CMO Priorities During an Economic Recession

More than half of US consumers will reduce their online spending due to the economic uncertainty.

We know a lot about the state of the economy. What are the thoughts of the chief marketing officers during this time?

According to Forrester, 98% of B2C marketers plan to increase their budgets next year.

During an economic downturn, it can be difficult for CMOs to decide what to focus on.
The current customer base should be invested in.

During an economic downturn, a customer-first strategy is essential. The best place to market is to your clients. They will be more likely to buy from you in the future if you give them more value from what they already own.
The do’s and don’t’s of marketing in an economic downturn were discussed by Wentworth. Privacy, branding and becoming more like a media company by creating valuable content that goes beyond marketing content and takes a page out of the journalistic playbook are some of the things he wants to do.

The recent economic downturn may be tough on businesses, but Victor Elmann believes it is also a good time to improve your game.

His current priorities are listed.
Customer retention is more important during a recession. Businesses should offer incentives to their customers. Customer service should be up to par.
Companies should use social media to increase brand awareness. They should make sure their campaigns are relevant.
New marketing strategies should focus on research and innovation.

Improving customer retention rates and increasing brand awareness with new strategies can increase your chances of success during tough economic times.

There is a question about whether or not to be optimistic or delusional. The Chief Marketing Officer is expected to stay in that position.

Tailoring and efficiency are related.

In today’s environment, it’s imperative marketers are involved in almost every department of their organization, from sales to HR, understanding the basics of metrics, conversion rates and the value the department brings to an organization

Gilman’s priorities are currently listed.

Spending efficiency is important during an economic downturn. Are your dollars coming back the way they were before the downturn? You should reallocate these funds to channels that are doing better.
Casting a broad net isn’t the best course of action when downturns happen Lower costs and higher production campaigns can be achieved by targeting specific customer spending profiles.
Tailoring is when investments aren’t as plentiful in emerging technologies. You can become relevant in that industry if you go vertical.

To maintain consumer expectations, marketers should focus on tailoring campaigns and outreach towards individuals.
There is an economic downturn.

If you want to maintain the status quo, say no.

When economic change impacts customer behavior, it’s business behavior, not the budget, that needs to pivot.

He uses five principles to make digital marketing work during a downturn.

Don’t stop when you pull back on your digital marketing efforts. When a need arises for the consumer, this increases the risk that their brand will not be top of mind.
It’s time to get ready for opportunity, reduced competition will lower marketing costs and improve efficiency.
In a recession, a winning business tactic is to listen to your customers. It takes more effort and money to acquire new clients than it does to service existing ones.
Customers may need to engage with your business in a different way because of the economic challenges. Look for ways to improve the customer experience with loyalty programs or more flexible payment options.
One area to focus on when standard behavior changes is creativity. One way to deliver personalized messaging is through rich and creative filmic content, which can be cut many ways and shared across multiple platforms.

La Cour said that history has shown that recessions can offer opportunities for growth for businesses. “When times are good, you should advertise; when times are bad, you must not advertise.”

Quality and cost control are related.

Sara Stern has more than one hat in the ring when it comes to her company’s success. She wants to know if helping the organization make money is her top priority.

Most of the time companies come to her looking for a better solution, she said, as a manufacturing firm that markets exclusively to other businesses.

A video is currently being produced to show companies what we can do for them. An e-Book is in the process of being created. The automated email campaign will capture prospects for us to re market our services. We wait for the quotes to come in via our website.

Cost control and quality are her top priorities right now. She believes that controlling costs is the most important priority of any business right now.

Where are we spending our money right now?
We are approving for new purchases.
What are the effects of inflation on purchases?

She said that this was the first step in looking at where you can make important cost control decisions.

Product lines are being improved and automated to help reduce rework.

We hold the entire team accountable for quality because of our shared values. Quality is a team sport and every one of our employees has a responsibility to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations We earn customer retention and potentially new business down the road after the recession is over if we deliver a quality product at a fair price.