Hey there,

The R word has been thrown around a lot the last few months and it seems it’ll be a bigger talking point in 2023. So let’s talk about marketing strategy during a recession.

1. On my mind: Marketing strategy for B2B SaaS companies during a recession

We’re seeing all the layoffs in the tech world and unfortunately, some of you reading this might have been impacted.

If you have been impacted and looking for a role, don’t hesitate to reach out and let me know how I can help.

Many companies are cutting costs which often means reducing marketing spend and cuts to the marketing team.

On the surface, this seems like a difficult situation for marketing teams. But for companies who are prepared to take advantage of this exact moment, it's a rare opportunity for marketing teams to go on the offense.

The rest of this email might sound ridiculous so let me start by telling you what we're doing at Omniscient Digital:

• Our marketing team (well, technically it's just Karissa) produced over 20 virtual events in 2022. And we're continuing into 2023.
• We produced 100 podcast episodes in the last two years. That's one episode a week. We're going to double down in 2023.
• We've published 26 blog posts in the last 3 weeks. We have a lot more coming.

We're doubling down on our marketing right now. What I'm about to tell you in this email is actually being applied.

Why? That seems counterintuitive since everyone else is cutting back.

As competitors reduce their marketing investment, there is less noise in the various marketing channels. Fewer ads, fewer blog posts, fewer webinars, fewer podcasts, etc.

When there’s less noise, it’s the perfect moment for marketing teams—even those with now smaller teams—to make some noise.

While others are shying away from marketing, you can be the person or the company that provides helpful resources and guidance through the recession.

You can publish more blogs, produce more podcasts, host more webinars, put out more helpful content to stay top of mind while your competitors cut back.

When the market is ready to buy again, you'll be the trusted expert that's top of mind that your prospects will buy from.

Of course, it’s easier said than done.

Tactically, marketing teams will need to do more with less.

So it's time to get scrappy.

Instead of trying to create a podcast with NPR-level production, get your CEO on a Zoom call, hit record, and discuss the relevant difficult questions that your prospects have.

Instead of trying to host the most polished webinar, host a roundtable with trusted experts and make it discussion-based.

Instead of trying to publish the perfect blog post that goes through dozens of internal reviews, interview your leadership team and subject matter experts, turn the interviews into blog posts, and hit publish.

Don't overthink.

Don't overanalyze.

Don't overcomplicate.

It's time to ship.

Again, this is not easy.

To some, this may seem harsh and tone-deaf since I’m talking about going aggressive with marketing while people have lost their jobs.

But this is what needs to be done if businesses and marketing teams want to avoid more layoffs and come out of the recession stronger and more resilient.

Recessions make or break businesses and careers. You choose.

2. Business update

We completed our first annual planning and now headed into the holidays. We hit our revenue goal for the year and planning to more than triple next year. It's time to buckle down and grind extra hard to get through the next growth phase.

I’m learning a lot about leadership, letting go of the details, and trusting the team.

The biggest learning is I'll have to accept that the business will never be perfect. Even with a smart team, there will always be areas for improvement. I'll never be satisfied. But that's the beauty of building a business.

Accepting that means I can face the fact that I can only work on one or two parts of the business at any given time. I need to decide which part of the business to prioritize spending my energy.

I could spend time helping with creative for our podcasts. Or I could spend that time inviting people not othe pod and recording more episodes. The latter is more valuable for the business.

I could spend time helping with a client project. Or I could be jumping on more sales calls. Both are very valuable, but considering the awesome client success team we have, I could have more impact focusing on sales.

On any given day, I could spend my time on dozens of things and I have to intentionally make the decision to focus on only one or two areas.

3. Created

• Podcast: Product-led growth benchmarks with Sam Richard, Head of Growth at ngrok. Must-listen for anyone in growth.
• Podcast: How to build a high performing marketing team with Andrew Davies, CMO of Paddle. Really enjoyed this conversation.
• Podcast: Should you create a glossary as part of your SEO strategy? Some 🔥 takes in this one.

4. Consumed

🛍️ Purchased: I finally bought an ugly Christmas sweater.

📚 Reading: Still working on Multipliers. I find myself recommending it frequently even though I haven’t finished it yet.

🎧 Listening: Great interview with Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art, on the Joe Rogan podcast. They talk about the act of creating and the natural resistance that comes with it, whether it be writing, comedy, art, whatever. Great reminders to keep creating.

👀 Watching: Black Panther 2 was amazing and felt like a tribute to Chadwick Boseman. Many tears.

Cheers,
David

P.S. Find out what I'm up to on my blog and reading list and connect with me on Twitter.

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​​About me: David Ly Khim is a founder of Omniscient Digital, a content marketing and SEO agency helping B2B software companies grow.