Recession-Proof Your Business With E-Marketing

You probably hear the “R-word” (recession) everywhere you turn, but how can you maximize your brand presence during an economic slump? Marketing plays a vital role when the economy gets tight, yet that's the exact time many companies slash their marketing budgets. Now is the perfect time to consider using online marketing tools for a cost-effective way to stay in front of customers and prospects.

Historically, companies that increased marketing during a recession, while competitors were cutting back, experienced increased brand awareness and sales, emerging from the recession stronger than before. Online marketing tools are so attractive during an economic slump because they allow you to do more, with less.

Cut Printing and Mailing Costs

An obvious way to save is to cut printing and mailing costs on traditional direct marketing campaigns. Lower your budget but redirect efforts into e-newsletters and promotions that go right to your prospects’ inboxes.

E-mail marketing is easier to track than direct mail because, depending on the software you use, you can usually see who opens your emails, forwards them and clicks on links. This makes for easy follow-up when it comes to sales calls or future communication. Why waste money on paper when you can save time plus actually see your results?

If you have a retail operation, email promotions are an excellent way to move inventory.  Online tools let you gather research on specific interests.  So, if you send a promotion on fly fishing rods to those who always read the fly fishing articles in your newsletter, you’re appealing to your customers’ specific interests.  It’s this type of segmentation that makes for an efficient sales strategy.

For maximum impact, divide your e-mail list into targeted markets so your message is directed specifically at your audience. Create a few campaigns using the same template but different copy to quickly and easily speak to your market segment. For instance, if your company serves both higher education and manufacturing clients, write copy that addresses issues of interest to each specific group.

E-Surveys

Marketers have been performing surveys for years, but by doing electronic surveys rather than paper, you’ll be able to get instantaneous feedback without the hassle of shuffling papers and doing data entry.

During a recession, it’s more important than ever to make sure new product development matches customers’ needs. Rather than running on intuition, survey clients and prospects before producing new inventory. Surveys can cover anything from what products to develop to what color an item should be.

Here’s an example of how one company, Crossroads Development Group, did just that for their client Bush Industries, a manufacturer of office furniture. Bush Industries wanted statistics and information on customer requirements before starting new office furniture development. They also wanted to measure the consideration for purchase and price elasticity.  Of course, they didn’t want to wait weeks and weeks for the customer insights.

To get 200 responses in a short timeframe, Crossroads used online marketing tools.  They built a survey to ascertain what customers were looking for in a specific type of office furniture. They also provided an incentive for customers by conducting a drawing for two $250 gift cards. The results from the survey enabled the manufacturer to add several features – which they hadn’t previously considered – to enhance the style and functionality of the furniture. By using an online survey, they were able to conduct what would normally be six weeks of research in just seven days. The quick survey turnaround shortened time to market and provided a huge competitive advantage.

Businesses can also use online surveys to conduct market research to allocate advertising spending. Most people know you should advertise in places your target customers are looking, but it’s not enough to imagine who these customers are. You may think your perfect customer is a middle-aged woman who likes gardening, but you might be surprised to find out that most of your customers are really young men who enjoy fishing. If you perform an online survey of current and prospective customers, you’ll be able to quickly and easily find out valuable information about your customers. If you want a larger response, provide an incentive. By knowing information like annual income, age, gender and hobbies, you’ll be able to choose advertising outlets that fit your target.

Another idea – conduct a customer-listening survey and find out where you can make improvements, and what you’re doing right. This is the perfect way to make your business more customer-centered. Let your clients know you care, and improve your business while you’re at it.

Online Event Promotion

Hosting events is a great way to get the word out about your company, but you don’t want to break the bank doing so. Promoting events online is just another way to not only save money, but make money with the leads you garner from the event. By sending e-vites and directing traffic to an event Web site, you don’t have to send out mass mailings or pay for paper. This may seem obvious, but it’s surprising how many businesses still haven’t converted to online promotions.

Using an online event tool can also save you valuable coordination time.  For example, name badges can be printed exactly as your registrants enter their names.  And, if it’s an annual event, you can build the event Web site once, then simply change the details every year.

Build Your List, Broaden Your Reach

A strong e-mail list is the foundation for a good e-mail marketing campaign. You can’t have one without the other, but how do you compile the addresses for that list? The simplest way to get new contacts is to have an opt-in on your homepage. This sounds obvious, but many businesses neglect to do this. Having your newsletter online is a good way for visitors to evaluate whether or not they want to sign up to receive it.

Conducting an online sweepstakes is another way to increase contacts. Make sure you include an option to actually opt-in for the newsletter. This can be as simple as a question at the end of the sweepstakes. Your sweepstakes could even be paired with a Web site usability or customer satisfaction survey linked from your homepage. Kill two birds with one stone – get feedback while gaining contacts.

The best way to prosper during a recession is to continue marketing your businesses and to listening to your customers. Online marketing tools help you do just that and save money.