I live in Scottsdale, Arizona.  Nice place.  Not the rust belt.  Lots of people come here year-round to vacation, go to conventions, buy second homes, etc. (i.e., spend money).  I drive down some nice streets to get to my office and see “Bank-Owned” signs on some very nice homes.  Creepy.

I have an active search engine marketing piece of the marketing consulting work I do for small businesses.  I look at traffic on dozens of search queries every week.  Big traffic.  If you believe published numbers, 33% of the people who use search are shopping.  If you think about how you use search, that’s probably a conservative number.

No, I don’t believe there’s a recession on the internet for three reasons-

1. The people searching for things are interested in those things.  Well, duh, right?  Right!  Compare sitting down at your computer and firing up a Google search to going to the mall.  The former is more focused, more intentional.
2. The competition isn’t as fierce on the internet.  I know at first brush that sounds wrong.  After all, you get 3 zillion results when you search on single cup coffee maker.  But two things.  First, people rarely go beyond the first or second page of search results, so there are really only about 20 or so other companies you’re competing against for that buyer.  That might sound like a bunch, more competition than if you are a store.  But consider point two.  Second, if you’re good, you’re competing for 10X or 20X the numbers on the internet versus a store.  You might have 150 people looking at your single cup coffee makers today on your website versus 12 in your store.
3. In my experience search engine marketing dollars are the last to be cut as things slow down.  In fact, all my clients have cut some type of marketing expense.  Only one has cut SEM dollars.  Why?  Again, in my experience, their website is the number one source for leads for 80% of my clients, website leads convert into customers better and they cost less per lead to generate. 

It just makes sense.  Expose yourself to more interested people WHEN they have an interest in what you’re selling and the effects of a slowdown tend not to affect you.  Nope, no recession around here!

Anyway, we went where you might expect to go on such a mission (Sharon, my wife, was a buyer for an 1,100 store chain, so it was very much a mission): Kmart; Costco; Sam’s; and a local specialty store.  With the exception of Costco, which was only moderately busy, these stores were empty (the picture is THE MAIN ISLE in Kmart–two people!).
Yesterday, Monday December 1st, “they” made it official.  We’re in a recession.  And it began last December. 

Really?  Doyathink?!  What’s that Dylan lyric, you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows?  And, what’s that first part of that 12-step program, moving from denial to acceptance?  Hello, my name is Hamilton and we’re in a recession.

How to think about it?  Folks, it is what it is.  You need to know how to market when things are headed up and when things are headed down.  So, as kindly as I can put this, accept it, get over it and get moving toward a solution.  How?  See:

Recession Proof Your Marketing Tip: Who Else?

Recession Proof Your Marketing Tip: Go Small

The Most Powerful Question for Q4 2008

What Happens to Your Customers Happens to You

As a small business marketing consultant I’m called into companies more often when things are bad.  These days, however, things are different.  I first wrote about the slowdown in December of 2007, warning small business owners to check their marketing message (as economic conditions change, so do buying motivations).

What’s the most powerful marketing question for today?  It’s the question you should be asking your top customers: 

How can I help you get through this mess?

Think about it.  If a vendor came to you and asked you this question, how would you feel?  Like they were on your side, like they cared, like they are in this with you.  Well, guess what, we’re all in this together.  What happens to your customers happens to you.  Eventually.

So, start asking this question and you’ll get some interesting answers.

The fact is, regardless of who buys from you, there are other types of customers that represent an opportunity when your current customer group stops buying.  Who, you say?

Look no further than your sales records.  I bet you there’s a group or two of customers, probably small, who just sort of “find” you.  That is, you don’t advertise to them or spend any time or money attracting them.  You don’t have any brochures that speak to their specific concerns.  Again, they find you, not vise versa.

A residential pool remodeling client that did the occasional commercial pool project is now actively courting commercial customers with great success.  In fact, I shutter to think where we’d be without them in today’s economy (residential sales have dropped. . .off a cliff).

