Marketing Through A Recession

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There's no sugar coated here, I'm serving up real tips and actionable steps you can take to help get you organized, get off the path to burnout and grow your brand like a boss. So go ahead, pull up a chair, grab a notepad, and let's talk business. Welcome to Strategy forCreatives Busines Minus the Bullshit. I of course, am your host Sasha and today I wanted to tackle a subject that I know many people are a little bit worried about. If you watch the news lately, there are varying degrees of thoughts of whether or not we in the United States are headed into a recession. I know a little bit about econ stuff. So there are some indicators that say that yes, we are headed into a recession if we are not already somewhat in one. But then the labor market in general, it kind of counteracts whether or not we're in a recession. So it's really not clear whether or not we are going into a recession. But the fact remains that consumer wise a lot of people are nervous when it comes to spending money. And so if you have a business, especially in the creative business, if you're offering services or products that are not necessarily needs, it can be hard right now to figure out how you can market to people who are worried about things like increased rent and gas and food costs. And so I wanted to have a conversation about how to effectively market our businesses during a recession. And I think just in general, I mean, it's things to be aware of whenever people in your market may be experiencing any kind of financial strain, how you can speak to them in a way that still it doesn't sound salesy and recognizes the problems that they're facing, but still obviously be in the business of selling. And so to have this conversation today, I am joined by Cora Kessler, who is the founder of Small Magic Studios, a digital marketing strategy company for small businesses. She supports entrepreneurs to get unstuck in their branding and marketing with thorough strategic planning and implementation. She's spoken on panels about variety of things and has led award winning campaigns for Fortune 500 brands, her business Small Magic Studios offers digital marketing plans, one-on-one coaching and has a self guided course. And of course, I will send you to her website at the end of the episode. But right now Cora, welcome, thank you so much for being here.

Thank you, Sasha, it's such a joy to be here.

I'm really excited about this conversation, because I know people do get nervous. We've all kind of been feeling the strain over the past few months of just rising gas prices and food costing more, and people nervous to spend their money because they don't really know what's coming. And so I wanted to I guess, start with, I guess, just the overall question, what are some things when it comes to marketing that we should be aware of, I guess, best practices when it comes to how to market our businesses during uncertain financial times?

Yeah, great question. Well, I think that a lot of people, when we start to hear some, like, murmurs of scary financial news, the first step is usually to, you know, tighten those purse strings. But when it comes to marketing, a lot of people, including the Harvard Business Review, do not really recommend for small businesses, or really any size business to cut the marketing budget. Now, you know, maybe 10-20 years ago, holding the marketing budget was actually the first step. But if you look at now, digital marketing is really the way that most people get any type of business. Now, that's at least the majority of businesses operating today. So if you're a brick and mortar store, which is not the most common type of business, now, that might be a different type of strategy for you. But with online retailers, continuing your marketing plans, and maybe just reprofiling your clients, and just getting a little bit more specific with how you're going to be marketing will actually be a better decision for your brand.

That's interesting that, I guess it makes sense that 20 years ago, it was like, nope, stop marketing to people, like cut that budget. But, so how should we when you talk about like kind of reevaluating your target? Are there certain things that we should be looking at within our target audience and how we speak to them so that way, we don't come across as, I guess, tone deaf, right? The fear is always that, you know, you might not, you're not in tune to what your audience needs or what they want. And, you know, you you might be pitching some sort of service that it's like, 1000s of dollars or something like that, or, you know, products that are 1000s of dollars. So what should we be looking for, in our target audience to see if it's time to kind of readjust that messaging?

Yeah, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So when I talk about profiling your target audience, what I really mean is thinking about their spending habits. So you might have a target audience that usually I think about, like four different demographics. So one is kind of the the young urban professionals who maybe they work for, like the top companies, you know, they're maybe like, these days that there are layoffs in those companies in Silicon Valley and whatnot, but they're pretty comfortable. They probably have significant savings, they might be in a dual income, no kids household, they they're going to continue to live live as they would, you know, pre recession talk and continue to post images on Instagram, or what have you of their beautiful trips to Europe. And they're not really thinking about recession, that's a word that's like not in their vocabulary. They're like, oh, cool, that means I can buy some more stocks, because it's lower right now. So if that is a different type of client, that's a, there's a different type of language you would use for that client. Prices might remain the same for them. High high earners, high spenders, are not going to be impacted by the recession. So you can really keep your marketing the same to that demographic, and that profile type. You know, of course, on the flip side, there are people that are extremely impacted by recessions. And we want to be sensitive to that. So there are also brands that really cater to this demographic. Let's say it's a discount grocery store, you're going to change their their marketing, language and narrative to offer more deep discounts and really, you know, consider the types of coupons that people might be looking for. So there's a way to... I wouldn't, I don't like to say use the recession to your benefit, but consider the way people are living because that's really at the end of the day what marketing is. How is your consumer experiencing life? And how can you bring the product to them in a way that's meaningful? And there are people in between those two extremes. There are people that might be, you know, optimistic still about the future of their finances, but they're just maybe not going out to dinner as much. And there's a middle ground there. So, you know, especially for creatives, where sometimes their products are viewed as an accessory, I think there is something to be mindful of in that space. There are a lot of ways that you can be a digital marketer as a creative and use this time where maybe, hopefully not but potentially some of your client brackets, let's say if they're in the extremely, you know, tighten purse strings, kind of brackets, you might have, you might mark it to them in a different way. You might offer them some freebies and grow your mailing list with them, but not consider them a client that's going to convert to a financial gain at this stage.

