As economic headwinds persist globally, many B2B orgs continue to scale back or hesitate to reinvest. But leading marketing teams know now is the time to lean in—not vanish. This issue explores how brands across the US, UK, and APAC are navigating budget pressure, longer buying cycles, and market volatility by staying strategic, loud, and visible—while competitors retreat.

In this issue:

• Pipeline Over Panic: The Moves That Actually Work in a Down Economy

• Marketing into the Skid: How—and Why—APAC Teams Should Double Down, Not Double Back

• Adapting the Strategy, Not Abandoning the Mission

Pipeline Over Panic: The Moves That Actually Work in a Down Economy

It’s not exactly breaking news: marketers are taking a beating and answering for a poor economy. We’ve been here before—2001, 2008, 2020. Global pandemic pressures ringing a bell? We may have come up for air, but now we’re right back in the fire. The U.S. ad market is contracting in all the usual places: tech, software, enterprise.

With global trade tensions, a volatile start to Trump’s second term, and a jittery stock market, U.S. marketers are facing tightened guardrails and frozen budgets (again). CMOs are being asked to defend every dollar, prove every program, and justify why marketing matters. This is especially painful as deal cycles are getting longer, paid media costs are skyrocketing, and pipeline pressure is high.

So what are the savviest marketers doing? Certainly not tucking tail and running. We’re focused with surgical precision on making the right plays and making them count. Let’s get into the rationale (of course, we have some solid research to prove a point), what to focus on now, and what to park for sunnier days.

Brands That Cut Now Pay Later

Any experienced marketer knows that a short-term pullback has longer-term consequences. Peter Field’s well-known research from 2008 for the IPA Effectiveness Awards (based on 20+ years of global brand data) found that brands that maintain or increase share of voice during a downturn generally emerge with stronger post-recession gains in market share and profitability. Brands that cut spend lost visibility and competitive ground that took years to recover. 

Fast forward to 2020. McKinsey’s article “Rapid Revenue Recovery: A road map for post-COVID-19 growth” observed that companies that moved quickly to sustain marketing and sales activity (“first movers”) were already “reaping significant rewards” as demand returned.

The lesson still holds. WARC’s Global Ad Spend Outlook 2024/25 (Q4 2024 update) forecasts that worldwide media investment will rise 10.7 percent in 2025, pushing total ad spend past the $1 trillion mark. Meanwhile, brands that are holding steady or selectively reinvesting are gaining ground. The CMOs who traded austerity for adaptability are seeing their bets pay off. 

But we’re not delusional either—we know it’s a pretty difficult moment to try to convince your executive team to invest in a flashy brand campaign without an iron-clad tie to direct revenue. We’re not here to tell you to just keep your foot on the gas and fight against all the odds and internal pressures from your CFO. So how do you strike the balance? 

What to Actually Do Right Now

This is a revenue game, not a visibility contest. That means putting dollars behind deal progression, not just brand play. While the research and yes, even our gut, tells us not to totally abandon brand, we do have to speak their language and show them we understand the dire straits. This means sales and marketing have to be more aligned than ever. If you thought you were close to sales before, consider yourselves now holding hands and skipping through this minefield together. This market demands precision. Personalization. Partnership.

1. Accelerate Open Opps with Paid Media

The fastest path to revenue is through deals already on the table. And marketing has a role to play—not just in sourcing, but in closing. Right now is the moment to pivot a good chunk of media spend to progressing late-stage deals, open opportunities, and supporting high-intent accounts that are making their way through the funnel. 

• Run display or retargeting ads specifically against stalled or late-stage deals. These are the accounts that are circling, and your efforts can help cross them over the finish line. 

• Create lifecycle ads that stay in front of key decision-makers between sales touchpoints. Don’t lose steam on the buying committee. 

• Ensure you have an AI Agent working deals at all hours. We deploy Qualified and ROIer (our AI SDR) keeps a tab on warm prospects and surging accounts so we never miss an opportunity to engage and progress them through the funnel. 

2. Double Down on 1:1 ABX Plays

Forget the wide net. This is the time for hyper-targeted, ABX campaigns that mirror sales motion and reinforce your core GTM strengths.

• Use tools like 6sense to serve deal-stage messaging to high-value accounts.

• Personalize at scale with platforms like PathFactory or Mutiny to dynamically tailor landing environments by persona, vertical, or stage.

  • Personalization is everything. Recent data collected by IDC found that nearly 70% of B2B buyers say their decision on whether to read something is influenced by whether it’s personalized. This is not the step to skip.

• Pair marketing content (ROI calculators, case studies, competitor battlecards) with real-time sales outreach.

• Build custom nurture tracks or retargeting flows that match the exact pain points of each buying committee.

These aren’t “nice to haves”—they’re revenue accelerators.

3. Show Up Where Your Buyers Are In Real Life (or IRL as the cool kids say)

The economy may be struggling, but we are certainly in a post-COVID event boom. People are literally itching to get back to in-person events, conferences, meetups, and more intimate gatherings. 