Here’s a good one, especially if you’re having a hard time thinking about a small unlikely type of new customer.  Don’t forget your competitors.  We have a client, Freelance Electronics, that is starting to attract competitors as customers.  Okay, I admit, they are unique.  They buy and sell surplus electronics.  They need to continually buy new supplies of surplus they can then resell.  And competitors represent a great source to buy surplus from.

So, what small group of customers have been buying from you and what are you going to do to start attracting more of them?  Where are they?  What are their buying criteria?  How do they like to be sold to?  What are the main issues they face today?

Come on, get going, before one of my clients beats you to it!!

//  There is the “How” of your marketing and the “Why” of your marketing. When sales slow down too many of us only look at the How and not enough also look at the Why.The How: how you deliver your message (ads, brochures, your website, etc.)

The Why: your message (the whys or reasons you give people for buying from you)

From a distance the logic is painfully simple. Spending more to send the wrong message doesn’t make sense. Why, then, do we do it? Because we don’t think our message could be wrong. Right?

I mean, after all, quality and customer service are how we built this business!! It’s who we are!!! How wrong can that be!!!!

Okay, settle down. I’m not saying change who you are. I’m saying quality and customer service may not be resonating with customers today like they used to. You need to find out what is important about who you are with customers NOW and start leading with that message. Or, change to better fit what is important to customers right now. Then lead with that.

Obviously, when economic conditions change buying motivations change. Are times tough for your customers? Price, selling in smaller quantities, longer terms, etc., might become more important. Are times great for your customers? Quick shipment, availability, quality and service might become more important.

Just because you pride yourself on quality and service doesn’t mean you aren’t more than just those two things. Give your customers what they need RIGHT NOW. Make sure your message reflects where your customers are TODAY.

So, gulp, how are your customers reacting to today’s economy?  The more important question, really: If their attitudes are changing, and they probably are, what are you doing to stay a step ahead–to stay relevant?  Before you spend any more of your budget, make sure what you’re telling your prospects and how you’re telling them (your marketing message and methods) have changed along with their current state of mind. 
If your message is wrong you’ll shoot blanks.  Never mind the bigger ads, additional website traffic, larger mailings, whatever, you spend money on.  Once you get your message right, then take a look at what needs boosting or changing, then put your budget behind a campaign that connects.

I’ve been through my share of booms and busts over the past 25 years.  I’m a bit like the doctor who doesn’t get too excited about your broken leg because he’s seen lots of them and, after all, it’s not his leg that’s broken!

We can help you sort out your options and get moving forward, quickly.  I’ve learned a few important lessons when things get tough:

You’re always better off acting sooner than later.  The changes you make are always for the better.  Every client I’ve been with through tough times has felt the changes we made made their business fundamentally better.

The first thing you should look to is your message.  Things slow down when your customers start buying for different reasons.  If your message isn’t changing with the reasons customers buy. . .well then. . .they start buying from companies that give them reasons that make more sense.  Sound familiar from page one?  It should, it’s that important.

The changes you make on your own often don’t go far enough.  “But we did this, this and this, and sales have continued to slide.”  I hear that a lot. Without an outside, objective opinion, most changes are nudges when pushes are required to generate results. 

Who else is buying what you sell?  There are always customer types that sort of just found you that you’ve never paid much attention to.  Trust me, they can become your new best friends!

You may need to fundamentally change your value proposition.  No client I’ve ever worked with willingly embraces this because it’s hard.  But it’s always, always worth it.  Before you say oh, we couldn’t do that, understand it’s rare when you can’t do something that changes and improves your value proposition.

People still buy what you sell.  Maybe not as many are buying right now and, while most are likely buying for different reasons, people still buy what you sell.  So the question is how are you going to adjust?

I’m not a doom-sayer.  I’m not an “I choose not to participate in the recession” type guy either.  Folks, it is what it is.  I first wrote about “a changing economy” in December of 2007 offering that “things are tougher now than 18 months ago.”  And they were.  And things will likely get tougher than they are now.  Well, I say again, folks, it is what it is.  We all need to get over it and start now, not later, look to your message first before you start spending money, guard against making too small a change and be open to changing your value proposition.