Running a business is nothing less than a rollercoaster ride of emotions. From declining sales to economic downturns, entrepreneurs are always on their toes trying to keep the business afloat. Managing everything across the company can be pretty challenging, especially when the odds are not in your favor. However, it doesn’t mean you shut down the operations or drown in losses; instead, learn to stand in the face of the challenges.
Usually, every entrepreneur’s first instinct is to cut back on business costs. While some curtail utilities, others start questioning the worth of their marketing budget. Well, business owners fail to realize that companies who stop their marketing campaigns during a downturn end up losing customers. It reduces your online and offline presence, letting the competitors fill in gaps and grasp your market share.
Therefore, you have to stay at the forefront of audiences’ minds to keep the revenue streams open. You can also put a brand message of strength and leadership, assuring customers that everyone would make it through these uncertain times. Indeed, you can’t market to your fullest during a downturn, but running small campaigns won’t be a hassle. Here we are listing six marketing strategies to save your business from a downturn.
Table of Contents
1. SEO Marketing
SEO positions your brand’s website as a leader when customers go through a buyer’s journey. Undoubtedly, it is the most crucial thing during a downturn. SEO marketing can position your company above the competitors by targeting keywords. However, this marketing channel requires ongoing investment to make the most of it to utilize this option since the market demand is already low. Having a solid online presence will keep the traffic flowing, improving sales and conversion prospects.
Firstly, optimize your website for top-most ranking factors, including link building, visual elements, responsiveness, etc. Second, identify the keywords customers use while searching for similar products and services. You can also optimize for long-tail keywords since the competition is low. Lastly, you have to build content that caters to customer’s current needs. Once your content strategy runs in full swing, share your content on social media to spread awareness.
2. Leverage Testimonials & Feedback
Customer reviews hold the power to influence purchasing decisions and strengthen the company’s reputation. You can also utilize reviews in your content marketing campaign to empower your strategy in a downturn. Reach out to current customers and feel free to ask for a review on social media forums but don’t force them to write one.
Besides, if you want to get the most value out of customer reviews, place them on your website near CTA buttons. You can also include testimonials in your email marketing campaigns to help people complete their purchase journey.
3. Lean on Consistent Branding
Every marketer has to put in more effort to keep the business operational during a recession. However, this doesn’t mean you cannot relaunch or rebrand the company. You have to be consistent with your branding efforts, keep engaging with audiences, and reassess the brand. It would help ensuring your company can face the upcoming challenges. Similarly, you have to understand where your brand stands in the competitive landscape. Determine your unique selling proposition to differentiate your business from the market.
Believe it or not, the shadow of a looming recession is an ideal time to conduct research. It will help you understand the value you provide to customers, helping you sell in a recessionary environment. Besides, brands that target niche industries can withstand a recession without any trouble.
4. Reevaluate Your Content Strategy
Content marketing can offer an opportunity to educate, influence, and close sales during an economic downturn. Hence, assess your industry needs, customer preferences, and business goals to select a suitable content format. You can also review analytics to determine content needs and address the questions customers are asking. Most importantly, integrate content across different channels to reach a broader audience.
You can generate blog posts or publish content on social media. Otherwise, you can utilize interactive content such as quizzes, polls, or surveys to keep people engaged in these challenging times. You can also shed light on trending topics in the industry to attract readers. Above all, offer information that builds trust and confidence with your audience. Once you learn what works for your brand, commit to developing content that performs best and meets business goals.
5. Launch Retargeting Campaigns
With the entire company’s survival at stake, you have to make every dollar count. Thus, if you have spent on a potential visitor, remarket ads to ensure he/she converts. Remarketing campaigns are pretty popular with Facebook and Google already. These ads tag the browser whenever someone visits your website. In short, you can assume that person has an interest in your products, and in turn, you use remarketing to foster engagement.
Retargeting campaigns can convert every prospect and close sales, helping you survive in the downturn. You have to keep an eye on how much you spend on every click to calculate the return on investments. In case you want ads to be visible to a specific audience, adjust the ‘spend preferences’ on your ad domain. Do you know the best part? Retargeting ads are the least expensive and effective marketing campaigns since you show ads to people who have visited your site.
6. Improve Affordability
In hard-hitting times, conventional discounts and delayed-value promotions don’t help businesses at all. Therefore, marketers have to increase the depth of price promotions to captivate more customers. Before this, you have to assess the consumers’ perception of ‘normal’ price level as it significantly changes in a downturn. You can conduct online surveys or polls to get a better idea of affordability levels.
Suppose, if you are a premium brand owner, you don’t have to move the brand down-market since it can upset your existing customers. Instead, you can introduce a fighter brand – a lower-priced version of the premium offering. Recently, a case in point, Apple launched iPhone 12 ‘mini’ at a much lower price as its fighter brand during the pandemic. You can launch something similar rather than cutting back on costs or reducing the product’s quality. It would help your brand in a downturn while ensuring survival and profitability.
Final Words
Keeping the business afloat and profitable, especially in a downturn, is a massive challenge. In these uncertain times, entrepreneurs cut back on their business costs and marketing budget. While reducing costs is necessary, you have to continue with marketing practices. It would put your business in the market, attract more customers, and increase sales prospects, which are essential to ensure business survival.
