How to Optimize Your B2B Marketing Budget for the Post-Recession Era

Learn how to allocate your B2B marketing budget effectively and efficiently in the post-recession era, with tips and insights from industry experts.

The global recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the B2B marketing landscape. According to a survey by MarketingProfs and the Content Marketing Institute, 69% of B2B marketers reported that their budgets decreased in 2020, and 43% expected them to remain the same or decrease further in 2021.

How to Optimize Your B2B Marketing Budget for the Post-Recession Era

However, the recession also created new opportunities and challenges for B2B marketers, as buyer behavior, preferences, and expectations shifted dramatically. To succeed in the post-recession era, B2B marketers need to adapt their strategies and tactics to the changing market conditions, and optimize their budgets accordingly.

In this article, we will share some best practices and tips on how to allocate your B2B marketing budget effectively and efficiently in the post-recession era, based on the insights and experiences of industry experts and practitioners. We will cover the following topics:

How to determine your B2B marketing budget size and allocation
How to prioritize your B2B marketing channels and activities
How to measure and optimize your B2B marketing ROI
How to leverage technology and automation to save time and money
How to align your B2B marketing budget with your business goals and objectives

Table of Contents

How to Determine Your B2B Marketing Budget Size and Allocation
How to Prioritize Your B2B Marketing Channels and Activities
How to Measure and Optimize Your B2B Marketing ROI
How to Leverage Technology and Automation to Save Time and Money
How to Align Your B2B Marketing Budget with Your Business Goals and Objectives
Summary
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How to Determine Your B2B Marketing Budget Size and Allocation

The first step in optimizing your B2B marketing budget is to determine how much you can and should spend on your marketing efforts, and how to distribute your budget across different channels and activities.

There is no one-size-fits-all formula for calculating your B2B marketing budget, as it depends on various factors, such as your industry, target market, revenue goals, growth stage, competitive landscape, and historical performance. However, there are some general guidelines and benchmarks that can help you estimate your optimal budget size and allocation.

According to a report by Gartner, the average B2B marketing budget in 2020 was 11.4% of the company’s revenue, up from 10.5% in 2019. However, this percentage can vary significantly depending on the size and maturity of your business. For instance, startups and small businesses may need to invest more in marketing to generate awareness and demand, while established and large businesses may have more economies of scale and lower customer acquisition costs.

Another way to determine your B2B marketing budget is to use the objective and task method, which involves setting specific and measurable marketing objectives, and then estimating the costs of the tasks and activities required to achieve them. This method allows you to align your budget with your desired outcomes, and to allocate your resources based on the expected return on investment (ROI) of each marketing channel and activity.

To use the objective and task method, you need to follow these steps:

Define your marketing objectives, such as increasing brand awareness, generating leads, nurturing prospects, converting customers, retaining and upselling existing customers, etc.
Identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics that will measure your progress and success for each objective, such as website traffic, social media followers, email subscribers, leads, conversions, retention rate, customer lifetime value, etc.
Estimate the current and desired values for each KPI and metric, based on your historical data, industry benchmarks, and growth goals.
Determine the gap between your current and desired values, and the growth rate required to close the gap within a given time frame.
Select the most effective and efficient marketing channels and activities that will help you achieve your objectives and close the gap, such as content marketing, SEO, email marketing, social media marketing, webinars, events, etc.
Calculate the costs of implementing and executing each marketing channel and activity, including the fixed and variable costs, such as staff, tools, software, advertising, production, distribution, etc.
Compare the costs and benefits of each marketing channel and activity, and prioritize them based on their expected ROI, impact, and feasibility.
Allocate your budget accordingly, and monitor and adjust your spending and performance as needed.

How to Prioritize Your B2B Marketing Channels and Activities

Once you have determined your B2B marketing budget size and allocation, you need to prioritize your marketing channels and activities based on their effectiveness and efficiency in achieving your marketing objectives and delivering ROI.

