Think about how you searched for goods or services on the web prior to the recession. Now think about how you would do the same search today. If you are like most people then in today’s economic climate, you are using terms like “sale”, “cheap”, and “discount” far more than you were a couple of years ago. In search marketing, it is imperative to ensure that your search campaigns incorporate these conditions into the keywords that you target. For example, if you offer a service in your area, you might want rethink the strategy of going after terms like “best” and change it to something that applies to a value related term.

Beyond just changing your paid and organic search terms, it is also very wise to employ the same strategy throughout your website. Let your customers know what your unique value offer is and how you are doing whatever you can to help them through these tough times. A little sympathy goes a long way, especially when you mean it. After making the updates be sure to monitor the results of the new strategy to ensure that the new campaign is outperforming the old one. If you see a decrease in your conversion rate, then rethink the messaging. You can push the low cost angle too far, which can cause the customer to feel that your product is inferior to your competitors. If this happens, make the proper adjustments and try again!