Yes, the recession is hitting us and we are all screaming for help.
No more leads coming in, leads that are less and less qualified, or leads that don't convert. No new customers are being signed. No money coming into the coffers, and panic sets in... 😨
So first, just like in prenatal yoga, I recommend you do some breathing exercises. "Breathe in, Breathe out." Release the pressure.
Do this exercise several times in a row.
It's good for your heart rate and helps you put things in perspective.
Next, breaking news: The global economy is built on repeating cycles. 🔄
Ever since money was paper 💵 and even before, the globe has been going through recessions, followed by expansions.
What's important is to adapt. To be flexible.
And to see every difficulty as an opportunity, not the other way around.
"A pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty." Winston Churchill
Here are some solutions that can help you put things in perspective and continue to generate leads, preferably qualified to generate revenue.
STOP wasting time with too many things, focus on actions to generate qualified leads quickly
Put a plan in place that contains both short-term and long-term actions.
You can't expect to generate new leads in 2 days, just by "posting" a publication on LinkedIn or sending a nice email to your contact base (even if your email offers a great promo!).
No, it doesn't work like that.
On the other hand, you can test tactics that are faster than others, like building a small campaign with your marketing automation tool.
And here I hear you already: "Yes, but you need content to make a campaign".
Right! We can't hide anything from you 😜
Re-use your already existing content. Don't reinvent the wheel.
You probably already have a few blog posts that drive traffic (look at which ones get the most reads), and you'll probably find some "gated" content (that you offer for download) in the back of a drawer.
Take a morning to update this content with current numbers, and revise the title if necessary (be careful, if your keywords are working well, don't change them, you'll risk losing your great SEO).
So when we say "Build a small campaign", it's not a super complicated campaign with 36 contents, 13 ads, 22 emails, etc. It's something SIMPLE, well-targeted.
Example of 2 campaigns to replicate:
short campaign to generate new leads
- Some publications on your favorite acquisition channels, social media for example. To offer cool content (the ones you will have to reuse ☝️) with hot topics, current information, and the like. Above all, don't hesitate to involve your audience, by offering a small survey for example, or participation in a blog post on a key topic. Examples: What do you think of your project management tool? What's your opinion on the current labor shortage? If you had to redo your resume, would you put a catchphrase?
- Possibly a small ad for 2-3 weeks on a carrier channel (Google, LinkedIn, TikTok, ...) with readjustment as needed -targeting, amount, content. Behind the ad, you must propose a nice landing page with relevant content.
- Participation in an interesting webinar with a partner, or even a competitor (yes, yes it is possible!). The goal is to be present on the topics of the moment. We don't mean to organize a webinar from scratch, but rather to propose you participate in something, or co-mount something (faster, and with less effort on your own).
- Some emails to feed with interactive content
Propose cool, varied, visual content. But also deeper content that allows us to learn things and share them afterward.
At the moment, the humor line works pretty well, so take a light tone while providing information that can be useful.
All of this is built around a big, flagship piece of content, such as an ebook, a recorded webinar, or an upcoming online event.
Quick campaign to wake up sleeping leads
Sort out your contacts.
There are bound to be some that are inactive, dormant, sleepy, or untapped... Like:
- Leads that never converted;
- Leads that seemed less qualified;
- Former customers;
- Leads that were stuck in the marketing/sales process;
- Leads you didn't consider when you were too busy;
customer references (ask you're satisfied customers for something in return, they will surely give you some contacts);
etc.
All of these nice people, you could certainly go and wake them up a bit! 😴
While respecting their communication preferences (opt-in is important), try to wonder about some actions to go get them.
A small email campaign, coupled with some retargeting ads, could be interesting.
Commencez par un email simple et direct: "Hey, ça fait longtemps que t'es dans mon CRM, est-ce que ça vaut le coup que tu y restes?" ou quelque chose comme ça. Avec un CTA du type "Oui, j'veux bien rester copain" VS. "Non, ça vaut pas l'coup, bye".
Au moins, vous aurez sans doute une réponse. Et c'est avant tout ce qu'on cherche, bonne ou mauvaise. On va faire réagir. Ça peut ouvrir des conversations.
Ça peut être un email de type marketing, ou si vous voulez une conversation plus personnalisée et "intimiste" ça peut être un template email one-to-one que vous pourriez éventuellement mettre dans une séquence semi-automatisée (fonctionnalité du Sales Hub).
Waking up your dormant leads is about engaging them, responding to something, getting a reaction.
It's not just sending them emails to give them content, which they will never respond to.
