How on earth did we get ourselves into a full-on recession in a matter of months? And how many prime ministers have we been through these days? With soaring energy bills and a cost-of-living crisis on our hands, you may be feeling a bit uneasy in these turbulent times – and we can completely understand why!

As an SME owner, you’re likely worried about how you will continue to make sales during an economic downturn. We recently shared some insights on how to recession-proof your business during these uncertain times, but today we’d like to share some practical advice about what you can do to continue making sales and doing more than just staying afloat until things improve.

The best and most important step you can take is positioning or repositioning your offering to remain top-of-mind and accessible to your target market for the next few months. Here are some tips on doing exactly that.

Tip #1: Understand how your target market is thinking right now

Understanding the purchasing behaviour of your target audience is essential to figuring out how to position your brand strategically to remain relevant.

Right now, consumers are sorting how they buy products and services into four main categories.

Essentials

These are the products that consumers simply can’t go without. They are essential to their survival and well-being. It’s likely that they will continue to spend money on this category of products and services, despite the cost-of-living crisis.

Treats 

These products and services are deemed indulgences. The immediate buying of treats can’t be justified, and consumers may wait a considerable amount of time to make these kinds of purchases.

Postponables

These are products or services that are needed or desired by consumers, but the purchase of these will be put off for now.

Expendables

Perceived by consumers as unnecessary or unjustifiable purchases, these products or services won’t be bought anytime soon.

Now you need to consider which of these categories your brand falls into and what you can do to position your business as an essential or treat that is more likely to sell.

Tip #2: Consider how you can reposition your brand

This will probably be your most important task during the recession, even as we experience its after-effects.

You need to find some aspect of your brand that can be positioned as essential so that consumers continue to buy from you.

Also, you’d need to think about how you can create trust with your target audience so that they know they’re in good hands when purchasing from your brand.

If you strip down your offering into something that consumers view as essential, you have a better chance of making sales.

For example, if you offer online courses, create a course that covers only the basics and promote it at a discounted rate. If you sell beauty products, you can market your items as a part of self-care, which is essential regardless of economic circumstances.

If you want to survive the recession, you need to be agile and prepared to adapt your products or services to the current times.

Tip #3: Re-write your online value proposition

If you’re repositioning what you sell, your marketing message needs an overhaul too. We recommend that you start with your online value proposition (OVP). Check out this practical guide on how to write your own.

Let go of what you know about your brand and start over with the message that what you offer is essential. You can do this by:

• Acknowledging that your customers want to preserve their finances and explain how you respect any difficulties they may face.
• Adding a sentence or two that explains how your product or service helps to provide relief during these difficult times.
• Appealing to your customer’s pain points. Elaborate on how you solve their problems.
• Telling your target market why your product or service is still needed even though times are tough.

Tip #4: Outsource your marketing to an expert team

We don’t expect you to know exactly how to reposition your brand from a strategic perspective and develop effective marketing campaigns on your own.

We have a team of digital marketing experts on hand ready to help you position your products or services in a way that consumers will still purchase them. We also have the knowledge and tools to design marketing campaigns that communicate your new position online – which is exactly where your customers are.

Outsourcing to a team of marketing professionals doesn’t have to be costly. We respect the fact that you may not want to commit to extra expenditure at this time. That’s why our pricing plans are flexible and completely scalable. Visit our website for a free consultation, and let us tell you more about how our digital marketing services will fit into your budget perfectly.