Without joining the scary media cost of living doom and gloom bandwagon, there is no doubt that times are a little difficult at the moment. Prices are rising, strikes are happening and consumers are understandably nervous. When harder times hit business, the first thing to go is usually the marketing budget. But cutting back on marketing in a recession could be fatal to a business. In fact, this is the worst thing any business can do as explained in this comment from Venturebeat.com
“While customers may not be buying as much during a slowdown, they’re still consuming every day and are aware of which brands are advertising to them. Therefore, they’ll know immediately whom to purchase from once the rough waters still, as they’ve been constantly exposed to the brand during the recession period”
So why is marketing your business in slower times so important to your future success and growth?
Well, here are five things you can do to keep marketing in a recession:
1 – Don’t stop your marketing activity
If you cut your marketing budget you will lose momentum, making it so much harder to come back again to your current level of activity, engagement and penetration. Continuity and momentum are half of what makes a business’s marketing successful. Keeping a brands presence and steady messaging strategy is vital for future success.
2 – Outsource support to save money
A marketing team may require some scaling back but don’t give up on all marketing strategy and activity. Keeping activity going is key but look to use an outsourced marketing consultant to provide a flexible and affordable marketing service that can be scaled up or down depending for the required level of support your business requires in quieter times.
3 – Evaluate your marketing results
Now is the perfect time to conduct a marketing review. What is working, what isn’t working and why. An external marketing consultant can carry out a detailed marketing review and make strategic suggestions to support and grow existing marketing activity resulting in success for your business. Taking the time to understand what messaging and activates.
4 – Increase your marketing to your customer base
Remember Pareto 80-20 principle that refers to the way 80% of business typically comes from 20% of clients. Business owners who subscribe to the 80/20 rule know the best way to maximise results is to focus the most marketing effort on the top 20% of customers. Spend time looking at current customers and product offering, where can you upsell, cross sell and get referrals from.
5 – Stay Consistent
I can not stress enough the importance of consistency in marketing. If you are looking to save money in your business then there are plenty of ways to cut down on other areas that may not bring in results. Keeping consistent in your marketing messaging, strategy, products and servicing is crucial in uncertain times. This shows that your business is professional, calm and in for the long haul. A budget to pay for a flashy TV ad may be out of the question but regular social media posts, a professionally written newsletter, good SEO and a unified brand is a must at all times.
At The Marketing Associate we specialise in strategic freelance marketing support for professional service practices. Providing excellent quality advice on your marketing strategy to develop and grow your business on a retained basis.
If you would like to discuss your business’s marketing requirements with an outsourced marketing consultant, then please do not hesitate to contact Tabitha Beasley at The Marketing Associates: Tabitha@themarketingassociates.co.uk or call 01233 720379
