More Growth, Less Budget: Six Tips to Working Smarter (Not Harder)

Business growth with reduced budget is not an oxymoron. You just need to work smarter – not harder – to make it happen.

In B2B, there are a plethora of tools and tactics to ensure you’re growing your business while remaining within the bounds of budget limitations (especially as we’re seeing budgets shrink or freeze faster than you can say “campaign”). There are six specific ones I’ve identified that make an impact on both your results, and your budget.

1. Database maintenance

At any given point in time, a B2B database is about 25% out of date. The rate at which businesses are acquired and people switch jobs is impossible to keep up with. To prevent wasted efforts on outdated contacts and accounts, turn on a solution that maintains your database automatically.

2. Leverage predictive data and AI

Make your data do the work for you by running it through predictive models, and surface the accounts that are the best fit for your products and services. You’ll save time and energy by using AI to prioritize where marketing and sales should focus their attention. We recently published an eBook about how to leverage predictive analytics for a Smarter Go-To-MarketTM that dives deeper into why those with predictive software at their disposal will be the ones who thrive in times of economic downturn.

3. Use intent (digital signals about who is in-market)

Not only does intent show you when accounts have an active interest in something relevant to your brand, it also tells you what specifically the interest is, which is a total game-changer in driving meaningful engagement.

Personally, I use intent to prioritize marketing campaigns based on what signals are currently trending the most and segment to the accounts showing interest in those keywords.

My sales team loves to use intent data to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their prospecting. They personalize their outreach based on the prospect’s interest/need which helps improve reply rates.

4. Account-based advertising

Targeted account-based advertising is the easiest, fastest way to reach accounts without adding any extra headcount (while also reducing wasted ad spend). It’s also the best way to reach people at accounts that aren’t yet in your database – but you want them to be.

To be super efficient with your budget, use a DSP that is built specifically for B2B so you don’t waste your budget on B2C metrics and optimizations.

5. Orchestrate (less manual, mundane tasks)

If you really want to maximize your time, use orchestration to automate actions across platforms as well as manage audiences across multiple digital channels.

This means less time spent on manual tasks working in different platforms and mediums – but also it creates a more seamless omnichannel experience by unifying your message across marketing and sales channels.

6. Measure what REALLY matters (and do more of what matters the most)

You cannot improve what you don’t measure. And if you’re in B2B, you’re dealing with accounts. So measuring account-based metrics is key.

How are your target accounts progressing through the journey?

Work smarter by identifying your account-based funnel challenges (where are accounts getting stuck?) and focus your efforts on where you can make the biggest impact.

Smarter work pays off

There you have it. Six tips to maximize your revenue team efficiency, so you can do more with less. If all else fails, just remember: work smarter, not harder.

What else would you add to the list? Join the conversation where I invited fellow marketers to share their own tips.