8 Tips to Market your Business through the GFC

1. Maintain your marketing spend

   Right now the natural reaction of most companies is to cut their marketing budget. As competitors are cutting back there is less clutter and it’s cheaper and easier to cut through. Here lies a fantastic marketing opportunity.

2. Research your customers

   Measure your marketing with you customers and find out if the reason for buying your products or services has changed?
   If you are a retailer or restaurant ask your staff to politely research for you and discreetly record it. “How did you hear about our restaurant? And why did you come here? Is this a special occasion or just a regular night out?”
   If you sell products or produce, either ask your consumers directly or ask your distributors if they have noticed any changes in buyer behaviour. Find out why? For instance your target market may be going out to cafes more and fine dining restaurants less, or eating more gourmet foods from the supermarket but less from the deli.
   Once you know, if will be obvious if you need to adapt your business to accommodate!

3. Focus on family and local community values

   In economic hard times we tend retreat into our own homes and local communities. This can be a great opportunity for a ‘support the local campaign’
   Look for cozy and wholesome scenes in your advertising. Stay connected with what’s really important right now – family, friends and communities.

4. Adjust your product portfolio for the times

   Consumers are more likely to stick to the basics and buy multi-purpose items rather than specialized products in hard times. For instance, a versatile pure extra virgin olive oil that they can use in dressings, through pasta, with fish or chicken is more ‘multi-purpose’ for most people than a specialized infused olive oil style right now. The trick is to ensure your products are versatile and help them find solutions. Think about the marketing campaigns for cream cheese over the years... from a low fat alternative to butter, to a creamy base for dips to a major ingredient in cheese-cakes.

   Gimmicks are out as consumers as extremely savvy right now. Instead focus on providing reliable, safe, good quality and well priced products that consumers want!

5. Support your distributors and suppliers

   If you use distributors, support them. This could be with generous return policies, smaller order volumes, or free merchandising racks for large orders.
   On the flip side, favour the suppliers who support you too. Appreciate that you don’t tie up your working capital using these suppliers.

6. Adjust pricing tactics

   In tough times, price cuts generally do work better than many marketing promotions such as complicated competitions and loyalty programmes.
   Tread carefully however so you that you don’t damage the value in your brand. Where possible, provide a genuine reason for the price reduction such as ‘seconds’ or ‘seasonal bumper crop’. Another way is to bundle some items is with a ‘value add’. Selectively choose what component you give-away or discount. For instance a restaurant could offer a complimentary glass of dessert wine with every dessert (at full price).
   If you offer premium products such as chocolates, try smaller pack sizes which makes the cash outlay less.
   A little warning - know your margins and your price elasticity well. For instance if you discount your tomatoes by 10%, you will need an increase in sales volume of xx% to make the same profit!

7. Think Market Share

   If the total market pie has shrunk, the opportunity lies to get your pricing, products, distribution and marketing communications right this year!
   Know your costs well so that you know how hard you can actually battle for market share. This can be a tremendous opportunity for savvy players to set themselves up for when the market does recover.

8. Get back to basics and exceptional customer service

   There will be the return of business etiquette as the businesses that are exceptional to deal will get repeat business. It is a time to focus on maintaining quality and servicing existing customers exceptionally well.
   Also when times are tough it’s smart to cement the loyalty of your employees too – share with them your vision and new strategy to ease their concerns of security.
   ‘Pessimists always look for the difficulty in an opportunity whereas Optimists always look for the opportunity in a difficulty’ Winston Churchhill
   For more information contact Jacqueline Wilson-Smith, Marketing Consultant – specialist in food, wine and drinks

Email jacqueline@wilson-smiths.com or Mobile 0408 997 437