How To Grow Your Business In A Bad Economy

I’ve been feeling slightly guilty lately. People have been asking me how business is going, and I almost hate to admit that business is better than ever. I got tons of shocked looks, and of course, plenty of questions about how I’m maintaining business despite the current economic conditions.

Here are the three tactics I’m using to ensure my business stays strong no matter what the stock market does:

1. I’ve increased my advertising. I know you’re probably balking at this idea. Why in the world would you want to incur more expenses at this time? Shouldn’t you be cutting back on your advertising?

Well, the truth is, that’s what all your competitors are thinking. So, as they’re all running scared and cutting back on their marketing efforts, it’s the perfect time for you to increase your advertising and grab their market share.

2. I’ve fostered better relationships with my current customers. Again, many of your competitors are cutting back on their direct marketing and bonuses and relationship-building efforts in an attempt to reduce costs.

But this spending downturn can’t last forever, and when your customers are ready to whip out their checkbooks again, you want to be on the top of their minds. So start creating more free reports, more bonuses, more special gifts. Maintain contact with your customers and prospects so they’ll be thinking of you when they’re ready to buy.

3. I’ve been taking advantage of free publicity. If your sales have been weak and you really must cut back on your marketing budget, do whatever you can to grab as much free publicity as possible. Send out press releases, offer to do interviews, create industry surveys, present yourself as an expert in your field. For not much more than a bit of your time and the cost of a stamp, you could get coverage that is exponentially better than any advertising you could ever buy.

The point is, now is not the time to cut back on your marketing efforts; now is the time to increase them. As your competitors are all reducing their marketing, it will be a slam dunk for you to swoop in and grab their customers.

You might also be interested in:

• How To Market In A Bad Economy
• Marketing Mindset When Times Are Tough
• SEO or SEM?
• How to Improve Your Local SEO
• Website Copy Checklist

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 10th, 2010 at 2:40 pm and is filed under Small Business Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.