The economy is in a very uncertain place right now, which can make people feel powerless. But there are things you can do now to “recession-proof” your IT business. We tell you what those things are in our 3-part series – the MSP Recession Survival Guide.
In this part 2, we discuss how to build up your marketing content without breaking the bank, and why times like now are the best time to plant the seeds that will carry you through a tough economy.
Stopping your marketing is the last thing you want to do. It will just make things worse during a recession. Instead, you want to have plenty of marketing power ready to go and the flexibility to use it in multiple ways.
How to Use Marketing Smartly So You Can Weather a Stormy Economy
Approximately 45% of U.S. economists expect a recession within a year. That still leaves a lot of uncertainty out there. Consumer sentiment has been going down the last three months in a row but showed a slight increase in August. Still, just 19.2% of consumers consider business conditions “good” right now.
What this means for MSP business owners is that now is not the time to sit on your hands or just conduct business as usual. It’s smart to prepare your marketing content so it can carry you through any tight economic times.
Content marketing is like turning on a faucet when you’re in the desert. When it flows regularly at a good volume, it can infuse your business with fresh leads and sales growth. But if you turn that faucet off, your bottom line can dry up and you’re left with nothing but tumbleweeds.
Keep that marketing faucet on, even if budgets get tight by building up a nest egg of content now. You also want to diversify the types of marketing that you use to ensure all bases are covered.
Here are some ways to make your company more recession-proof.
Build Up Extra Content Now
If a recession hits, this could impact your sales. You may have to make budget cuts, which could have a detrimental effect on your business if it includes stopping your marketing content.
When you’re no longer marketing, it’s like throwing up the white flag and handing over leads to your competitors. You can keep that scenario from becoming a reality by building up additional content before things go downhill.
The great thing about technology content is that certain topics are always relevant, such as blog posts about how to detect phishing or tips for organizing cloud storage and email inboxes.
So, you can create a trove of content that gives you at least 3-4 months of blog posts, videos, lead magnets, social posts, and more. You’ll have this to fall back on should you need to constrict your marketing spend temporarily during a recession.
That should hopefully be plenty to help you weather the storm and keep your company on the map and attracting new business.
Diversify the Types of Content You Use
Some potential customers may hang out on Facebook for hours a day. Others may prefer getting company information by email. Still, others like to see product/service videos on YouTube.
You can multiply your chances of reaching your target audiences by diversifying the types of content that you use. If all you do is send a monthly newsletter, you could be missing out on the benefits of local SEO. If you feel that putting a lead magnet on your site is enough, then there could be scores of potential buyers on social media that you’re losing.
You should build up content of different types. If you use a one-to-many strategy like our sister site Tech Blog Builder, you can base other content around your blog posts. Such as creating a video, newsletter, social media posts, and more that branch out from the topics in your company blog articles.
Using different types of content gets you better traction, especially if the economy is in a recession when you need all the leads you can get.
Here are a few statistics that show the power of various types of content marketing:
- 71% of internet users say they viewed a blog post during their buying journey.
- 51% of people say they spend online time on YouTube
- Blog posts are more effective when promoted via social media
Some of the content to focus on building up for a potential recession includes:
- Blog posts
- Videos
- Social media posts with graphics
- Lead magnets (eBooks, etc.)
- Newsletter list
- Infographics
- Customer reviews
Use an À La Carte Style Marketing Service
If you pay a service for your marketing content, then you can be in an all-or-nothing situation if you have a plan that doesn’t allow flexibility when you need to reduce the amount you’re spending. It’s best to work with an à la cart style marketing service, like Tech Marketing Engine.
We give you the option to pick and choose the services you need – blog posts, social posts, videos, review management, website management. You can also remove and add the types of content you get and the volume (such as reducing your number of blog posts per month).
Flexibility in your marketing service is key so you have elasticity and don’t have to shut off your lead-generating faucet entirely. Especially when you need it most!
Build a Newsletter List Now
Some business owners think that an email newsletter would be nice, but they just don’t have time for it right now. It may be put on the back burner as something to do in the future.
But building a list for your email newsletter takes a little time. You need to offer the opportunity for people to opt-in on your website using a form, lead magnet, or checkbox on your contact page. You can build up a good group of leads to nurture over several weeks, but you don’t want to wait until the recession has already hit to do this. Start now.
In 2020, email marketing generated an average of $36 for each $1 spent.
You can begin easily by signing up for free with a service like MailChimp. They allow you to have at least 500 contacts on the free plan, and as you grow you can expand to another plan. Other services will have typical offerings.
One of the best ways to build your list quickly is to add a checkbox to your contact form that asks if people want to sign up for your newsletter. Make it attractive, such as “Get awesome IT tips delivered each month.”
Other ways to build your list include promoting a signup form over social media, using a lead magnet on your site (such as an eBook or free checklist), and putting an email signup form in an exit popup.
Begin building your list now and putting together your email newsletter template. Then, your newsletter can help you continue generating sales should the economy take a downturn.
Research Keywords Consumers Are Using Today
The keywords people use can change according to world events. For example, last year someone may have been searching for “IT support in Atlanta,” and now that recession is on the horizon, they may be searching for “Inexpensive IT support in Atlanta” or “Low cost managed services near me.”
Don’t miss the boat on developing keyword trends. Update your keyword strategy now based on potential changes in how people are searching. You can use a keyword tool, such as Google Keyword Planner or Google Trends to find the most recent keyword statistics and see how people are searching.
The great thing about Google Trends is that you can do a comparison of two different keywords, select your desired date range for the data, and drill down to a local area for the results.
Check out: “10 Best Keyword Research Tools for IT Businesses”
Put Your Marketing Content on Autopilot
Build up your content today, so you can continue generating leads tomorrow. Especially if tomorrow brings a recession. Investing in your marketing content now will help you weather the economic storms that may be coming.
Don’t have much time? Put your marketing on autopilot by using a service like Tech Marketing Engine. We write personalized content, including blog posts, social posts, videos, newsletters, and more. We can also take care of the posting for you!
Looking for parts 1 and 3 of this MSP Recession Survival Guide? Find Part 1 on Tech Reputation now and Part 3 on Tech Blog Builder in the coming weeks.
What’s your biggest concern with the looming recession? Share your thoughts in the comments.
One engagement opportunity that many IT business owners miss is the email welcome sequence. This is a series of emails that go out automatically right after someone has signed up for a newsletter or downloaded a lead magnet.
