I’ve been a Digital Marketing professional for almost a decade, and I can tell you – there’s no ONE magic way towards success. But you can take plenty of practical steps to safeguard yourself from a recession. Today, I share my top 5 digital marketing strategies to grow your business during a recession!

One thing all business owners need to know is that recessions happen. They are standard parts of the economic cycle, and though they can be challenging, they are not a death sentence to all companies.

The difference nowadays is that we are a global market, and what happens in one part of the world can have significant impacts elsewhere. That said, recessions are not depressions, and if you have a service or product people want, there will always be ways to make money!

So, take a deep breath and don’t panic.

The organizations that thrive during these times are either well prepared or flexible enough to pivot their intentions and resources to protect their bottom lines or both!

Now, let’s get into my top 5 proven ways to grow your business during a recession.

Focus on the customer experience

The customer shopping experience is a lesson in psychology, especially during tough economic times. Emotions are contagious, and if they feel out of control or anxious in their everyday lives, they become more hesitant and nervous about purchasing. Understanding your customer’s wants and needs is crucial. And when every transaction counts, you’ve got to listen to their feedback and watch their behavior.

Here are a few questions to consider:

• Are they just scrolling through your website or store? If so, it may be how you display your information.
• Are they stopping and lingering on specific products or packages? Lingering suggests intent, but something is holding them back. Is it pricing, reviews, or quality?
• Do you offer a money-back guarantee? This helps establish confidence and control for the buyer.
• Could you offer a rewards program or discounts to boost sales and build brand loyalty? Loyal customers typically stick to their brands even during difficult economic conditions.
• Are they using your search bar for specific options? What do you need to stock up on or look into adding to your inventory or service list?

If you don’t have software that shares customer behavior, you may want to invest in some or find a digital marketing professional to help analyze and review your current processes to maximize your customer’s experience. It’s an investment worth paying for.

People don’t often branch out to new brands during difficult times unless they find savings or better quality products that have longevity.

Automation

Building a business takes a lot of work, especially if you are doing it all alone or with limited employees! All that time, from inventory checks to logistics, sales, and customer service, adds up. And since time equals money, innovative entrepreneurs are investing in new automation technology designed to save you time.

From initial and follow-up email campaigns to customer service chatbots and workflows, automation keeps the structure of your business flowing with almost no effort on your end. For example, a customer connects with a chatbot to ask a question about a product on your website. They then purchase the product, and an email confirmation is automatically sent.

Another email pushes out once the product is set for delivery. Then another follow-up thank you, feedback, or survey email goes out a few days after the customer receives their product. This automation saves you time to send those out individually or hire a person to handle all those tasks.

Once a customer is in your system, automation can nurture those relationships with promotional emails, birthday notifications, or quarterly reminders, building positive connections and brand loyalty along the way.

Influencer Marketing Collaboration

Influencers positively impact any business, but certainly an eCommerce store that doesn’t have a big, fat marketing budget at its disposal! Choosing the right influencers to help build your brand is essential. Consider your product line or service; who is your target audience?

An influencer needs to feel authentic to the items they are promoting. You wouldn’t necessarily choose a health and wellness influencer to promote your automotive parts store or a toy reviewer to discuss your latest anti-aging supplement! Leveraging an influencer’s network can be a lifeline during tough economic times because they are a direct link between you and the consumer.

They only get paid if you do, so the kickback you give them comes from an actual sale. When you team up with an influencer, there is no “ad-spend,” and saving that money from running ads can help pad your bottom line. Especially if other aspects of your business, like logistics, cost more.

Affiliate Referral Marketing

Instead of hiring a sales team to get out there and promote your products, affiliate marketers are independent contractors. They get out there and sell for you for a cut of the profits.

This is a great way to save money as you look to scale up your business.

Why?

Well, because they absorb the costs of the ad spend, create the curiosity, the content, and build up the brand for you. During an economic downturn, these individuals may even offer a reduction in their cut to help generate more business their way. This option is much more affordable to attract more customers and clients.

Remarketing/Retargeting Campaigns

Instead of casting a wide net to every Facebook or Instagram user in a specific location or age range, you may want to consider a remarketing campaign, also known as retargeting.

This strategy focuses on reintroducing yourself to users who have already connected with you in one way or another. When you track the activity on your site, you collect data on email addresses and user profiles. You know that these people have viewed your products and services and have shown interest.

You now have a second chance to reignite their curiosity and clinch a sale. You can target them on Facebook, Instagram, or even through Google Ads. Retargeting uses cookie data while remarketing typically uses email.

For example, if a customer looks at a specific beauty product for a long time but never purchases it. You can use that data to remarket them via Google Ads to remind them of that cream or face wash they never bought.

Or you could send out a reminder email to that user, offering a slight discount to encourage a sale. Chances are, this happens to you personally all the time.

Why shouldn’t you use the same methods?  

Regardless of your chosen methods, remember that businesses need resiliency to thrive in a recession. It’s not impossible; it just takes planning, patience, and the ability to pivot quickly when an approach isn’t successful.

I hope all this information helps you feel better prepared because a recession will come – someday! Thanks for tuning in! Be sure to like this video and subscribe to the channel so you can take advantage of all my professional experience!

The post 5 Proven Digital Marketing Strategies to Grow your Business During a Recession appeared first on Kruminsh.com.

The definition of marketing automation

Marketing automation is a form of software that automates the management of marketing activities and multichannel campaigns across various platforms. Marketers use marketing automation tools to automate their repetitive tasks. Marketing automation can help to set up marketing without having to manually send each and every email, personalized email, campaign, or post on social media platforms.

