How Digital Marketing Could Save Your Business In A Recession

While it's true that the UK is currently in an economic downturn and consumer spending has plummeted, all online businesses are facing similar challenges. If your figures are dwindling, don't blame yourself or your business – this is a global phenomenon.

So don't stress, failure isn't imminent. The landscape is simply evolving and your digital marketing strategy needs to be prepared to change with it.

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What are your first steps for improving your digital marketing efforts?

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As we enter an economic recession how can online businesses stay ahead of the curve?

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Every ecommerce business should have an effective digital marketing strategy that evolves with the times. With this in mind, here are some things you can do to make sure your business is ready for whatever the economy throws at it:

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• Complete competitor analysis – know what your rivals are doing and how they’re faring. This will give you insights into what works (and doesn’t work) in the current climate.
• Review your user experience – make sure prospective customers can easily find their way around your site and purchase items without any friction points along the way. If necessary, adjust your offering to fit changing customer needs and preferences.
• Drive profitable marketing across all digital channels – invest in marketing efforts that generate a positive return on investment, so you can support other areas of growth even during tough economic conditions. This means re-evaluating your online channels, inbound marketing and digital marketing tactics.

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If you’ve been doing traditional marketing and it has now stopped working, it is time to change your digital marketing tactic.

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• Increase your PPC advertising spend ROI to focus on more immediate sales rather than trying to increase brand awareness.
• Ensure that your ad campaign is concentrated, compelling only clicks that are likely to convert rather than something more general.
• Make sure your social media marketing and local SEO are up to date.

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Make sure your digital strategy includes competitor analysis

It is crucial to be not only aware of who your online competition is, but to understand what they offer customers in regards to pricing, delivery costs and times, warranties, after-sale service assurances, payment plans etc. Additionally, you must make sure that you understand your competitors' product offerings and ensure yours are stronger or at the very least equal. This way you can make the most of your digital marketing efforts.

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Search engine marketing, auditing and analysis

Part of effective search engine optimization (SEO) involves understanding where your competition ranks. If they're ranking highly on the terms and keywords you want to rank for, it's time to ask yourself why – what are they doing that you're not? Are they running a successful Google PPC campaign that you could learn from or emulate? Answering these questions will help guide your SEO strategy moving forward.

Optimise your user experience

By engaging with the various Digital Marketing tools available, you increase the success of your online website - and now more than ever is it important to do so. Not only because consumer confidence is low, but also because user experience greatly contributes to a website's overall success.

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If you want to improve your website, put yourself in your visitor's shoes and take a good hard look at what could be improved. You might be surprised at what you find! In other words, are you making it as easy as possible for your customers to find you and the product they want on whatever device or browser they're using? Can they purchase quickly and easily with their preferred method? This is where Conversion Rate Optimisation can also really help.

Do you need to improve your product or service?

With the rising cost of living (or recession as we used to call it), people have less money to spend on unnecessary things. If your company sells items that fit under this category, should you continue promoting them? Or would it be more beneficial to switch gears and start pushing the cheaper, yet still necessary products?

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Running an A/B test can help give you some clarity on which direction would be best for your business.

If you want to increase sales and encourage customers to buy from you, a great way to do this is by offering discounts and deals. People are always looking for ways to save money, so if you can offer them value for their purchase, they will be more likely to buy from you. Even if you haven't offered discounts in the past, now is a good time to start considering it. Using tools like Google Optimize you can quickly test out your hunches.

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Get Help With Some Quick Wins

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Review your Digital Marketing Strategy

We can help you express your product offering in a way that helps sales. If your online marketing results aren't meeting your expectations, try adjusting what you offer and how you present it to customers. For example, promotional sales might interest potential customers even if that's not something you typically do.

Review your Digital Marketing Channels

You may want to consider marketing to new audiences. If your digital marketing strategy typically targets a specific audience, we can help either target a new audience or channels that may offer your company more growth.

Review your Digital Marketing Budget for ROI

Marketing can be expensive, so you need to closely monitor your costs and profitability using a holistic approach. This means considering all channels available to reach potential customers such as Paid Search Marketing (digital ads),  Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) campaigns, and email marketing. We consider it essential to have reporting that provides accurate data points for each channel so you can make informed business decisions.

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