Five Critical Things to Consider for Post-Recession Marketing

Are We Finally Seeing the Light at the End of the Tunnel?

April total layoffs were down, construction spending was up, more up days in the stock market than down days, consumer confidence is up, major banks are reporting profits, pending home sales are up. For the first time in a long time there are more positive media stories about the economy than there are about the world coming to an economic end. The bottom line however is no one knows for sure if we have reached that magical bottom of the recession. But regardless of whether the bottom has hit or the bottom is two months or two quarters away, we as marketers need to be prepared to lead our companies to great prosperity when the recovery does begin.

Five Critical Things to Consider for Post-Recession Marketing

1. Build a Strategic Marketing Plan – and Fast

Don’t just go back to doing the same old things you did before the recession. Times are different and you need a strategic plan specifically addressing what you are going to do as the economy recovers. There will be a very narrow window of time you can gain significant market share if you beat your competitors out of the gates. You have to be implementing your plans before your competitors do.

2. Personalized Marketing and Segmentation

Make sure that your strategic plan places a heavy emphasis on segmenting your customer base. Many times we hear “We need you to develop a marketing plan for us.” Truth of the matter is you’re probably need 3, 4, or 5 marketing plans. Do NOT treat all customers as equal. Segment them and develop a plan for each of those segments.

3. Don’t Be Lazy and Just Do What You Have Done Before

This recession has forced us all to take a very close look at how we are spending our marketing dollars. We have seen a significant shift in monies to the digital arena. Relationship marketing through social media is changing the way the world communicates. Your strategic plan should encompasses a comprehensive review of what marketing tactics you used before the recession, how your customers are communicating (i.e. social media) and re-work what you should be using going forward. Look at the results you got with smaller marketing budgets. What worked and what did not.

4. Right People on the Bus

If you have not heard this before go out today and buy Jim Collins’ books Good to Great and Built to Last.

The unfortunate economic times and the resulting high unemployment rate means there are a ton of extremely qualified and hungry people looking for new employment opportunities. This provides a great time to evaluate all of your current resources and make the difficult decisions to ensure you have the best of the best going forward.

5. Operationally You Need to be Ready to Deliver

Recessions often cause us to cut to the bone because we are operating at levels lower than full capacity. Nothing will hurt your brand and your ability to profit during the early stages of a recovery if you cannot fulfill your brand promise. Remember your brand is built through the interaction your consumers have with it. If it is bad they will go someplace else. The cost to get them back is enormous.

Plan to build back your infrastructure as your business resumes growing. What else do we need to do to ensure our businesses not only get back to where we were before but position ourselves for significant growth?

Are you prepared?

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