HowDoIMarketMyBiz.com

You are a business owner. A struggling economy may not be the optimal market you’d like to operate in, but, we can’t do much to change where we are… or can we? History shows that companies that continue to market and even increase their marketing effort in a down economy grow their business even more when the recession rebounds. And, with social media marketing on the rise, there is no better time to take advantage of your time resources and “spend time” utilizing social media marketing to promote your business!

In a study by the American Association of Advertising Agencies, companies with even modest increases in marketing and advertising spending during the last recession saw gains in market share. Here’s a few ways you can give your business the best chance possible for riding out and rising above this troubled economy.

• Be Innovative!
  Using your Blog, Twitter and Facebook sites, launch a poll or survey using a free service like SurveyMonkey.com, to find out what new products or services your customers want to see. Social media is a great place to get real time results and listen to what people want. Needs are out there, now’s your time to shine by finding out what people want and creating a product or service to fit that need. Awareness and focus grows from economic downturn, so, instead of pulling back, get out there and find out what your market needs and why. Be the solution to their problem.
• Listen to Your Customers
  Strengthen your customer service arm by adding support through Twitter. Be there for your customers. Listen to their needs and strengthen the relationship by going above and beyond their expectations. This is the time to secure their loyalty and keep them connected to you through Facebook with positive, uplifting, informative messages posted daily. Be a thought leader and inspire them with your knowledge about your industry. Make the content so great they will want to “share” or “RT (retweet)” it.
• Keep Your Prices Steady
  Rather than reduce prices, increase the value of your offering. Your product or service has the same value it always did and people will spend money on things they want and need. To help make the sale on your product or service, try a limited time offer with an additional bonus ie.) “Order your lipstick before Sept 15th and receive a free purse mirror as an extra bonus.”
• Stay in Front of Your Customers
  Don’t cut the marketing and advertising budget. Keep top of mind to your customers by staying in front of them with mail, email, phone calls and social media. This is a great time to pre-schedule daily tweets to twitter, posts to Facebook and start writing one blog per day. Because many other companies are cutting back, your message will more likely be heard and reach your customer more easily because there will be less clutter. Social media by nature is permission-based marketing. When someone “follows” you in Twitter or “likes” you as a Fan in Facebook, or subscribes to your blog via RSS, they are giving you permission to speak to them, so make it good.

Be the smart company in this economy who rides out this storm and rises above the rest. Keep marketing in a down economy and when it turns around, you’ll be the one who has their loyalty, trust and a customer for life.

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