Following a tough couple of years for the industry, good news comes for marketers with reports that marketing recruitment and salaries are set to rise in coming months. The new study by recruitment consultancy Aquent reports that 50% of firms plan to boost numbers in their marketing teams over the next six months; 43% forecast no change.

The survey, carried out via face-to-face and telephone interviews, also showed almost one-third (29%) of marketers predicting that salaries will rise; the remainder again forecast no change.

Both figures are an indication that the marketing industry, which was hit hard during the recession by widespread job cuts and pay freezes, is starting to recover. Along with marketing budgets, advertising spend is also expected by many to be on the increase.

They are the questions on the lips of many b-to-b marketers right now: How is the current state of the economy impacting on b-to-b markets, and which marketing strategies will help me cope with its impact?

Fortunately, the Canadian Marketing Research & Intelligence Association has hosted a webinar tackling these topics. The State of the Economy and How It Will Impact on B2B Markets and Research features two guest speakers: David Skelsey of Strictly Financial and Julia Cupman of B2B International.

Skelsey, on reviewing the global financial crisis, discusses whether this presents a challenge or an opportunity for the market research community. He also assesses what the impact will be for specific industry sectors and particular research areas, offering some tips for how market researchers can cope with the challenges.

Cupman, research and business development manager of B2B International’s US office, expands further on the challenges and constraints faced by B2B marketing professionals in today’s increasingly pressured environment, highlighting how research and marketing strategies have been – and continue to be – affected by the recession.

The webinar is now available as a recording by clicking here.

With so many people interested in the state of the economy, Alaric Fairbanks this week takes a look at some of the more unusual indicators which may tell us whether prospects are looking up.

Even – perhaps especially – here in Beijing, as elsewhere, not a day goes by without mention of the economy and how quickly it will recover or not. Supplementary to this are the business confidence or climate surveys and their subsequent reports of optimism and pessimism.

These are all very well, and may be a good source of column inches or publicity for a research company. This is all OK with me but, even if reflective of whatever business community or industry sector’s level of confidence, it is perhaps worth thinking about which sources of information are behind, say, agreement with a statement expecting an increase in profit, revenue, headcount, etc.

From examples I have seen, including, I confess, a climate survey we conducted, there is little attention paid to the sources of information upon which these feelings are based. When it does appear, it is usually a choice of ‘respectable’ sources, such as newspapers, journals, or official statistics. Less expected or rational influences are often overlooked and, even if included in the question set, a respondent may not admit to having been influenced by an alternative or informal source.

Of course, it would be great for our business if businesspeople took tailored market research as their main source of guidance for decisions and even opinions, but as this is not always the case, I was curious as to what observations people were making to inform their levels of confidence.

To this end we spoke informally to contacts in the Western business community about any indicators used to reflect on their business prospects. A common theme emerged around indicators being derived from the physical environment, especially through observation. A simple example of an informal indicator was counting or estimating the number of new building sites passed on the way to work – the more new sites, the stronger the economic prospects.

These conversations suggested that observations were aimed at levels of activity. They tended be a mixture of fairly Beijing-specific and the more general. Observed indicators from work and life in Beijing with a perceived positive correlation included:

• The number of properties marked with the character “chai”, indicating ready for demolition.
• Visibility of yellow construction helmets seen at lunchtime
• Levels of air pollution, sometimes with reference to the official air pollution index
• Time taken to get to work

And with a perceived negative correlation:

• Number of unsolicited job applications
• Number of cold visits by salespeople
• Ease of purchasing train tickets.

Interestingly, although not all of these are anecdotally based, they all appear to have some underlying rationale. It would be interesting, at least to me, to look into how effective these indicators really are… but things are fairly hectic here at the moment, what with projects, proposals, etc – another way of showing how things are going right now!

B2B International is delighted to present its latest free eBook – Effective Marketing Strategies for a Recession.

At the present time, many marketing specialists are asking themselves how the recession has been affecting fellow marketers.  They are wondering how competitor organisations have responded to the current economic environment, and what their own strategic responses ought to be. 

Based on her own primary research conducted among 400 marketing professionals, and drawing upon the work of many well-respected experts in the field, Julia Cupman has authored this new eBook.  Focusing on the role of marketing strategy, common reactions to an economic downturn and those marketing strategies that are considered to be the most successful in a recession, this eBook will help marketers worldwide adapt to the pressures brought about by today’s global economic downturn.

• To read Effective Marketing Strategies for a Recession, please click here
• To view our selection of other free eBooks, click here