The Survival Guide to Recession
Want to see significant gains on competition during slow economic times?

I don’t need to tell you that we are facing tough economic times ahead. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock you’ve already heard it 1000 times. You’re well aware of the potential impact that this will have on your business and that it will most likely affect cash flow. You are probably already looking at ways to cut costs. Of course downsizing seems to be a logical step to take in the face of a possible recession. Like all businesses, you will be taking certain precautions to lessen the effects at the same time attempting to maintain and improve sales amidst debilitating budget cuts. So is the conundrum of how, what or whom should get the axe.

“When times are tough, it is time to invest, not cut…if we cut marketing during such times, the impact is damaging and it can take you longer to get back to where you were” – Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive, WPP Group, as quoted in MediaWeek, October 7, 2008.

Radical measures aim to keep big boats afloat. History tells us that as the economy weakens, so does a company’s marketing spend. In fact, the first departments to suffer are usually marketing and communications. “For the first time in more than forty years, total marketing communications budgets will be flat or down for two consecutive years.” – Jack Myers, Jack Myers Media Business Report, October 13, 2008. Over the past couple of weeks the media has highlighted that job cuts are already happening in high numbers and ad agencies are preparing for the pain passed down via drastically cut media spending. But making your marketing staff redundant and freezing your marketing strategy could be the biggest mistake you make. These areas need boosting in order to battle the recession head on.

Strengthen relationships with your customers
Smart companies know that a slow economy creates opportunity to gain competitive advantage. The best time to invest in communications is now. Up keeping media presence will in turn increase customer confidence and that all important loyalty factor. Being ready to win the old customers of your competitors, means making yourself top of mind for just the moment they are ripe for the picking. Not only will new customers help to boost sales and provide revenue during tough times, they will ensure the future success and growth of the business. At a time when competitors are rebuilding from the ground up, you’ll be ten steps ahead.

Prioritise Marketing and Advertising
The reasons we advertise when business is good, isn’t often the same reason we advertise when times are bad. During high times advertising is employed to help launch a new product or develop brand presence. During tough times advertising is the perfect vehicle to re-position and increase market share and voice. In the event that your competitor cuts back their advertising, a great opportunity presents itself. Use the downturn of others to your advantage and maximise your exposure to reach out to both existing customers and the ones you haven’t been able to secure. Be a dominant player in the market. Think about who your business needs to be and reassess who you need to target.

Readdress Marketing Tactics
Traditional media advertising has become unaffordable for most businesses, not to mention less effective as people have learnt to switch off. TV, radio and print are not as feasible as they once were. Unless you are a big brand FMCG or financial sector, it is most likely that your advertising budget hasn’t stretched that far in a long while. Taking stock means investing a reduced budget into other, more affordable communications methods. So what medium has just as much exposure as traditional forms of media? The internet!

Shift Ad Budgets Online
Online Marketing is affordable, highly targeted, measurable and accountable advertising. A strong online presence reinforces your company’s strength and businesses already doing this are finding themselves miles ahead of their competition, in market share and brand equity. In fact, the internet is the world’s most rapidly growing marketing medium as more and more businesses catch on to its unprecedented power. Fact: in the first nine months of this year, online ad spend in Australia reached $17.3 billion, a 14 percent increase from the $15.2 billion recorded during the same stretch in '07, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Go To Your Customers
Your advertising budget may have been cut, but your options haven’t. The internet offers loads of choice. Depending on the individual needs of your business an integrated online marketing plan could include Display Ads, Email Marketing, Social Network
Marketing, Co-branding, Search Engine Optimisation, Pay-Per-Click, e-Commerce, and
more. Opting for online methods can give your business more than just an advantage.
It can build brands, push products, engage consumers with its interactive
experiences, call consumers to action and generate leads. With technology right
at our fingertips we interact with the internet everyday - email, news feeds,
internet banking, online purchases, and so forth. So it makes sense to go to
digital environments to find your customers.

Create Depth and Breadth
Unlike any other form of media, the Internet allows marketers to
reach consumers from path to purchase to post-sale and for the life
of the customer. Online Marketing provides you with an
opportunity to maximize communication with your consumers,
maintaining and strengthening relationships over time. You can
provide your customer with all the information they need about
your products – where to get it, how to get it, how it works, why
it’s better, etc. Another advantage of online, in comparison to
traditional media advertising, is that it’s not bound by a page,
poster, pixels or seconds. Through feature and benefit driven
information, and the opportunity to present that information in
a way that’s visually appealing and interactive, your
consumer’s decision in investing in your product becomes
effortless.

Connect and Engage
In an environment filled with advertising clutter, it’s little surprise
that customers have learnt to switch off. Interruption advertising is
no longer as effective as it used to be. Consumers wish to be informed and educated in a subtle and non-intrusive way. It is the emergence of a phenomenon known as ‘Permission Marketing’ and involves creating customer involvement, then gaining consumers trust, and ultimately their loyalty by offering some benefit in return for listening to your advertising message. Internet Advertising is at the heart of this concept. Use this time to build your database, get your target market involved in your brand and build their trust. This way, when current economic conditions pass and people are ready to spend again, you’ll be right on the top of their shopping list.