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Five Steps to Marketing In a Recession
By Jamie Klemcke | February 12, 2009
As an add-on to my blog post, Marketing Methods for Trying Times, I thought I would go a step further and share the top five steps to marketing yourself in a recession. The tips were outlined in a feature article titled Four Steps to Marketing Smarter (and for Less) in Today’s Economy on the MarketingProfs website — I added a fifth. (You have to have a membership with MarketingProfs.com, but I’ll share pieces from this article in case you aren’t a member.)
The tips are structured for larger businesses that have a focus on marketing, but you small business owners can always adjust the tips to fit in with your business needs.
Step 1: Get Back To Basics
The author, Kimberly Smith, outlines that now is the time to take that proverbial company-wide deep breath. Really look at what got you to this point, what drove you to be successful in the past and how you can evolve those strategies to work in the changing economy.
Tim Berry, president of Eugene, OR-based Palo Alto Software states, “These downturns are good for spurring us to step back away from the business and take that fresh look; it’s like an artist squinting to see the landscape differently.”
When is the last time you got together with your executive staff and marketing team to go through a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis? It is vital that you understand the answers to questions like:
- What makes your company unique?
- What challenges can be transitioned into opportunities?
- Where do you make the most profit?
- Where are your resources being spent?
- What is your most profitable customer segment?
- What are the emerging trends in your space?
- How can you change or update your value proposition to address these trends?
Step 2: Let The Data Be Your Light
This is something near and dear to my own heart. If we are not tracking direct mail promotions and campaigns, email advertising response, print advertising response, landing page results, website statistics and reviewing customer purchasing patterns, then we all have to concede to the fact that we are behind the curve. Yes this will take hard work, but I’ve seen case study after case study that clearly indicates that this is a necessary use of time and resources especially in a down economy. Using your customer data to serve up relevant offers, implement cross selling opportunities and create customer loyalty is a mandatory marketing effort in my opinion.
“And as we begin the process of determining what to keep and what to cut from the old ‘game plan,’ it is important to realize that this is not the time for guessing or playing favorites with campaigns of sentimental value. It’s time to put our trust in cold, hard data–for real this time,” Smith commented.
There are multiple resources on what to do with your customer data. I’ve provided just a few links that may get you thinking: Using Your Data to Know Your Customers and Best Buy, Other Retailers Tap Tech to Boost Sales
Step 3: Take The High Road
Smith states that now it is even more important for companies to focus on best practices, not gimmicks. She goes on to say that companies have to be honest, upfront, smart and innovative showing customers that you can be trusted.
I’ll give you an example: We (QuantumDigital) are putting more focus on educational webinar sessions for how to use direct marketing in specific industries that we service, like real estate. Our customers are telling us that by giving them more educational material to put in the hands of office managers, real estate brokers, franchisees and dealers is more useful and appreciated than a one-time offer that won’t prove any long term value or truly affect the growth of their business.
We are also focusing on showing customers how they can use other channels to market their products/services more economically. So understanding the value of targeted direct mail vs. other media as an example.
According to a recent survey conducted by BtoB Magazine, “2008 Marketing Priorities and Plans“(PDF link), almost 50% of marketers will increase spending on targeted direct mail and email marketing with the intended purpose of acquiring more leads, followed by brand awareness and customer retention. Also, were you aware that 81% of households will read or scan direct mail? Search out articles, surveys and tip sheets in your space as the stats will show you where to focus your time.
We are also looking to highlight the use of social platforms to increase prospecting efforts in different segments.
So look at your current promotions – are they innovative and trustworthy or just another gimmick?
Step 4: Go Social
Don’t ignore this new marketing channel. We can now go directly to prospects via social platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and many others. If you are having to cut PR initiatives, look for other ways to get into the marketplace. Understand how to use these networking tools and have someone on your marketing team or in your office dedicated to keeping them updated with fresh material. If you don’t have much time, don’t try to join everything you hear about, just focus on joining one social network that makes sense for your market segment and be consistent.
Step 5: Consistency
I decided to add in my own step. Consistency in marketing is key. If your budgets are being cut, pick one or two activities that you know work. If you are using direct mail campaigns to target prospects, plus running a radio ad, one TV spot, several email blasts per month, passing out flyers or door hangers, attending trade shows, etc etc… STOP! Look at these activities, which ones are going to keep you in front the your “perfect prospects” more consistently? In my opinion, TARGETED direct mail, where you can easily select demographic filters for prospecting, and email newsletters, for current customer promotions and education, are two of the basics.
Let me know what you think – what marketing mix is working for your industry?
February 12th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
[...] are articles, blog posts and commentary everywhere we look regarding marketing during a recession. Should businesses up their marketing spend, cut budgets, maintain current marketing plans, etc? I [...]
February 12th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Jamie, Good advice. And not just for a recession. These could be standard practices when times are good.
February 13th, 2009 at 6:23 am
Thanks for summarizing this Jamie,
I agree with you that these tips can and should be adjusted to fit any size business whether you’re doing solo freelance work or run your own small business with staff.
One of the points that make me think of where I can improve my business process is number 2. “Let the Data be your Light”. That couldn’t be truer. If you want a precise look at what your customers are doing it is so crucial to have proper data tracking and analysis set up and implemented as a system in your business no matter what it is.
So many companies spend their marketing budget blindly without using customer data or feedback to back those promotional decisions.
I also like your extra addition of “consistency”. My question to you is if you have to choose only what is working and try to only stick to that then when do you know when it’s a good time to venture out and try some new marketing activities?
Thanks again,
Sam Zipursky
February 13th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Thank you both for your responses! You are right Jay, if we can all focus on these main activities whether business is booming or lagging, we’d all be better off. I think one challenge is not losing sight of this as a planning team.
In response to your question Sam, my thought is that budget and staff size really drives how many channels you have the ability to focus on. According to a few studies we have come across, 2009 is the year for getting back to the basic direct marketing tactics. BtoB Magazine reported that 50% of marketers will increase spending on direct mail and email. I’ve personally seen a much higher response when using email and direct mail in conjunction — Sending a direct mail piece and an email follow-up directing prospects to a relevant landing page where I can collect further qualification information and lead them to something educational like a whitepaper.
If budget and time allow, the next success we’ve experienced is in writing relevant whitepapers that highlight statistics, not just opinion, and hosting a webinar to go into more detail on the topic. The key here that many marketers miss is to leave the sales speak out and focus on best practice. We’ve also shown GREAT success in email blasts through Target Marketing Magazine – takes more budget, but we received over 1,000 leads last year on a few blasts.
Tracking responses is the first step as it allows you to see which activities are not providing the response so you can use that budget on more responsive channels.
Best,
Jamie
February 13th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Hi Jamie,
Thank you for the detailed follow up much appreciated! I haven’t heard of Target Marketing yet but just went over to their website and it looks pretty comprehensive. I’ll look into their services for sure.
Have a good one,
Sam
February 25th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
[...] return on your investment (ROI). QuantumDigital marketing director, Jamie Kelmcke, writes, on TheDirectMarketingVoice.com, “I’ve seen case study after case study that clearly indicates that [tracking customer data] is [...]