One of Asia’s most admired marketing leaders of 2023, shares how challenging times do not mean we stop marketing activities.

Today, we will talk about a topic that’s on everyone’s minds, but not (yet) on their lips. Yeah, sounds a bit like Lord Voldemort! We are talking about the fears of recession and more specifically, what it means for marketers.

Marketing during a recession can be a challenging task, as consumers tend to be more cautious with their spending and businesses face increased competition for a smaller pool of customers.

However, there are some strategies that organizations can employ to effectively market during a recession. In this article, I will articulate my top-10 tips for marketing in 2023:

• Focus on value: Always relevant – in good times or bad – but takes on an even more urgent and critical dimension now. Highlight the value that your products or services provide to customers, and communicate how they can help them save money.
• Build relationships: Emphasize the importance of customer relationships and focus on building trust and loyalty with existing customers.
• Be creative with limited budget: Utilize cost-effective marketing channels, such as digital marketing and social media, and be creative in your approach to reach your target audience. Do not underestimate your own ability to move mountains even under severe constraints of budget. Just remember: you survived 2020 and the year of the pandemic!

• Adjust messaging: Tailor your messaging to reflect the economic climate, and address any concerns that customers may have about spending money during a recession. E.g. in 2020, when the pandemic began to hit markets and customers, we had to rapidly adjust our messaging from bullish growth promises to more immediate priorities such as business continuity, new ways to work, cost optimization etc
• Focus on necessities: Consider shifting your marketing efforts to focus on necessities, such as essential goods and services, which are likely to remain in demand even during a recession.
• Utilize data and analytics:Use data and analytics to inform your marketing strategy and make informed decisions about where to allocate your marketing budget. This is a big one. There’s still much budget that gets “lost” due to allocations made on the basis of anecdotes, gut feel or simply “always been done this way”. Time to cut it – or at a minimum, reassess for ROI. I predict that in 2 years time, we will all be more data-driven and smarter. What starts off as a survival necessity becomes a strength later (Remember: what doesnt kill you, makes you stronger!)
• Monitor competitors: Stay informed about what your competitors are doing and adjust your marketing strategy accordingly to remain competitive.
• Foster customer loyalty: Focus on building customer loyalty and encouraging repeat business by offering exceptional customer service, reward programs, and other loyalty-building initiatives. In a tough macroenvironment, finding new customers to “land” will get harder; Focus on “Expand”, and build off your installed base
• Partner with other businesses: Consider partnering with other businesses or organizations to share resources and reach new customers.
• Invest for the future: Get their hearts today. You will get their wallets tomorrow. The most successful compan ies are those that invest for the future and “hit the gym” during lean times.

This article by Arun Cavale, first appeared here.