However, prioritizing your marketing channels and activities can be challenging, as there are many factors to consider, such as your target audience, buyer journey, competitive advantage, value proposition, etc. Moreover, the effectiveness and efficiency of each marketing channel and activity can vary depending on the market conditions, customer behavior, and industry trends.

Therefore, you need to constantly evaluate and optimize your marketing mix, and focus on the channels and activities that provide the most value and results for your business. To do so, you can use the following criteria and frameworks:

Relevance: How relevant is the marketing channel or activity to your target audience, buyer persona, and buyer journey? Does it match their needs, preferences, and expectations? Does it provide them with valuable and relevant information, solutions, and experiences?
Reach: How many potential and existing customers can you reach and engage with the marketing channel or activity? How large and qualified is your audience? How well can you segment and target your audience based on their characteristics and behavior?
Resonance: How well does the marketing channel or activity resonate with your audience? How much does it influence their perception, awareness, interest, and trust in your brand, products, and services? How much does it motivate them to take action and move along the buyer journey?
Revenue: How much revenue does the marketing channel or activity generate for your business? How many leads, conversions, and sales does it produce? How much does it contribute to your customer retention, loyalty, and advocacy? How much does it increase your customer lifetime value and profitability?
ROI: How much does the marketing channel or activity cost to implement and execute? How does it compare to the revenue and benefits it generates? What is the return on investment (ROI) and cost per acquisition (CPA) of the marketing channel or activity?

One of the frameworks that can help you prioritize your marketing channels and activities based on these criteria is the RACE framework, which stands for Reach, Act, Convert, and Engage. The RACE framework helps you map your marketing channels and activities to each stage of the buyer journey, and measure their performance and impact accordingly.

The RACE framework consists of the following stages:

Reach: This stage involves reaching and attracting your target audience to your website and other online platforms, using channels and activities such as content marketing, SEO, social media marketing, influencer marketing, online advertising, etc. The main objectives of this stage are to increase your brand awareness, visibility, and traffic, and to generate leads and prospects. The main KPIs and metrics of this stage are website visitors, social media followers, email subscribers, leads, etc.
Act: This stage involves engaging and interacting with your audience, and encouraging them to take action and move further along the buyer journey, using channels and activities such as email marketing, webinars, events, landing pages, lead magnets, etc. The main objectives of this stage are to increase your audience interest, trust, and loyalty, and to nurture and qualify your leads and prospects. The main KPIs and metrics of this stage are email open and click rates, webinar and event attendance and feedback, landing page conversions, lead quality and score, etc.
Convert: This stage involves converting your leads and prospects into paying customers, using channels and activities such as sales calls, demos, trials, proposals, contracts, etc. The main objectives of this stage are to increase your sales revenue, customer acquisition, and market share, and to optimize your conversion rate and cost per acquisition. The main KPIs and metrics of this stage are sales revenue, customer acquisition, conversion rate, cost per acquisition, etc.
Engage: This stage involves retaining and satisfying your existing customers, and upselling and cross-selling them additional products and services, using channels and activities such as customer service, support, feedback, loyalty programs, referrals, testimonials, etc. The main objectives of this stage are to increase your customer retention, satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy, and to increase your customer lifetime value and profitability. The main KPIs and metrics of this stage are customer retention rate, churn rate, customer satisfaction score, net promoter score, customer lifetime value, etc.

By using the RACE framework, you can prioritize your marketing channels and activities based on their relevance, reach, resonance, revenue, and ROI for each stage of the buyer journey, and allocate your budget accordingly.

How to Measure and Optimize Your B2B Marketing ROI

Another key aspect of optimizing your B2B marketing budget is to measure and optimize your B2B marketing ROI, which is the ratio of the revenue and benefits generated by your marketing efforts to the costs and investments incurred by them.

Measuring and optimizing your B2B marketing ROI is essential for evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of your marketing strategy and tactics, and for demonstrating the value and impact of your marketing activities to your stakeholders and decision-makers.

However, measuring and optimizing your B2B marketing ROI can be challenging, as there are many factors and variables that can affect your marketing performance and outcomes, such as your market size, competition, pricing, product quality, customer behavior, etc. Moreover, there are many challenges and limitations in collecting, analyzing, and attributing your marketing data, such as data quality, accuracy, completeness, consistency, etc.

