Data-driven insights on navigating budget changes for H2 planning

It’s hard to believe H2 is already here! As you move into the second half of the year optimizing your strategy to hit your end of your goals should be your top priority. If you’re not sure where to start, look for inspiration from your fellow marketers who we surveyed for our latest research.  

When facing budget changes, it can be difficult to figure out where to invest your efforts. Take notes from your peers in similar budget scenarios to help you build your H2 strategy. 

If you’re expecting a budget increase 

An increasing budget opens doors for you to do more and improve your strategy. Based on how your peers with increasing budgets responded, this may be a good opportunity to expand your audience. 74% of marketers who reported significant budget increases are exploring new demographics and expanding audience segments in their targeting. 

A great way to do this is through content syndication. Whether you're aiming to add new members to your buying group or reach entirely new accounts, content syndication can effectively get your brand in front of more buyers than your own channels typically would. By publishing your content on other platforms, you can significantly extend your reach. 

While most B2B marketers already employ social advertising, search engine marketing, video marketing, and account-based marketing, it's advantageous to further diversify your channel mix. Incorporating content syndication into your strategy can be highly beneficial. Even better, 40% of those who are running content syndication reported a significant increase in revenue.

If you’re expecting a budget decrease 

If you’re like your peers who are expecting budget cuts, you may have low confidence when it comes to having the right data strategy in place, We found that only 21% of those expecting a budget decrease are extremely confident in their data strategy compared to 74% of those expecting a significant budget increase. 

Throughout our research, we found that having a solid data strategy that you're confident in improves performance. Focusing on improving your data strategy should be priority number one. The good news is that even when budgets are tight, you can address data issues! 

Start with a data audit. Look through all of your data and look for gaps, outdated or incorrect data, and remove duplicates. After that, take stock of how you’re currently using data and look for easy wins for how you can use it more effectively. If you work with a data partner, don’t be afraid to ask for advice and lean on their expertise. 

Marketers expecting a budget decrease are also most likely among the groups to only be using one channel in their marketing campaigns; nearly 20% of these marketers are only using one channel. This could be a major opportunity for you to explore other channels – remember even if you don’t have budget to spare, you can take advantage of channels that won’t cost you anything like organic social media and email campaigns. Running a campaign across channels is a great way to get in front of your audience more, build awareness, and drive conversions. 

If you’re expecting your budget to stay the same 

17% of marketers expect their budget to stay the same this year. If you fall into this scenario, it can seem easiest to just continue doing what you’re already doing but be careful not to get complacent. The midyear mark is the perfect time to look at your performance so far and optimize your strategy to make sure you reach your goals before the end of the year. 

Start by pulling data on your performance over the last few months. Look at which channels are driving engagement and for any channels that are underperforming. Then, consider optimizing, pausing, or even completely turning off your campaign on the channels that underdeliver. For example, if you’re only driving spam leads through your paid search efforts, you need to change your keywords or bidding strategy and it might make sense to reallocate some of that budget to a different channel that is contributing to your pipeline. 

If, after analyzing your current performance, you’re looking for new channels to shift your efforts toward, we recommend you try running content syndication and programmatic advertising together. Marketers who pair these two channels are 30% more likely to report a significant increase in lead pipeline generation than those who don’t run campaigns through both of these channels. 

If you’re feeling underwhelmed by your current strategy and need some inspiration to revamp it, check out our eBook on how to level up your demand strategy. 

Plan for H2 with confidence 

Navigating budget changes during H2 can be challenging, but leveraging data-driven insights from your peers can help you stay on track to meet your end-of-year goals. Whether your budget is increasing, decreasing, or staying the same, there are actionable strategies you can employ to optimize your marketing efforts. 

For those with increasing budgets, expanding your audience through content syndication and diversifying your channel mix can lead to significant revenue growth. If facing budget cuts, prioritize enhancing your data strategy and explore cost-effective channels like organic social media and email campaigns. And if your budget remains unchanged, take this midyear opportunity to audit your performance, optimize underperforming channels, and consider new approaches like content syndication and programmatic advertising. 

By staying adaptable and continuously refining your strategy based on these insights, you'll be well-positioned to achieve your marketing objectives in the second half of the year.