Use data to navigate through uncertain times

Robert Garruccio

Businesses all across Australia - and indeed the world - have been hit hard and fast by the unprecedented impact of COVID-19. Terms like “social distancing” and “self-isolation” have become the new vernacular, and with no clear answer as to how long we will feel the economic effects of this pandemic, many brands are being driven by a fear of the unknown.

Often the traditional modus operandi during times of crisis and economic uncertainty has been to cut marketing and advertising budgets. This initial reactive response was seen as prudent and good business practice. Yet this couldn’t be any further from the truth.

The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007–09 provides some encouraging examples of brands that not only survived a downturn, but thrived by continuing to invest in marketing as part of their long-term strategy.

Software crowdtesting company uTest saw challenging market conditions and no access to capital as an opportunity to prioritise their marketing investment through strict goal-based measurement, focusing on areas which yielded the highest return. As a result, the company experienced such phenomenal growth on the other side of the recession that they were named number seven in the 100 Most Promising Companies by Forbes in 2014.1

And the ability for brands to make those critical decisions on which are the most appropriate areas to pivot and invest is where the importance of data comes into play.

Through Bang Australia’s data practice, we are helping brands navigate this unusual business environment and identify the most viable opportunities in which to focus their marketing spend moving forward. One of the biggest areas of concern is pipeline degradation. According to TOPOHQ - who are currently conducting a global ‘live’ survey - more than 30% of B2B organisations are anticipating a drop in pipeline for the April to June.2

As the leading Asia Pacific agency partner for global B2B intent data firm Bombora, we work with clients to identify which organisations are currently researching the products and services in their category with purchasing intent, as well as wherewhen and how to target them through direct response campaigns that drive valuable brand engagement and generate leads. 

We’ve been working with a global brand in the conferencing and collaboration technology space who have seen major changes in the topics their target market are researching since the onset of the coronavirus outbreak. As part of our services, we have analysed the number of target accounts demonstrating purchasing intent (or “surging” organisations) drawing from a range of topic and context data. 

Most popular topics graph for March 2020

 

Comparing December 2019 to March this year - when the news surrounding COVID-19 had reached saturation - the number of “surging” organisations for topics like Remote Office and Remote WorkingVirtual Meeting and Virtual CollaborationZoom and Microsoft Teams saw a remarkable uplift with businesses looking to implement more effective remote work policies. While topics that were popular at the end of last year, such as Secure Voice and Interactive Whiteboards, had fallen considerably.

Most popular topics graph for December 2019

 

Harnessing these insights, our client was able to refocus their GTM strategy on promoting the products which best catered to this changing demand, while also championing their partnership integrations with Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

Want to see how your pipeline may have shifted? Interested to learn how data can open up opportunities for you? Let’s talk.

 

Credit:

¹ https://www.brandchemistry.com.au/blog/4-tips-from-b2b-businesses-that-survived-the-gfc

² Evolving Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Pipeline Survey www.topohq.com/resources

Often the traditional modus operandi during times of crisis and economic uncertainty has been to cut marketing and advertising budgets. This initial reactive response was seen as prudent and good business practice. Yet this couldn’t be any further from the truth.


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