Recession Marketing Part 2: 9 Survival and Growth Strategies

Strategy #4:
Take advantage of dropping marketing costs

Media spending is plummeting and we haven’t hit the bottom yet. As a result, online and offline media costs are dropping—and, in some cases, this trend is likely to be long-term or permanent.

Here’s where we’ve successfully helped marketers with cost-cutting negotiations:

• Printing
• Media costs
• Lists
• Postal discounts
• Media options

The price of radio and TV time has seen deep cuts—which may be why the ubiquitous Snuggie^™ ads aren’t confined to late-night TV spots.

In addition to lower costs, you’ll find deals and opportunities never seen before. For example, many local newspapers and even The Wall Street Journal are selling ad space right on the front page.

Strategy #5:
Reevaluate your offer and make it preemptive

In this recession, consumers are hunting for the best way to get more for their money. It’s critical to update your value proposition so that it’s powerful and preemptive: It should answer prospects’ questions before they ask them and overcome their objections.

Remember, your offer is not about the product—it’s about the prospect and what the prospect gets. The strongest offers reinforce value. They focus on the deal that the prospect will receive and present a get-morefor-your-money image.

Here are 3 components of a successful offer:

1. A discount or price reduction. Right now people are looking for value, and a discount is the simplest way to deliver it. Just look at the most successful catalogs, emails and mailing pieces. You’ll find discounts in every one, from consumer retailers like J. Crew to B2B marketers like Thermo Fisher Scientific. Even designer makeup and beauty products are on sale, which is rare.
2. A premium. It’s a gift, a bribe, a strong enticement: Add value by giving something away. This can help you justify a higher price if you are unable to offer a hefty discount.
3. A guarantee. Reassure your prospects that they have nothing to lose. If you don’t have a guarantee, now is the time to start one.

Convince prospects that they’ll be losing out on something big without accepting your offer—recession or no recession.

Strategy #6:
Concentrate on your database

For most marketers, 20% of your customers represent 80% of your profits. Any significant loss of this core group could mean a serious hit to your sales, profits and future.

Remember, it is always three to four times cheaper to upsell or crosssell an existing customer than to acquire a new one.

That’s why you should implement these customer-retention strategies:

• Upselling and cross-selling. Reevaluate your current process. Are you being aggressive enough in offering products or services that complement your prospect’s purchases?
• Loyalty programs. It is more important than ever to reward your best customers with extra perks to keep them coming back. Creating an exclusive club for loyal customers is also effective.
  Here is an example of conversion series timeline.
  
  The key is to use a step-by-step process to convince leads to become customers. It typically takes more than one
• Conversion series. If you offer a free trial, be sure you have a professional follow-up direct marketing conversion series in place to convert these prospects to buyers. Many marketers make the mistake of letting qualified, interested prospects slip away easily. See the chart above for an example of a conversion series time line.
• Retention series. Don’t wait around for your customers to renew subscriptions, reorder products or come in for your services—remind them of your value, and reinforce their decision to purchase from you.
• Database lead management. If you don’t convert those hard-earned leads to sales, you’re wasting your marketing efforts.
• Reactivation campaigns. Use your improved, preemptive offer, complete with premiums and discounts, to entice former customers to come back. Craft copy that demonstrates why your product is the best choice right now.

Strategy #7:
Revamp your corporate website

Static corporate home pages do nothing to encourage sales or improve your results. Yet so many marketers still rely on these non-marketing or antimarketing sites.

Instead, turn to direct marketing microsites and landing pages: Individual websites geared toward specific products and promotions. These sites use only direct response copy and art to sell a product or service. To improve efficiency and boost response, they don’t have navigation distractions.

For example, you may want to create unique pages to capture leads and sales, or develop a product-specific sales page.

Strategy #8:
Streamline your shopping cart to boost sales

It’s a fact: 7-1/2 out of 10 online prospects will abandon their shopping cart before completing a purchase.

Here are 2 big mistakes to avoid…

Mistake #1—“Tombstone” carts. This is what I call shopping carts without sales copy. They’re a dead-end. Your cart should engage prospects, reassure them that they are making a good decision and lead them right to the “Buy Now” button. It must have direct response sales copy and direct response art.

Mistake #2—Multistep process. The more you ask your prospect to click, the more sales you’ll lose. A one- to two-page seamless checkout process is more effective and efficient than a multistep process. Prospects will be less likely to have second thoughts and click away.

Above all, keep it simple.

Strategy #9:
Reevaluate your media

Be sure to put your recessionappropriate USP to work in all campaigns—including online and broadcast media.

1. Direct mail. You’re still able to produce a low cost per lead or sale with this highly targeted medium…even in a recession. It should be a major component of any marketing mix.
2. Paid search. Easy paid search is dead in this recession. But the right mix of keyword strategy, powerful direct response ads and separate, dedicated landing pages with timely content will produce a very high ROI—although the numbers will be a very small part of your overall leadgeneration and sales program.
3. Email. The days of sending a sales letter via email are over. Sales hype will not work. Instead, use an information-driven, content-rich email. Remember value.
4. TV and radio. Rates for prime airtime have been dropping, so now’s your chance to renegotiate rates and retest your options, such as time of day.

What worked last year is not going to work now because the market psychology is completely different.

Opportunities for success are out there
if you know where to look

Remember that your prospects’ spending patterns change in a recession, but they’ll still be spending money somewhere.

Consumers may start to give up trips to the coffee shop in favor of a do-it-yourself espresso machine. Businesses may choose new software instead of new hardware, or invest in extra tech support to avoid an expensive technology meltdown.

With these strategies, you can turn this recession into an opportunity for growth, profits and greater market share.