I’ve been reading and hearing a lot of discussion about how this social stuff (social media, community building, customer collaboration) is a magic bullet for these troubling economic times. The term “Recession Marketing” is being thrown pretty willy nilly.
(Did I just use the term “willy nilly”?? Oh my.)
These times aren’t about simply changing the style of our marketing. A tough economy isn’t a time for a new marketing tactic. Marketplace woes aren’t a reason to see more of your marketing mix shifted to “social”.
No, the recession is time for all of us to look at our companies, clients, and customers and ask if we’re truly serving their needs. It’s time to ask if we’re giving an exceptional customer experience. It’s time to listen to customer feedback in order to understand whether we’re delivering on the brand promise.
We’re not in a period of “Recession Marketing”. We’re faced with an opportunity to improve customer experience and thus strength our (and our client’s) businesses. We need better products, better and different marketing tactics, and better communication with customers. These things aren’t specific to a recession, we just tend to forget them (or at least undervalue them) until market conditions force us to focus again.
Who’s going to join me in striking “Recession Marketing” from our collective vocabulary before it’s too late?
If you’re interested, join the Facebook group to make your voice heard in this Epic Struggle.