That's just what I was about to ask you. Would you suggest, if you are marketing, if your target market is on the lower income and or you have a service or a product that's seen as more of a want not necessarily a need, does the marketing more turn into here's the value that I can give you like, here's, I'm going to educate you more as opposed to like direct selling, because they're probably not in that frame of mind right now.

Right. I think that's exactly it. They're not in a place to convert with their additional cash flow. They're probably going to convert by looking for freebies, and looking for resources that they where they can maybe use a little bit of their extra time, potentially, you know, hopefully, they haven't been laid off. But that could be someone's experience. There might be more entrepreneurs these days, you know, with some of these tech layoffs. And, you know, there there are opportunities for creatives to create free content, and get a conversion in the form of a mailing list growth. And what I, one way that I view a recession is just an elongation of the marketing funnel, or the sales funnel. So the consideration phase for some of these, these profiles, and these types of consumers that are, you know, probably more in a tighten purse strings type of mindset, that consideration phases longer for them. They're not going to quickly convert to be one of your clients immediately, because yeah, maybe they can wait on that new logo, they can wait on that website refresh. That's not something that's urgent for them right now. Because they have, they really want to make sure that their savings are in a great place. But maybe in a year, usually, recessions are around 15 months on the long side, they can really revise look at where everything is. And kind of just and you'll be top of mind. That's really the goal for recession, proof marketing, make sure you're top of mind, for a number of people, when people are out of this tunnel.

I liked that you said it's an elongated kind of funnel, because I don't think we think of it that way. I think people, the first inclination and probably for some businesses is to okay, I need to start offering things at a discount, or I need to change the way that I'm marketing maybe market to different people who that's in and of itself, a whole different type of animal because maybe you've been targeting, you know, on people for so long that really is who your target market is they just can't you know afford to spend on you right now and trying to shift that marketing can mess up messaging. So I like that you kind of saw that it really is just an elongated funnel. I talk a lot on the show about the benefits of email list building. And, I like that you pointed out that even during a recession, that's a great time to kind of focus more on maybe not so much selling and you know, even though that can play into your business numbers financially, but ultimately, if you are focusing that marketing on okay, how many people now can I get on my email list? Like what value can I give to these people who are joining my email list? When we are out of a recession those people are now primed and ready and have been hearing from you. You haven't really sold to them like you're just giving them this value and so that when they are ready, they're more likely to turn around to you and make a purchase.

Yeah, yeah, totally agree. And the other thing I would add is you know, obviously some of that fear mindset and that you know, okay, discount these customers not viewing it as an elongation of a have a marketing funnel is because people you know, businesses like yours in mind, we need cash flow, but another way to appeal to a wider range of different customers segments, is to provide some, some maybe something that might be a freebie for some, but then maybe instead sell it for 50 to$100. And so when sometimes when those people are feeling a little bit more comfortable and ready to invest, they can maybe purchase a small, like a short class from you or invest in a webinar series, something like that. So they're not going to like for me, I do some types of coaching here or there like, marketing and strategy sessions. And those can be quite an investment for some businesses. But sometimes, you know, an alternative to that, if they're prepping themselves to really invest in my services in that way. Investing in a class or in an online asynchronous class would be a great first step.