What Kind Of Business Needs Marketing Automation

B2b or B2C marketing automation empowers you to run a company with a few people and deliver the same results as a large corporation.

For example, If you have a mortgage business or dental practice, you can do a lead generation, automate your scheduling and send reminders, ask for feedback and send a content-oriented follow-up sequence.

If you’re an online retailer, then marketing automation will enable you to scale your operations and bring in more revenue.

Send drip campaigns to new customers, build a referral program or win back programs.

This is another great email marketing automation example of how dental practices generate sales.

What are the uses of marketing automation?

Marketing automation tools are used for a variety of tasks, but their main purpose is to automate repetitive marketing tasks so that entrepreneurs can focus on marketing strategy.

Marketing automation software often includes features across multiple channels, such as email marketing, SMS or mobile marketing, social media management, campaign tracking, lead generation, lead nurturing, and lead tracking.

By automating repetitive tasks, marketers can free up time to focus on business strategy, digital marketing, and building relationships with existing customers.

Here are 5 marketing automation examples for eCommerce businesses

The best thing you can do for your eCommerce business is to start building an automated email marketing campaign that can take your customers through the entire customer journey.

Yes, e-mail marketing is still one of the most effective ways to reach and engage your target audience.

So here you will find how personalized messages will help build a strong relationship with new leads.

1. Sends a welcome email

Welcome email flow is one of the most used marketing automation. The onboarding campaign starts with a welcome email and continues with a series of educational content.

The goal of these emails is to introduce the new lead to your product.

Welcome email automation helps you to introduce your brand and build a relationship with new leads that have just subscribed to your newsletter or made their first purchase.

2. Abandoned cart email

An abandoned cart email is an automated message sent to customers who have added items to their online shopping cart but have not completed the purchase.

These emails are used to remind customers of the items they have left in their cart and encourage them to complete their purchases.

According to a study by Baymard Institute, the average cart abandonment rate is 69.23%. That means that for every 100 carts abandoned, only 30 are completed.

By sending an automated abandoned cart email, you can recover some of those lost sales and boost your revenue.

3. Cross-sell and upsell email

Another great simple automation example for eCommerce businesses is cross-sell and upsell emails. Cross-selling is when you offer a related product to the one your customer has just purchased, while upselling is when you offer a more expensive or premium version of the product your customer has just bought.

For example, if a customer buys a pair of shoes from your online store, you could cross-sell them a pair of socks and upsell them to a premium quality pair of shoes.

By sending automated cross-sell and upsell emails, you can increase your average order value and boost your revenue.

4. Reactivation email

Reactivation emails are sent to paying customers who have been inactive for a period of time. The goal of these emails is to encourage loyal customers to come back and engage with your products and services.

There are many reasons why customers may become inactive, such as forgetting about your brand, moving to a new location, or simply losing interest.

Whatever the reason, emails workflow can be a great way to bring customers back to your store and increase your sales

5. Customer retention email

Retention emails are sent to customers who have already purchased from your store. The goal of these emails is to keep customers engaged with your brand so they will continue to make purchases in the future.

By sending existing customer reminder emails, you can increase customer loyalty and repeat purchases. These emails can also help you upsell and cross-sell to your existing customers.

Predictive lead scoring

This is another excellent marketing automation example for eCommerce businesses: predictive lead scoring.

Predictive lead scoring is a machine learning technique that uses historical data to predict which leads are most likely to convert.

By automatically scoring your leads, you can prioritize your sales and marketing efforts and close more deals.

According to industry research by Forrester, predictive lead scoring can improve conversions by 15%. That means if you’re currently converting 10% of your leads, predictive lead scoring could help you convert 11.5% of your leads.

It is a great way to lead generation, improve sales or marketing productivity and close more deals.

Social media automation

Social media automation is the process of scheduling and publishing social media posts in advance.

There are several different ways you can marketing automation strategies, such as scheduling posts in advance or trying behavioral targeting and custom Facebook Audience to show different ads to people who are on different funnel stages.

Personalized landing page

Another example of marketing automation – personalized landing page. This marketing tactic suites for b2b and b2c. Track website visitors in real-time and score them based on their interactions with your website or landing pages. Show each visitor the content that’s right for them.

Use data in marketing automation software to show each person the most relevant content and items on your landing pages.

You may personalize text and pictures using any tag, whether it’s based on interest, sentiment, or engagement.

Which marketing automation tool is better to use?

There are a number of marketing automation software platforms available on the market, each with its own set of features and benefits.

The best marketing automation platform for your business will depend on your specific needs and objectives.

If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution that includes a CRM for the sales teams, email marketing, automated campaigns, and marketing automation, then ActiveCampaign may be a good option for you.

If you’re looking for a marketing automation platform that offers a wide range of features, including predictive lead scoring and social media automation, then HubSpot could be a good option for you.

No matter which marketing automation software you choose, be sure to consider your specific needs and objectives before making a decision.

Recommended all in one marketing automation tools:

1. ActiveCampaign
2. Omnisend

If you are not ready to use marketing automation in your marketing strategy, you can start with email campaigns. How to choose email marketing software can find here: 6 Budget-friendly Email Marketing Services for Small Business

Wrap UP

In conclusion, marketing automation is a powerful tool that can help you automate and optimize your marketing efforts.

As you can see, there are a number of different marketing automation examples that you can use to boost your online business.

By using these marketing automation examples, you can increase your sales and improve your customer retention. So what are you waiting for? Start using marketing automation today!

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