What Shrewd Marketers Do During a Recession?

An economic slowdown doesn’t have to spell all gloom and doom for your business. History shows that savvy marketers not only grew their business but also gained market share during economic malaise.

Take a long-term perspective. Short term cost-cutting and efficiency improvement are necessary evils during a downturn. Companies which have done best during previous downturns also balanced their cost-cutting with revenue growth initiatives.

Don’t slam on the marketing brakes. History shows that slashing marketing expenditure is a mistake. It might provide very short term gain, but also leaves your brand weakened post-recession. Maintaining a healthy level of marketing investment through a recession will enable your businesses to seize market share from timid competitors.

Love your existing customers… even more than usual. It’s cheaper and more profitable to retain existing customers than to acquire new ones. Campaigns which stimulate repeat purchases should be your priority.

Closely watch for changed customer behaviour. Your customer’s priorities change during a recession. Analyse data, pay close attention to what your customers are telling you, and respond quickly.

Relentlessly optimise your campaigns. Analyse data from your marketing and sales funnel. Conduct A/B tests and to continually increase the ROI of your campaigns.

Re-direct your marketing investments. Refocus on the highest earning areas, and also, on those with the highest propensity for growth.

It’s human nature to respond defensively during a recession. However, constant cost-cutting is not a sustainable growth strategy!

The past has shown how visionary business leaders can turn downturns into prosperous opportunities… not only growing their companies, but also seizing new market share from self-defeating competitors.