How Article Marketing Can Help Even in a Recession

It looks like it’s time to forget about the career you planned on and start seriously thinking about the next stage in your professional life—namely, the recession-proof job that’s going to put supper on the table for the next decade or so.  Times are changing.  If you had dreams about becoming an oilman, a real estate agent or running a lemon car dealership, then you’re going to have to put those plans on the back burner, that is, if you believe all that talk of recession by the government.  (Trust me, it’s all mostly true)

It’s important to keep a balanced perspective of the recession and a realistic outlook on your own budget and lifestyle.  Despite whatever doomsday philosophy you have heard out there, the end isn’t nigh.  America is not going to turn into pre-Nazi Germany.  America is not going to go bankrupt.  We’re not going to be sold back to the U.K. nor is a civil war going to break out any time soon.  The entire world is not going to collapse in on itself, and we are not going to revert back to mob rule. 

Oh yes, things are going to get tough, but if you are frugal with your money and approach your long-term future with caution, you can survive this crisis.  One nice thing you can say about the recession is that it is teaching American consumers the value of good financial strategy.  It is making people think twice about impulsive buying.  The recession is helping reckless people to treat life a little more respectfully and focus just a little bit on tomorrow, rather than splurge it all for one day.

You might have read a little bit about “recession-proof businesses” in recent months.  The more you analyze these lists such as the “10 Recession Proof Businesses” http://money.howstuffworks.com/10-recession-proof-businesses1.htm at HowStuffWorks.com, the more you start to sense a pattern. 

The best recession-proof businesses included:

* Candy
* Cosmetic
* Contraceptives
* Luxury Retail
* Repossessions
* Government Jobs
* Education
* Vices
* Discount Retail
* Information Technology
* Healthcare
* Non-cyclical Businesses

Why were these businesses elevated above powerhouses like the real estate industry and the automotive industry?  Because these businesses, not so coincidentally, were far closer to the mindset of the majority population.  When there’s a recession the luxury businesses are the first ones to suffer.  The industries that sell risky investments suffer.  Meanwhile, people still follow their hearts and spend money on what really matters most. 

Now then, you can’t really make the argument that people are so afraid of the recession that they’re not blowing money on instant gratification.  They do want their candy, they want their vice and they want their horror movies on Saturday night.  They are definitely spending their hard-earned money, and they don’t care about the consequences if this “vice” (literal or symbolic) can give them a few moments of happiness, enough to forget about the worries of next year. 

What seems to be happening is that people are only spending recession money on what they perceive as their absolute needs.  Whatever they can rationalize as a “want” is being postponed or dismissed altogether.  Of course, the things they are not totally sold on are quickly seen as “wasteful expenses.”  As a retailer, you should take this to mean that your audience is not going to buy your product out of boredom, out of sheer novelty, or even out of curiosity.  (Maybe in the 80s and 90s, but not today) 

Now more than ever, it is vitally important to the success of your business that you create a “need” in your audience to buy your products and services.  You probably already know how to tap into this subconscious yearning, so we won’t bore you with the details.  However, we are going to talk about one marketing avenue that can benefit your business and even help to “recession-proof” your business.

Article marketing!  Yes, yes, we know.  We SEO firms tend to think of article marketing as the next miracle cure for just about everything.  I admit that there’s no evidence to suggest that article marketing can add 10 years to your life, but then again, there’s no evidence against that claim either.

Seriously, let’s consider eight good reasons why investing in Search Engine Optimization (articles optimized for search engines) and article marketing (directory submissions) can help your business in a recession.  These eight reasons, as you will see, actually correspond to some of the points made by Harvard Business School professor John Quelch in his recent article entitled “Marketing Your Way Through a Recession.”  http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/feb2008/ca20080219_060846.htm

1. Research the customer.

In a time of financial recession you really need to focus on learning your customer’s needs.  Article marketing and SEO are considered one some the best ways to get inside the head of your prospects.  After all, you are tapping into their ego and id (forgive my Freudian reference) by taking the exact keywords they are searching for and using them in your sales copy.  You are also tracking their every move via web analytics.  You can see where they lose interest, what pages bring them to your site, and what particular articles captivate their attention.  You can even collect demographical information regarding their web browsers, their referral pages, or their country/state of origin.  Stopping short of taking an in-person survey, SEO is one of the best ways to “learn” your customer.

2. Focus on family values.

John Quelch wrote about the importance of returning to family values in times of financial stress.  While this point didn’t exactly correspond to an SEO strategy, it does make you think of social media marketing which is quickly become the next evolution in our business.  Quelch said “When economic hard times loom, we tend to retreat to our village.”  That certainly explains our desire to hang around popular social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, doesn’t it?  Hey, making more friends and friendly acquaintances online never hurts. 

3. Maintain marketing spending.

Quelch next refers to maintaining your marketing campaign.  This makes sense to anyone who is a businessperson because you can’t expect to profit if you’re not putting any “noise” out there on the market.  The great thing about Search Engine Optimization and article marketing is that these venues remain two of the cheapest ways to advertise your business, and yet the best ways to get maximum mileage out of your investment.  SEO articles can build traffic indefinitely and continue to bring in new customers while improving search engine rankings (after all, the more relevant content you have, the better).  Directory articles also influence ranking, especially when regularly submitted over a period of time.

