Marketing In A Recession: 6 Top Tactics

SarahHughes

July 12, 2022

March 9, 2023

With rising inflation and an economic downturn on the cards, the UK government is rumoured to be planning to advise businesses to cut back on marketing and even drop their prices. However, this is not always the best approach for small and medium size companies, for whom every order, every customer and every penny counts. Here are 6 top tips for marketing in a recession.

Don’t Panic

Tempting as it may be for some companies to kill the advertising budget, those who hold their nerve will come out on top. If you can retain a line of communication with your customers while your competitors go quiet, you will reap the rewards now and later. As well as positioning yourself as a company who can confidently ride the storm, you will be the only one communicating your messages to customers as they decide how and when to purchase.

Audit

This is a great time to assess your marketing spend, and take a good look at your past 12 months activities. What worked well? Bring in an independent auditor for an even more thorough analysis. This is a great investment in future campaigns to make sure you make every campaign a shining success. There are lots of free analysis tools on social media that can also be helpful. Have a scroll through Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest’s business tools to see which posts gave you the most engagement, click throughs and sales. Rinse and repeat to have those orders flying in!

Boost Trust

As people become more careful with the purse strings, reputation and trust come to the fore. Boost your trust and authority by sharing those rave reviews, or insightful articles that were published in major media brands. You can also tell your clients which is your most popular product or service, making it easy for them to feel safe and confident in their purchasing choices, perfect tactics for marketing in a recession.

OutSource

If you are the ‘maker’ in your business, a downturn can be the right time to call in the experts. A second pair of hands is just what you need to help you with the areas of marketing you are not so confident in, allowing you to do what you do best. Whether you need a PR guru, or a great graphic designer don’t be afraid to save yourself time, money and stress by getting a specialist to pick up the slack. This will mean that your spend will go further and faster, as you bypass the trial and error stage.

Keep it Personal

Focus on retaining your loyal customers as there’s nothing better than an army of brand fans to keep your business booming in hard times. Personalising products, services and communications is a great way to make your client base feel noticed and appreciated. This could be through using their name in emails, or even a handwritten thank you note in the packaging of your product. It’s far easier and cheaper to retain a client than find a new one so this is a great strategy to use to bring your company through an economic downturn.

Go Organic

Focus on your organic marketing – work hard to manage your current customer communities and grow them organically through engaging and great content. Keep focused on your SEO – it’s the best way to keep ranking on page one which is what will grow your organic search traffic.

Use these top tips for marketing in a recession to help navigate any choppy economic waters and sail through to calmer seas!

Need help?

We are a marketing agency in Kent. If you have any inquiries about marketing and communications, please do not hesitate to contact us. Call us or send us an email, and we will get back to you as soon as possible. We can also arrange a 30-minute free consultation call or a Zoom meeting to discuss your needs and how we can help.

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