Therefore, you need to use a systematic and rigorous approach to measure and optimize your B2B marketing ROI, and to overcome the common pitfalls and errors. Some of the steps and tips to measure and optimize your B2B marketing ROI are:

Define your marketing objectives and KPIs, and align them with your business goals and objectives. Make sure your objectives and KPIs are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
Establish a baseline and a target for each KPI and metric, based on your historical data, industry benchmarks, and growth goals. This will help you track your progress and performance, and identify the gaps and opportunities for improvement.
Choose the most appropriate and reliable tools and methods to collect, store, analyze, and report your marketing data, such as web analytics, CRM, marketing automation, attribution models, dashboards, etc. Ensure that your data is accurate, complete, consistent, and up-to-date, and that you follow the best practices and standards for data quality and security.
Calculate your B2B marketing ROI for each marketing channel and activity, using the following formula: ROI = (Revenue – Cost) / Cost * 100%. You can also use other metrics and ratios to measure your B2B marketing ROI, such as customer acquisition cost (CAC), customer lifetime value (CLV), payback period, etc.
Compare your B2B marketing ROI across different marketing channels and activities, and identify the best and worst performers, and the reasons behind their performance. You can also use tools and techniques such as A/B testing, multivariate testing, experiments, etc. to test and optimize your marketing variables, such as headlines, copy, design, layout, etc.
Allocate your budget and resources accordingly, and focus on the marketing channels and activities that provide the highest ROI and impact for your business. You can also use tools and techniques such as portfolio optimization, scenario analysis, forecasting, etc. to plan and optimize your future budget and spending.
Monitor and evaluate your B2B marketing ROI regularly, and adjust your strategy and tactics as needed, based on your results and feedback. You can also use tools and techniques such as feedback loops, surveys, reviews, etc. to collect and analyze your customer feedback and satisfaction, and to improve your customer experience and loyalty.

How to Leverage Technology and Automation to Save Time and Money

One of the ways to optimize your B2B marketing budget is to leverage technology and automation to save time and money, and to enhance your marketing efficiency and effectiveness.

Technology and automation can help you automate and streamline your marketing processes and tasks, such as data collection, analysis, reporting, segmentation, targeting, personalization, etc. They can also help you improve your marketing quality and accuracy, such as data quality, content quality, campaign performance, etc. They can also help you innovate and create new marketing opportunities and solutions, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, chatbots, etc.

However, technology and automation are not a substitute for human creativity, judgment, and interaction. They are tools and enablers that can augment and complement your human skills and capabilities, and help you achieve your marketing goals and objectives faster and better.

Therefore, you need to use technology and automation wisely and strategically, and to balance them with your human resources and inputs. To do so, you can use the following criteria and frameworks:

Value: How much value does the technology or automation provide to your marketing objectives and outcomes? How much does it improve your marketing efficiency and effectiveness? How much does it increase your marketing ROI and profitability?
Cost: How much does the technology or automation cost to acquire, implement, and maintain? How does it compare to the value and benefits it provides? What is the return on investment (ROI) and payback period of the technology or automation?
Risk: How much risk does the technology or automation entail to your marketing performance and reputation? How reliable, secure, and compliant is the technology or automation? How vulnerable is it to errors, failures, breaches, etc.?
Complexity: How complex is the technology or automation to use and manage? How much training, support, and integration does it require? How compatible and scalable is it with your existing systems and processes?
Human: How much human involvement and interaction does the technology or automation require or replace? How does it affect your human resources and relationships, such as staff, customers, partners, etc.? How does it impact your human skills and capabilities, such as creativity, judgment, communication, etc.?

One of the frameworks that can help you leverage technology and automation to optimize your B2B marketing budget is the Pareto principle, which states that 80% of the results come from 20% of the efforts. The Pareto principle helps you identify and focus on the most important and impactful marketing tasks and activities, and to automate and delegate the less important and impactful ones.