Yeah, and I think a lot of times during, during times, like tight cash flows, you'll, you'll see that people are interested in they want the education and the tools to kind of DIY some things themselves, because they know they might not have the funds to hire someone or to get the strategy that they need or something like that. So they might be looking at more of those like, "entry level products", that can fill that void until they do have the cash flow coming in, or they are ready to start spending money again. So I think, like what you're mentioning, kind of focusing on that email list marketing, but also what other types of products or services can you give that might be at a lower price point that aren't necessarily devaluing what you do, but are letting people kind of enter your business at a different stage and priming them for the bigger ticket. Because we all know, I mean, it's easier to convert an existing client than it is to get a new one. So having something like that... I mean, I would encourage everyone who's listening, it doesn't have to be anything that's, you know, super hard to put together or you know, something that you've never done before I do. Every year, I do a goal setting workshop that I do on Facebook, and I've done it on a couple of Facebook groups, and I literally just turned it, I recorded it turned it into a course that I sell for like 27 bucks. And that's an easy way to kind of just get people into your funnel, into your email list.$27 for most people, it's not going to seem like it's that big of a price. Like maybe they can't afford to, you know, join my group program, or do one on one coaching with me. But they can certainly spend $27 on a course. And so, and it helps people kind of get to know your business more so that when they are ready to spend that money, and they're not worried about you know how they're getting money coming into their own businesses, then they're more likely to use someone that they've already used before. So I really appreciate that you kind of pointed that out as a as a way to kind of recession proof your business.

Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, I think that a lot of people, it's also I appreciate that you mentioned the devaluing piece. I think there's such a narrative that I do think is important in the business world, and especially the entrepreneurial world of talking about raising your prices, raising your prices, don't be afraid to raise your prices. But also, don't be afraid to have some low ticket items too, you know. Recognize the value of your time, that's important. And really, what I tried to do is almost like a mindset exercise, like, is this where I want to be spending my time, if it's not, I may charge a little bit more for that, because it's, it feels harder for me to be in this space. But if it's something I really enjoy, and it's a product, I really love giving my time to go ahead and take it, you know, that's great. I will give all of my knowledge. Um, and, yeah, so you know, I also think a lot of times when people are valuing their products, they do just think of like an hourly rate, but not their years of experience behind it. So that's also where the where people fall short in terms of charging too low. So yeah, think of what what is this worth to me, too. But yeah, I don't know. It's an interesting conversation to consider one thing in terms of kind of mindset, I was thinking, I noticed that you've worked a little bit with I think it was BetterHelp. And so I think in a recession, I that is something really to keep in mind, just how anxiety producing it can be for entrepreneurs, especially, of course, for anyone, but just to really, you know, you don't want to live in denial, but don't doom scroll. Like yeah, I was doing a little bit of, you know, just looking into news about the recession recently and there's so much extreme, so many extreme perspectives on both sides, you know. Like, is this recession even happening or like, this is going to be the worst of all time, you know. Also, like I said earlier, based off of histories of recessions, they're usually 15 months on the long end. So obviously, there can be a ripple effect and everything, but I and and I don't mean to diminish what people's experiences could be. But I also think that it's easy and can be really limiting for people's experiences in business, if they get too entrenched in holding, you know, holding back on spending on anything, and thinking it's going to be a really terrible year.

I definitely agree with that. I'm much more of a, I guess, half glass full person. I don't really, I don't like to, like follow the news and things like that. I mean, I stay up on what's going on. But I don't really like to get into anything that's gonna like be a Debbie Downer for the most part. And I just think it's important to be aware of like, what's happening without, like, you mentioned, kind of getting sucked into, you know, this could it's going to be horrible. Like, we have to, like, you know, really buckle down and tighten it like, there obviously, might be some changes that you have to do in your business. But I also think it's a great time to kind of look at it as what other things can you be doing in your business if you're not making sales? Like how can you change your marketing to kind of get more people into your funnel? Or either, you know, other ways that you can improve your product or your service? Or is there more value that you can add to something that you're already doing, you know, that justifies the price that it's at, or something like that, without lowering the price, but maybe you can, "give more" at that price to make it more of an investment that people are willing to spend money on. Because, like you mentioned, there's certain people who are always going to spend money like recessions, at the end of the day, don't hit everyone the same. And so if you are, if you're speaking to certain people, then it just depends kind of how much talking can you do to really show the value of what you're giving, that makes people see the value in spending that money now versus spending it later. So thank you for that. I think that's a great way to kind of sum it up. It's an important conversation to acknowledge that we may or may not be in a recession, because no one seems to know, now, and that there are certainly things that we need to be doing in our business, but not to get too bogged down on the negative aspects of it.

Totally agree. Yeah.

So I appreciate you coming on the show today. You can find a Cora's business, it's smallmagicstudios.com And if you sign up for her email list, she has free webinars, workshops, and she even has even a she can get a code for a session for a digital marketing expert. So I suggest that you sign up for her email list smallmagicstudios.com I will put that in the show notes for everyone. But Cora thank you so much for having this conversation.

Thank you Sasha, this has been so fun.

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