As the cost of living crisis continues, the Office for National Statistics released their latest data last week on how much people are spending and on what they are spending their money on.
65% of adults in Great Britain are spending less on non-essentials in response.
25% of adults reported borrowing more money or using more credit last month than compared to last year.
But retail sales have seen the biggest three monthly increase since August 2021 - rising by 0.8%
The 35-44 and 55-64 age groups are being affected the most, seeing the biggest drop in spending
So with consumers having less money to spend, are there opportunities to continue marketing and growing your business? Oh yes there are! How to adapt your marketing for the cost of living crisis.
1. Know your target audience This is critical at all times, but even more so when times are tough. Make sure you know what your customers are thinking, feeling and looking for. Be on top of insights so you can adapt you marketing plans to stay relevant.
2. Always look at your data If your sales have gone down since last month - ask why? Then use this data and insight to influence your marketing next month. Here's some key questions to ask
Has the number of returning customers gone down?
Has the volume of your customers gone up, but value gone down?
Has your website traffic increased or decreased?
Has your conversion rate decreased?
3. Be agile with your marketing spend If your marketing budget is restricted, you need to be agile and respond to what is working. This could mean focusing on channels such as paid social advertising and PPC where budgets can be changed quickly and easily rather than locking yourself into longer term publishing agreements.
4. Update your messaging
If the current needs and motivations of your target audience have changed, you need to update your messaging (and also possibly your media) to reflect this.
Highlight anything you can offer around quality, durability, energy efficiency and the potential to squeeze the most value out of the purchase.
5. Optimise with new product offerings This might mean introducing features to set budgets and alter recurring orders. Or introducing introductory discounts to get new customers that you
may not have got before. Or loyalty discounts to strengthen the perception of added value while encouraging repeat purchases.
What next? It may feel all doom and gloom during a cost of living crisis, but people are still spending. If you know your target audience and understand your data it's easier to adapt your marketing plans so that your messaging stays relevant and communicates value.
Need help adapting your marketing plans to the cost of living crisis?
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