WHAT TO DO WHEN THE GROWING GETS TOUGH...
Recessions are hard on everyone. When the going gets tough, businesses and customers need to make the most of every dollar. For marketers, this often means finding ways to do more with less.
At first, this can seem like an impossible ask — but it's really just a temporary shift in your strategy. Since World War II, recessions have averaged less than a year in the U.S., so it's important to take a long-term perspective and focus on strategies that will position your business to rebound when the economy picks back up.
Today, we're going to explore some effective marketing strategies that can help you weather the storm and emerge on the other side ready for growth.
#1. BUILD TRUST WITH SOCIAL PROOF
When money is tight, your leads need extra reassurance that their purchase is going to be worth it — but they probably won't just take your word for it.
Social proof and word-of-mouth are both powerful ways to build trust with prospective customers. Here’s how you can gather and incorporate social proof into your market strategy:
- Send out automated review request emails to your customers after key moments of delight.
- Add reviews and ratings to your landing pages, ad copy, social media posts, and more.
- Incentivize referrals with discounts and special perks.
#2. DON'T FORGET ABOUT YOUR CURRENT CUSTOMERS
Reducing churn is always helpful, but it’s especially important when marketing budgets shrink. Why is that? Because it's 6-7 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to retain an existing one.
Here are some tips to help you level up your customer marketing:
- Personalize your customer marketing emails based on their interests, purchase history, loyalty status, and other relevant data.
- Create a series of welcome emails for new customers. Welcome emails have some of the highest open rates at 50%, so take that opportunity to start your customer relationships on a high note.
- Promote your other products and services to your existing customers to facilitate cross-selling and upselling opportunities.
#3. OPTIMIZE WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE 🖱️
Chances are you’re probably already using a number of landing pages, ad campaigns, email nurtures, blogs, eBooks, and more in your marketing strategy.
Thankfully, every one of these existing assets can be improved or optimized in some way to help you achieve better results without having to start from square one. If you’re not sure where to begin, here are some suggestions:
- Perform a marketing audit to determine which channels and content are producing the highest volume of good-fit leads. These will be solid candidates for optimization because even modest improvements in conversion rates will yield tangible ROI.
- Consider refreshing and republishing low-performing blogs and premium content offers. You can also repurpose them into higher performing formats like videos, infographics, or templates.
- Run A/B tests on your ads, emails, and landing pages to zero in on the most effective messaging.
Think of a recession as a sharp curve on a race track – it’s the best place to pass competitors, but requiring more skill than on straightaway,”
- Tom Holland, Senior Partner, Bain & Company
As you can see, there's no single answer to the question, "How do you market during a recession?" The best thing to do is remain flexible and keep your eyes on the prize.
If you're strategic about how you shift your marketing in the coming months, it's possible to capture market share and come out stronger on the other side of this economic downturn. How are you planning on adapting your marketing strategy, subscriber? We'd love to hear your thoughts — just shoot us a reply!
😉 TLDR: Stretch your marketing dollars by leveraging social proof, engaging your existing customers, and optimizing your existing content.
