The news might seem a little bit doom and gloom right now where the UK’s economic outlook is concerned, with a recession hovering on the horizon and the cost of living crisis seemingly spiralling out of control.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is now predicting that the economy will shrink by 0.4 per cent next year and the Office for Budget Responsibility warning that it will shrink by two per cent overall over the course of what is expected to be a pretty lengthy recession.
For businesses, now’s the time to take stock and think about how you plan to weather the storm… which, it seems, could rage on for at least two years, or even more.
It took five years or thereabouts for the UK economy to get back on track after the 2008 downturn, so being proactive and implementing steps now to build business resilience could yield positive results later down the line.
Of course, one of the most obvious first lines of defence is to make cuts in spending and perhaps inevitably, marketing and advertising are some of the first expenses to find their heads on the chopping block.
However, this can actually have long-lasting negative consequences that ultimately hit you in the back pocket harder than if you’d made cuts elsewhere.
Invest in digital marketing
In order to continue running a successful business, you need to bring the customers in. And in order to bring the customers in, you need to remain visible and present, so stopping your marketing and advertising campaigns now will drive down consumer awareness at a time when you actually need to be more visible than before.
There are lots of different channels for marketing these days, but one of the most cost-effective and one of the best for driving brand awareness is digital.
Take a look at the pandemic and see which businesses navigated the constantly changing landscape the best… it was those that took decisive action quickly and moved their services online, changing how they operated to suit the new environment and find new markets for their brand offerings.
The internet is where business is predominantly done in the 21st century and the pandemic certainly helped to accelerate the move online. If you don’t have a digital presence these days, customers will want to know why… and they’ll shop with your competitors instead of you.
While we’re not entirely sure what’s going to happen in the next 24 months, one thing is for certain: consumer shopping habits are going to change and belts are going to tighten.
So now’s the time to ask yourself what you can do to change your digital marketing strategy so it can steer you through these turbulent times and help you keep head above water until the waves die down.
Here are some top tips from the Ad Rank One team to help you see what can be done and where you may want to divert your attention. If you need any further help or advice, give us a quick call to find out more.
Track your ads
If you haven’t been keeping an eye on your PPC ads, now’s the time to do it. What’s great about digital marketing is that you can easily track the effectiveness of your ad campaigns so you can make adjustments as and when required.
This means that you’re not wasting money on ads that aren’t bringing the customers in, allowing you to reduce your overheads and really target your demographics in a more meaningful way.
Optimise your website
If you haven’t optimised your website yet, you could be missing out on valuable custom. You need to make sure that you’re doing all you can right now to help search engines crawl and index your site, so ticking as many optimisation boxes as you can will make a big difference.
Pay particular attention to mobile optimisation so your customers can enjoy a seamless shopping experience with you no matter what device they’re using. It’s all about the user experience for search engines these days, so prioritising accessibility and putting people at the heart of it all will stand you in excellent stead.
Don’t ignore the recession
Communication is key at the moment and it’s important that you don’t ignore what’s happening in the outside world.
Speak to your customers on a human level throughout all brand communications, let them know that you’re aware that money may be tight and that they may be struggling… but also let them know that you’re here for them, that you can be a source of support and that you’re all in this together.
Focus on socials
Inevitably, people will be spending more time at home over the next few months, partly because of the recession and partly because it’s winter and we naturally bunker down when the weather is chilly.
Devoting more time to driving engagement through your social media channels could prove particularly fruitful right now, letting people know that you’re still around and that you’re still doing business.
Think innovatively
What we often see during times of adversity are new creative and innovative approaches to doing business. Lots of the biggest brands we know and love today actually started during recession periods, including Airbnb, Uber and even Walt Disney… so don’t think that you can’t be successful when times are hard.
There are sure to be lots of opportunities for innovative marketing campaigns at the moment, whether you want to consider a brand collaboration or try your hand at making video or interactive content.
There are plenty of ways in which you can upskill and extend your brand reach… just make sure that you have analysis and data backing you up so you know your target market is likely to respond favourably.
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