Marketing Your Business in a Recession

For most larger companies the first thing that gets cut back if sales are reducing  especially in a recession is marketing, training and recruitment. Sometimes that’s a hard pill to swallow so what marketing activities can you undertake when sales and profits are reducing?

About your competitors

The great part about marketing is that your competitors are probably doing the same thing and cutting back on advertising expenditure as well. So if you poke your head above the mire and start promoting your products and services you’ll likely be one that your customers notice first and foremost.

Contact your previous customers

Most likely your previous customers will purchase from you again. Spending in the UK has “only” reduced by some 3% which is not much and that consumer spending is cutting back on luxuries such as flat screen TVs and new cars. We are still spending on a daily basis and so are companies.

So why not contact your current customer list? If you know how to undertake email and direct marketing correctly you should at least get a 5% response rate and email marketing probably much higher.

Previous customers are much easier to convert as they know your products and purchasing process and you don’t have to convince them that your company is someone solid and dependable.

If you haven’t contacted your customers in a long time then it’s time to it today.

Use your best performing advertising methods

You’ll know what promotions and advertising methods have worked for you in the past – if not then you should look back and measure those results. Now implement another campaign that gave you the biggest bang for your buck !

Many companies will simply continue doing what they have always done without really knowing if it’s working or not. Certainly you see the same advertisements in the local newspapers each week and I always wonder if they are working at all – I have never really seen good or even great results from newspaper advertising for local companies.

Look at what you are spending your money on

We all generally continuing spending because we may be afraid to cut costs or pull campaigns we “think” are working so it may be a good time to review your budgets. I pulled an adwords campaign not so long again and although sales reduced a little it was not as much as the cost of the advertising. OK, I probably wasn’t advertising correctly but I have save many thousand pounds per year but only reduced sales in the hundreds.

If you have any tips of your own please post them below. In these challenging times you should review all advertising but also contact your customer base and tell them about new promotions you have.

Posted in Marketing | 2 Comments »

2 Comments - have your say

1. Tim Kimber Says:

   There are some key points covered here. I would agree that marketing your business is more important than ever and if you continue to shout about who you are, you are more likely to be heard above your competitors in a time of recession. Similarly, taking the time to step back and properly engage with your customers and really show the value you can bring them is key – existing as well as prospects. Pressures to cut costs whilst continuing to improve productivity has also come to the forefront of the debate for SMBs. This is where technology can help -to streamline processes and improve efficiencies. Free technology such as Office Live is a perfect example. Other issues to highlight include; seeking relevant advice from available small business networks, make the most of online networks to collaborate and connect with your peers and adapt your business plan to become recession proof, so you are prepared for the long term and ultimately the revival.

2. David Morson Says:

   Very nice points about business marketing are covered here. I really appreciate your articles as I am facing a great trouble to run my business in these days of recession.

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