marketingguru

By Mrs. Killeen Gonzalez

Every business owner knows that the economy is in the proverbial tank right now but what some might not know is what to do to help their business to survive.

The first thing a business owner should do is to take a deep breath and remember that during any recessionary period there will always be emerging markets as well as customer attrition.   After all, like most things in life, business and the economy are cyclical.   Therefore one of the keys to survival is to not focus on what was lost, but what there is to gain.   In other words, focus a laser beam onto the customers you currently have.   Keeping them is 1/6^th the cost of obtaining new ones.   There are several ways to do this.   Active listening and responding to your best clients’ wants and needs is one of the more basic ones.

During periods of economic upheaval customers tend to retreat to what feels secure.   They begin to question all of their spending.   And when they do that no customer-business relationship is safe.   Because of this it is imperative that your marketing message emphasizes why buying your product over a less expensive alternative is a sound decision.   What you absolutely don’t want to do is get into a pricing war with your competitors.   In a pricing war no business truly wins.

It is a well known fact that 73% of all consumers buy for reasons other than price.   It is also known that consumers actually see a product or services’ price is indicative of its value.   Sure a deep discount now may result in short term sales but in the long run competing on price is going to result in profit loss.   What you are actually doing when you deeply reduce your price is teaching your consumer three things.   First, that your original selling price was grossly inflated and that you were in essence taking advantage of them.   Second, you are telling them that if they wait long enough you may lower your price again.   And third, that your product or service is not as valuable as they originally thought.   These actions open up the door to your competitors who were wise enough not to devalue their product in the first place.

So what are the alternatives to deep discounts you may ask?   There are actually several.   You can consider extending your product line to include less costly alternatives, add value to the original product to boost its worth, discontinue sluggish product lines altogether, create totally new product lines, review and change your products distribution channels, form strategic partnerships with ancillary channel members, re-evaluate your target market segments and diversify just to name a few.

Out of all those alternatives perhaps the simplest one to execute is increasing your products perceived and actual value.   Make sure that the consumer understands that your higher price is indicative of the product’s value by highlighting features, advantages and benefits that they the consumer want and or need.   You can focus on or employ such things as loyalty programs, extended warranties, gifts for purchase, and 24 hour customer support.

Another way to survive a recession without touching your product or your products price is to re-evaluate your marketing plan.   You can’t afford to waste money on marketing efforts that achieve marginal results.   Look for more economical ways of reaching your customer base such as digital.   In addition pay special attention to marketing efforts that also increase your customer to product engagement ratio like P-Urls.   Above all remember where there is a will, there is a way.  

Do not decrease your marketing budget; simply find ways to do more with what you have.   One of the primary goals of marketing has always been to keep a product first and foremost in the minds of consumers.   Remember that you can not do that, especially during a recession, by cutting back on your product’s exposure.   If after all is said and done, you still ultimately have less money to spend go back to the basics.   This means increasing your public relations efforts to supplement your decreasing advertising budget.   Either way there are alternatives.

In summary, though times are hard now they will eventually improve.   Keep your eyes and ears on your customers, don’t revert to a slash and burn mentality, get creative with more, and re-evaluate all the ways you are doing business.   In the end your chief job as a business owner should be to use everything in your power to weather the storm and ensure that you will be there for your customers now and well into the future.

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