When the economy takes a downturn, many businesses’ first reaction is to cut their marketing budgets severely or often completely. This is, of course, a knee-jerk response that is unlikely to bear fruit in the medium to long term, particularly if competitors continue to market their products and services.
My advice would be to eschew traditional marketing methods and look to more tangible, cost-effective alternatives like e-mail campaigns and search engine pptimisation.
Emails are often regarded as a passive form of communication, but with careful thought they can be powerful calls to action. If you email existing customers with special offers, it’s easy to trace how many have responded by using an ‘activation code’ registered on your website. Not only will you drive traffic to your website – with the possibility of upselling other products – you can find out what offers work and which don’t, and target further opportunities armed with this information.
By ‘optimising’ certain internet search terms, you can be extremely focused in which products you push – and where you push them. If you want to sell fencing in the Hebrides, then you can optimise your website to enable search engines to pick these terms up – and elevate your business up the rankings lists.
It might not be sexy, but it’s cost-effective and will enable you to be found.
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