I understand that with all the talk about recession and the ‘cost of living crisis’ you might be thinking that you need to cut back on your marketing spend.  But whether it is time or money that you are investing in promoting your goods or services, now is certainly not the time to cut back.

As the saying goes “When times are good, you should advertise; when times are bad, you must advertise.”

Recessions happen. It is just part of the economic cycle. And history has shown that businesses who maintain their marketing activities can maximise opportunities and come out of economic downturns as strong or even stronger than they entered them.

Consider the following 2 success stories who weathered the 2008 recession:

Netflix

Netflix were a DVD subscription service until they introduced their streaming service in 2007. When the global economic downturn happened, Netflix continued to work on partnerships with companies like Xbox to allow users to stream through those devices.

Despite being what you would consider a non-essential service, Netflix went from strength to strength to become the global giant they are today.

Mailchimp

In 2008, Mailchimp (which incidentally was founded during the 2001 recession) adopted a freemium model. Their revenue skyrocketed after that.

Customers signed up during the global downturn because it was free. By listening to their customers and offering a free product, Mailchimp grew during the recession, and they’ve maintained their freemium model ever since.

So how can an email list help you during a recession?

Build customer loyalty

Client retention is essential for the success of many businesses. We are aware that our existing clients are our warmest audience.

In fact, focusing your efforts on servicing existing clients can offer five to 25 times more revenue, with much less effort and expense than it takes to gain new clients.

Regular communication strengthens your connection with clients, so start your email list and use your weekly emails to send relevant, valuable content to subscribers.

Maximise opportunities missed by competitors

New products or services that are launched during recessions can have a greater and longer-term impact during these times than during others.

Competitors, who may be afraid to launch during a downturn, could be late in releasing similar products and services and therefore lose their opportunity to stand out in the market.

If you have an engaged email list, you are in a prime position to launch new offerings to a warm audience. If not, now is the time to start building your email list.

Listen to your customers

The demand for different products and services may change during times of economic downturn. This should encourage you to review your own offers and ask yourself how the demand might shift for them.

Or even better – use your list of loyal subscribers to reach out to and ask what they would like from you.

So you see, if you want to thrive rather than just survive the recession, you really shouldn’t pack in the marketing right now!

Utilise your email list if you have one and if you haven’t yet got yours up and running, follow us on Instagram for lots of top tips!  

Related Post: What to say in your first email to your list