Digital Marketing During Unprecedented Times

With a looming recession on the horizon, it presents a time of uncertainty for many businesses, with many looking for measures to ensure the long-term safety of their company. Many issues have the potential to pop up during a period such as a recession, but there are also solutions. It is important to ensure that you remain calm and weather the storm. There are always solutions to problems that arise in unprecedented times.

One of the most common courses of action during tough financial times is for businesses to reduce their marketing budget considerably. This of course is not the thing to do. Your business’ marketing in a recession is one of the best ways to not only steady the ship but also set yourself up for long-term success. 

During times of financial instability, marketing budgets tend to be the first budget to see reductions. Typically, the rule of thumb is that between 5% and 10% of revenue is the appropriate budget for marketing, but this is often cut considerably when revenue figures are put in doubt. 

What to do with your marketing in preparation for a recession

Times of instability present different issues for different businesses, but the important thing to do is assess what your current situation is, and what you want your situation to be at the end of the recession. Working out what it is that you want, whether that is short-term or long-term success, will help you establish your plan of action. 

Stepping back and realigning means you make the most informed decision. For those who currently don’t have any sort of online presence, now is the optimal time to take the plunge. With fewer people likely to venture out onto the high street and visit shops in person, ensuring your business has a prominent online presence could make all the difference in making it through a period of financial instability. 

If you’re unsure how to move your business online and take advantage of the potential traffic, why not get in touch? Here at Peaky Digital, we are experts when it comes to helping businesses get found online.

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Advantages of maintaining your Digital Marketing in a recession

A lot of digital marketing should be approached with long-term goals in mind, even those channels that are likely to show better results, such as Pay-per-click. Channels such as SEO (Search engine optimisation) are often one of the first to be pulled due to the fact it doesn’t return instant results as PPC does. 

However, there is a lot to be gained from maintaining or even increasing your business’ marketing budget during this period. For example, if you maintain your budget for SEO, you remove the chance of your website seeing negative movements in the search engine results pages (SERPs). On the flip side, your business also has the opportunity to gain positions. If you’re panicking, it is likely that your competitors are also panicking, meaning that with your cool head, you have the opportunity to capitalise on the faltering competition. While others look to reduce their budget and SEO efforts, you could be increasing your market share when you become the go-to business for your offering. It is worth noting, that when you increase your spend with the intention of gaining market share during a recession, you are likely to see your budget work harder for you. What this means is that while you have increased spend, you will see a greater return than if you were to just maintain your budget.  

Lower market competition means lower cost-per-lead

While above we have mentioned the ability to gain market share when it comes to SEO, there is also an opportunity to be seized with your PPC efforts. With fewer people advertising on platforms such as Google and Bing, your ads will become cheaper as a result of less competition. Should your ads be set up properly, this should result in a more cost effective cost-per-lead rate. 

People are spending more time online – Be there when they are

While consumers will be more frugal with their spending and the purse strings will be getting tighter, this doesn’t mean they won’t be looking. Window shopping is very common and during a recession it highlights the importance of ensuring that your marketing strategy is watertight. By being in the conversation at a time where they don’t necessarily have the means to spend, they will remember your business and your products when the financial freedom returns. 

Ways to do this are by ensuring your SEO efforts are maintained, but also by continuing to make noise on social media, either organically or through paid ads. Organic social media is a great and cost effective way to continue to remind your customers about your business or service. As it does not require a budget to post, all it takes is regular and consistent posting from a business account to keep consumers aware of your business.

This also however does highlight the importance of getting your social media posting right. If you’re looking for guidance on how to take advantage of social media, look no further. Read our key principles for social media design. 

Unsure about what your Digital Marketing should look like in a recession? Get in touch with the Experts

Here at Peaky Digital, we know that no two businesses are the same, which is why we always approach our clients’ marketing with the same unique approach. If you’re unsure of how to maximise your marketing during periods such as a recession, why not get in touch with us? We’re here to help you and your business make the most whilst your competitors may be faltering.

If you have any questions, we’d love to hear from you. In the meantime, for more advice on how to take your digital marketing to the next level, visit our blog. For even more information on the industry, visit our whitepapers page.