Small Business Recession Tips

The ailing economy has many small business owners reassessing their position within their industries. When every dollar counts, CEOs can no longer throw money at this idea and that; they must focus on what’s working and correct what’s not. Stu Richards, CEO of Bredin Business Information, says that 56% of newsletter recipients said they received information relevant to their industries, so now is a good time to do a little research to find out if you’re delivering what people want. Similarly, Bob Johnson, VP of IDG Connect, found that only 42% of buyers said that educational and promotional content they received was relevant to their needs. Small business owners need to look at their homepage statistics as well and see if there are any “conversion killers.” Read on for more recession tips that can help you reach success in any economy.

At the 2009 MarketingSherpa B2B Marketing Summit, there were several recession tips and recommendations to help small business entrepreneurs weather the storm. The first tip was to “re-engage old leads.” According to Brian Carroll, CEO of InTouch, research reveals that 80% of all leads marketers generate are discarded, lost or ignored. Sending your sales team out to find new leads all the time can be a grueling, tiresome practice — and an expensive one! Instead, you can use marketing newsletters and social networking sites to re-engage and reinvigorate potential contacts. Caroll adds that emailing relevant industry articles to old leads and following up by phone generated a 375% increase in conversions. One marketer said his team achieved a 44% increase in subscribers by offering a news announcement and prize. “If you want to make a difference in the fourth quarter this year, go back to what you did in the first quarter of this year or the fourth quarter of last year, and there’s a lot of opportunity there,” Carroll said.

While you consider these recession tips, it’s important that you keep your chin up and look for new ways to connect with shoppers. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of online shoppers who “abandon” their shopping carts will return in 1-2 days to actually purchase, found security firm McAfee in a recent study. Moreover, their study found that businesses with better brand recognition saw shorter turn around times. Veteran shoppers will buy sooner than newcomers. Merchants selling unique merchandise see quicker turnarounds, compared to highly competitive offerings. Novel products and services that are suspected to be overpriced will sit on the e-shelf for longer as well. Lower priced items also move much more quickly, the study found. Therefore, it’s important to create your marketing campaigns with these ideas in mind.

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