B2B marketing is already difficult in boom markets, but it’s infinitely more difficult in down markets. With rising costs and tougher competition, B2B marketers are faced with the challenge of bringing in qualified pipeline using fewer resources. As the vice president of marketing at a company that helps companies turn buyers’ job changes into revenue, I believe that using the same tactics that made sense during “boom time” may no longer be an option.

In the face of cost-cutting measures (paywall), layoffs and steep competition going into 2023, how can marketers stop relying on spray-and-pray tactics and start adopting sustainable, reliable strategies for generating new pipeline, and new revenue, for their companies?

Moving Away From Spray-And-Pray Marketing
What is spray-and-pray marketing? In a nutshell, it’s the “old” way of doing things. It’s when marketing teams use tactics that cast a wide net without strategy or intention and hope for the best results.

Spray-and-pray marketing can look like:

• Sending marketing emails to purchased lead lists.

• Trying to generate leads without defining buyer personas.

• Running expensive advertising campaigns targeted at broad audiences.

This approach to marketing has worked pretty well in B2B marketing because we were essentially in a boom time, especially within B2B SaaS. Even though spray-and-pray isn’t necessarily efficient, many companies didn’t care much; they were still able to catch customers. Marketers didn’t have to worry as much about budgets, bad leads and untargeted campaigns—because either way, they could count on generating more leads than they had in the past.

Now, if they’re dealing with a down market, B2B marketers may need to step away from spray-and-pray tactics because of growing expenses, more cautious buyers and lower ROI on campaigns.

The result: more expensive marketing, less qualified lead generation, more pipeline anxiety and more stress for B2B marketing teams.

Marketers should consider these factors whether it’s a boom time or bust, but a market downturn could force more companies to move away from spray-and-pray tactics to more intentional, focused marketing tactics.

Read more: How To Make Your Marketing More Intentional In 2023