Recession Marketing: 5 Strategies You Must Embrace
July 2020
When we welcomed the new decade six months ago, no one could have imagined how upside down our lives would become within just a few months. The coronavirus pandemic, which has thrown the economy into a tailspin, is not going away anytime soon.
As the initial panic has subsided and we begin to navigate the realities of a recession and an ongoing public health crisis, business owners can survive – and come out ahead – by embracing five essential marketing strategies.
1. Adapt to Short-Term Realities
While making short-term changes may seem obvious, business owners must not fall into the trap of hoping the current business environment will be short-lived. For many sectors, it will take several years to rebuild. If you have not done so already, you need to adjust your sales and marketing strategies to align with your customers’ current needs. We will be living with COVID-19 for the foreseeable future and you must be prepared to quickly make changes as the situation continues to evolve.
2. Never Take Your Eye Off the Long Term
While this may sound contradictory to the above, businesses that successfully weather uncertain times adapt to short-term challenges while never losing sight of their long-term goals. It’s important to remember that during times of business disruption, plenty of opportunities remain to carve out your competitive advantage. If you fail to plan for the long term, you may not be around in the long term.
Research going back nearly a century shows that companies that spend when the market is down have a stronger opportunity to win as the market recovers. This happens because companies connect with consumers while many of their competitors are cutting back or are silent.
3. You Must Continue to Market
When the economy goes south, many businesses slash marketing first. Cutting your marketing entirely is never a good idea and will hinder the recovery of your business. Take an honest look at your financial situation and reduce and reallocate your marketing mix as necessary. The old adage that you must spend money to make money is true. You need to continue to sell and adjust your messaging and offerings to fit the current environment. Maintaining a healthy level of marketing investment through a recession enables businesses to capture market share from competitors that are not as marketing-savvy.
4. Your Brand Remains Your Key to Success
To reiterate the above, going dark with your marketing is the worst thing you can do right now. Your brand is your business’ most important asset. When you are out of sight, you are out of mind. Brand-building is an ongoing, long-term strategy. If your product or service offering has been directly impacted by the pandemic, you may need to find other ways to speak to your target audiences. Reassuring messages that demonstrate empathy can build trust. Continue to communicate frequently to your customers, partners and referral sources and adjust your messaging to speak to the difficulties your audience may be facing. Having a strong brand that consumers recognize and trust is critical to weathering tough times and thriving during good times.
5. You Need a Marketing Plan Now More Than Ever
Now is not the time to conduct marketing on a whim. Now is the time to sit down and get your plan on paper. We are exactly halfway through 2020 and developing a plan for the remainder of the year is crucial. Set realistic goals for the rest of the year and make sure those goals support where you want to be over the long haul. Determine your marketing budget for the rest of 2020 and implement those marketing tactics that will be the most profitable.
None of us knows know how long the current business environment will last and what its full impact may be. Successful businesses will be those that continue to adapt and resist the temptation to retreat from marketing.