Why Digital Marketing is Recession-Proof

If you keep your ear to the ground on financial and business news like we do, you’ve likely been watching the recent flurry of headlines with more than a little dread. What’s going on with the 800-point drop in the Dow? Is a recession coming? What’s up with the “crazy inverted yield curve”?

We’re not experts, but we certainly know enough to know that we have no idea. But that’s quite all right, because we absolutely believe that a smart approach to digital marketing means you don’t need to fret over the inevitable ups and downs of the economy. With fourth-quarter approaching, and the financial landscape feeling volatile as ever, it’s time to buckle up your digital marketing strategy and prepare for the ride.

Here’s why digital marketing is the safest and most strategic investment for your business:

It’s Cheap.

When managed correctly, SEO, SEM, Social Advertising, and Email Marketing are the most cost-effective ways for you to find new customers. In particular, SEO and Email are marketing channels that require a low investment while offering a high and consistent yield. At Good & Gold, we consider these “utility services,” and feel strongly that every business should be nailing these two services before expanding their programs to invest elsewhere. These are your bread and butter—the front door and the telephone of modern marketing.

Some cost benefits of digital marketing include:

The longevity of programs like SEO and email automations, which continue to perform and pay dividends long after they’re implemented, and can always be improved upon.
The ability to shift quickly, both in terms of spend level and budget allocation. If something isn’t working, you can always adjust or move to another strategy.
The ability to set goals and targets and optimize toward them while midstream, instead of waiting until a traditional campaign is over to analyze and pivot.

It’s Nimble.

Digital marketing allows you to make changes to a campaign in real time. Let’s say you launch your fall campaign with two different creative approaches, because you’re not quite sure what will resonate with your audience. Within a week, you can begin to analyze performance and move your budget into the top performing campaign, maximizing ROI as you go. In this day and age, there is no way to know what will work, and there is no reason to be tethered to a sinking ship.

The ability to shift strategies and tactics quickly via digital marketing allows you to quickly account and adjust for:

Cost per conversion
Spend rate
Audience and targeting

It’s Measurable.

If you don’t know which marketing channel is driving the majority of your revenue, you’re not measuring well. If you don’t know what your monthly goals are, or whether you’re on track to meet your goals, you’re not tracking well. The data is all at your fingertips—it’s just a matter of developing a clear window into that data. Take the time to set up robust and easy-to-read dashboards, so that you can make informed decisions about your business.

The measurability afforded by digital marketing allows you to closely track:

Any conversion: Purchase, form fill, registration, or download
Conversion rates from any channel
Abandonment rates
Lead value
Customer lifetime value

It’s Sticky.

The moment a client or customer has made their first purchase, you have the data you need in order to expand the relationship and better serve their needs. Have your customers gone dark on you? Create a re-engagement strategy: Give them a reason to come back and do business with you.

For example, you might engage customers in the following ways:

Launch email automations to suggest products often purchased together, or provide related content customers might enjoy.
Use Referral Marketing to encourage customers to engage their network by offering a reward.
Deploy retargeting ads to reach out to past purchasers, or engaged visitors to your website that did not convert.