One in three German companies is making cuts in marketing

In the face of economic uncertainty, a third of German executives (34 percent) are planning to make cuts in marketing, according to a recent study by LinkedIn. This puts the area in second place on the list of cuts, directly behind IT. But before they start making cuts, company managers should pause for a moment and consider whether this is the right way to go. After all, companies pursue one goal above all with their marketing measures: to boost their sales.

Not investing less, but investing differently

That's why budget cuts should be well-considered: it's often more worthwhile to direct investments to where they will have the greatest benefit instead, in the short and medium term. More than a quarter of companies (27 percent) are already taking this to heart and planning new internal hires to reduce their dependence on marketing and advertising agencies. In the long term, this move can bring enormous benefits.

But even in the short term, there are opportunities for companies to make their marketing more efficient. Executives pay particular attention to key figures such as purchase intention (25 percent) - i.e., knowledge of when and why a buyer is interested in a product - ROI (16 percent) and brand awareness (14 percent). Accordingly, planned marketing measures should pay attention to these factors. For example, one in five companies (22 percent) plans to invest in brand marketing campaigns in the near future in order to remain visible to customers. A third (34 percent) also plan to work more closely with customers or partners to underpin the value of their products and strategies.

Despite all the uncertainty, companies can also see the current situation as an opportunity, use their data to find out which activities have the greatest benefit and focus on these.

Little optimism in B2B marketing

This applies not only to B2C but also to B2B companies. However, in another survey by LinkedIn, only one in two of their marketers (50 percent) is currently optimistic about the next six months. Just under one-fifth (18 percent) even fear a loss of importance for their department. This is not surprising, since a good half of the respondents (47 percent) also report that their budget has already been cut. At the same time, more than two-thirds (68 percent) are convinced that companies that do not cut their marketing spending in uncertain times will recover more quickly afterwards.

In order to avoid (further) cutbacks, B2B marketers need to better demonstrate to their executives the benefits of marketing. The respondents expect a lot from brand building in particular and are therefore planning brand marketing campaigns in the next few months that will support existing and new customer relationships and show their customers how the company is helping them in the current situation. Overall, four out of five respondents (80 percent) also agree with the statement that purpose-driven creative campaigns lead to effective business results in B2B marketing.

Balance between savings and creative freedom

However, the question remains as to how creatively marketing departments can work at all in the face of uncertainty and cost-cutting measures. Accordingly, in the eyes of the executives surveyed, the greatest challenge at present (40 percent) is that too strong a focus on ROI impairs the creative freedom of their marketing team.

"Companies need to be careful to strike the right balance in their savings plans, especially in marketing. Campaigns that actually make an impact need creative ideas and a we-try-it-now attitude," says Alexandra Kolleth, director of enterprise sales at LinkedIn Marketing Solutions (pictured). "But when business leaders only look at the numbers and limit the possibilities too much, especially financially, people become more cautious. The result: meaningless or even forgettable campaigns. This, too, helps no one. Therefore: save money yes, but not at the expense of creativity and courage!"