Free and low cost marketing techniques for growing your business

45 ways to help maintain leads and sales during a market downturn

How will this resource help me and my business?

Recessions inevitably lead to changes in consumer spending and demand for products and services. They can also mean that budgets become tighter, and the activity they fund needs to stretch a little further. This means that plans need to be rapidly re-evaluated so businesses can stay competitive and build a solid platform for the future after the recession.

With reduced demand or budgets, it becomes vital to rapidly think through new, alternative approaches to prioritize those with the biggest potential. That’s where this checklist will help since it presents a carefully curated list of ideas to review alongside examples and tried and tested tools.

This guide will help you by providing:

• Different ideas to improve communications to support lead generation and sales
• A range of ideas - from fundamental changes in branding, proposition targeting and pricing through to practical ideas to improve digital interactions with consumers through the customer journey
• Recommendations on how to plan and prioritize these ideas
• A data-driven approach to identify weaknesses and opportunities that can be tested

Who is this guide for?

The guide is aimed at supporting decisions and planning by:

• Marketing leaders responsible for brands, products and services
• Marketing and digital marketing managers reviewing opportunities
• Marketing execs looking to increase their knowledge of techniques for improving lead generation and conversion

How is this guide structured?

This checklist is structured using the acclaimed RACE planning system with at least five ideas in each section covering:

• Plan - defining your marketing strategy and action plans
• Reach - growing awareness and demand
• Act - generating leads using content and the right customer journeys
• Convert - increasing both online and offline conversion to sale
• Engage - improve loyalty through customer communications

Resource Details

• Author: Dave Chaffey
• Last updated: August 2020
• Format: Checklist structured around RACE

About the author

Dr. Dave Chaffey

Dave is co-founder of Smart Insights. He is editor of the 100+ templates, ebooks, and courses in the digital marketing resource library created by our team of 25+ Digital Marketing experts. Our resources are used by our premium members in more than 120 countries to plan, manage and optimize their digital marketing.

For his full profile, or to connect on LinkedIn or other social networks, see the About Dave Chaffey profile page on Smart Insights. Dave is author of 5 bestselling books on digital marketing including Digital Marketing Excellence and Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation, and Practice. In 2004 he was recognized by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as one of 50 marketing ‘gurus’ worldwide who have helped shape the future of marketing.