5 Marketing Tips During a Recession in New Zealand
Whether it’s a recession or a ‘slow-cession’, it doesn’t mean that every business should experience a decrease in growth and sales.
Here are five ways your brand can thrive and grow over the next 12 months, and years to come.
“The stagnant may perish, yet the nimble will climb.”
Grow your brand strength
The easiest thing to do is go on sale. This is what the majority of your competitors will be doing, and are doing. So what an opportunity to stand out from the crowd? Focus on providing value to your customers, not in the form of discounts but in the form of education, tips, deeper meaning, blogs, interviews, styling videos etc.
Do you remember during the first lockdowns when brands started making super interesting content to keep everyone entertained? An act of service if you will. Well it’s pretty much the same as that.
Tip: Focus on posting organic content consistently and experimenting in order to find something that takes off.
Build stronger relationships with existing customers
It is not the time to be on the hunt for new customers. Period. It is the time to reinforce relationships with your existing customers. Let’s remember that these people aren’t just shoppers at a grocery store. They chose you. They waded through the competition and trusted in your brand. They gave you money! So give them the praise they deserve for showing you all that support.
This could look like reducing your first response time, responding to all comments on social media, following your customers and engaging in their life or doing a customer call out to test products or participate in video content.
Provide some cheaper offerings
Bigger ticket items are harder to sell during a recession, so it might be wise to hold tight on some of your more expensive stock. Develop a high-value narrative around your cheaper items or develop a range of products that are cheaper to produce if possible.
This might mean cutting off the fancy features, but you’re the expert, so find a way of delivering the same value but in another way. Don’t worry about it damaging the prestige of your brand. Stay between the lines, and remember that it’s better to still be around in one year than to have perished.
Tip: Use bundles as a great way to move stock without seeming on sale.
Stay active online and offline!
Focus on creating more content and posting regularly. More people will be staying home and online, so make sure you’re the brand consistently providing interesting, insightful and funny content.
You can do this without spending more money. Utilise the employees you have, film on your iPhone and test, test, test. If you don’t have employees then force friends and family to help. You can tell them Harry Dalton from Academy told you to and that they have to. You might have to offer baby-sitting or lawn mowing in return.
Go to events in person whenever you can. Shake hands, make conversation and be a member of your local business community. If there aren’t any events, then start your own!
Lean into a more community focused approach to growing your business, because it takes a village. Friends who help you now, will receive help from you in the future when it’s their turn. You’ll enjoy the journey so much more if you don’t feel like you’re on your own.
Collaborate with other brands
Collaborations present a vetted introduction to your brand from someone they like and trust. They’ve basically said that your brand is someone they would take home to their parents.
This can be a really cheap and effective way to get in front of new customers and build the strength of your brand. Both parties benefit from the shared reach, so there doesn’t need to be a fee involved. Two brands means two combined budgets, or half the cost of developing the campaign. Instagram Collaborator posts are the #1 hack to organic growth in 2023.
