5 Marketing Activities B2Bs Should Employ During A Recession
This blog post is written by Kathy Floam-Greenspan and appears on the Forbes Agency Council. You can read the full post here.
Recessions are defined by reduced spending. First, consumers shell out less money, lowering business revenues and forcing them to behave similarly by cutting costs, shedding staff or both. This cycle can continue unabated until spending picks up and economic expansion resumes.
Faced with an economic downturn, many companies’ knee-jerk reaction is to cut marketing spending to conserve resources and lower spending. As a result of the 2008 Great Recession, ad spending dropped by 13%, a fad that I hear many brands expect to follow in 2023. This is a mistake. Reactionary marketing cuts are shortsighted and are not backed by empirical evidence.
In fact, as VentureBeat notes, “many research studies have confirmed that the best strategy is to continue marketing—and often increase investments—during a slowdown to capitalize on long-term ROI.”
According to research, 60% of companies that cut TV ad spending during the Great Recession experienced a 24% decrease in brand use and a 28% decrease in brand image. Additionally, an extensive analysis of 600 companies from 1980-1985 discovered that companies that maintained or increased their marketing during the recession amplified their sales when the economy recovered, outpacing companies that stopped marketing by 256%.
When budgets are limited or economic factors feel bleak, focusing on “recession-proof” B2B marketing activities can mitigate risks while maximizing ROI.
Here are five recession-proof B2B marketing activities that can help companies advance their bottom-line objectives in any economic environment…
