Market smarter in a recession, not less.

Market smarter in a recession, not less.

February 3rd 2009

Understandably there is pressure to cut budgets in an economic crisis and more emphasis on proving that campaigns are working. It\\\'s a good time to review your current marketing plans and ensure that your budgets are working harder for you.

The main question we are asking ourselves is "How can I increase sales when my potential market has shrunk" (let\\\'s not even mention the budgets that are needed to get the job done) The problem with recessions is that they are always perceived to be the end of everything, end of cheap credit, end of property boom, end of prosperity and the end of life as we know it. History however begs to differ and consumers are amazingly resilient they do bounce back and when they do it\\\'s your product that you want them to bounce to. The way to do this is to keep the consumers engaged with your brand in a cost effective manner.

Many organisations still treat the website as a stand alone channel, which reduces the effectiveness and potential of the site. To ensure that our campaigns are relevant and engaging we need to add other elements to the mix such as social networking and digital PR to engage with and drive the consumer to our products and brands.

We need to clean out our databases and ensure we are delivering the right messages to the right audience. We need to monitor and analyse the data we are receiving and use it to talk to consumers effectively. We need to do so many things and yes we need to work harder than ever before. In troubled times change happens faster then ever before and great companies like GE, Disney, HP and Microsoft all started in a recession, who will be the new kid on the block in this one?

On the plus side

  • Petrol is getting cheaper
  • Gas is getting cheaper
  • Homes are becoming more affordable
  • Inflation is dropping
  • The future just may be greener with green incentives being used to kick start the economy.

This recession will end and the UK will bounce back though we do have tough times ahead of us. Cutting back during a downturn is a survival tactic not a winning strategy, lets market smarter.