Be more flexible on your lifecycle steps to generate more diverse leads and close more sales
Come on, don't be so rigid about your Sales Qualified Lead criteria, SQL. Sometimes you have to open your valves a little. Adapt to the reality of the market.
Your lifecycle is evolving.
You can change your criteria to be a little more flexible and pass more leads to your sales team, or handle them directly if you're a small team.
Agree with the Management team, Marketing team and Sales team (sometimes 2 people play all these roles 😆 ) on a system of criteria relief for each stage of your customer licecyle.
Examples:
Yesterday an SQL person who signed up for the "Free Trial" of our tool
Today it's a person who downloaded 1 key document from our content (comparison sheet, ebook, experts' words... It's up to you to choose which documents are "key")
This leaves more room for maneuver and fuels more of your sales.
The funnel* fills up a little more. In connection with this, don't forget to adapt your offer, your product, and your service.
*Funnel: We don't talk about funnel in 2022... We talk about "Flywheel", in other words. You know that term from inbound marketing. It's a colorful way to represent lead acquisition and customer conversion not as something that goes in one direction only and has a purpose. Rather, it's something that revolves, and that each customer-facing department feeds into.
If you bring in more types of leads, then you need to adapt your sales pitch and your product/service reality.
Every economic downturn is an opportunity to focus on what really creates value for your company (your strength) by offering what your customers really need (adapting the offer to the concrete demand).
TRY NEW THINGS, WITHOUT WASTING TIME OR TOO MUCH MONEY TO GENERATE THOSE FU%@)!& LEADS
Do you know the myth of Sisyphus?
Yes, and what does it have to do with it?
I remind you that the poor guy is exhausted running forever after a rock, to relive the same ordeal every day. Stop chasing the same rock and diversify your actions!
Avoid falling into the same downward spiral. Chasing the same actions over and over again is sometimes shooting yourself in the foot. Diversify, test, learn and adjust.
I'm not saying that you should completely change your mind every week. But it is important to try new channels, new tactics, new approaches, and new content.
Without spending 3 weeks and $5,000 on it.
Test & Learn.
Examples :
- Try an approach on LinkedIn by wondering a simple question about the business.
Some examples of approaches:
"Hi Mathieu, have you tested this tool? I'd just like to get some feedback".
"Hey Marie, I see you published on such and such a topic, I'm interested in applying this in my business, could we talk?" - Try to send content that you have NEVER done.
- It can be about the format of the content, for example, an infographic (it takes 2 days to make an infographic, glean some interesting numbers and edit that in Canva for a nice graphic).
- It can also be about changing the message. Have you tried to be a little provocative?
For example:
-- You're right there, lost in the nothingness of your tools not working?
-- You don't get it, or the world doesn't get it? - Bring you closer to your competitors.
That's right! It's not always the war you have to wage. Going to see one or two competitors to talk calmly about the state of the market, the issues you may be aware of can sometimes lead to good things! Ask them if there is a possible partnership. Who knows? You may discover a complementary offer.
Do not rule anything out. - Try "quick win" actions, which make leads fall quickly.
In this case, it often requires investing a little money. The "quickest" action that can give results (I said CAN) is to invest in web advertising. Do LinkedIn retargeting for example, or go get leads via an AdWords campaign. This still requires a minimum investment (it's not with $200 that you will see something). - Build partnerships.
I'm sure you know companies that offer a tool or a service complementary to yours. Well, contact them and propose to make a partnership in "test" mode to start, so not something that will commit you contractually for years. But something for 1 or 3 months for example. Rather on a verbal agreement (if possible), and the goal is to feed each other leads.
At Auxilio, we tested several strategies, and we realized that "showing up" a little more in relevant events, or just being present as experts to give our opinion on topics that affect several companies, pays off!
There has been a clear disconnect in social relationships and interactions for over two years. Not everyone is 100% ready to go back to the "old world" (and so much the better, we have to evolve!), but let's be honest: Nothing better than real people to reconnect.
Tip: Show off your good looks (your face!). Go to events, networking parties, coffee shops, workshops... Show that you exist!
No time is perfect.
Sometimes it rains leads, sometimes it's a desert.
The key to staying on track is to test different things, over short periods of time, to learn. Then adjust, and start over. You will find your balance.
Of course, don't forget the long-term actions, because they are what will keep your machine running in 6 months or 1 year. Run short-term tactics and a long-term strategy in parallel to make sure you stabilize the income stream over the year.
If you want to talk about this, get ideas, or challenge your ideas, feel free to contact us. We love challenges at Auxilio 😉
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