How to grow your business’s market share during an economic downturn

As uncertainty in the economy escalates, there is growing concern about whether we are heading towards an economic downturn. It’s a nervous time for businesses and consumers.  

The reality is that the economy runs in cycles. This means we can predict the behaviours most likely to succeed in good and bad times. History has shown businesses that continue to invest in their marketing when the economy is down are the ones that thrive when spending is back up. Nevertheless, many businesses continue to make the mistake of cutting marketing budgets during tough times. 

By treating marketing as an expense rather than an investment, you make a deliberate decision to put tomorrow’s sales and revenue at risk. 

Here are 10 steps to help you grow your market share in tough economic times.

Step 1: Invest more in marketing than your competitors

Growing market share is easier in a recession than in a boom. Companies that maintain or increase marketing spending during poor economic times emerge with a stronger market share and ultimately experience more growth than those which reduce it — what is essential is knowing how to effectively execute this.  

When companies reduce or maintain their marketing investment during recessions, they leave space in consumers’ minds to be overtaken by ‘aggressive marketers’ who are known by more of their customers than their competitors.

Be the aggressive marketer. 

Step 2: Review your marketing strategy

Without proper planning in place, your business won’t have a clear direction to adapt to an ever-changing environment. Get together key people, assess past business responses to downturns and discuss how to better target customers and their needs.

You may need to re-align your short-term business objectives and make clear decisions on the marketing initiatives you will invest in to achieve those goals. 

Possible opportunities lie in increasing top-of-funnel (awareness) marketing campaigns, cutting unnecessary tech/software costs, brand building, growing your database of prospects, or a combination of the above. 

Step 3: Understand your ‘new’ customer

It’s highly possible your perfect customer and key personas will change during tough economic times. It may be the same person with different behaviours, goals and pressures, so understanding these changes is key to continue showing value in your offering and maximise the return on marketing.

Once you understand how your key personas have changed, ensure that your marketing messaging and positioning are still on track. 

Step 4: Do better than your competitors

During uncertainty or recession, customers are likely to reassess purchasing habits. This means there is a potential for eyeballs to turn to competitors or vice versa. Their market share is your opportunity. 

When a paying customer is doing their research or making a decision, think about how you and your team can put your best foot forward to stay top-of-mind of your customers. 

Step 5: Cut spending on unnecessary stuff

An economic downturn is an opportunity to assess your spending and invest in things that really matter. Marketing technology, poor-performing campaigns, and ineffective advertising are all areas that could be closely reviewed for their value. Spending in some of these areas often just needs to be reduced instead of completely cut until demand justifies ramping things back up. 

Step 6: Increase spending on smart stuff

In terms of advertising, the cost of amplifying your message is likely to be more cost-effective for future sales. Find those campaigns which are generating a return, or growing your share of voice, and move the budget from poor-performing areas to high-performing campaigns.

Consider increasing your investment in brand-building activities like content creation and remarketing. Let your competitor’s fear, or budget constraints, be your opportunity. 

Step 7: Learn from your customers and prospects

Just asking, “How can I help?” goes a long way and is a simple message for your customers and prospects. Their answers may provide you with valuable insights into your market for free. 

The things you learn will provide you with actionable insights that you can apply to your sales pitches, your offers, your product, your customer service and more. Notably, a lot of your competitors won’t be asking this question. 

Step 8: Create offers that generate value

Your offer is a key part of surviving an economic crisis and thriving during the recovery. Your offer is the way you wrap up your product or service into a purchasable package. Craft a compelling offer that makes sense in the context of today’s economy, and revisit this offer as things change and when the recovery starts. In all cases, your offer needs to drive prospects to want to take that next step. 

Step 9: Build the best sales funnel in your market

A sales funnel is a step-by-step process for making the most of every prospect that encounters your business. The reality is that only a small percentage of people who view your website are ready to buy today. We recommend that you build a sales funnel to capture these prospective buyers early on in their purchase journey. 

The goal is to be able to nurture, and ultimately sell to, your entire market when the time is right for them to buy. 

Step 10: Align your sales and marketing team effectively

Some tips to get your sales and marketing teams working together more effectively: 

• Share marketing, sales and customer feedback in real-time with both teams; 
• Arrange recurring meetings to plan upcoming periods and review and analyse results; 
• Have members of sales and marketing work together on creating content; 
• Have them analyse and agree on the customer journey together; and 
• Have them collectively own relevant metrics across both sales and marketing. 

Marketing plays a vital role in developing a strong foundation for future success when faced with an economic crisis. Ultimately, these 10 steps to marketing through tough times present you with the immense opportunities available to sustain a competitive edge in all industries.