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Digital marketing strategies to thrive in a recession

Jon Richardson • Dec 29, 2022

Introduction to Digital Marketing during a Recession

The world is in the midst of an economic recession and businesses are looking for ways to stay afloat. Digital marketing can be a great way to get your business noticed and remain competitive in a challenging economy. But what strategies should you use? In this blog post, we'll discuss some digital marketing strategies that can help you survive a recession. 


What digital marketing strategies should you implement?


Digital marketing is a vast topic. You can do many things in the online world, from email marketing, social media, building a new website, Google Ads and SEO, to name a few. 


So, where should you start?


Your website is the foundation of your online presence, and all your digital marketing strategies should lead back to your website. If you haven't updated it for a while, make sure it represents what you do today and talks about the services you want to promote.


It goes without saying that your website should be mobile-friendly. However, the fact that your website works on a mobile is different from being mobile-friendly.  Mobile-friendly websites will change the user experience, content and calls to action when viewed on a tablet or a smartphone.


However, you can have the most beautiful, slick and feature-rich website on the internet. But none of that matters if no one is looking at your website! That is where search engine optimisation or SEO comes in.  An SEO agency will help you get to the top of Google for the search terms that your prospective customers type into Google when they are looking for companies like yours.



How can an SEO agency help me?


Digital marketing is essential for any business, especially during a recession. It helps them stay competitive and reach new customers. 


SEO agencies can help companies create innovative content to help them increase their visibility in search engines, expanding their reach even in a challenging economic environment. SEO is also an effective way to evaluate a company's online presence and compare its performance against competitors. In addition, SEO marketing plans should be customised to fit the individual needs of each business, ensuring that they are well-equipped to reach new customers during an economic downturn.


Local SEO


Local SEO is an effective, cost-efficient digital marketing tool that businesses can leverage to increase their visibility in local searches. Local SEO involves optimising content to target local keywords, such as the town or city they are operating in and local citations and reviews, to rank higher in local searches for local customers. 


By investing in local SEO strategies, businesses can maximise their returns on investment and drive more qualified local traffic to their websites.


Additionally, local SEO is an important strategy for businesses to consider when it comes to digital marketing. By tracking and analysing their data, companies can gain insight into regional trends that they can leverage to maximise their marketing efforts and effectively reach their local target markets.


Click here to read more about local SEO


Reevaluating Your Digital Marketing Budget


It is crucial to assess the effectiveness of your digital marketing campaigns and reevaluate your budget accordingly. This includes blogging, SEO, and social media. For example, if blogging is part of your strategy, consider the number of views and clicks each post generates and the overall engagement rate. Through this assessment, you can identify which blogging topics are the most successful and adjust your strategy accordingly.


Ensure you get the best return on investment for each platform by testing different strategies and measuring key metrics. For example, when launching a new website, it is important to use digital marketing channels such as search engine optimisation, content marketing, and social media to ensure its visibility and reach new customers. A successful digital marketing strategy should include different goals for each platform and measure the key metrics to ensure that you get the most from your investment in new channels.


When allocating a budget for digital marketing, it is important to consider new trends and industry changes. Keeping an eye on new developments can ensure that your strategy is always up-to-date with new technologies, new competitors, and new customer needs. In addition, by monitoring the relevant trends and responding quickly to new opportunities, you can maximise the effectiveness of your digital marketing budget.


Affordable SEO


Low-cost digital channels such as email marketing and social media are cost-effective ways to reach potential customers. Local SEO is invaluable for driving local traffic for businesses servicing customers in specific areas. With local SEO, companies can create campaigns tailored to their local market and appear higher in local search engine rankings. Additionally, local SEO helps companies to establish a trusted presence in their local community and increase their visibility across local search engines and directories. Using local SEO as part of a digital marketing strategy will help local businesses maximise their online presence and cost-effectively reach potential customers.

These channels also allow for more targeted campaigns, allowing marketers to tailor their message to a specific audience. 


With digital marketing, businesses can leverage advanced analytics to track their campaigns and measure their effectiveness. 


