Recession-proof growth: everything you need to know

Learning how to survive and even thrive in this difficult economic climate.

Digital can provide businesses with a number of advantages that can help them stay afloat during a recession. For example, digital marketing practices can help businesses reach more customers and increase sales. Automation can help businesses streamline their processes and effectively reduce costs, and Conversion Rate Optimisation can help Product, Marketing and eCommerce teams make the most revenue from existing users. 

Businesses can also utilise digital technology to create new products and services. By leveraging the power of strategic digital initiatives, innovative products and services can be developed to help brands stay more relevant to their customer segments, whose behaviours, needs, and pains would have shifted, no doubt, over recent months. By taking advantage of digital, businesses can continue to grow and thrive during a recession. We go into further detail on the types of digital strategies which could be beneficial in these challenging times.

Marketing Practices During a Recession

With the decrease in consumer spending, companies are often forced to make difficult decisions in order to stay afloat. However, with the right strategies, businesses can still succeed, even during a recession.

Company executives and business owners may have an initial knee-jerk reaction and consider cutting their marketing budget to save on costs. However, this action has the opposite effect and creates even more hardships. One of the most important marketing practices during a recession is to focus on cost-effective strategies. What is bringing in that consistent ROI? How can this be optimised? Most would consider ways to reduce their marketing costs, but we believe that it is not about reducing spend but it is about increasing the return on your spending, which is the primary focus.

The trick is learning from previous recessions and determining what works and doesn't. Implementing effective solutions provides a template for success and fewer negative impacts during challenging economic times.

How Can Business Continue to Grow in a Recession

Focusing attention on the effectiveness of websites and customer platforms is essential because the recession makes marketing more important than ever. Some essential methods for optimising your marketing strategy and recession-proofing your business include the following:

• Learn more about customer behaviour
• Purchase more ad space - it should be cheaper than usual!
• Automation to enhance internal efficiencies
• Harness the power of social media
• Optimise existing digital products

Learn More About Customer Behaviour

During a recession, customer behaviour changes significantly. Consumers become more cautious with spending as they prioritise their needs over their wants. They become more price-sensitive, often opting for cheaper, more affordable options. 

Additionally, they may become more selective in their purchases, opting for quality items that will last longer. Furthermore, they may start to buy in bulk or look for discounts and sales to save money. Overall, during a recession, customers become more mindful of their spending habits and are more likely to make decisions based on value rather than impulse.

To become more effective, you must learn more about changing customer behaviours. Stay abreast of your customer's preferences and re-profile them to gauge them with better accuracy. Present compelling information and ads that draw them in and provide them with opportunities. 

Your business must adjust to its needs and learn how to target them appropriately. Learn more about their goals, habits, and activities. Once you know these details, getting information in front of them is more accessible using the right keywords.

Purchase More Ad Space

Advertising during a recession can help businesses stand out among the competition, as many businesses may be cutting back on their advertising budgets. Since there is less competition in the market, Ad space can be purchased at a lower cost than normal increasing performance with less investment and can greatly increase visibility and market share. This can help businesses reach a larger audience, build brand recognition, and potentially increase sales. Making sure to align ads with your overarching strategy and to optimise your ads regularly will ensure the best performance.

Automation

Automation is a great way to increase internal efficiency and consequently reduce costs. It can help streamline processes, reduce paperwork, and increase accuracy while helping to eliminate labour costs by automating certain tasks that were previously done manually. 

Furthermore, it can help reduce error rates (human error), allowing companies to save on costs associated with rework and wasted resources. This improved efficiency can lead to cost savings for the company in terms of time, money, and resources which will be evermore important in 2023. By automating processes, businesses can reduce costs and maximise profits, making them a more competitive option in the market.

Harness the Power of Social Media

Social media has become an invaluable tool for businesses of all sizes. It provides a powerful platform to reach out to customers and potential customers, build relationships, and promote products and services. It's easier to find out what customers want or need and enables learning about their pain points.

It is also incredibly cost-effective to market a business, as it can be done for free or with minimal costs. With the right strategy, businesses can reach a large audience, engage with them, and build loyalty and trust. Social media also allows businesses to track and measure their campaigns' success, allowing them to adjust their strategies and budgets accordingly. By leveraging the power of social media, businesses can maximise their marketing efforts and get the most out of their budgets.

Optimise Existing Digital Products

Optimising digital products is important in increasing return on investment (ROI). By analysing the user experience and making improvements, businesses can ensure that their digital products are as efficient and effective as possible. This can be done by ensuring the product is intuitive; the UX is customer-centric and consistently optimised with changing customer motivations.

Businesses should consider using analytics and deeper insight tools such as Mouseflow or Fullstory to track user behaviour and identify areas of improvement. Businesses can increase ROI and ensure that their digital products are as successful as possible by making changes to the product based on this data.

With a clear strategy, your business can flourish and stay afloat in the financial difficulties we are currently facing. Now is the time to adapt, not stop, with your digital efforts and marketing budget. By focusing your attention on optimising existing digital products and taking advantage of reduced Ad spend you could continue on your journey to being an industry leader irrelevant of the climate.

At Rawnet we deliver strategic digital products and services that create a long-term positive impact for our clients. By providing quality, scalable digital solutions to develop a customer-centric experience whilst diving into internal systems, we can innovate and future-proof clients’ digital products and strategies.