How to Promote Your Brand Profitably in a Market Recession

Kyle Hamer • April 15, 2020

Marketing in a recesion
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change happens.  You can plan for it, but the strength of this preparation is revealed when big shifts occur. To say “these are unprecedented times in history,” is cliche`.  Yet, never before has there been a shift so large it’s impacted the global economy in such a short period of time while simultaneously quarantining an entire population in order to fight a global pandemic.

Needless to say, this shift in the world is having an effect in the marketplace. Will this cause a huge recession? Only time will tell.

Even if it does, there are still several things that you should prepare in an effort to put your best foot forward with your marketing budget. If you plan wisely, your company will be able to continue marketing and come out of this recession on top.

Here are several tips for surviving a market recession and the marketing you should be used as it occurs.

1. Review all PPC Campaigns

The downturn of the market won’t mean the downturn of your target audience’s use of their tech devices.

Because of that, you need to continue to strive for perfection in all of your pay per click marketing campaigns. Use the data and insight that you’ve gathered from your current campaigns to be your guide moving forward.

If you can’t measure it for yourself, then invest in a growth marketing service that will be able to.

They can help you measure your cost per action (CPA) and return on ad spend (ROAS) in order to create a profitable marketing model for your business. 

Your marketing strategy’s main focus has to be on the number of profitable conversions.  It won’t matter how many impressions you’re making. Yes, impressions can turn into leads, but you need to know which represents the best opportunity for revenue.

Your goal here should not be to create loss leaders or low revenue return for your ad spend.  The goal is to optimize for profit and scale back underperforming campaigns.

2. SEO for Common Questions in Your Industry

Search engine optimization is going to play a vital role in your customer acquisition model during a market recession. It’s a means of passive marketing (and passive income) for your company.

However, SEO efforts need to be strategized. The more tactical that you become with your website’s search engine optimization, the more website traffic you’ll see.

Stop all other SEO content that you’re placing on your site and shift your content’s focus to answering the questions of your target audience.

Focus only on the common questions that you feel your target customer is asking themselves. What needs do they have? What questions are they asking about those needs? How can you answer them?

For example, if you’re running an online marketing agency, then one of your customers’ top questions would be “How can a B2B online marketplace grow its mobile presence when no one is spending money?”.

Every topic that you choose needs to present an opportunity for your business to receive both SEO and PR out of. Both will play a vital role in building your brand.

3. Tools Optimization

Third on your to-do list for marketing during a recession is taking the time to look inward and reflect on your current business model.

Sure, you’ve supplied yourself and your staff with certain tools for their respective departments, but are they being utilized efficiently?

More importantly, are there ways for you to save money on marketing tools such as integration or automation? Can you do a better job of optimizing your technological stock?

Don’t be afraid to cut some loose ends in the tool department if need be. For example, if you feel that you can efficiently run email marketing campaigns without Mailchimp, then take action. Worst case scenario, you re-open your Mailchimp account if unsuccessful.

Instead, hunker down and invest in a marketing agency that can help you utilize all the tools you have.

Better yet, they’ll give your brand access to all their resources in order to better market your products and reach your audience more effectively.

4. Traditional Media: Keep or Kill?

This is the one million dollar question: in an ever-growing online marketplace, and the market in recession as-is, should you keep or kill your offline marketing?

For your business, that might mean cutting the cord on things such as your networking events, sales tables, attending conventions, etc.

However, no matter how much the marketplace starts to lean towards the online world, there will always be a place for offline marketing tactics.

Offline marketing will help your company achieve an all-encompassing brand. It helps you benefit from both in-person sales meetings as well as high online sales conversions.

In short: while you might decide to cut down on traditional media a bit, don’t ever completely give it up.

5. Tie Marketing to Revenue

Even in a market recession, your business should focus on creating a healthy cash flow for your marketing efforts.

Many companies will make the mistake of putting a pause on spending for marketing just to cut costs. Their brand will deplete as a result, and they may never be able to recover.

Rather than stopping your marketing efforts, simply place a premium on cutting costs that you deem unproductive.

Use the data from your marketing initiatives as your guide. If any particular tactic is wearing you thin, then cut ties with it for the time being and invest more money in what is working.

Take this opportunity to look inward and validate your entire marketing mix model. You’ll be glad you did!

Time to Embrace the Market Recession Head-On!

Now that you’ve seen all the different strategies for surving a market recession, it’s time to attack the adversity!

For more advice during the pandemic, be sure to read this article on how to find balance during high-stress times.

For more inquiries, please be sure to reach out via our online contact page and we’ll be happy to assist you further!