Yes Virginia, there is a recession. But it may not be as deep or long as expected. And even during recessions, consumers and business still continue to spend, the economy still functions, and customers still need to be found, communicated with, and sold to.  

Grassroots online and affiliate marketing offer cost-effective penetration into areas difficult to reach during uncertain economic times. Sometimes these are the most efficient and effective ways to communicate.

In fact, because online spending is more efficient and targeting, and because it’s results are more often measurable than other advertising vehicles such as TV or print, many research firms and analysts are still expecting to see growth in online advertising despite the economic downturn.

• According to a Forrester Research survey of over 300 marketers almost twice as many respondents said they would increase online spending as opposed to decreasing it during a recession.
• A recent Epsilon CMO survey found that 63% expected increases for interactive/online marketing spending for 2008 while only 14% expected a reduction.
• A survey of 600 US marketers this month by MarketingProfs, found that 60% planned to increase spending on web advertising in reaction to the downturn.

In the recession of 2009, marketers will be making cuts almost across the board, and will seek safe harbors and cost-efficient alternatives.

— Jack Myers Media Business Report, October 13, 2008

• Micro-targeting – The internet provides more granular and efficient targeting than traditional media which reduces budgets by eliminating wasted spending that reaches people who are not part of your target audience.
• Interactive – The web is interactive providing higher levels of customer interaction, engagement, and dialog.  
• More Measurable – The web offers more measurable and accountable results than most other media channels.
• Social Marketing – Social media such as blogs and other user-generated content, social messaging services (e.g. Twitter), social networks for both personal (e.g. Facebook) and business (e.g. LinkedIn), and other social networks and social media provide marketers with the potential part of the social network and social media landscape, which can provide significant insights into consumer behavior and attitudes.
• Conversational Marketing – The web provides unique opportunities for advertisers and marketers to engage in conversations with current and potential customers about their attitudes, interests, objections, purchasing plans and brand preferences.
• Full-cycle Marketing – Traditional media such as TV and print can bring awareness and present calls to action. The web takes you much further into consumer and business buying processes, from initial product, service, and brand awareness; through pre-sales information gathering; to actually delivering sales via e-commerce, and then following up with post-sale feedback, support, and specials buying incentives or product/service offerings.
• Stealing Audience Share – Especially among younger consumers who are still establishing life-long brand preferences, the web is accounting for a larger share of total media attention time, with many young people spending more time online than watching television.

Three important goals for any marketing initiative are to a) increase audience awareness of the product/service and its benefits, b) address customer demand, and c) do so at the lowest cost possible. Leveraging the more efficient, effective, and measurable media possibilities online can help you achieve these goals.

Some of the proven and profitable opportunities for low-cost marketing and helping to foster close customer and partner relationships include:

• Customer surveys
• Reference programs
• Newsletters
• Personalization
• Referral promotions
• Training

Beyond relationship management, these types of marketing approaches are effective in supporting sales and product development.

What to consider

Before determining your next marketing or visibility plan, it is critical to consider how the effort will be supported within your organization. Take the time to look closely at your goals and capacity for your sales, development, and customer communication. Here are 4 key areas to consider before you make final decisions:

1. Determine the level of implementation complexity. How specifically can you target customers and partners, and personalize messages? What are all of the communication channels available.
2. Outsource external email communication, unless you have technical staff on board to deploy HTML, AOL, text, and rich media messages. Use a vendor up-to-speed on anti-spam rules and regulations. Be sure the vendor can manage unsubscribe requests, bounces and spam. Select a vendor who will test messages and monitor response on a real-time basis.
3. Define your objectives and success metrics. You could decide to measure any number of metrics such as sales generated, hits to your web site, number of leads, or cost per customer.
4. Align your activities with search engine keywords on your web site pages. Take time to do this before you launch any campaign and you’ll see a significant difference in response.

Good luck and happy prospering!