How Can Australian Businesses Market in a Recession?

At the time of writing Australia was not, in fact, in a recession. But any business close to the coal-face such as the SME’s will have felt the marketplace to be recessionary for some time. So how did marketers do their work in the last recession?  How can you get new customers?  Is it possible to make the most of a terrible economy and thrive?

The SME community are often quickest to see economic headwinds, and to adapt quickly before bad figures land. It is also the SME community who, having real-time, face-to-face contact with their customers, have a palpable, living awareness of who they actually are. This is useful in a recession. Direct customer contact also gives you other clues – like what they’re concerned about, and what gets in their way when dealing with you. This real-world experience of customers gives an important edge in a recession. Marketing is not done in the abstract when you’ve met, handled and assisted real-world customers.

So, how to market in a recession. First – don’t go dark. Second – don’t go dark. And thirdly – just don’t go dark.

Disappearing from view is the last thing any business can afford to do when the economy is declining. If your marketing funnel is not producing as much as it used to then you need to optimise the bottom of the funnel, and feed more in to the top.

Starting with the bottom of the funnel – When was the last time you looked at when customers dropped out of your buying process?  For most businesses drop-outs cost more than acquisition campaigns themselves. Is your contract putting people off?  Is your online cart to clunky? Is your messaging too on the nose for anyone to “request a demonstration”?  Do you have tags and pixels set up for remarketing to whoever visits your website?

Then lets look at the top of the funnel. If you are getting 10 orders a month, and you need 16 – you need to go wider with your marketing. This costs money. So – find marketing with partners who either know your customer as well as you do, or who value campaign efficiency. Work with them on the efficiency metrics and have frank conversations about your current level of conversion before starting a new campaign. One of the benefits of the digital age is the level of data-informed collaboration between businesses and their suppliers on campaign metrics.  Get in to the detail of how the targeting of any campaign is done – steer clear of generalist attribute-based reach campaigns, and find suppliers who are nerds for intent signals. You want people to buy your tapwear for their bathroom renovation?  You’re not looking for “consumers with an interest in design,” which you see as a category in Google and even Meta advertising, but you’re looking for consumers who are so committed to getting that renovation done that they are actually getting off their bums and visiting bathroom showrooms. This kind of ultra-specific location-based targeting is entirely possible if you work with a media agency that has its own sources of customer data.   

Core Strategic Shifts

• Focus on Retention: Keep existing clients through loyalty perks and personalised email campaigns. Retaining a current customer costs far less than winning a new one.  
• Adjust Customer Segmentation: Look your customers in the face real-time, and eliminate your own biases. While the top-end Chief Marketing Officers are theorising that your customer is a 30-something up-and-comer, SME marketers with real customer experience know they are dealing with 50-year-old empty nesters – and demographically, that’s where the money is.
• Clarify Your Value Proposition: Update messaging to emphasise tangible return on investment, utility, and safety.  Think about your customer in these times and adapt your messaging to tap in to their worries and insecurities. If you work with the very rich – well done because the rich are still getting richer – but be careful to reassure that your product confirms their status.  
• Maintain Brand Awareness: Keep brand-building active to the right market. When competitors cut their ad spend, your share of voice increases at a much lower cost.

High-Impact Tactical Actions

• Double Down on SEO/AEO and Content: Organic search and educational blog content capture high-intent buyers who are researching purchases more thoroughly.  
• Optimise Conversion Rates (CRO): Fix website friction points, clear up unclear copy, and prove past results with case studies instead of just spending more on ads.  
• Offer Flexible Options: Introduce payment plans, scaled-back tier options, or bundles to lower the barrier to purchase.  
• Pursue Co-Marketing: Partner with non-competing businesses that share your target audience to split ad costs and pool resources.  

Janice Williams is Head of Digital at Universal Media Co and WF Media