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When things get tough, the tough marketers get going

A checklist for the downturn

In an economic downturn, life is going to get tougher but that’s no reason to throw marketing effort out of the window. There can also be great opportunities in tighter conditions: remember, your competitors will be suffering too!

In a downturn, mass psychology changes and times are seen as challenging: the story we tell ourselves changes as well. In this sort of environment, we buy more in a defensive mode, to avoid trouble. Or we buy because we perceive something might never be as cheap again. Or we buy smaller items for the same feeling of reward.

The challenge for marketers is to work out how to change the ‘story’ they are working to so that their customers can change the story they tell themselves. What you make, where you make it, who makes it, how it's priced and sold and ... it all adds up to perception. If you change these elements, perception changes too. Change it to your advantage.

So go back to basics. Take a fresh look at your marketing plans and analyse what is working and what isn't. Be ruthless about measurement and cut away the unnecessary events, travel and exhibition attendance and wasteful use of your budget.

Get input from sales and other colleagues and really look at your business from the customer’s point of view and strip away what contributes only marginal benefit. And measure, measure, revise, revise.

Revise the SWOT and PEST analyses in your marketing plan in the light of current news and what we can expect in the next twelve months. Ensure your strategy is integrated across offline and online activity. Do a data audit and streamline your data handling.

Ensure that marketing is a long-term effort. Maintain the programmes and campaigns that really score well. Stay close to customers and reinforce your marketing retention effort.