• Show up where your key accounts are. Attend high-impact events where you have the highest propensity to reach not only your ICP but also your key personas and members of the buying committee. 

  • Speaking of the buying committee, it’s gotten larger and more complex than ever. There are often “hidden members” influencing decisions, and brands need to engage, reach, and influence more folks within their target accounts. That’s where in-person events shine. They give you access to the entire crew your prospect travels with—what we like to call the “event posse.” Senior titles especially tend to roll deep, bringing peers, advisors, and cross-functional stakeholders along for the ride. The more of them you reach and influence, the stronger your deal position gets.
    

• Host intimate, high-impact gatherings—executive roundtables, dinners, and problem-solving workshops—that let your sales and marketing teams build trust face-to-face.
  

• Send marketing with sales on the road—this is a brand-building moment as much as a relationship one.

Events are all about killing two birds with one stone. Marketing gets their brand visibility, sales gets hot leads, and you can tie it all directly back to revenue. 

4. Use AI to Work Smarter, Move Faster, and Cut the Crap

AI isn’t magic, but it is damn useful when used right. The savviest marketing teams aren’t chasing shiny objects—they’re using AI to scale what works, ditch what doesn’t, and respond faster to what buyers actually care about.

• Use AI to identify which accounts are showing buying signals, and dynamically prioritize spend and messaging.

• Generate rapid content variations for different personas, verticals, and deal stages without killing your creative team.

• Forecast performance by segment, channel, or tactic to make faster media optimization decisions.

This is where the smart use of AI and automation pays off. We’re using generative AI to speed up versioning, forecast channel performance, and identify what to cut versus what to keep. Sharper signals make all the difference when time and budget are limited.

The reality check

None of this is about “just keep spending.” It’s about protecting the right investments—the ones tied directly to revenue, relationship, and long-term positioning. That means, reallocating with intent to close, and ensuring that every program is built to support both near-term pipeline and long-term growth. This is the playbook for right now. Just practical, revenue-backed strategy built for a high-pressure market.

Outthink. Outplay. Don’t Disappear.

Budget scrutiny is real. So is the opportunity to reset your mix, tighten your targeting, and show up where competitors go quiet. If you’re under pressure to defend spend, don’t just argue for more. Make the case for smarter. Reallocate. Experiment. Measure. Repeat.

Just don’t disappear. Because your audience won’t.

Marketing into the Skid: How—and Why—APAC Teams Should Double Down, Not Double Back

I have a confession: I still haven’t watched that new F1 movie with Brad Pitt. I’m told this qualifies as a crisis.

But I have seen the Ayrton Senna documentary on Netflix. And there’s a quote from Senna, one of the greatest drivers in the history of Formula One, that’s stuck with me:

“You can’t overtake 15 cars in sunny weather, but you can when it’s raining.”

Uncertainty = opportunity. That’s true in racing…and in B2B marketing.

To be sure, the economy’s raining on marketing right now. Pretty hard. And at many global HQs of technology firms, CMOs are tapping the brakes. They’re putting the kibosh on new marketing initiatives as they wait for the skies to clear. 

But if the past has taught us anything, it’s this: Downturns aren’t a time to pull back; they’re a chance to pull ahead. While others are busy zigging into the pit lane, the winners are zagging forward—their feet planted firmly on the gas. 

And B2B tech marketers in APAC—thanks to a mix of pretty unique conditions—are unusually well positioned to take advantage of today’s wet track and jockey for position at the front of the pack. (That’s the end of the racing metaphor. Promise.)

The Empire Strikes…Pause

Listen closely and you’ll hear it: A faint tinkling sound as global marketing teams break glass and trigger emergency measures to combat market uncertainty. Budgets are getting DOGE’d, campaigns shelved, and bold ideas swiped left.

Gartner captures some of that mood. Data from its CMO spend survey shows how B2B technology marketing budgets for 2025 have dropped to 7.7% of revenue, down from 9.1% just two years ago. 

And even that’s likely to get pared. “Given the looming macroeconomic uncertainties,” says Ewan McIntyre, Chief of Research at Gartner’s Marketing Practice, “CMOs are now confronting the prospect of in-year budget cuts.”

Ouch.

Beat the Crowd, Stay Loud 

But that big picture isn’t the full picture. Zoom in on APAC, and the story shifts. In key markets like Australia, Japan, and Singapore, the mood isn't quite as gloomy.

Let’s look at what’s actually happening in the region’s top markets.

And even if a slowdown was really looming in APAC, the smarter move might still be to double down on marketing. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that brands which rev up marketing during a downturn come out ahead. Research from the International Journal of Business and Social Science, for example, shows that organizations that upped their marketing spend saw an average profit lift of 4.3%. Those that held steady gained 0.6%. And those that cut? They lost ground—profits dropped by 0.8%.

For veteran marketers in APAC, none of this is breaking news. There’s been research backing it since the 1920s. Someone even compiled a roundup of the greatest hits.

Pulling Off Austerity Marketing in APAC

Okay, so what have we learned so far?

