However, due to the business shutdowns and restrictions many consumers will feel poorer and poorer. They will find their buying power shrinking due to unemployment or under employment. Many of them will be tightening their belts due to uncertainty and in order to ride the storm longer.

With this said, is it still practical to keep marketing products during the coming recession? Marketers and businessmen should fasten their seatbelts for a long and difficult 2020 and keep in mind these tips for marketing during a recession.

Research The Customer

Instead of cutting marketing budget all together, companies and businesses should find out how their customers are redefining value and responding to the changes to their lives brought about by the virus.

Due to these changes, customer spending is changing. For example, many of them will be looking into wellness in order to boost their immunity. Many people are also forgoing vacations abroad due to strict travel restrictions and are shifting their spending to making their lives at home easier. Knowing how the customer is behaving due to these changes can help your marketing efforts become more effective.

Focus on Family Values

Many people are spending lockdowns alone or far from their family. Many of them especially with elderly family members cannot visit each other in order to avoid transmitting the disease. Most of all, many people including medical frontliners have lost their lives fighting the virus. All of this has made us aware how important family and friends are.

As hard economic times loom, many of us will be retreating to our communities, families and friends in order to seek comfort. Instead of going for campaigns with the rugged outdoors or enjoying solitude, replace these scenes with homey family scenes to remind customers that they are not alone.

Maintain Marketing Spending

Believe it or not, now is not the time to cut your marketing budget. Many of your competitors will be cutting their marketing budget during the recession. This is well documented which means now is the time to step up your marketing efforts in order to get a bigger market share.

Think about it. Competitors will be dialing down their efforts which mean they will be less visible to your target market. Now is the time to seize the opportunity to get a larger piece of the pie and you can only do this by spending money.

Focus on Existing Customers

Regardless of what you’re selling, your biggest asset is your existing customer base.

Make sure that you are focusing marketing energy on making sure that they are happy, satisfied and engaged. Bend over backwards to keep them loyal to your brand. If these customers are happy and satisfied, they will reward you by recommending your product to friends, family or through reviews.

Adjust Pricing Tactics

Customers will be shopping for the best prices. This is because they want more value now more than ever. You don’t necessarily have to reduce prices but you can offer quantity discounts or even extend credit to long-standing customers.

During recession, price cuts attract more customers compared to promotions like sweepstakes or mail-in offers.

Bottom Line

Consumer confidence is going to hit an all-time low. However, there are many studies pointing out the advantages of maintaining or even upping marketing budgets during a recession. Businesses who did this were able to increase sales and market share during the recession and afterwards.

The post Tips For Marketing During A Recession appeared first on Creativ Digital.

When you are a business, you want the best marketing agency money can buy because you want to be noticed and stand above your competition. In most cases, management usually prefers to deal with big or popular marketing agencies in the hopes of overcoming their competition.

However, bigger might not always be better. In fact, dealing with big marketing agencies can sabotage your growth as a company.

If you’re a business owner, looking for ways to reach a bigger audience hiring a small marketing agency might be to your advantage. Here are reasons why.

Less Red Tape

When you’re dealing with a big marketing company, there are many people involved and this does not usually include the team you’re working with. You have to talk to so many people, messages can get lost in the shuffle.

If you have direct contact with the team that’s handling your account, chances are you still have to deal with many team members which can be troublesome and make it difficult for you to get a cohesive team effort.

Smaller agencies on the other hand tend to have smaller teams so there is less people involved in your project so you know you’re dealing with less red tape which can lead to faster and more efficient execution of your marketing efforts.

One-On-One Focus

One of the reasons why marketing agencies grow is that they are able to land big accounts or they have many clients due to their popularity. While this is good news for the agency, this can be bad news for you.

When an agency has lots of clients, they might prioritize big or VIP accounts over you. This can be bad news for you especially if you’re in a competitive space. The sooner you can execute your strategy, the bigger your chance of capturing your target market.

Since small agencies have fewer clients, they actually have more time to devote to your account. This one-on-one attention can be beneficial to businesses as it can help boost their chances of success and help them dominate their competition.

Better and Easier Communication

The staff at a smaller or boutique marketing agencies are usually more communicative and easily available. If you call a team member you won’t be transferred from one department to another or put on hold for minutes at a time. In small agencies if another person other than the one you’re calling answers the phone, the correct person is usually just a shout away.

In a smaller group, communication is easier. This is because there are fewer ears and eyes that need to hear or read your message. The less people involved, the easier it is to get the right message across which makes it easier for teams to execute your message and create an effective marketing strategy.

Flexibility

Smaller agencies are also more flexible compared to big ones. If you need an adjustment in your marketing strategy, chances are you will get it within a reasonable amount of time.

In bigger agencies, even the smallest changes can mean delays. This is because team members will need to submit the adjustment for approvals to the higher ups and then they need to make sure that it is within protocols which will again need approval from their boss. Basically, it just means that changes need the approval of many people which in turn can cause costly delays for your part.

Small teams means there are less people involved which means better flexibility not only in changes that need to be made but also in terms of decision-making.

No BS

Big agencies are made up of industry experts and many of them can really help your brand or company stand out and succeed. However, they are also made up of businessmen who need to make a profit. This can be problematic because profit can be prioritized over the needs of your business.

Companies and their staff have also undergone corporate “brainwashing” resulting in team members that think alike or spew the same spiel over and over again. This is because big businesses tend to stick close to the protocols. This type of attitude can result in unoriginal strategies that can put you behind your competition or hinder your business growth.

Clients who want quicker updates, answers and progress have a better time dealing with small marketing agencies. They are usually quick to the point so conversations are usually on point so that questions are answered and updates are frequent.

Affordable

Big marketing agencies don’t get where they are without charging an arm and a leg. Some of them even charge exorbitant amounts for just a simple promotion. This is because they know that their clients can afford it. If you’re a small business owner, huge marketing bills are not only unaffordable; they can also become a drain to your cash flow.

Luckily, smaller agencies are more wallet-friendly. This is why many corporate clients are getting wiser and are looking for smaller agencies that charge more reasonable fees for their services.

Wrap-Up

For big marketing agencies, a client is just another client. However, for smaller agencies, landing clients is a matter of survival. This is why they tend to be more passionate with projects and with this passion comes more creativity and better focus.

Small marketing agencies are a breeding ground for unique ideas and diligence. While they might not be as popular as their bigger cousins, hiring them can be more advantageous for business needs.

The post Best Reasons To Hire Smaller Marketing Agencies appeared first on Creativ Digital.