Recessions Happen and Marketing Will Help You Weather Them

Marketing during a recession or while business is uncertain can be overwhelming and maybe even feel like a mistake. However, you’d be mistaken about it being a mistake. (See what I did there?) Marketing is not only the most effective method of continuing to stay in touch with your customers but is also crucial to the long-term success of your business.

Keep reading to learn more about why marketing is so important and some tips to keep you front-of-mind with your audience without breaking the bank.

1. Marketing is a long-term investment in your business’ growth.

Marketing encompasses customer research, branding, communicating with customers, advertising, pricing, and much, much more. I like to think of it as the most under-valued but most important business function there is. It’s the function that tells you what to sell, whom to sell it to, and how to sell it to them.

If you’re not utilizing every tool in your marketing toolbox, you’re missing out and your business will suffer in the long run. And because marketing is all about connecting with your customers, you need to center your marketing strategy around their needs.

Understanding where your customers are along their buying journey is crucial to aligning crafting an effective marketing strategy, which is why Blue Spec Marketing centers our strategy work along the customer journey. 

2. Marketing keeps current customers engaged.

We’re lucky to have more choices than ever, both in our personal and professional lives. Unfortunately for businesses, that means customer loyalty isn’t a guarantee. B2C and B2B companies need to consistently stay in front of their audience so customers don’t forget about them or switch to a competitor.

The good news is that you don’t have to plaster your logo on every billboard or invest thousands of dollars into advertising to stay in front of your current customers. 

In fact, I’d recommend that you take these three steps to stay in front of your current customers and no ad spend is needed!

1. Embrace Social Media

Creating content for social media can be overwhelming. It can feel like you have to design beautiful posts, write clever copy, and grow your followers into the millions for it to be successful.

THIS IS NOT TRUE.

While organic social media posts have seen a decline in their reach and engagement (thank the social media algorithms for that!), organic posts are still a highly effective (and affordable) way to drip content out to your existing fans.

Email has a 3,800% return on investment. Yes, you read that right! For every $1 you spend creating an email, you’ll average $38 in revenue. This begs the question, if you’re not using email to market your business, why not?

I’m guessing it’s one of three reasons:

• • You’re not sure what to write about in emails.
    • Solution: Consider sending an update email or creating a regular newsletter to stay in touch with customers. 
  • You’ve done it before and it didn’t pay off.
    • Solution: Hire someone who specializes in writing emails. There is a formula to it and investing in email writing skills will pay off.
  • You don’t have the time or resources.
    • Solution: I don’t have a great answer for you here other than you need to make the time or find someone who can do it for you. There’s the old cliche that business owners hear: “work on the business, not in  the business.” By crafting emails that convert, you’ll save yourself time and money in the long run.

3. Create Content

You likely have all the knowledge you need to create blogs, eBooks, case studies, and webinars that can engage your current customers by providing them with useful information.

The best thing about these types of content pieces is that they’re evergreen, meaning that a blog post you create now might help convert a reader to a customer three years from now. You can create these valuable resources in-house or hire a content marketer like Blue Spec Marketing to help.

3. Marketing can re-engage past customers.

Just because someone stopped buying from you or using your services, doesn’t mean they’re gone for good. Perhaps their priorities changed or maybe they even tried out your competition. That doesn’t mean you can never win them back.

If you have new products, services, or updated features and offerings now is the time to reach out to past clients and see if they’re interested.

If you have their email addresses, I recommend starting with email marketing. We’ve already seen how valuable it can be so be sure you don’t forget to utilize it for past customers as well as new and current ones! 

But… what do I tell past customers in those emails?

When reaching out to previous clients, there are a few messages you can try.

• The Circle-Back: this email is a simple reminder that you’re still around and would love another chance at helping solve their problems or helping them reach their goals.
• The Shiny New Offer: you’ve likely updated something about your product or service since they’ve last done business with you. Maybe you even launched an entirely new offering. Let them know about it!
• The Personal Ask: maybe they’re not able to do business with you anymore but still love what you do! This type of past customer is perfect for asking for either a testimonial or referral. Don’t be shy! The worse they can say is “no.” To reduce denials, be sure to review your email list before sending this one out to avoid any embarrassment.

4. Marketing will help you sell to new customers.

Marketing is about the journey, not the destination. The customer journey, that is. You sell a specific product or service that can help a certain group of people. But some of this group doesn’t know about you yet. These people exist in the “unaware” stage of your customer journey. It’s your job, through marketing, to move them to “aware.” When they’re aware of who you are, you can tell them more about what you do and how you can help them.

To attract new customers, consider adding brand awareness marketing campaigns as well as amping up your educational content. Social media, Google search, and email are great tools for both stages. In fact, they’re critical as 90% of people don’t know who they’re going to do business with before they start looking for a solution. You need to capture these people through marketing that answers their questions. To craft messages that resonate with these customer segments, put yourself in their shoes. What questions might they need answered? 

Check out our blog post, What is Content Marketing?, for more ideas on how to position yourself as the expert for these not-yet-customers.

5. Marketing is part of your brand reputation.

I love this quote from a Forbes article on reputation marketing: “We need to think about our reputations as a constant, competitive advantage; a driver of growth and prosperity; and a strategic asset.” 

You might be the best company ever, with the best offerings, best leadership, and best team. But you need to tell people about all these great things if you want them to translate into a competitive advantage. Marketing, through email, social media, web content, and earned media, can contribute to keeping your brand at the forefront of your industry and continue to be a well-respected thought leader.

Marketing is essential to maintain and grow your business. That doesn’t mean it’s easy or stress-free. Fortunately, small steps can make a big impact. The best thing you can do for the long-term health of your business is start with one thing, be it an email or a social media post. Start small, grow your capabilities, and you’ll start seeing returns before you know it.