Small Business Marketing: How do you market your small business in a recession?

Most small business marketing efforts are now coming to grips with the possibility that our economy is heading into a recession. If you are a small business owner in charge of your marketing, here are two marketing plan adjustments found in my Special Report "How to Market Your Small Business during a Recession":

Keep firing your marketing guns - The tendency in a recession is to reduce the frequency of your marketing communications. But, be careful with cutting your frequency. Cutting it in half means your prospects will hear from you 50% less often. Using an eight-mailing direct mail campaign as an example, why not stay with eight mailings, yet reduce the costs of each mailing? Print one-sided versus four-page. Eliminate enclosures. Print black & white. Reduce paper sizes. Mail third class for postal savings. Anything to reduce costs of the mailing, but retain your frequency.

Offer bite-sized nuggets - During a recession, your selling cycle will be longer. Uncertainty about the future prompts prospects to postpone buying, or even making a decision, until they absolutely must. To counteract this, give your prospects “bite-sized” ways to purchase your products. Offer a scaled down version of your regular product offering. Produce an informational product that allows prospects to "do-it-themselves". TActics like these let people “try a bite” of your company without a long-term commitment.

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