The Pareto principle consists of the following steps:

Analyze your marketing tasks and activities, and rank them based on their value, cost, risk, complexity, and human factors, as described above.
Identify the top 20% of your marketing tasks and activities that provide 80% of your marketing value and results, and focus your time, attention, and resources on them. These are the tasks and activities that require your human creativity, judgment, and interaction, and that provide your competitive advantage and differentiation.
Identify the bottom 80% of your marketing tasks and activities that provide 20% of your marketing value and results, and automate and delegate them as much as possible. These are the tasks and activities that are repetitive, routine, and standardized, and that can be performed by technology and automation more efficiently and effectively.
Monitor and evaluate your marketing performance and outcomes, and adjust your strategy and tactics as needed, based on your results and feedback.

By using the Pareto principle, you can leverage technology and automation to optimize your B2B marketing budget, and to save time and money, while enhancing your marketing quality and accuracy.

How to Align Your B2B Marketing Budget with Your Business Goals and Objectives

The final and most important aspect of optimizing your B2B marketing budget is to align your B2B marketing budget with your business goals and objectives, and to ensure that your marketing efforts and outcomes support and contribute to your overall business success and growth.

Aligning your B2B marketing budget with your business goals and objectives is essential for ensuring that your marketing strategy and tactics are relevant, consistent, and coherent with your business vision, mission, and values, and that they address your business challenges and opportunities, and meet your customer needs and expectations.

However, aligning your B2B marketing budget with your business goals and objectives can be challenging, as there are many factors and variables that can affect your business performance and outcomes, such as your market size, competition, pricing, product quality, customer behavior, etc. Moreover, there are many challenges and limitations in communicating, collaborating, and coordinating your marketing activities and results with your other business functions and stakeholders, such as sales, finance, operations, etc.

Therefore, you need to use a systematic and rigorous approach to align your B2B marketing budget with your business goals and objectives, and to overcome the common pitfalls and errors. Some of the steps and tips to align your B2B marketing budget with your business goals and objectives are:

Define your business goals and objectives, and communicate them clearly and effectively to your marketing team and stakeholders. Make sure your business goals and objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
Define your marketing objectives and KPIs, and align them with your business goals and objectives. Make sure your marketing objectives and KPIs are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
Establish a baseline and a target for each marketing KPI and metric, based on your historical data, industry benchmarks, and growth goals. This will help you track your progress and performance, and identify the gaps and opportunities for improvement.
Choose the most appropriate and reliable tools and methods to collect, store, analyze, and report your marketing data, such as web analytics, CRM, marketing automation, attribution models, dashboards, etc. Ensure that your data is accurate, complete, consistent, and up-to-date, and that you follow the best practices and standards for data quality and security.
Calculate your B2B marketing ROI for each marketing channel and activity, using the following formula: ROI = (Revenue – Cost) / Cost * 100%. You can also use other metrics and ratios to measure your B2B marketing ROI, such as customer acquisition cost (CAC), customer lifetime value (CLV), payback period, etc.
Compare your B2B marketing ROI across different marketing channels and activities, and identify the best and worst performers, and the reasons behind their performance. You can also use tools and techniques such as A/B testing, multivariate testing, experiments, etc. to test and optimize your marketing variables, such as headlines, copy, design, layout, etc.
Allocate your budget and resources accordingly, and focus on the marketing channels and activities that provide the highest ROI and impact for your business. You can also use tools and techniques such as portfolio optimization, scenario analysis, forecasting, etc. to plan and optimize your future budget and spending.
Monitor and evaluate your B2B marketing ROI regularly, and adjust your strategy and tactics as needed, based on your results and feedback. You can also use tools and techniques such as feedback loops, surveys, reviews, etc. to collect and analyze your customer feedback and satisfaction, and to improve your customer experience and loyalty.
Communicate and collaborate with your other business functions and stakeholders, such as sales, finance, operations, etc. and share your marketing data, insights, and recommendations. Ensure that your marketing activities and results are aligned and integrated with your other business processes and outcomes, and that you support and contribute to your overall business success and growth.

