, I oversaw a large team, managing both NBC and Telemundo advertising and promotion, totaling around 40-ish people. Our job was to make you watch more TV. We also created commercials for our TV advertisers. It was always busy.

But when the recession hit, things changed.

Automotive advertising, the number one revenue contributor to TV, saw sales plummet. With fewer people buying cars, advertising budgets were slashed. This created a twofold problem: we had less need to produce advertising for resource-constrained clients, and with anemic ad revenue, the station had to find places to cut.

Ultimately, my entire department was let go. I was tasked with doing the dirty work - laying off everyone but 2 employees. And then, I walked myself to HR to accept my own pink slip.

Now, we’re facing economic uncertainty again.

People are holding their breath, as we hear about friends who have been laid off. I helped one person land a new job after getting cut from Deloitte. And I’ve connected a few others to opportunities that I hope will lead to positive outcomes.

But, let’s just say that, as a small business owner, I’m a little nervous. I read that “Small businesses see a murkier outlook for financing and the broader economy than at any time since the height of the pandemic.” (in CFODive just a few weeks ago).

Like many businesses, I’m balancing keeping continuing operations as usual while also being mindful of hanging on to ‘dry powder’ in the case that things get uncomfortable.

In times of economic uncertainty, we start to separate the ‘must do’s’ from the ‘nice to do’s’.

When things get lean, businesses look to cut budgets. And as a marketer, I’ve always hated that they start with us.

First they come after our ad dollars.

Then they come after our people.

And then what was a roar to the market in good times — becomes a whisper. Or worse, silence.

It’s considered ‘necessary.’ Because marketing is a ‘cost center’.

Here’s how ‘cut the marketing’ thinking is flawed and outdated.

Imagine you’re on a journey. You plan your route (strategy), equip yourself with a capable vehicle (messaging), and fuel up (budget and resources). As you cruise along, you notice you’re running low on gas. Do you keep driving until you run out and hope someone will pick you up? No. You plan your refueling stops to ensure you reach your destination.

The reality is, marketing drives sales, period.

Marketing is your fuel. Marketing is the practice of identifying when need meets opportunity and when they intersect, and then communicating why your market offer is the best answer to that need.

If you do not, you are not marketing.

Cutting your marketing is like deciding not to refuel your car. You might save money short-term, but you’ll eventually come to a halt. Your progress stops, and you’re left stranded while your competitors move forward—because they are still communicating.

Here’s what I would do to keep my tank full, even with limited resources:

1. Assess

1. What are our current customer acquisition costs (CAC) and lifetime value (LTV) ratios?
2. Who are our ideal customer profiles (ICPs), and how well are we targeting them?
   • What do my current best customers look like? Where do I find more of them?
3. What are the top three customer pain points our product addresses?
   • Ask ChatGPT
   • Ask THEM!!
4. Which marketing channels are delivering the highest ROI?
   • But before I go off and create some elaborate marketing attribution model (which will cost me money and time), I’d add a simple open-ended ‘how did you hear about us?’ to the contact form on my website.
   • If you’re sinking money into channels that aren’t registering here, those are the ones to ditch first.
5. What is our current market share, and/or who are our main competitors?
   • Market share is hard to measure in my business, because we’re in the broad category of marketing consulting and as a boutique firm, our share is infinitesimal. But I have an idea of competitors and I know I have a really strong narrative about how Motive3 is very different from them. (You’ll work with me directly, I’ve got considerable bonafides and awards, etc.)

Plan & Implement

1. Turn everyone at your company into an ambassador. I know I’m beating a dead horse here, but if you develop a high level messaging playbook and train your employees on it, you’ll be waaaaaay ahead of the game.
   1. Leverage content: Create content that speaks to customer pain points, and do it consistently.
   2. As the leader, get involved with thought leadership content: Hint: this is an example. Communicate your unique point of view. Don’t be afraid to be polarizing. In fact, it’s better to be.
2. Move your content in-feed.
   1. Focus Your Social Media Engagement: Move your content in-feed, and use platforms where your audience is most active to share educational, entertaining, and promotional content. And don’t be afraid to get personal. What’s most important is that people know you exist. You’re going for share of mind.
   2. If you’re in B2B, Leverage LinkedIn for Targeted Outreach: Optimize your company page and use LinkedIn’s search capabilities to get ideas for content.
   3. WARNING: Don’t phone it in. In today’s parlance, that means don’t say have ChatGPT create the equivalent of SWAG content for you (stuff we all get). You will just be a part of the wallpaper if you do this.
   4. Recycle! You’ve probably got loads of great content already in your blogs and on your site, turn it into new content to share.
3. There’s gold in them thar lists!
   1. Implement Targeted Email Marketing Campaigns: Segment your email lists to deliver personalized content that nurtures leads and drives conversions. Unless you only have a single offer and single type of customer, there’s probably some segmenting you can do.
4. Take advantage of the power of ‘weak ties’ (i.e. other people’s networks).
   1. Utilize Referral Programs: Incentivize existing customers and even employees to refer others, driving new business and strengthening relationships.
   2. Participate in Targeted Industry Events: Connect with potential clients and partners through cost-effective meetups and events.
5. Keep your current customers close
   1. Focus on Customer Retention and Upselling: Prioritize excellent customer service and develop strategies to increase loyalty and upsell opportunities.

Measure and Optimize:

1. Monitor inquiry-to-opportunity conversion rate. Don’t get overly fancy.
2. Track sales cycle length. From inquiry to win/loss . . . how long does it take? At what stage can you reasonably expect to win 25% or more of the business?
3. Measure customer retention and churn rates. Are you keeping customers? Do you have a follow up offer?

Marketing isn’t cost, it’s an investment. It’s an investment in your company’s future. Cutting it is like trying to save money by not refueling your car mid-trip.

Hit reply and let me know if you have any other ideas I can share with folks, or to discuss how to navigate these choppy economic waters without losing your momentum.

If you need help, here’s a few ways I can assist:

1. Follow me and Motive3 on LinkedIn. We share a lot of helpful content.
2. Hit reply and let me know YOUR PAIN POINTS. It’s how I figure out what to write about, and hey, if I answer your question it’s a win-win.
3. Hire me.

Thanks for reading to the end! Stay strategic, trooper, and keep your eyes on the road ahead.

In Other News....

Catch my latest conversation with Nazy Fouladirad, president and co-founder of Tevora, a cybersecurity consulting firm, to discuss innovative marketing strategies and the cultivation of strong customer relationships.

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