Responses from Aaron Atkinson, director of marketing, Vyne.

There’s a natural ebb and flow to things. We navigated the economic crisis of 2009 and we’ll make it through the challenges we’re currently confronting. If you’re working hard and doing good work, in times of upheaval, the core of good marketing and messaging don’t really change, but our focus and execution have to.

With fewer resources, pillaged budgets, and employment uncertainty it can be tempting to retrench, but the reality is that these ebbs are moments to double-down on our efforts, promotions and messaging as things like brand awareness and thought leadership are “on sale” with less noise cluttering the market. When businesses do downturns right (and most don’t) when things turn back up, they should be leaner, smarter, and better positioned with prospects and customers.  

As we pivot our messaging, we’re not doing anything revolutionary. We’re merely doing more of the core elements we should be doing all along – focusing on customer pain points, articulating how we solve problems, speaking with honest empathy, and asking how we can help.

As a marketing function, this is also an important moment to get beyond ourselves. Last year’s turf battle is this year’s helping hand that’s received with open arms. Assume that every business function is overwhelmed and under-resourced. We’re actively working with sales to refine messaging and automate processes, we’re partnering with our operations team to engage current customers in efforts to improve satisfaction and retention, and we’re working in lockstep with our product team to refresh value propositions. It’s important to change our focus from being great marketers to being a great business people. Case in point, instead of focusing on pageviews, click rates, attendees, and leads, our metrics in times like these should focus on conversions, engagement, efficiency, and new revenue.

When done properly, marketing should be a transcendent function. There’s never been a better time to transcend and to help drive the business forward.