4. Adjust product portfolios.

Quelch stated that “tough times favor multi-purpose goods over specialized products.”  He also foresees a time when “Gimmicks are out; reliability, durability, safety and performance are in.”  Now more than ever consumers are looking for good value in every single purchase.  I personally like to think of the SEO articles we do as a polished presentation and quality product that has been sold to a client.  This is a product I am confident will provide high Return On Investment, not only because of the informational value presented, but also because of the organic optimization process that ensures higher and longer-lasting top 10 rankings.  Honestly, you have to do good work to stay in business these days!  

5. Support distributors.

There is no distribution channel when it comes to article marketing, but I tend to think of an SEO firm as the distributor and the clients we work with as the manufacturer and supplier.  Clients are not buying their base needs from the SEO firm.  They are buying our services so they can better sell their products to the public.  This is why client satisfaction is paramount in SEO work.  In this business, you are not just a freelance writer looking for a check or a webmaster working by project.  Your goal is to form a long-term relationship with every client.  We help each other out and we combine forces to create that all-important need in the public.  That’s what makes the money go around and that’s what will help end this recession someday.  One of the best things about working with an SEO firm is that you are not just paying for services rendered but are actually working with a virtual business partner in this particular campaign—someone who’s just as vested in your success as you are.

6. Adjust pricing tactics.

Quelch’s next point was about pricing.  Right now is really the best time to get involved with an SEO firm, because during recession, return on investment is crucial.  While quality SEO firms are not cheap, they do offer discount rates for bulk orders.  More importantly, article marketing doesn’t charge you by the ad or by the click.  You are only paying for the content to be written and for the article submission.  Search Engine Optimization (both web copy and article submission) is largely seen as the less expensive alternative to Pay-Per-Click or banner advertising, since your articles run forever at the small price of maintaining a website.  In a recession, every saved dollar counts. That’s another plus worth mentioning: when you work with an article marketing firm you are actually conversing with a human being and you can work pricing arrangements out.  It’s much harder to negotiate a friendly contract with Google Ad Words, if you know what I mean.

7. Stress market share.

Quelch’s next point was on market share.  The statement he made was, “Knowing your cost structure can ensure that any cuts or consolidation initiatives will save the most money with minimum customer impact.”  Cost structure is definitely an important factor but that’s more related to the managerial side of running a business.  What stuck out in my mind is the whole point about the “battle for a market share.”  It made me think of how much opportunity some small “niche” companies have right now, considering the fact that reaching just a portion of “the big market” can still make them big profits.  (And all for a minimal investment)  Article marketing and SEO are very effective for niche businesses because the whole focus of small businesses is on target marketing.  I like this statement by the SBA.  http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/manage/marketandprice/SERV_TARGETMARKETING.html

“It's important to remember that the focus of marketing is people. If you're concentrating your efforts on your product or profit only, you'll miss the mark. The term target market is used because that market - that group of people is the bull's eye at which you aim all your marketing efforts.”

8. Emphasize core values.

Quelch ended on a positive note saying that the best companies stress loyalty amongst their workers and that “Successful companies do not abandon their marketing strategies in a recession; they adapt them.”  That’s an interesting fact to ponder on.  How do you, the self-starter, the entrepreneur who is struggling financially maintain loyalty and emphasize core values when you don’t really know what the future holds?  Simple solution—you retain valuable professional relationships but you take advantage of modern cost-saving technology.  Investing in article marketing and telecommuting technology saves you from having to hire or fire an entire sales staff. 

You don’t have to hire new workers if you have an SEO firm working for you on a project-to-project basis or on a long-term basis (which involves constantly feeding search engines with even article submissions, the most effective way to maintain a top 10 ranking).  You don’t even have to pay for a temporary staff or an outsourcing firm, because you are quite literally able to manage your company through email, a web browser and a cell phone. 

The advantages of choosing article marketing over hiring a sales staff are numerous.  You save on salary, on multiple types of insurance policies, on office supplies, and on day-to-day operating expenses.  This is one of the major reasons why companies are outsourcing work—to avoid the physical costs involved of running an office.  With article marketing, you can even one-up the idea of outsourcing work to a call center or accounting service.  You are not paying an outsourcing firm to handle your work load.  Rather, you are paying for web content that runs forever and handling the work yourself.  Just think about it like this: you value professional contacts but save on the expenses involved in running a traditional company.  Now that’s what we call adapting to the market!

Article marketing and Search Engine Optimization are recession-proof venues of marketing that cannot be ignored.  You cannot afford to be ignorant about today’s massive online market.  These are two solid and cost-effective ways to advertise, brand your company name, test and experiment with new markets, and most importantly, to motivate your customer base to buy.  Remember that there is a worldwide market out there ripe for the picking.  The U.S. may be in a recession, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the rest of the world is also flailing.  You have the ability to work in local markets or to reach out to foreign markets if your business calls for it.  Consider it a form of “offshore marketing”; protecting your company from whatever happens with the U.S. economy.  There are no limitations on what you could do with article marketing, and that is another reason why this technology can rightfully be called recession-proof. 

In closing, just think for a moment if the recession happened but you didn’t have all the power of the Internet and SEO technology at your disposal.  Now that would be the time to panic!