The recession is upon us and the general outlook is gloomy at best. But that doesn’t mean that you have to accept it. There are ways to thwart the effects of a recession and even thrive in one.
Many experts have chimed in on how businesses can keep steady during these turbulent times, and they basically boil down to these three common elements:
1. The ability to execute efficiently with a mindful eye on expenditures
2. The agility to be able to change swiftly to meet new market demands
3. And most importantly, the foresight to invest in marketing when others are cutting back
If your organization were a living breathing being, marketing is the air it needs to survive. With cost being a major factor in any decision making during this recession, internet marketing is becoming an attractive option for budget conscious businesses.
Leverage Internet Marketing to Beat the Recession
Competitors may be scaling back on their marketing initiatives. With fewer ads and less noise, now is a good time to let your marketing message shine through and capture a larger share of the market. Once the economy rebounds and begins to lift you’ll be well positioned as the new market leader.
Here are a few ways we can use internet marketing as a tool to succeed during this recession.
It’s All About Perspective – Reposition and Repackage
There is still demand for your services and products; but likely in a different form. Let’s take it from the perspective of a hotel or tourism attraction business. Families who typically would have gone on an extravagant vacation overseas or across the border will probably still plan to go on a vacation, but will opt for one closer to home. To capitalize on this type of shift, target vacationers within a short flight or driving distance with a Pay Per Click search marketing campaign. Travelers benefit with a vacation within their budget and you are able to attract new clientele to replace the ones who would have come from abroad.
Customers are Out There Searching for You – Leverage Search Engines
It’s easy to overlook the path to least resistance. But if you have a website, there are customers using Google and other major search engines searching for products and services just like yours. Leverage the internet to the fullest extent by launching an SEO or Pay Per Click Advertising campaign to increase your leads & sales. It’s highly targeted and much more cost effective than the majority of traditional marketing methods such as print, radio or outdoor ads.
Make Your Website Work Harder for You – Improve Your Website’s Conversion Rate
Do you know your website’s conversion rate? You should, it’s the best metric to determine how effective your website is at contributing to your revenues.
Let’s assume that each sales lead from your website yielded an average of $500 in sales. If you have 1,000 visitors to your website daily and you receive 3 inquiries per day, your website’s conversion rate (converting visitors into an actual sales lead) is only 0.3% (Sales of $1,500/day). That means that 997 potential clients left your website and likely contacted one of your competitors instead. Now consider this; a modest 1% increase in your conversion rate could mean an extra 10 sales leads, which could be an extra $5,000 in sales/day. Imagine what that could do for your bottom line!
Invest in your website by working with a professional to perform a detailed review of your website analytics and the usability of your website. A few key changes and tests could be the difference between $1,500 and $6,500/day.
Get Ahead of the Curve with Market Research
Innovation is necessary to stay competitive. There are many online tools such as Google Insights and the Google Keyword Research Tool to gauge the demand for a new product. Before investing in a time and resource drain such as product development, invest your time in market research using these free tools. They are updated daily with new data and will likely help refine your research even further, allowing you to focus your marketing dollars on the right market segment.
Tap Your Existing Client Base with Permission Based Email Newsletters
Everyone has an email address and so do your clients. Tap into your network of current clients with email marketing newsletters. Vertical Response, Constant Contact and Emma are just a few of the email newsletter services that cater to businesses like yours. They are easier than ever to create & implement and can cost less than what you spent for lunch. You can also gain valuable insight to improve upon for your next newsletter and the next one after that.
It’s easy to take the power of the internet for granted because it seems cliche to make money from the web. But before you consider slashing your marketing budget or worse yet just stick with traditional media alone; remember that an internet marketing company can probably help outperform your direct mail, print or radio campaign while at the same time keeping your accountant happy.
Comments on this entry are closed.