Summary

Marketers need to brace for a challenging year ahead; it could be a bumpy ride.  As the country rides out a recessionary economy and pressure for proven returns on marketing expenditures increases, marketers will need to be more strategic than ever.

It will be critical for marketers to implement a strategic plan to help them weather the recessionary storm ahead.  Below are a few recession-proof strategies to keep in mind:

• Focus on content.  The economy will likely force marketers to become more aggressive about creating more and better content.  Content that engages consumers and attracts qualified consumers will be critical. 
• Spend more time on SEO.  In a tight economy, maximizing search is one of the best ways of reaching consumers.  Consideration should be given to not only fine-tuning your company’s organic search program but also maximizing search via lower-level or niche sites and blog pages.
• Get smart about social media..  Formalize your social network program with a company-wide approach to social media.   
• Maintain marketing spending.  In recent research in which it analyzed the impact of cutbacks in marketing investments in a slowdown in 22 industries, Arcus reported that an increase in advertising in some industries during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can dramatically improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good peak economic times.
• Adjust product portfolios.  Optimize product mix and marketing investment strategy.  The Arcus study suggests that during a recession, consumers tend to focus on reliability, durability and performance.  An advertising strategy that focuses on superior price performance will resonate with consumers coping with a recessionary economy.
• Conduct more frequent customer research.  In-depth customer research is more critical than ever in a recession.  As consumers postpone purchase decisions or purchase less, it becomes important to understand how customers are defining value.  Your marketing plan should include the component of trust, reassuring your customers that they’ll be minimizing risk by doing business with you.
•  Evaluate your advertising campaign.  Consider sponsorships to gain exposure with targeted or niche audiences.  Don’t cut ad spending; instead, let your competition cut theirs.  Your message will grow stronger
• Stress segmentation in marketing plans.  Based on results from Acxiom’s Retail Consumer Dynamics Study, retailers need to place more emphasis on segmentation and shoppers’ potential future behavior.  For both current and target customers, retailers need to modify their media message, theme and content to be more reflective of the concerns of the targeted online or in-store audience.  When evaluating promotions and coupon offers, retailers need to consider basic shopping behavior drivers:  past purchase behavior and future intent;  importance of price; shopping trip preference; and type of store shopped most often.

In addition to considering these recession strategies, marketers will need to face the challenges posed by emerging types of new consumers.  John Quelch, the Lincoln Filene Professor of Busienss Administration at Harvard Business School, suggests thatin this economy, marketers will also be charged with targeting a new growing group of consumer:  the middle-aged simplifier.  Simplifiers, according to Quelch, present unique challenges because they value quality over quantity and do not purchase proportionately more goods as their net worth increases. 

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