How Will Retailers Fight the Recession?

75 % of Americans polled say we are in a recession, according to a recent study. Big-box retailers typically have the resources to withstand the slowdown but even they have to be inventive.

The real question is how do entrepreneurs and small & medium sized businesses creatively build their companies in a slow economy? What proactive, low-cost, "guerilla marketing tactics" will they use in order to keep their customers coming in? And how do you communicate with your loyal customers?

Time to wake up and smell the fava beans (maybe with a nice Chianti)! Businesses who rely heavily on print advertising, and other difficult to measure media, are doomed to diminishing returns. We've all heard the 80/20 rule where your top 20% of customers generate 80% of sales (thank you Mr. Pareto for that little pearl!). The problem is most companies, large & small, have a very limited view of who those top 20% really are, let alone the next 20%, the 20% after that and so on. Customer segmentation is the key!

So, we extend a question to the blogosphere - what guerilla marketing tactics work best in a bad economy? Come one, come all and make your voice heard!