Many businesses opt to reduce their marketing expenditures when times get tough. Historically speaking, this is a counterproductive move. Consider the recession of the early 1980s, for example. Businesses that increased their marketing spend ultimately benefited from higher sales than those that did not. Now, with inflation rates comparable to those of 40 years ago, countless businesses are faced with the same choice. This kind of downturn, however, creates unique opportunities for brands to make the most of a less crowded field.
Sarah Kauter - founder and CEO of the award-winning marketing agency, VerriBerri - has shared her marketing expertise with your readers; detailing how brands can more easily boost their visibility online during a recession.
Why continue to invest in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?
SEO can deliver such exceptional ROI as website’s found in the organic search result won’t be charged for clicks, as they would be with pay-per-click (PPC). Many companies seem completely oblivious, however, to whether their SEO efforts are actually producing results. This is often because the agency they’re working with is unable to report these important figures. This lack of understanding will typically lead to the ill-advised decision to put a pause on SEO work when money is tight. This, naturally, allows competitors to shine whilst you sink into the ocean of competition.
There will inevitably be those that do choose to stop investing in what’s important and sink, and it’s those who choose to plough on with their SEO efforts that can take advantage of a less competitive environment. This is a considerably rare opportunity to not only reel in new clients in the short term, but also significantly increase your chances of securing more in the long-term.
How will my PPC performance improve?
Similar to the above, with fewer businesses bidding on keywords (which generally lowers the cost per click), those that continue to invest in it are likely to see their results improve. Furthermore, those that maintain, or even increase, their spend on PPC will see their campaigns operate at a reduced cost.
This isn’t to say you should make no changes to your existing PPC campaigns, of course. Now is perhaps the perfect time to evaluate what you’re doing and improve on any inefficiencies. Google’s ability to match website keywords is certainly very useful, but relying on it can be a costly decision. It’s important to manually go through the search terms you’re using your funds on, to ensure the purchased traffic converts.
How can I optimize my conversion rate and campaign performance?
To build on the last point, conversion rate optimization (CRO) can be very helpful in generating new revenue. In may cases, in fact, an improvement of as little as 1% to a conversion rate can double the desired result, dramatically bolstering business growth. Visualisation tools - heat mapping technology, for example - can also help to identify barriers to conversion. Seemingly tiny changes - the colour of your call-to-action button, for example - can make a remarkable difference to your campaign’s performance.
Businesses themselves, and sometimes even the marketing agencies they employ, may not be properly measuring and interpreting the data necessary to optimise the performance of their campaigns. A strange thing to slack on when this data interpretation is key to seeing an ROI, and let’s be clear, as long as an ROI can be proven then marketing is not an expense.
Periodic recessions have always put companies in difficult positions, regardless of their size, and often lead to an adjustment to marketing spend in order to account for the drop in revenue. Containing costs is undeniably smart in turbulent times like this, but times like this are when businesses need marketing most! Now is the time to increase your market share and set your business up for success when the economy inevitably recovers. Marketing is the key to achieving this.
Visit www.verriberri.co.uk