What's your secret sauce?

In a struggling economy, fear of what comes next is real. By following along with our Recession-Ready Branding series, you can prepare your business for the worst. This final blog focuses on revealing your company’s bread and butter. What sets you apart from your competitors? What are you the best at?

To uncover what is valuable about your brand, we recommend spending time thinking about your loyal and satisfied customers. We can help you do some research and figure out what they like most about your brand—what keeps them coming back. You might discover a benefit of your brand that you could highlight more in your marketing.

Next, apply this same practice of research to your offerings as well. If you’re feeling the effects of the recession and work slows, use the extra time to search for new ways to improve what customers already appreciate about your products and services. You could also work on developing a new product. Doing your research will help you create one that sells.

Now, you’re ready to tackle your marketing strategy. And guess what? Your new friend called research will come in handy again. This time, look back at what tactics have been successful before. Does your advertising perform better on some platforms than others? Does using a certain medium often yield better results than others? Take some time to analyze the data from your past marketing efforts and let that guide your current decisions. Keep doing what you already know works well.

Amid your research, you may realize that you need to experiment more with different strategies to find out which works best for your brand. That’s okay—you’re now one step closer to finding what works. And going through this process will be worth it in the end. Based on your data, you can make an informed decision about what approach or approaches to try next.

By researching what is valuable about your brand, you’ll find what makes your business stand out. Once you find the best way to promote that, you’ll be better prepared to succeed in a struggling economy. When you’re ready to get started, the team at Big is here to help.

Forbes, “When A Recession Comes, Don't Stop Advertising.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2019/09/05/when-a-recession-comes-dont-stop-advertising/?sh=6d7417a14608

Forbes, “Why You Need To Market More In A Recession.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2020/07/20/why-you-need-to-market-more-in-a-recession/?sh=5488dce566fa

Forbes, “Branding In A Recession - A Survivor's Guide.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidvinjamuri/2019/01/03/branding-in-a-recession-a-survivors-guide/?sh=15b6c060b0e2

Harvard Business Review, “Don’t Cut Your Marketing Budget in a Recession.”
https://hbr.org/2020/08/dont-cut-your-marketing-budget-in-a-recession