Recessionary Marketing: Innovate & Do Something!

Marketers are squeezed like never before. The consumer is more fickle than ever. Every day, there is a new hunt for how to best engage a consumer, how to effectively gain trade support and how to truly measure performance. It is essential that small businesses find the best ways to streamline their processes, market their core products and reach their core audience. Companies who effectively do this will make it out of this recession stronger than ever.

In the current economy, it’s all about cutting costs, not cutting corners. A marketing strategy in ANY economic scenario should always center on targeted, relevant, and timely messages. During a recession, however, companies are obligated to evaluate costs more closely. More often then not, says Bruce Temkin, a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, executives make across-the-board cuts that adversely impact any company’s two core concerns: Who represents the target market you’re serving and what is the value proposition you’re delivering?

“In a recession, you don’t have the luxury of making mistakes when it comes to answering those questions,” Temkin says, “You have to more diligently answer those questions because once you do that, you then have a clearer picture of which customer you actively go and continue to market…and what you are going to do or deliver.” In other words, he says, instead of taking a hatchet to your marketing agenda, it’s time to whip out the scalpel.”

In better economic times, Temkin explains, targeting is expected, but “it doesn’t make sense to hold the entire company purely to it.” It’s easier for a company to go outside of its comfort zone when budgets are less restricted. In those times, he says, “you don’t need to be as rigorous.”

When return on investment is the top priority, here are a few low cost options that can help you do more with less:

1. Integrate your marketing channels to avoid redundancy and create a comprehensive view of the customer.
2. Create an internal and/or external blog or discussion board where customers and employees can communicate with upper-level management to create transparency and solicit input.
3. Host virtual events to complement your in-person events.
4. Tap into social networks for advice from your peers.
5. Improve the usability of your customer-facing channels. Especially your website.
6. Switch to cost-per-acquisition networks (like TrialPay) that only charge when you make a sale.

Many times, it takes a crisis for companies to recognize their inefficiencies. The companies that survive will be the ones that know how to get creative and do more with less.

Obviously no recessionary strategy is one-size-fits all, but one overall message should ring out consistently: DO SOMETHING. Don’t hide under the desk and wait it out until next year. During these times - this is when great companies emerge.