Times are tough these days for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The current economic downturn presents significant challenges, such as reduced cash flow and a decline in sales due to constrained consumer spending.
SMBs often have less access to financial resources, making it difficult to manage cash flow and secure financing. The downturn has exacerbated existing issues like high debt levels and investment shortfalls, and as a result, SMBs today are facing increased pressure to adapt their strategies to maintain operations and remain competitive in a challenging economic environment.
The fact is, marketing is often the first budget to be cut by businesses during times of economic strain because it’s mistakenly perceived as a non-essential expense that doesn’t generate an immediate, direct return on investment.
Many organizations view marketing as discretionary spending that can be easily reduced when facing financial pressure. The truth is, this knee-jerk reaction is shortsighted and can actually harm long-term business growth.
The truth is that companies that maintain or even increase marketing investment during economic downturns often emerge stronger. In the 1920s, researchers Roland Vaile and Reavis Cox studied how businesses reacted to the recession of 1920/21. It turned out that businesses that continued marketing during recessions saw sales increases of up to 20% over pre-recession levels. The fact is that modern organizations who continue to invest in marketing despite the negative state of the economy are actually at an advantage.
So what does that mean for your business, and how can developing a robust content strategy help you get ahead in challenging times?
Understanding Content Strategy
The first step in developing any marketing for your organization is to create a content strategy. This is a comprehensive plan that outlines how your business will create, manage, and distribute content to achieve specific business goals. It encompasses the planning, development, and governance of content, ensuring that it is useful, usable, and aligned with the needs of your target audiences.
Benefits of Creating a Content Strategy During Economic Downturn
What’s great about content marketing is that it’s generally more cost-effective compared to traditional advertising, especially when budgets are tight. Not only that, but content marketing is a long-term solution, creating increased brand awareness and customer loyalty not only now but down the line. And, if you are executing an amazing content strategy at a time when your competitors are cutting back their marketing budgets, this puts you at a distinct competitive advantage!
So, what makes up a great content strategy?
First, it’s about really digging in and defining your target audiences. This helps you create relevant content that really resonates and makes you memorable. Second, in this online world of multi-channel, multi-way media, there are lots of different ways to do things, and the barrier to entry is fairly low on most platforms. Think blogging, video creation and podcasts, and consider what social media tools and websites can be leveraged to get the word out about your business. Third, building high-quality and most importantly, CONSISTENT content helps to build trust and authority with your audience
Successful Implementation is the Key
Strategies are great and all, but even the slickest strategy is destined to fail if implemented poorly. From setting well-thought-out goals and objectives to measuring success, it’s critical to remember that you’re only as good as the tools, processes and resources you put in place to implement your strategy.
There will always be challenges
It’s always going to be a challenge, especially for smaller businesses, to have the bandwidth and capacity to consistently produce quality content. That’s why doing things like prioritizing high-impact content, repurposing existing content and strategically outsourcing to experts who are skilled in things like automation and technical production are so important.
Change is Inevitable
While the economic struggles that are affecting so many SMBs these days are real and painful, things will get better. That’s why it’s so critical for business owners to monitor the market closely and adapt and change when it’s necessary to do so. Having a solid content strategy now will only benefit you more when things turn around in the future.
Investing in your content strategy during a downturn can position your business for success when the economy recovers. It is a great exercise that enables you to refine your messaging, improve your processes, and strengthen your overall marketing position. Preparation now will help to ensure that when economic conditions improve, your business is ready to capitalize on new opportunities with a strong foundation already in place.
What’s Next?
It can be hard to know where to start with building a content strategy. At Jester, we’ve been helping businesses of all shapes and sizes tell better stories for more than two decades. You can read more about our approach to digital marketing strategy here, and contact us today to find out how you can get started!