When the economy is on a downturn, most people are focused on how they’ll save money and reduce costs. As a small business owner, this should be your focus too.
If fewer customers and clients are spending money on your business, you’ll need to lower expenses as well to help with cash flow. This doesn’t mean doing less sales or marketing on your part. In fact, you may want to ramp up your marketing efforts while still being sensitive to the economic times.
Here are 5 key tips for marketing in a down economy.
1. Grassroots Marketing
Taking a grassroots approach is a great strategy for marketing in a down economy. Grassroots marketing often starts by you marketing to a small group in the effort that they will spread your message to a much larger audience. Word-of-mouth marketing is still a very valuable tool.
To get started, you can join a mastermind or an association to connect with likeminded business owners. Focus on expanding your existing network. Speak at an event or host a webinar to give back to your community. This is an easy way to get people excited about your business and keep it at the forefront of their minds. As a result, they may be happy to refer or recommend you for certain opportunities.
2. Stay Connected
Don’t just disappear during an economic downturn. Remain available to your audience and customers and be consistent with your approach. The internet makes it so easy to stay connected these days. You can send out regular email newsletters with helpful information and tips, provide updates on your business, and post tips to social media.
Another thing you can do to stay connected and encourage people is to host a challenge to help them reach a goal and provide healthy dialogue with customers and clients.
3. Change Up Your Offering
Businesses that remain successful in the long-term are good at adapting to changing times. As the economy changes so does people’s needs. Focus on changing up your offerings to better meet the needs of your customers.
Even during an economic downturn, it will be easier to market products and services since your customers will see that you’re not out of touch with what’s currently going on in society.
4. Try a Different Strategy
Switching up your marketing strategy and testing new tools is never a bad thing. This can help especially if you’re looking to lower your marketing budget. Maybe you’ve been spending money on paid social media advertising or Google ads.
Switching to free and affordable marketing methods like organic SEO and affiliate marketing can help you still promote your business to new audiences without breaking the bank.
5. Segment Your Marketing
Realize that everyone gets affected by the economy in different ways. This is why it’s wise to gauge where your customers and clients are at and segment your marketing. Don’t just assume that some people have or haven’t been affected by an economic downturn. Survey your audience, then segment your marketing so you’re appealing to the right people at the right time.
This may seem like a little too much extra work, but it’s worth it. Depending on your email service provider, segmenting your email list may be pretty simple to do. You can segment your other marketing tactics by gearing it toward a specific audience and narrow things down as you go.
Summary
Marketing in a down economy may seem like a challenge but it’s not impossible to continue to promote your business during this time. Take advantage of these 5 key tips for marketing in a down economy and really focus on meeting your audience where they’re at. This can also be the perfect time to test out new strategies and products and services to meet people’s needs during this time.
