Download Effective Marketing Strategies to counter the Economic Slowdown

Dr.S.Muni Raj
HOD/MBA
PSV College of Engineering and Technology-Krishnagiri(Dt).,Tamilnadu.,India.
Mobile:9994309962
E-Mail:[email protected]
Effective Marketing Strategies to counter the Economic Slowdown
Introduction:
Cutting back on marketing costs seems like an obvious decision to make in the
face of a slowing economy. But this could do your business more harm than good.
Decreasing marketing efforts will lead to your business losing its visibility, revenue
growth, customer retention and eventually its competitive edge.
Marketing is in-fact essential to surviving an economic slowdown. What can change is
your approach and strategy.
Marketing promotion doesn’t have to be expensive for it to be effective. Some of
the most effective marketing strategies will cost you next to nothing but will require your
time and hard work for it to yield the necessary results.
Here are 5 inexpensive but effective marketing strategies that will help you boost your
business:
Continue to Advertise
• Change the content such that it prompts action. Advertising attractive promotions/offers
on you website will lead to new sales opportunities and will keep customers coming back
to your site.
• Sending prospective customers monthly e-flyers that contain valuable information about
the products/services you offer.
• Online advertising. It is essential to find advertising that is best suited for your business
and your budget. Free online advertising is also available.
Don’t forget your existing customers
• Keep in touch with your customers. Sending regular updates about new product
introductions, special offers and support programs will keep your company alive in your
customers mind
• Offer them special discounts and incentives for their loyalty. This in turn will give you
the opportunity to Cross sell and Upsell additional products/services to customers in the
future.
Give them something more for less
• Make sure that your business is providing superior quality of products/ services at the
lowest possible costs. This will give you an edge over your competition and satisfied
customers are sure to bring in new customers for your business.
• Try and provide additional services such as online/telephone support, additional
warranties on products etc. for free. This will please existing and potential customers and
will not cost you much financially.
E-newsletter
• Publish and send email news letters on a monthly basis to all prospective and existing
clients conveying new products/services offered by your business, your latest
achievements, new employees, management changes, new markets, discount programs,
etc.
Adapt and Accommodate
• If your business does not deal with small customers or small orders, and fails to address
their general grievances then you need to become more flexible. The financial benefits
will be less but it might provide your business with the basic operational expenses and in
turn more customers will be served leading to the possibility for gaining new business by
word of mouth.
Impact of marketing Strategies
Traditional marketing speak has it that during a global slowdown (such as the one
we are seeing today), a decrease in consumer demand leads to lower levels of consumer
spending. Hence logically, there should be a proportionate decrease in marketing spend,
especially since budgets are tight. And generally, marketing and advertising are the first
victims of organizational budget cuts. However, today more and more marketers are
beginning to perceive that, counter-intuitively, what is needed during a slowdown is
increased investment in marketing to boost flagging sales, as well as to gain competitive
advantage.
During a slowdown, the marketplace is less cluttered and you can use marketing to
make an impact and steal a march on your competitors. This is especially advisable for
smaller companies which, during normal circumstances, may not have the same resources
or power as a larger competitor. Secondly, a period of slow economic activity may be just
what your marketing department needs – to take a breather, reevaluate strategies and fix
that which is not working. So don’t give in to despair and blindly slash marketing
budgets. Instead, follow these six high-impact-low-cost tips and see how your marketing
initiatives can bring you benefits during a slowdown, benefits that will last long after the
recession has ended.
Focus on managing and satisfying your existing customers
During a slow period, many companies invest all their resources in customer acquisition,
mistakenly thinking that it would boost sales and enhance revenue. However, this tends
to be a wasted effort; during a recession, people are risk-averse and wary, tending to
move slowly, causing sales cycles to be longer and conversion not forthcoming.
