5 tips for marketing in an economic downturn

Businesses are generally experiencing increased costs of doing business mainly pushed by rising fuel costs. To make matters worse, customers are not spending us much as they used to and a higher cost of living means they might further cut expenditure.

But, it is no time to cut back spending on marketing. As a small business, you should do more marketing.

Here are five tips to help you market better:

1. Market to existing customers: Research shows that it is cheaper and easier. Keep in touch with them by thanking them, giving them exclusive offers and requesting them to recommend you to other potential customers.
2. Clean up your brand: This is the time for you to invest in organising your social media pages. This means clearer pictures and well written descriptions for your products. Get yourself a business name so people can take you seriously. Remember, you have a lot of competition and you need to stand out.
3. Change your offer: Think about whether your offering is still relevant and make changes accordingly. Focus on changing up your offerings to better meet the needs of your customers.
4. Listen to your customers: Give your customers opportunities to give you feedback on where you need to improve. This will demonstrate that you are committed to giving them your best and that you care about their experience. This is a key step in building customer loyalty.
5. Evaluate your marketing: Evaluate on a weekly basis whether you are getting the results you want. Marketing is expensive both in terms of money and time. Therefore, you want to know if the strategies you are using work. Therefore, it is important that before you make the investment, you are clear on the results you want to see.

Share with us your experiences. What has worked for you?

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