Search engine optimisation is one of the most important digital marketing strategies since it increases a website's visibility in search engine results. It involves optimising a website for relevant keywords, ensuring website content is indexed correctly, and ensuring content is relevant to the target audience. Through these techniques and other digital marketing efforts, businesses can reach out to more potential customers and boost their online presence.


Analysing the results from these campaigns can provide valuable insights into what actions customers take after being exposed to the message. Finally, digital marketing campaigns can provide valuable insights into customer behaviour and actions taken in response to a message. Analysing the results of these campaigns can be a great way to measure the success of campaigns and determine what approaches work best. This can then be used to provide a better targeted service for customers in future, as well as to optimise campaigns for improved results.



Read our blog below on implementing an affordable SEO strategy

Ranking above your competitors in Google


Analysing your competitors' digital marketing strategies can help you identify gaps in the market that you can capitalise on. By researching their tactics, you'll know what strategies have been successful and which have failed. This can provide invaluable insights into the marketplace and assist you in crafting a digital marketing plan tailored to your specific audience. You can also use competitor data to inform the types of content you create, the platforms you use to promote your content, the frequency of your messaging, and the technical aspects of implementation. By leveraging what your competitors are doing, your digital marketing efforts are more likely to be effective.


By understanding what your competitors are doing, you can develop a marketing strategy to set you apart from the competition. SEO is a powerful tool in any digital marketing campaign. Hiring an SEO agency can provide invaluable insights into how your competitors optimise their websites, allowing you to create a strategy to better position your business. Good SEO agencies can help you understand what keywords your competitors are targeting, their developed content strategies, and the results they achieve from their SEO campaigns. This allows you to create an SEO strategy to give your business an edge in the market.


Additionally, understanding what works and doesn't for your competitors can influence how you design and execute your campaigns. Moreover, understanding what SEO strategies your competitors use can be a great advantage when it comes to thriving in a recession. This can help you design, launch and manage your campaigns and ensure you're up-to-date on the latest marketing trends. 


Taking the time to analyse and understand what SEO activities have been successful for your competitors can help you create an effective search engine optimisation plan for your website that will set your business apart from the rest.



Leveraging Existing Customer Relationships for SEO strategies


Leveraging existing customer relationships is an essential part of any digital marketing strategy. SEO agencies are especially adept at utilising customer data to drive successful strategies that help companies reach their business objectives. 


SEO strategies can include:


  • Creating content tailored to customer interests.
  • Optimising websites for better SEO performance.
  • Leveraging customer data for targeted campaigns.


SEO agencies also use analytics data to modify campaigns as needed, ensuring the marketing efforts reach their maximum potential. With the right SEO agency, businesses can gain access to powerful digital marketing tools that can be used to increase customers and revenue.

Utilising data from customer interactions to further personalise marketing campaigns can lead to more successful conversions.


Digital marketing techniques like blogging allow businesses to understand their target audiences better and create tailored content to engage them. By tracking detailed consumer data, companies can gain insight into their customers' preferences and develop effective campaigns that are likely to lead to conversions. Also, blogging can help build relationships between a company and its consumers, further increasing the chances of successful digital marketing campaigns.


Creating targeted offers or discounts for existing customers can also be a great way to encourage repeat purchases and strengthen customer loyalty. Moreover, digital marketing strategies such as creating targeted offers and discounts can greatly increase customer loyalty, making customers more likely to make repeat purchases. 


Click here to read more about SEO


The final say on digital marketing in a recession


Implementing digital marketing strategies to help your business survive a recession can be a great way to stay competitive and ensure your business is ready for whatever the future might bring. However, it is important to remember that digital marketing is constantly changing. Hence, it is crucial to stay up-to-date on the latest developments. Doing so can help ensure that your strategies are effective and that you are getting the most bang for your buck.


About Overt Digital Media


Overt Digital Media are a digital marketing agency that specialises in building modern websites and affordable SEO strategies.  Based in Christchurch on the outskirts of Bournemouth we service customers throughout the UK, but focus primarily on helping small businesses in Bournemouth, The New Forest and Southampton.


If you need help getting more customers from your website then contact us today and speak to one of our SEO consultants.


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