I began writing this on April 1st, 2020. Although, it seemed as if no one would be buying anything, this was not an April Fool's. And, if I had told you that there was a buying signal that was up 22.5% since the same time last year, you would probably want to see the data... well here it is:

Thanks Google Trends!

So, those spikes? They're usually December...

"But, wait Ron," I hear you say, "December hasn't happened -- what's with that latest spike?"

Funny you ask.

As I think of my life back then, well, life kind of sucked! I was sheltering in-place for three weeks at that point. I was two weeks into unemployment. My freelance work as a full-time performance marketer with the series-B startup, Code Climate, was just starting up, so, I did have some hope that I would remain employed and be hired on full-time. That would mean that my family and I would have essential access to healthcare and a living wage.

Given those kinds of existential concerns, it's not a surprise to learn that the enormous uptick in Google searches including the term "Promo Code" coincides with tens-of-millions of people becoming unemployed.

What's more of a surprise, however, is that the searches for promo code indicate a readiness to buy (albeit at a discount). This is actually good news for the market, and, indeed anyone smart enough to have a selling program in place that has a methodical approach to discounts.

Now, again, I hear some of you say, "Ron, this is all B2C data, and you're talking like, to a B2B audience with disciplined selling programs et. al... what're you thinking?" Well, here's a dirty secret about B2B marketing that I continue to learn over the years...

B2C/e-Commerce usually leads B2B marketing, not only in terms of the adoption of bleeding-edge martech, but also in terms of the levers that a B2B marketer should be pulling at any given time. Fundamentally, you are marketing to people. And, if those people are representing a business in this climate, they're still going to be influenced by that same deal-seeking behavior around the holidays, whether or not they're shopping in a B2B or B2C capacity.

Veteran salespeople and marketers... have you found this to be the case? Comment with your thoughts.