Marketing During a Recession: Three Helpful Tips

I am sure many marketers could back me up for the fact that one of the most challenging parts of our job is to keep up with constant changes. There are so many areas to concentrate on; technical advancements, how consumers find our products and services, macroeconomic trends, etc.

I am sure many marketers could back me up for the fact that one of the most challenging parts of our job is to keep up with constant changes. There are so many areas to concentrate on; technical advancements, how consumers find our products and services, macroeconomic trends, etc.

Let’s look into some of the data surrounding marketing during a recession and dive into ROARs tips to consider during a recession.

Crunching the data

The Bank of England is predicting a lengthy recession this year and as we head closer to 2023, this seems inevitable.

It is vital for us marketers to foresee future consumer behaviour and how companies plan to allocate their marketing budget.

To find this out, we boldly correlate spending tendency from the previous “great” economic recession 2008 – 2012.

Advertisement expenditure surpassed nineteen billion in 2006 and internet advertising reached £2.016 billion.

Between 2007 and 2011 we saw a significant decrease in ad spending but as we reached 2012 the end of the recession expenditure exceeded seventeen billion again.

In 2012, twenty-three million households had broadband connections, six million more compared to 2006. Considering this and the rise of social media advertisers were encouraged to spend more than twice as much on the internet, £5.42 billion.

During the recession, 2009 was considered the nadir where advertisers cut back their spending by 32% compared to 2006.

The path to avoid

The great recession was fuelled by the collapse of the housing market caused by poor financial regulations. This saw banks accept more loan applications without thorough consideration, and many borrowers couldn’t even afford their monthly payments.

Our current economic situation differs because the economy slowing down is mainly caused by the war in Ukraine, Brexit and the growing inflation. It affects a household’s income leading more people to act cautiously regarding their spending.

But what does this mean for business owners? Let’s determine if you should cut back from spending on marketing or advertisement.

Who will spend on marketing during a recession?

Many people would be surprised to hear that growth can only be sustainable if you stay in front of customers’ attention.

The largest companies consistently advertise during economic downturns because they know that when people are ready to spend again, they will remember them and choose them.

If companies choose to cut back their marketing budget, they risk that one of their competitors will swoop in and take advantage of their situation.

The way consumers choose a brand is based on a wide variety of reasons, but one thing is for certain they choose the brands they think they know about.

Three tips to consider for marketing in a recession

Based on historical facts and current economic trends, customers are likely to cut back their spending. A company’s marketing budget can be affected by various factors including, shrinking profit caused by dropped revenue, increasing price of procurement and hiring issues.

Below are our top tips on how you should approach the coming challenging circumstances.

• Spend in a suitable medium

The main advantage of advertising on several channels is that you can reach distinguishable audiences.

During difficult times, it is crucial to measure the success of these channels regularly and focus on the ones that are delivering real results.

• Online presence

It is essential to ensure your organisation communicates that you are still delivering your customer’s favourite products and services.

Use every channel your potential customers are using to inform them whilst always refreshing your business information, promoting your new offers and ensuring superior customer service.

• Key performance indicators

KPIs help your business measure a marketing campaign’s success, which campaign techniques are delivering the best results and highlight the ones that aren’t working.

Study the ones that are driving sales or generating qualified leads and stop the ones that are burning money. Following this method will help you save money and to grow your revenue.

It’s a good best practice to reconsider your KPI’s time-to-time as your priorities might change.

If you would like to find out more about managing your marketing campaigns contact one of our PPC specialists.

Alternatively, take a look at our digital marketing consultancy services.