Amid high inflation and rising interest rates, fears of a recession in late 2023 remain high. Economists have seen a recession on the horizon for months now, but will it ever actually arrive? The job market is still strong, some economists reckon, and that will stave off recession. The US Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Business Economists say otherwise. As for the consumers themselves, over 2/3 of Americans are still worried about recession, and plan on adjusting spending accordingly, which can create a self-fulfilling prophecy.
While we can’t predict for sure whether we will see a recession this year or not, it’s best to have a plan for dealing with it if it does happen. In a recession, it’s often the marketing budget that’s first to go, but when consumers tighten their belts, maintaining your relationship with them becomes more important than ever.
We often think of marketing as discovery: getting our business in front of new eyes and attracting new customers. But marketing is also about creating loyal customers. It’s about retention. In a recession, you probably won’t be attracting a lot of new business. But you can take steps to ensure that some of your customers keep coming back.
One way to do that is with customer relationship management (CRM) software. CRM software analyzes consumer patterns: who is buying what, when, and how much. It will help you craft marketing strategies designed to keep customers engaged with personalized marketing campaigns and promotions. Social media and email are great ways to build and maintain those vital relationships.
A data-driven marketing strategy will also let you look at market trends in your sector to determine where consumers are cutting back and where they are still spending. From there, you can stock more of the inventory consumers are spending on and cut back elsewhere.
A recession doesn’t mean you have to immediately slash costs and bunker down. Make sure you have a long-term strategy for growth, focus on retaining loyal customers, and continue your marketing, promotional, and branding efforts, and you’ll be able to ride it out and come out stronger on the other side.
