Over the last two years we’ve seen most of our clients downsize and reduce spending. No surprise, the recession has touched everyone and creating a new balance between performance and profitability has been a tough one for us all, large and small…especially when it’s on the fly.  

Our business, like many others has experienced a major and likely permanent shift away from who we were, to who we are now. In our case, we have reduced our dependence on print and promotions and dramatically increased our capabilities in the areas of branding, web development and search engine marketing. As a result, we’ve added creative personnel and reduced administrative staff to match our new business patterns.

As painful as it is to let people go, the reality is business today cannot run fat and be sustainable. We need to be in tune with our company’s dynamics now … more than ever.

For those going through similar restructuring I would offer this encouragement. As tough as it is, I would suggest you may experience some unanticipated benefits in reducing your numbers in certain departments and possibly adding in others. In our case, we have achieved a better balance of work and resources. We have significantly improved our operation through streamlined communications and have very noticeably created a tighter, more unified team.

We need to summon the courage to take the steps we need to, yet fear the most. Slay the dragon that defends “no change” in your company by issuing this proclamation, “Starting today, the words I’ve always done it that way are officially banned from our company vocabulary!” It’s an interesting exercise that moved us forward many years ago.

In short, the more we listen, the more we learn. The more we learn, the more we grow. The quicker we accept the difficult steps we need to take, the more decisive we’ll be in making the next difficult decision. And each move we make in the right direction brings us closer to the leaders we need to be to ensure our company’s future success.

As of March 2010, Google holds an overwhelming lead over its search engine competitors according to the latest NetMarketShare search engine report. Google commands 85.75% of the worldwide search engine market, an increase in nearly 6% year over year. Yahoo has dropped two percentage points year over year, and is at 5.38%. Bing has been hovering at around the 3% mark. Baidu, which primarily serves the Chinese and Japanese markets has lost a significant share of the market and is currently at 3.52%, while Ask, AOL and other search engines are all around the 1% mark. It’s obvious that all competition has been surrendering market share to Google.

What does this mean in terms of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? Well, the answer is quite simple, you should primarily focus on optimizing for Google above all others, but don’t forget about Yahoo and Bing, because if the market shifts unexpectedly, it means that you have your bases covered. We all remember when AltaVista was king back in the late 90’s, only to be driven into irrelevancy by its failed portal attempt and the rise of Google. Whatever SEO marketer you choose, make sure they optimize for Yahoo and Bing as well.

Relationships are critical in a B2B environment. It’s how we have and will continue to endure. We can never become complaisant or take them for granted as they are vital to our success. The way we initiate new opportunities and gain the trust of future clients is however changing and we need to keep pace with this evolution or face further revenue decline or extinction.

Since June of last year we have been fairly aggressive in promoting our company. We’ve issued press releases, had articles published in major magazines, used direct mail, poly bag insertions, e-mail campaigns, personal letters, testimonial campaigns, networked at industry functions, launched a new site, hired additional creative talent, cold called, implemented search engine marketing, utilized Google pay per click ads, put a video on Youtube, created this blog and networked through other available social media such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

We’ve done this so that we could knowledgeably recommend the most effective marketing methods to use for our B2B clientele. The answer is that in a cautious economic climate the results are not immediate. No single effort stands out as producing noticeably more results than another and patience is indeed a virtue.

What we have discovered is that through these initiatives we are increasingly staying top of mind with our market. We have been successful in getting asked to participate in more Requests for Proposals and have been successful in winning those requests. It has made us refine our capabilities presentation and dig deeper into what makes us a valuable resource for our customers. It has built our confidence. It has heightened the resulting service we can provide…all good things.

So today when a customer asks us to update their website and they see it as the sole answer to their lethargic sales we have to tell them “It’s just one more arrow in your quiver, one more spoke in your wheel, one more link in your chain.”

Although we truly believe the web is your number one marketing platform, today’s answer is an integrated approach across all media types. It’s being more customer centric and less chest pounding. It’s saying what we do best, what we stand for as an organization. It’s selling one idea at a time that resonates with your target and can be backed up and fully supported.

There are no short cuts or quick fixes. It’s being focused, deliberate and consistent with your message and your commitment to speak to the needs of your clients today. It’s knowing your business and your customers, so you can present solutions their current vendor or in-house experts couldn’t imagine. To quote the favourite line of our new senior creative, Sam Cockcroft, “…it’s blending out not blending in!”

Too many companies are still professing they are the one stop shop, or one call does it all, or the single source solution. We’re not buying it anymore and neither are your prospective customers. There is nothing unique, memorable or compelling about that message. And 99 times out of a hundred it’s just not believable, so you miss opportunity after opportunity…maybe without even knowing.

It’s still tough out there. We are all working harder than ever. Though it takes time to see the benefits, marketing can help. If you have the resources to advertise and you deliver the right message, you will rebound quicker doing it now then waiting till the economy fully recovers. History has proven it. It’s the approach we’re taking and the approach we recommend to our B2B clientele.