Why Businesses Must Continue to Invest in their Marketing in a Challenging Economic Climate

Many of us have been used to tightening our belts, especially during the Covid years. During an economic downturn, some businesses look at reducing or even removing their marketing strategy completely, but although psychologically you may feel like you're protecting the business, it will inevitably create a lot of damage and cost a lot of time and money to fix further down the line.

There are very few businesses which can thrive or even survive during a period of economic uncertainty by being ‘less visible’ and if you look around you will soon spot the companies and brands which actually increase their budgets in order to increase market share. 

We actually executed more marketing activity than ever during Covid and are doing so now too; not only because marketing is an investment (not an expense), but because when others cut their budgets, they open the door for more opportunity for you and your company. 

The great thing is that with Digital Marketing especially, the days of guessing where your audience may be looking and taking a punt are gone as data can be tracked in a way that’s not possible with more traditional marketing. Therefore you can be reassured by the fact that you are not wasting money during a tricky period. You can lower your budgets if necessary - while still increasing your response rates by working smartly. We can help with that.

Equally, with digital marketing you can see real time response rates and respond quickly, and the fact that it's measurable means you can clearly see your return on investment. Evidence from the 1990s’ recession showed that brands like Jif experienced sales growth of 57% after increasing their advertising during the recession. There are many more examples like this. 

Marketing has come a long way since then however consumers still react the same in a recession. Business will continue even in an economic downturn and the question for you is – do you want some of that business or not? 

Here are our top three reasons why continuing your marketing activity during an economic downturn is essential:

1. Some of your competitors will be slashing their marketing efforts which means you have an immediate opportunity. Take advantage of a less cluttered marketing space to stand out. You can also find that social media and search engine advertising are cheaper as they largely work from a bidding system so your budgets will go further. For those stopping their social media and search engine activity, new customers will be more difficult to reach, and existing clients will be unaware of new products or services. Invisibility will creep up on you.

2. Your potential clients and existing clients are spending more time online so there's a greater opportunity to be seen. During a recession people go out less so you need to make sure your target audience are seeing you and that you remain relevant by offering valuable, clear content and messaging. Make it easy for people to buy from you. 

3. Nurture and grow your community (or fanbase) - post pandemic, consumers have never felt a bigger sense of community and willingness to support local businesses than they do now. They want to find you and are actively looking for you, so you need to make sure you're there to be found. Local SEO, social ads and marketing, therefore, are a very important part of your strategy.

Our advice is during an economic downturn, it's even more vital to allocate marketing budget in the right places, track and adapt accordingly.

Re-building later requires large investments of time and money. Remember that by continuing with your marketing efforts, you are investing in the future and preventing a large financial hit later to gain back any ground you’ve lost – if your business can even survive. 

Keep cracking on and you'll be so relieved when the tide turns - you'll be two steps ahead of your competitors. 

If you want to know more - please feel free to drop a line at liz@totalguideto.com if you would like any marketing advice.