1. B2B marketers in APAC should be putting more wood behind their marketing arrows.

2. See point 1.

So what’s the hold up? Why aren’t we dialing things up?

Probably because someone has to make a case to the CFO. And hasn’t it been drummed into our heads that finance is tamping down on expenses like a barista on overdrive?

Well, they are, kind of. But not really.

CFOs haven’t turned off the marketing tap, they’ve just made it harder to turn. Here’s how one Gartner analyst put it: What got greenlit last year because it offered, say, a 2X return now needs to promise 5X, thanks to the rising cost of capital.

So how exactly are marketers supposed to make that math work? How do we lean in—not out—and do more with less?

In our experience, the smartest marketing teams in APAC are using two strategies.

1. Data for Smarter Targeting:  Teams are stitching together intent signals and wallet data from platforms like G2, Bombora, Demandbase, and 6sense to zero in on accounts that are most likely to convert. Some of our customers in APAC, including a leading expense management SaaS company, are doing exactly that. They’re also using data from tools like ROI·DNA Spark, our proprietary solution, to surface messaging that’s more on point.

2. AI for Faster, Leaner Campaigns: They are also leveraging AI to slash the time and cost of producing campaign content. One leading open-source enterprise software provider, for example, is using another of our proprietary tools, ROI·DNA Ignite, to research and create assets for an ABM campaign—dramatically compressing the time, effort, and expense involved. It’s also letting them scale 1-to-1 ABM from the usual 5–15 accounts to over 150, effectively redefining 1-to-1 ABM.

For APAC marketers, today’s conditions aren’t perfect. But it’s at moments like this that we need to remind ourselves: Momentum is a competitive advantage. So keep that pedal to the metal.

Adapting the Strategy, Not Abandoning the Mission

UK marketers are recalibrating in the face of persistent inflation, stagnant productivity, and rising trade costs. This moment isn’t about retreat—it’s about retooling tactics to deliver impact despite structural headwinds.

The Economic Reality Check

IInflation reached 3.6% in June, significantly above the Bank of England’s 2% target, driving consumer caution to new highs. Confidence indicators show unease as households brace for looming tax shifts. Public sector growth stalled at around 0.1%, and business activity slowed dramatically. Manufacturers reported their first quarterly output dip in a decade, and services saw contractions, leading to one of the lowest levels of new orders in recent years. 

These macro factors—alongside a globally uncertain trading environment and conflict in Europe and the Middle East—are creating complexity for marketers navigating buyer hesitancy and operational constraints.

The Dilemma: Cut or Reconfigure?

Facing budget stalls, conservative buying committees, and delayed decision-making, many marketing teams are hitting a strategic crossroads. The dilemma: cut programs or reconfigure for higher impact. While some see retreat as inevitable, many in the UK are proving that strategic reinvention is not only possible—it’s essential.

Value-Based Tactical Shifts Emerging

Foundational Marketing

Marketers are shifting focus from volume-based tactics to more intentional, value-driven efforts. Foundational marketing is back on the table, including sales enablement strategies, evergreen content libraries, and audience-first targeting. These tactics allow brands to connect meaningfully and persistently, without depending on short-term campaigns.

Data-Driven ABX

The automation of data-driven ABX, or account-based experience, is gaining momentum. Resource time and budget have long been barriers to delivering true personalisation at scale. But now, artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly central role—streamlining operations, surfacing insights, and helping teams deliver tailored experiences even with leaner resources. As agentic AI models become more sophisticated in producing quality research and insights at an account level, it is enabling the promise of personalisation at scale.

Modular Campaign Structures

Another key tactic emerging is modular campaign design. Marketers are breaking large initiatives into flexible, reusable components—maximizing ROI and increasing local relevance. With regional nuances and fragmented buying environments, modularity enables faster pivots and deeper personalization without ballooning costs.

At ROI·DNA, we are supporting clients to deliver personalised ABX at scale, which is both cost-effective and reductive from a time investment perspective. For one client in the industrial automation sector, we have seen a ROMI of 380:1 using this type of approach. In markets where budgets are under constant pressure, results like this demonstrate that investing in smarter orchestration can create disproportionate returns, giving organisations both immediate wins and long-term resilience.

Going on the (Marketing) Offensive

Stories such as this reflect a broader shift: a strategic lens on value rather than volume. UK marketers are rethinking how they show up and what they prioritize. With tax uncertainty, policy volatility, and fragile consumption reshaping the landscape, traditional lead-generation pipelines are under pressure. Yet some are playing offense—by pivoting to value-led content, tightening operations, and leaning harder into the potential of data-driven personalization.

The message is clear: when the economy hesitates, smart marketers don’t freeze. They flex. Tactical innovation is outpacing budget limitations. Insight-led execution is challenging traditional campaign structures. And in this moment of uncertainty, there’s a remarkable consistency in what works—clarity, relevance, and adaptability.

You don’t need a bigger budget. You need a bolder lens on value and an ability to flex using new technologies and approaches.

Powered by ROI•DNA & Hotwire