Riding the Recession – How To Come Out on Top (part 2)
Promoting your business during tough times is easier than you think. In my last post, I addressed a few case studies and principles of businesses that came out of tough times ahead of their competition by continuing and even increasing their advertising exposure. Today, I’m going to give you some specific examples of how you can apply this to your own business.
A recession is a perfect time to consolidate, refocus and become more efficient across all aspects of your business. Running leaner is a necessity for survival, but that doesn’t specifically mean budget cuts, it means finding out what’s working and what isn’t, dropping what isn’t working and pursuing what is.
1. Survey your customers.
Find out how your customers (past and present) found your business. More specifically, ask your favorite customers (those that are easy to work with, have done business with you multiple times, and are happy with your business) since those are the ones you’d prefer to have more of anyway, right? Did they find you through a referral? In the Yellow Pages? From a print ad or mailer? By searching the Internet and finding your web site? This first step is key.
2. Refocus your marketing.
Are you spending a large portion of your budget on an advertising medium that isn’t carrying its weight? Cut it and refocus your budget on the methods that are working. For example, although it used to be the #1 go-to for consumer services, many businesses found that their ad in the Yellow Pages is no longer bringing in a customer base worthy of its relatively high cost. Today, most consumers start with an Internet search to find what they need.
The best way to capitalize on this more efficient way of marketing is to have a professional website that is custom-tailored to your audience, and direct traffic to it by placing ads online and earning a top search spot for your keywords. Yes, I do make my living by providing web design services, but that allows me to tell you – from experience – just how well they work. I don’t care if you choose my firm or not, just make sure you are working with a professional.
3. Always measure the results.
The key to finding out what is working is real-time (or at least timely) feedback. Use a different phone number or promo code on each of your print advertisements. Ask each new customer how they heard about you. Have analytics installed on your website to track where your visitors come from. Tally all the results regularly, and tweak your marketing to focus on what works. Common sense, yes, but rarely implemented effectively. At my firm we call this ‘returns-based marketing,’ or ‘ROI marketing’ where we check the cost of each advertisement against the returns we net from it. If the ad is not making us more money than we’re spending on it, it gets cut faster than a sheet of construction paper in a second-grade classroom.
I hope this article was helpful in refocusing your thinking on marketing during an economic downturn. Next, I’ll be providing ‘guerrilla’ marketing techniques (low-cost, high-return) to help you brainstorm ideas to reach new customers without needing a venture-capital backer.
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Tony Kau is co-founder of Portland web design and Internet marketing company Vanivo. For service inquiries, you can contact him directly at tony -at- vanivo.com.
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