5 Marketing Questions To Ask In A Recession
October 2008 changed everything. It changed credit availability for businesses and consumers. It wiped out consumer confidence. And it must change the way businesses market.
Why? Because business is now more competitive than ever.
Since October, you’ve likely experienced at least one of the following:
1. Current clients/customers have cut back spending.
2. Current clients/customers have totally stopped spending.
3. Prospective clients/customers have put planned expenditures on hold.
Furthermore, your current clients/customers may be getting more attention from your competitors who are trying to make up for their lost business as well.
If you thought business was competitive before, you haven’t seen anything yet. Recessions are the business world’s way of thinning the herd.
It’s now survival of the fittest. It’s the businesses who innovate and offer the best perceived value to their clients that will thrive in a recession.
So to keep on your competitive toes, here are 5 marketing-related questions business owners need to ask:
1. Is our marketing message as relevant today as it was before October?
Your marketing message may have worked for years. But an economic shake-up can change things real fast. What’s important to people when making purchasing decisions can change. Your marketing message may have to change, too.
2. If not, what should our new marketing message be?
Maybe it’s a value message. Maybe it’s a message that says your business is solid and is here for the long haul. Or it could be a message that reflects how your business is changing with the times to reflect the new economic environment. Look at what’s going on in your industry right now and ask how your marketing message can be adjusted to better reflect the times.
3. What new opportunities does the recession present for our business?
Are there new markets that have opened up for you? Perhaps larger clients would be more attracted to working with you than before for cost-savings reasons. Perhaps the service your business offers will now be attractive to companies who are now outsourcing for the first time due to employee cutbacks. Remember, just because some of your regular opportunities have dried up, doesn’t mean new ones can’t be created.
4. What can we do to provide greater value to our clients?
In a recession, everything becomes more value-driven than ever. Take a good honest look at your service and/or product to see what you can do to offer greater value. And make sure you communicate it in your marketing.
5. Is it time to explore new ways of getting our marketing message out there?
Some of the ways you’ve marketed over the past years may not be as effective now. That trade show that you’ve always spent much of your annual marketing budget on may not have a big turnout this year, as companies cut back on travel expenses. Perhaps this year, to get the ROI you need on marketing, you’ll need to start to leverage social media and public relations to your advantage to create digital word-of-mouth.
October 2008 changed everything. As a result, you are going to feel the competition breathing down your neck in the next year like never before.
If you want to survive this recession, the way you market will have to change.
–Kevin McIntosh
Tags: digital word-of-mouth, recession marketing, ROI, social media
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:31 am
Excellent piece Kevin, and very relevant.
Just yesterday I met with a customer who had planned to expand with new staff, launch a new product, and overhaul their online presence – all those plans are on hold indefinitely because they’ve seen their new sales drop off a cliff – they don’t have the cash to spend, and are focusing on survival, not expansion.
However, they’re going to go down the avenue of using social media networks and using tools like Twitter and use Blogs because these are low-cost steps which will help them to listen to, and talk more with their customers – past, present and future.