How Ecommerce Brands Can Stay Profitable During a Recession

You've heard it in the news, you've heard on social media, you've heard it everywhere: there's a recession coming in 2023. While there is lots of disagreement as to how severe it will be and if it will even happen at all, most of us are expecting a tightening of the belts to some extent.

When it comes to a recession, it's crucial that businesses find ways to mitigate risk and still remain profitable. In this article, I'll explore ways that online sellers can come out on top with some savvy ecommerce marketing tactics.

How can ecommerce brands remain profitable?

Increasing budgets may be out of the question, which means ecommerce brands should focus on optimizing what already exists to get through the recession profitably. This includes:

• SEO
• UX Optimization
• Conversion Rate Optimization

With SEO and content marketing, you can still maintain a healthy level of website traffic without pouring money into ads. Of course, it may take longer to see the results, but that is a simple matter of adjusting your mindset.

Once you do have the ability to increase your budget, your SEO efforts will be in full effect and you will see an influx in both organic and paid traffic sources. Sometimes the long games have the biggest rewards.

Brands may also be able to squeeze more conversions out of existing traffic by optimizing their marketing funnel to reduce friction. Focusing on your website's user experience (UX) and optimizing high-intent pages can make a big difference. Some tactics I recommend include:

• Making CTA buttons are prominent displayed
• Personalizing landing pages and email content based on demographic data and past behavior
• A/B testing new headlines, copy, and images for relevance

These tactics can help you determine what messaging, placements, imagery, and even color palettes are most appealing to your customers.

Reallocating Budgets

When sales are harder to come by, the initial reaction is to pull back on marketing. This is actually counter-intuitive as you need new leads more than ever.

According a to a recent report by Analytics Partners, 60% of brands that increased media spend in the last recession saw greater ROI, and those that spent more on  advertising saw a 17% increase in sales. 

But even if you can't increase spend, I recommend reallocating budget instead of reducing it altogether. Taking money from your lowest performing campaigns and putting it toward content or conversion optimizations can pay dividends in the long run and drive growth across your entire website. 

Where does an ecommerce marketing agency come in?

Right now is an excellent opportunity for businesses to heighten their digital marketing efforts and increase brand awareness. Due to the competitive nature of the business landscape today, success is not just about producing excellent products. It’s more of how you interact with consumers and how you inspire them. This is what makes them always choose a particular product when there are hundreds of other similar products.

By working with an ecommerce marketing agency, you can boost your online visibility and make sure that your business is ready for when markets are reopened. 

Do you want to come out on top when the recession ends? WEBITMD has professionals specialized in marketing and sales solutions that bring brands and consumers closer. Give us a call.