Introduction
Times are tough. The economy is in a rough spot, and marketers are feeling the pinch. We're all looking for ways to make our dollars stretch further, but it's not always easy. Luckily, there are plenty of things marketers can do right now that will help them weather the storm on their way to recovery—even if they don't feel like earning every penny in this market. And even if you're not currently worrying about how to keep your marketing budget afloat, these tips will still be useful when times improve:
Optimize Limited Budgets
While it's true that many marketers are overspending on ads, the same can be said for budgets in general. Whether you're a small business or a major corporation, it's important to optimize your limited resources and make sure that you're using them as efficiently as possible. Here are some strategies for doing just that:
- Google Ads/Facebook Ads/Retargeting - Google Ads is one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your website; however, if you're not using retargeting or remarketing (aka "custom audiences") then you're only getting part of the picture. These tools allow brands to follow consumers around online and remind them of products they've already purchased from stores before—which means more chances for conversions! Facebook also allows businesses to advertise directly within their newsfeeds by creating ad units based on user data like location. And finally...retargeting helps companies find potential customers who have visited their websites but haven't made purchases yet!
Tap Into Emerging Markets
If you're looking to expand your business in the next few years, emerging markets will be your best bet.
They offer a number of benefits that can help you stand out from the competition:
- Emerging markets are growing faster than mature markets. Because they're still relatively new, they're less saturated with competitors and more receptive to new products and services. If you want to expand your reach and make a name for yourself in an industry that's already highly competitive, emerging markets are great opportunities because they're less saturated with competition—and therefore more likely to adopt new technology.
Reconsider Demographic Targeting
Targeting by demographic is a great way to target your audience and make sure they will respond to your ads. However, if you're not picking the right demographic, you may be wasting money on irrelevant ads that won't turn into sales. The best way to pick the right demographic is to take a look at who is already buying from your brand and then try targeting similar people with similar characteristics.
You can also use tools like Google Analytics (which shows which pages are most popular on your website), Facebook Ads Manager (which lets you see which types of posts perform best on their platform), or BuzzSumo (which shows what content gets shared most often). Once you know where potential customers are hanging out online, it's time for phase two: finding them!
Prioritize Your Channels
In the midst of a downturn, marketers have to be sure that their money is being spent wisely. When you’ve got limited resources, it only makes sense to focus on channels that are working and profitable. You need to know which of your efforts are generating revenue and how much profit they generate so you can work on optimizing those channels.
In addition to focusing on the most profitable channels, marketers should also focus on those channels which are effective. It doesn’t matter if your campaigns aren’t earning a lot of profit if they're not getting any attention from consumers either! The goal here is effectiveness over profitability because what good is it if no one sees your content? Instead, use tools like Google Analytics (or whatever analytics suite applies) to determine whether or not people are interacting with your content by clicking through links or viewing video views or making purchases through an online store after reading an article about it online etcetera et cetera...
Clean Up Your Data
Clean up your data. It's that simple. There are multiple ways you can do this, including:
- Cleaning up your internal systems so that they provide clean data,
- Using an agency or third party like HubSpot to help you sift through and process the data, and then make sure it's clean before handing it off to a vendor (like Google),
- Making sure all of your workflows are consistent across teams by creating new processes for how information is collected and stored.
Don't Stop Advertising Altogether
There are lots of things you can do to prepare for the recession and keep your business afloat, but one thing you don't want to do is stop advertising. This will only make it harder for your company to bounce back when the economy does recover.
While it's true that not everyone is going to have money to spend on marketing during a recession, those who do will likely be more willing than ever before. The key here is knowing how and where they're likely going to spend their money so that when they do decide they want something, at least someone else isn't already giving them what they want at an even lower price!
Focus on Building Brand Awareness and Credibility
If you have a small business or are just starting out, the best way to avoid getting swept under by the recession is by focusing on building brand awareness and credibility.
You should focus on building brand awareness (that is, making sure that people know who your company is) because it helps you get more clients. You can do this by creating excellent quality content that will get shared and talked about among your target audience. Also try giving away free stuff or discount codes in exchange for comments and likes on Instagram posts, Facebook posts, etc., so that people get familiar with what you have to offer them! Importantly, make sure all of your marketing materials are consistent with each other—if they don’t match up then it will look like there isn’t any sort of strategy behind what you do which could make potential clients feel less confident about hiring/buying from someone who hasn't clearly thought things through before launching into action .
You should also focus on building credibility because having credibility means being considered trustworthy enough for people (including potential customers) not only believe what their eyes see but also feel comfortable trusting advice given without question when needed most during hard times such as these when every penny counts towards survival mode mentality takes over due financial struggles become more frequent leading entrepreneurs down path towards bankruptcy if finances aren't kept under control quickly enough."
Conduct an Audience Segmentation Review
- Conduct an Audience Segmentation Review
Segmentation is the process of dividing a large audience into smaller, more manageable groups. It's an essential marketing practice because it helps you understand your audience better and provides context for how they consume content. The greater your understanding of their preferences and tendencies to act on information, the better you can create a marketing message that is tailored to their needs and interests.
- Understand Who They Are & What They're Looking For
Segmenting audiences based on demographic characteristics such as gender, age or location are useful ways to begin segmenting; however marketers should also consider behavioral segments such as "early adopters," "fence sitters" or "late majority." These behavioral segments can be just as important in understanding what makes up an individual's identity within your target market than basic demographic data alone
Use the Pause to Perfect Your Messaging Strategy
You can use this pause to perfect your messaging strategy. We all know that in the long term, good quality content will win out over flashy, short-term tactics. But that doesn't mean you should put off optimizing your messaging until after things start picking up again. In fact, now is an especially good time for marketers to review their strategies and make sure they're on point with their messaging. Here are some ways you might want to think about it:
- Focus on what you do well first and foremost—and then focus on how THAT relates to what customers need from YOU above all else
- Think about how much more important quality of customer service will be than ever before (and therefore how much more important it is that your company excels at customer experience)
- Think about what your competitors are doing (or not doing) right now and why their current approaches aren't working as well as they could be
Get Creative With Your Marketing Spend to Maximize Every Dollar
In the coming months, your marketing team will be under pressure to prove that their efforts are worthwhile. It's a good idea to start thinking about how you will make sure your campaigns meet ROI goals and continue to justify their existence during this time of economic uncertainty. While it's important not to panic and cut budgets across the board, if you're able or willing to shift around some of your existing budget toward more effective channels, now is the perfect time.
The following 10 tips can help marketers maximize their advertising spend in order to get the most out of every dollar they spend on marketing:
- Focus on Your Most Important Channels - Focus on where you need quick wins and where there’s room for improvement with your current channel mix.
- Prioritize Your Advertising Spend – Prioritize where in your funnel each channel performs best so that you’re always spending money towards driving customers down into conversion paths rather than just firing ads at them hoping something sticks along the way (or worse yet – focusing only on brand awareness).
- Use Your Advertising Budget To Build Brand Awareness – Ensure that any paid media program has a clear set of objectives for building awareness for new brands entering an already saturated marketplace; ideally these objectives should align closely with those from other channels such as email marketing, social media marketing etc...
Conclusion
In summary, there are many ways marketers can find new opportunities in the face of an economic downturn. The key is to be creative and stay focused on finding new ways to engage your customers, while making the most of every dollar you spend.
