How to Market Your Business During a Recession
Marketing through a recession: keeping up with the economy’s changing tides
During economic downturns, businesses tighten their belts. All too often, the first thing to go is the marketing budget.
That makes us sad, not just because it means less work for us (we love work!) but because it’s usually the wrong move during a crisis. Studies show businesses that market well during recessions are more likely to survive.
While it’s tempting to pump the brakes during a slowdown, there are plenty of reasons why you should pivot your strategy, not cut it altogether.
Plus, digital marketing gives brands the ability to advertise more precisely than ever before. Gone are the days of being locked into expensive print or radio campaigns. Today, you can tweak your budget with a click or update your messaging easily.
Why Keep Marketing During a Recession?
1. Stay in People’s Minds
Marketing is like waving for attention in a crowded room. If you wave less, people notice you less. If you stop waving, they forget you.
When money is tight, consumers get picky. They want to buy from reputable brands they recognise and trust. That trust often comes from brand visibility, online and offline.
2. Keep Your Competitive Edge
In tough times, it’s not enough to just survive. You want to thrive.
Maintaining your marketing when competitors pull back gives you an edge. Reallocating and refining your spend can maximise ROI and keep you ahead.
Cutting back weakens your brand long-term. Focus on your core strategies and prioritise quality over quantity.
If you disappear from view, your competitors will take your place. Keep your brand present and you’ll position yourself for success now and later.
3. Avoid Starting From Scratch
Economies recover. When they do, you don’t want to be the brand that must rebuild everything from the ground up.
If you cut back your marketing too far, you lose visibility and market share. Savvy competitors will fill that gap.
Think of a slowdown as a time to streamline your marketing, not stop it. That way you’ll emerge stronger and ready for growth.
4. Invest In The Right Marketing
Digital marketing should be front and centre in any recession strategy.
It offers flexibility, accuracy, and efficiency that traditional methods can’t match.
Channels like:
- SEO
- Google Ads
- Facebook Ads
- Social Media posts
- Website blogs
- Email newsletters and automation
You don’t need to use them all, just pick what matches your audience’s habits. Plus, digital marketing lets you measure ROI more accurately than ever.
5. Get a Website SEO Audit Done
Slow periods are perfect for reviewing your website. An SEO audit ensures your website meets best practices and is ready for when traffic picks up again.
It’s also a great time to improve your website content or start writing a blog, excellent ways to boost online visibility.
In Summary, Keep Going
Cutting back marketing might deliver short term savings, but it hurts over time.
Marketing isn’t optional, it is what drives customers and keeps your business alive. No matter what the future holds, keep waving and embrace opportunities to steamline and improve your marketing.
Did you like any of the ideas from this post? We can help you with SEO audits, digital marketing, website improvements, and business strategies for tough times. After all, we’ve been through a few recessions ourselves!
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During economic downturns, businesses tend to tighten their belts more frequently. As we see all too often here at ninetyblack, the first expense to go is usually the marketing budget.
This makes us sad, not just because it means less work for us (we love work!) but because it’s usually the absolute wrong thing to do during a crisis. Studies have shown that businesses who market themselves well during recessions are the ones most likely to survive.
While it’s easy to want to pump the brakes during economic slowdowns, there are plenty of reasons why you should consider pivoting your strategy instead of removing it altogether.
Plus, digital marketing allows brands to be much more targeted in how they advertise than in the past, helping streamline that all-important marketing budget. Gone are the days where businesses are tied to expensive and lengthy print and radio campaigns.
Advancements in marketing tools have allowed flexibility and cost-efficiency for many business owners. Nowadays, it is as simple as adjusting the daily budget with one click or swapping out your message with just one new image.
So, why should you continue to invest in marketing during a recession?
1. Stay in people’s minds
Marketing is the equivalent of waving your hand around for attention in a crowded room. If you wave less frequently, people will notice you less.
If you stop waving altogether, eventually people won’t even remember you. And when leads and revenue start to decrease, you can blame it on the recession, not the fact you stopped waving.
When money is scarce, consumers are careful about how they spend their dollars and who they spend them with. Consumers want to be sure they are buying from reputable and well-known brands, and for many consumers today, reputation and brand recognition are baked into their digital shopping experiences.
2. Keep your competitive edge
In tough economic times, it’s not enough to simply survive – you want to thrive! And one of the best ways to do that is by maintaining your marketing efforts.
While other businesses may be cutting back, keeping your marketing wave strong can give you a competitive edge. By reallocating and re-evaluating your marketing spend, you can maximise your return on investment and come out ahead of the competition.
Don’t let fear hold you back from reaching new customers and retaining your loyal ones. Slashing your marketing investment weakens your brand and reduces profitability in the long run. Instead of cutting everything off completely, focus on your core strategies and quality over quantity.
Reducing your market presence is a missed opportunity that your competitors will gladly take advantage of. Keep your brand presence alive and well, and you’ll position yourself for success both now and in the future.
So why settle for just surviving when you can thrive with a strong and steady marketing strategy?
3. Don’t start from square one again
Economies go through swings and troughs. Inevitably, we will come out the other side, and if you’ve been one of the lucky few who cut their budgets but survived, well done.
Unfortunately, it’s extremely likely that your marketing position will now be greatly reduced, especially if savvy competitors have managed to snag market share from you during that time.
You’ll have to start from scratch. Instead, think of this downtime as an opportunity to streamline your marketing rather than being a setback, because in the long run your business will emerge stronger than ever and be set up for long-term success.
4. Invest the right marketing
As a business owner you need to keep up with the ever-changing marketing landscape. Digital marketing should be the forefront of any recession marketing strategy..
There is a multitude of channels and options that traditional tactics just can’t match such as SEO, Google Ads, Facebook ads, social media posts, website blogs, and email newsletters and automation to keep your brand alive and leveraged.
Best of all, you can choose a few, or just one – based on your target market’s behaviours. It’s also easier to measure your return on investment, making digital channels a more accurate and efficient place to spend your budget.
5. Get a website SEO audit done
Here’s a great way to spend your marketing dollars when things are slow – check your website is up to date with the latest technology and best practices.
We recommend running regular SEO audits of your site, but a great time to do this is when you have the time to spend making important improvements to your website. This will set you up for success when the traffic starts flowing again, pushing you to the top of the search rankings.
You might also be able to invest time into writing a business blog, which is a fantastic way to improve your visibility online.
Let’s be frank, cutting back marketing when the going gets tough may initially deliver an immediate upfront saving, but over time that cut back will soon become apparent.
Marketing isn’t an option, it is a necessity for any business, and it creates sales, customers and repeat business which is the lifeline for any business.
No matter what your future holds, keep waving in that room and embrace the efforts of streamlining your marketing.
Did you like any of the ideas from this post? We can help you with SEO audits, digital marketing, website improvements, and business strategies for tough times.
After all, we’ve been through a few recessions ourselves!