We’ve put together 10 Marketing Survival Tips for growing businesses to help them get through the times ahead!

1. Don’t stop marketing! Make sure that you continue to keep up your brand awareness. Don’t get caught up in the negative media hype. Stay focused on learning about the positive things you can do to adjust, and use that to think about the ways in which you might change how you go to market and what with!
2. Talk to your customers. Talk to as many customers as you can and find out how the changes are affecting them? What stops them from using certain products or services? What could you change to help them? Perhaps you can offer a different payment solution. Businesses that adapt to changing times and offer products and services more suited to the changing spending habits and needs of their clients will not only survive, but many will thrive!
3. Use the Web. Make sure your web site is up to date and has exciting content that’s relevant to your audience. Find ways to get your site linked to from more places:
   • Contribute articles and newsletters to other sites that include a link to your site and some information about your business.
   • Investigate the use of social media to have more people engage with your site e.g.
     • Start a blog.
     • Contribute to other relevant blogs on topics you feel passionate about.
     • Do regular polls to find out what customers want and need.
     • Use Linked In, Plaxo, Facebook etc and keep your profile up to date.
   • Get yourself listed on any relevant business directories and keep your profile up to date.
   • Keep on top of your Search Engine Optimisation – find as much out about it as you can and make it a daily task!
   • Send email newsletters out regularly with content your customers care about – not just what you want to sell them!
     

4. Use the Media. Good publicity is the best advertising there is. Seek every opportunity you can to get in the media. Stunts, charity work, conducting and publishing relevant research. Start to develop some relationships with journalists and keep in contact.
   
5. Develop channel/referral relationships. Look at how you can increase referrals through relationships with channel partners (industry associations, affiliate businesses) to see how you can do some mutual back scratching to support each other through tougher times. You may be able to do a joint event with an associated business targeting the same customers and share the costs and the rewards!
   
6. Make sure all your marketing is measured. Find out how all your customers find out about you. Track your conversion and how much each lead and sale costs you. If you can’t measure what you are doing - don’t do it! Mediums such as Direct Marketing, Telemarketing, Search Engine Marketing, PR etc.. are all highly trackable.
7. Have good sales processes. Focus on increasing your conversion rate, not just the number of new leads or enquiries. Do some research on unconverted leads to find out why they aren’t buying from you. Perhaps invest in some sales training for your sales team. Do some mystery shopping to find out what your customer is experiencing and what opportunities there are to increase the number of products you can sell to your customers.
8. Add value and over deliver. Thank your customers and find out some ways you can add value to them. When times are tough, trusted relationships are really important. Great service will ensure your customers stick with you and don’t take any risks with new business relationships.
9. Don’t Give Up! Keep listening to customers, reading media, books and relevant business articles to keep you thinking about your business and how you adapt. If you keep learning through customer feedback and constantly thinking about how you can innovate your offering you will survive and quite possibly thrive!
   
10. Get Paid. It’s not really a marketing tip I know but you need to make sure people pay you! Stay on top of your receivables and follow up as soon as a payment slips. Happy customers generally pay their bills, so constant communication is key.

Happy marketing and keep on learning!

Michelle Gamble is the founder of Marketing Angels - a national marketing consultancy business that provides marketing advice and implementation via its talented team of marketing experts for small and growing businesses – www.marketingangels.com.au