9 Ways to Market When Times Are Tough

There are two types of companies when the economy tightens.

The first type stops marketing. They see it as an expense, something to cut when the pressure mounts.

The second type leans in. They see marketing as a revenue engine, something to refine, focus, and optimise when every pound counts.

The difference between these two approaches determines who weathers the storm and who gets left behind.

Spending money on marketing and focusing effort on it are two different things.

If there's commitment from the top, real commitment, not just lip service, then limited budget doesn't mean limited results. Where there's a will, there's a way.

Here's the reality: most companies let campaigns run on autopilot when things are working. They don't refine. They don't optimise. They just let it tick over.

When tough times force a scale-back on spend, it doesn't mean you scale back on effort and focus. In fact, stopping focus creates long-term damage. Restarting momentum later is difficult and expensive. Keeping cadence is smarter.

Difficult periods force a reset, and that's actually valuable.

Tough times present the perfect opportunity to review your strategy, reassess your audience, and analyse your competition. The landscape shifts in moments like these. Your competitors change their approach. Customer priorities evolve. Standing still isn't neutral, it's falling behind.

There's an old saying: "If you do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got."

I disagree with that. In a world changing this fast, if you stand still and do what you've always done, you'll slowly get less and less from it.

So what can you actually do when times are tough and business isn't flowing like it was?

When did you last really talk to your customers?

Now's the time to investigate properly. Run surveys. Reach out to contacts and ask their opinions on the issues making times tough for them too.

This doesn't just update your CRM or increase your social connections, it keeps you connected to lapsed clients and dormant contacts. These conversations matter. They rebuild relationships when budgets are frozen and buying decisions are on hold.

While you're reconnecting with your audience, take the opportunity to audit your database.

Remove dead contacts. Update job titles and company details. Tag contacts properly so you can segment and target more effectively.

A clean CRM means your outreach is relevant, your data is reliable, and your sales team isn't wasting time chasing ghosts. It's unglamorous work, but it pays dividends when you need precision over volume.

When last did you do a full competitive review?

This is the time to look closer, spot opportunities, update yourself with best practice, and spark ideas that are leftfield.

Keeping your marketing visible while others go quiet is a massive competitive opportunity. It might not yield immediate conversions, but it builds relationships. When the money returns to the market, the alliances are already in place.

Monitor your closest competition carefully. If they stumble or fall, you need to be positioned to step in and serve the clients left behind.

But more importantly, use this time to build genuine connections with prospects and dormant accounts. The companies that stay present and helpful during difficult times are the ones that win the work when budgets open up again.

Relationships built under pressure tend to be stronger. People remember who showed up when times were hard.

Often companies don't connect marketing with the products and services they offer, but they should.

Strategically positioning or redesigning your services can massively improve your market fit and amplify your marketing efforts. Sometimes the best marketing move isn't a new campaign, it's a smarter service offering.

Staying top of mind with your audience and your community is one of the most cost-effective things you can do in marketing.

Emails, social posts, newsletters, and well-timed calls are relatively easy and inexpensive, and they should not be stopped in tough times.

Consistency beats perfection. A regular, helpful presence builds trust and keeps your name in the conversation.

AI can help with many of the tasks above, but you need to understand where it fits.

The mistake people make is thinking AI can handle an entire marketing process from start to finish. That's where it gets complicated, and you end up down a rabbit hole.

But there are certainly parts of the process where tools like ChatGPT can help you easily, if you know how. There will always be human intervention needed, and outside perspective to keep you grounded. Knowing which is which is the key.

Before you cut anything, analyse what's actually delivering results.

Double down on the channels, messages, and tactics that are working. Stop the things that aren't. Tough times demand efficiency, not guesswork.

Test, measure, refine. Optimise your existing campaigns rather than starting from scratch. Sometimes the best growth comes from improving what you already have by 20%, not chasing something entirely new.

Marketing agencies tend to have a reputation for being expensive, but what you're paying for is experience, perspective, and the management of implementation.

Scaling back doesn't mean you have to say goodbye to your agency. Keep them close. There's a deal to be done that leverages both their skills and your internal resources.

Perhaps shift from full implementation to mentorship or consulting. Keeping some outside perspective will always help your strategy stay diverse and alive.

Tough times separate the reactive from the strategic.

Companies that disappear from the market might save money short-term, but they lose momentum, relationships, and visibility, all of which are expensive to rebuild.

The companies that stay visible, stay connected, and stay focused? They emerge stronger when the market recovers.

Your pipeline shouldn't depend on perfect conditions. Build systems that keep turning even when times are tough, because that's when the real opportunity lies.

Need help staying visible without overspending? Let's talk about what's possible with the resources you have. Sometimes it's not about doing more, it's about doing the right things consistently.