A slowdown is, in fact, the right time to strengthen already existing relationships by
focusing on your current customers, offering them value-added services and showing
them that they can continue to rely on and trust you. Use the customer data at your
disposal to design measurable and effective CRM programs. If needed, make extra
concessions to your existing customers and they will remember this once the market goes
into an upswing.
Use lead management to maximise the value of each lead
If you do decide to go after new customers, then invest in lead management tools, since
you need to ensure that every dollar spent on a lead helps you get the most value out of
that lead. As one marketer points out, “What this means is you need lead scoring to
identify which leads are highly engaged, and lead nurturing to develop relationships with
qualified prospects who are not ready to engage with sales.” More efficiency in managing
leads helps you maximise value from every lead you have, lowering your eventual costs
and maximising, in turn, your shot at success during a downturn.
Adapt your products and services to suit the new environment
As the economic environment changes, so do customer attitudes,spending patterns and
buying behaviour. This means that your products and services need to adapt to the new
circumstances. This could simply imply adapting your messages to the market to
address current concerns. Or, you may need to customise your offer to be more relevant
to your customers during these tough times. Do not assume that just because you know
your customers well, what satisfied them in the past will continue to attract them. A small
change in your messaging tactics could help you ride out the downturn, and successfully
at that.
Leverage the power of the Internet
The Internet is the single most cost-effective marketing tool with massive reach. A
downturn is the ideal time to exploit the power that the worldwide web offers; not only is
online marketing cheaper than traditional marketing, but it also reaches across borders to
a far wider audience. Additionally, online marketing lends itself beautifully to
measurement of investment, with tools like search marketing and email marketing
allowing you to measure your Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI). The internet
also offers a variety of innovative tools – viral marketing, blogging and other social
networking tools, online press release distribution and Google adwords – allowing you to
use a combination of these to keep your marketing vibrant and creative; all at a fraction
of the cost of advertising or offline PR.
The growing popularity of Web2.0 provides impetus to this movement to take brand
building and visibility online. If you have not had the time so far to figure out what
Web2.0 is all about (a common enough malady given constant deadlines and pressure)
now is the time to find out how you can use it effectively. Use this slow period to learn
about Web2.0 and to integrate it within your spectrum of marketing activities.
Invest in measurable marketing tools like direct marketing
Put your advertising strategy aside for now and instead invest in a direct marketing
programme – this is cheaper to execute, can help you reach more people, allows for
repetitive messaging, and perhaps, most importantly, allows you to measure your
investment in marketing. And devising measurable programs during a slowdown allows
you to make a stronger case to continue investing in marketing. At this time, you would
be well advised to cut down on channels that do not lend themselves easily to ROMI,
such as advertising, and instead focus on channels like direct marketing.
Tweak your marketing strategy to include ‘proof’ of your products and services
As seen earlier, people are more risk-averse during a slowdown. To overcome this:
strategically, you need to build trust and reassure your customers and prospects.
Tactically, it means that you need to promote your offerings as low-risk, reliable and
credible; in short that you are a ‘safe bet’. Focus on building credentials – your marketing
communicating should revolve around customer references, expert opinions, awards and
recognition, and strategic partnerships and alliances. Prospects will often take heart from
what their peers say about you - that you have been tested and proven good.
Focus on building credentials – your marketing communicating should revolve
around customer references, expert opinions, awards and recognition, and strategic
partnerships and alliances
All in all, the biggest mistake that you could make at this point would be to stop investing
in marketing, when you need to actually maintain or even increase your investment in
this area. Take advantage of the lean market now, and make an impact at a lower cost.
Conclusion:
Traditional marketing speak has it that during a global slowdown (such as the one we are
seeing today), a decrease in consumer demand leads to lower levels of consumer
spending. Hence logically, there should be a proportionate decrease in marketing spend,
especially since budgets are tight. And generally, marketing and advertising are the first
victims of organizational budget cuts. However, today more and more marketers are
beginning to perceive that, counter-intuitively, what is needed during a slowdown is
increased investment in marketing to boost flagging sales, as well as to gain competitive
advantage.