Why marketing during a recession is so important

During a recession such as this it can be natural to cut or reduce your marketing budget. You may justify this move through the theory that consumers are buying less so it could be a waste of precious funds. But this couldn’t be further from the truth.  

History has taught us that marketing in a recession can be greatly beneficial to your company and help grow your brand faster than it would during a more stable financial climate.

Why is recession marketing so important?

The saying “out of sight, out of mind” is truly relevant to the world of marketing. By reducing your exposure and coverage, your consumers are likely to become less aware of your business and become more likely to use other brands. By reducing your marketing, regardless of the economic climate, you will be damaging your brand long-term.

Therefore, it is vital to keep on marketing through a financial downturn. Your marketing efforts are your connection to your consumers. Without them, it’s likely you will see an even greater drop in sales, with your competitors that are still marketing drawing away your customers.

If you can keep your marketing budget stable or even increase this, you have the potential for higher conversion rates than in a positive financial climate.

Why is recession marketing often more successful?

There are a lot of reasons for this. As many other companies cut their budgets you will see less competition for those prime advertising spots meaning you can get more exposure for less money.

There is also less investment in innovation, meaning fresh lines and products which are started during a recession can often be more successful.

A good example of this is Amazon. Back in the last recession, owner Jeff Bezos announced to his stakeholders that their business grew by 28% year on year. The reason? They didn’t stop marketing, in fact they launched brand new products, such as the Kindle, into the market, which fuelled their growth.

As you know, it then rapidly became a best-selling product for Amazon. It has now sold millions of units worldwide, grown and developed since and is still going strong to this day.

This proves that there is still so much scope for success during a recession; regardless of the size of your business.

How to market successfully in a recession?

Recession marketing isn’t about drastically changing your strategy or your target market. It is about re-evaluating consumer behaviours which can often change during this time and adapting you strategy to fit.

Market research is a valuable tool both in and out of a recession but during a financial downturn it is especially useful to show you which platforms and tools could be most effective to use at this time.

Also, keep in mind your Share of Voice and Market Share. These are measurements used to gauge how much of the market you have saturated and how far your reach goes. These two units also directly correlate with each other meaning that a 10% Share of Voice eventually leads to a 10% Market Share.

During the recession this can be exceedingly effective. As companies cut their marketing budget, if you keep yours the same or perhaps increase it slightly you can see a jump in this share which can lead to long term success in capturing the market or sector.

But a key point to consider to boost these aspects is to find out what is holding you back from capturing those extra consumers. Conduct your research to see what your target market thinks and feels about your brand and base your campaign around how to flip those negativities around.

Alternatively, you can also target your loyal consumers to encourage them to remain with your brand. You could consider bringing back some old branding which was popular. Nostalgia is a successful marketing tool as it brings back past good memories and makes consumers reminisce. We are already seeing this with a lot of big brands such as Asda and their “That’s Asda price” pocket tap.

As you can see marketing during a recession is vital to a company’s success and can lead to more growth than you may get in a positive financial climate.

If you are looking for more hints and tips on how to effectively market during a recession or seeking support for your next campaign, we are here to help answer all your questions.

As a company who was founded and created in the middle of the last recession, we know how to not only survive but thrive in a financial downturn. From SEO to social media strategy we can help in all aspects of your marketing to help you succeed in a recession.

Contact us today to find out how we can help your market strategy be the best it can be during these times and beyond.