By following these steps and tips, you can align your B2B marketing budget with your business goals and objectives, and optimize your B2B marketing budget for the post-recession era, and to achieve your marketing objectives and outcomes faster and better.

Summary

In this article, we have shared some best practices and tips on how to optimize your B2B marketing budget effectively and efficiently in the post-recession era, based on the insights and experiences of industry experts and practitioners. We have covered the following topics:

How to determine your B2B marketing budget size and allocation, using the objective and task method and the Gartner report.
How to prioritize your B2B marketing channels and activities, using the relevance, reach, resonance, revenue, and ROI criteria and the RACE framework.
How to measure and optimize your B2B marketing ROI, using the ROI formula and other metrics and ratios, and the tools and techniques such as A/B testing, multivariate testing, experiments, etc.
How to leverage technology and automation to save time and money, using the value, cost, risk, complexity, and human criteria and the Pareto principle.
How to align your B2B marketing budget with your business goals and objectives, using the SMART criteria and the tools and techniques such as feedback loops, surveys, reviews, etc.

By following these best practices and tips, you can optimize your B2B marketing budget for the post-recession era, and create a sustainable, competitive, and profitable B2B marketing strategy and plan.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Question: What is the average B2B marketing budget in 2020 and 2021?

Answer: According to a report by Gartner, the average B2B marketing budget in 2020 was 11.4% of the company’s revenue, up from 10.5% in 2019. However, 43% of B2B marketers expected their budgets to remain the same or decrease further in 2021.

Question: What are the most effective and efficient B2B marketing channels and activities in the post-recession era?

Answer: The most effective and efficient B2B marketing channels and activities in the post-recession era depend on various factors, such as your target audience, buyer journey, competitive advantage, value proposition, etc. However, some of the common and popular B2B marketing channels and activities in the post-recession era are content marketing, SEO, email marketing, social media marketing, webinars, events, etc.

Question: How can I calculate and improve my B2B marketing ROI?

Answer: You can calculate your B2B marketing ROI for each marketing channel and activity, using the following formula: ROI = (Revenue – Cost) / Cost * 100%. You can also use other metrics and ratios to measure your B2B marketing ROI, such as customer acquisition cost (CAC), customer lifetime value (CLV), payback period, etc. You can improve your B2B marketing ROI by prioritizing and optimizing your marketing channels and activities based on their expected ROI, impact, and feasibility, and by using tools and techniques such as A/B testing, multivariate testing, experiments, etc.

Question: How can I leverage technology and automation to optimize my B2B marketing budget?

Answer: You can leverage technology and automation to optimize your B2B marketing budget by automating and streamlining your marketing processes and tasks, such as data collection, analysis, reporting, segmentation, targeting, personalization, etc. You can also leverage technology and automation to improve your marketing quality and accuracy, such as data quality, content quality, campaign performance, etc. You can also leverage technology and automation to innovate and create new marketing opportunities and solutions, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, chatbots, etc.

Question: How can I align my B2B marketing budget with my business goals and objectives?

Answer: You can align your B2B marketing budget with your business goals and objectives by defining and communicating your business and marketing objectives and KPIs, and aligning them with your business vision, mission, and values. You can also align your B2B marketing budget with your business goals and objectives by establishing a baseline and a target for each marketing KPI and metric, and tracking your progress and performance. You can also align your B2B marketing budget with your business goals and objectives by communicating and collaborating with your other business functions and stakeholders, such as sales, finance, operations, etc. and sharing your marketing data, insights, and recommendations.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. The information and opinions expressed in this article are based on the author’s research and experience, and may not reflect the current or future market conditions, customer behavior, or industry trends. The author is not liable for any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the information or opinions expressed in this article, or for any consequences arising from the use or misuse of this information or opinions. The reader is responsible for verifying the accuracy and validity of the information and opinions expressed in this article, and for making their own informed decisions based on their own research and experience. The reader is also responsible for complying with the applicable laws and regulations in their jurisdiction, and for respecting the intellectual property rights of the original sources of the information and opinions expressed in this article.