Recession fuels innovation: how marketing can harness the power of economic downturns

Learn how economic downturns can spur innovation and creativity in B2B SaaS. Lauren Vaccarello will share her experience with transforming marketing operations in times of recession to drive continuous results with limited resources.

Featuring

Lauren Vaccarello

CMO

CMO at Salesloft

Session summary below generated using Sequel AI✨

It's often said that adversity breeds innovation, and this concept couldn't feel more relevant in the face of today's economic downturn. Lauren Vaccarello, CMO of SalesLoft, shared her personal experience of how navigating economic challenges has made her better at her job and encouraged her to be more focused and creative.

Company-wide Prospecting Day Initiative

One of the most interesting ideas that stemmed from Lauren's team at Salesloft during this downturn was the implementation of a company-wide prospecting day. This initiative brought every attendee in the company together allowed everyone to stand in their customers’ shoes. Embracing change and exploring new strategies is crucial in these uncertain times, and the prospecting day is a prime example of how to do just that.

Making AI-powered Solutions a Part of Your Tech Stack

Another fascinating topic Lauren touched on was the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing and technology. AI learns using the company’s content. It can identify the best-performing actions and content that resonates with people, as it has access to more data than humans can capture. Salesloft recently launched an AI-generated email feature to assist with writing, and Lauren's aim is to use AI to help her team become "10x marketers." Implementing AI for drafting follow-up emails not only speeds up the sales process but also serves as an invaluable resource for their marketing initiatives.

Of course, with the growth of AI comes the responsibility of ethical development. It's important to emphasize the need for a thorough understanding of how AI technology is evolving, ensuring its use aligns with ethical standards.

Keeping the Focus on ROI and Brand

With a background in digital marketing, Lauren focuses on making the company’s website the best possible website. of It is equally important to build fast and to keep customers on the website. which can be achieved through hosting virtual events to build connections. Hosting virtual events is a great way to build connections.

Measuring marketing ROI remains a key priority in an economic downturn. High-level metrics such as opportunities created, pipeline, and closed deals are important to track, as well as efficiency metrics like ROI per representative and rep efficiency.

Despite the challenging economic climate, she stressed the importance of brand development, urging companies not to lose sight of their brand identity and messaging. With metrics such as branded search, website visits, and press mentions, marketers can stay abroad of market trends and track brand efficacy. It is essential to drive new logos while also ensuring that every customer finds value in the product or service. Instead of pursuing growth at all costs, the focus should be on making small, incremental improvements.

Team as a Superpower

Lastly, Lauren emphasized the value of building high-performing teams and fostering a positive working environment. The key to thriving during tough times lies not only in adopting innovative strategies but also in nurturing the human aspect of businesses.

Economic downturns can spark novel ideas and drive us to be better at our jobs – and embracing AI and fostering a supportive environment are indispensable components of that evolution.

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