By Harry Mackin

Bet you’ve never heard this one before: an economic downturn can be the best time to try breaking into a new market, especially in B2B.

Yes, I’m serious. 

It’s a surprisingly well-documented fact that customers are less brand-loyal and more sensitive to making a measurable impact during economic downturns. Twelve years ago, the Harvard Business Review documented that brands accelerating their marketing during recessions ended up with a 27% higher chance of turning into market leaders in their categories after the recession.

These surprising results have been recreated in more recent times, as well. A 2022 study by Analytic Partners appropriately titled “The Rules of Recession-Proofing: How to Maintain Advertising Effectiveness in Challenging Times” found that 60% of the brands that increased media and marketing investment during the last recession saw ROI improvements. In fact, over half of the brands that increased marketing investment saw their ROI growth continue in back-to-back years.

Meanwhile, the study also showed how brands that don’t increase their own marketing investments during recessions could lose almost 15% of their business to competitors who do.

See the opportunity? As a fresh face on the scene, you can show your B2B customers that you’re the plucky new challenger they’ve been waiting for, arriving to save the day in the nick of time.

With this vision in mind, your B2B market entry strategy starts to take shape: Follow these four strategic steps to help your brand stand out from the crowd as the exciting new answer to your audience’s oldest problems.

Determine the decision makers

Figuring out who makes the purchasing decisions in B2B is a bit more complicated than it is in B2C – which is exactly why prioritizing it when you break into a new market is so important. 

According to Gartner research, the average B2B buying group consists of six to 10 decision makers, each armed with four or five pieces of information they’ve gathered independently. You need to figure out who these decision makers are, what information they’re likely to bring to the group, and where they’re going to get it.

There’s a reason why account-based marketing is so effective in B2B, specifically: it will give you the information you need to design personalized content and ads that address your decision makers directly.

As you conduct market research and construct your buyer personas, don’t be afraid to deep dive into who these decision makers are. Why are they part of the decision making process? What are their pain points and concerns? How can you speak to these concerns?

The better you get to know the people behind the decision making, the better you’ll understand exactly how to market your B2B …read more

Source:: Top Rank Blog

Author: Aaron