Have your web leads slowed down? Call volumes decreased? These might be the signs of decreased user behavior and lower than usual search demand online.
Here are some things you can do…
Expand marketing areas
It is pretty common to focus on your core geographic area and audiences, which ensures you reach the most effective user, but is also the most cost effective to service. In times of economic slowdown it is ok to venture beyond your normal reach, this does not mean you need to add a nationwide campaign, but it is ok to expand to cities or counties you normally wouldn’t service. You might find some additional leads and grow your customer base in new areas.
Increase promotional discounts
If you’re used to using the same old $$$ off a product or % discount on a service, maybe it’s time to sweeten the deal.
Offers are a great way to open up a conversation with a prospect and in times of financial struggle, just remember the customer is also struggling and some work is better than none. Expand your promotional offering, create value and build lifelong customers that will come back time and time again without an offer.
Adjust perspective
As an agency our job is to help our clients get found, however if the tides turn and you see the search volume drop, this can trigger an adverse reaction. So what do you do if all the sudden no one is looking for “used cars for sale” or “plumbers near me” etc?
Remember the days you used to prospect (in person) and knock on customers doors, shake hands and engage at local events? Somehow in today’s world, your website has been facilitating so many leads that you forgot how to “cold call”. Maybe it’s time to revisit our old school, guerilla marketing tactics that worked for so many years.
The perspective for a while now has been “let the customers come to us” and while this is fine and works for so many, try thinking outside the box in times of uncertainty and say to yourself, “What do I need to do to generate new business if the customers stop looking?”.
You are an expert in what you do, find local groups and provide valuable insights, join the local BNI group and connect with like-minded business owners. You never know where you will find your most valuable customers hiding.
Adjust keywords to include things like “deals” “discounts” “offers” “promotions” “best price” “cheap” etc…
Yup, all those keywords you might have ignored or blocked from your PPC campaigns for years might actually benefit you now. Even if you consider yourself the Rolls Royce of plumbers, it’s ok to adjust your rates and keep your crews busy and this goes for nearly every industry. We all tout a higher level of service, a better quality product, etc. in the end, we might need to adjust rates, fees, and price points in certain circumstances to fill the gaps in our schedules, keep the customers walking in the doors and keep the shipping departments busy.
Re-engage with previous prospects
It’s all too often that we let a customer inquiry go to waste. Maybe you were too busy at the time, or your inventory didn’t support their need, but now would be a great time to re-engage that prospect and see if changing economic times calls for additional needs. A simple phone call, email or text message is sufficient, but there are also tried and true methods on Google, social media and direct mail that help reconnect you with previous prospects through ads and promotions that can aid in creating that second chance opportunity.
Diversify ad platforms (Google, Facebook, Direct Mail, digital billboards, etc)
We often see new advertisers with “all their eggs in one basket”. What we mean by this is they dedicate 100% of their advertising budget to one platform or media type. If this is you, consider branching out and trying something new. We produce direct mail postcards on a regular basis for clients and all the time they say “I thought direct mail was dead” and after 2-3 mail drops tell us how surprised they are by the results.
In conclusion, we’re here to tell you that direct mail is not dead, social media is not flooded with spam and Google is not trying to steal your info. These are platforms that billions of people use everyday and if you’re not taking advantage of diversifying your marketing portfolio, you could be missing out. Don’t just give up when times get tough, find new opportunities, make new connections. Need help expanding your marketing portfolio? Let’s connect >
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