Don’t Cut Your Nose…

Current economic conditions cause us to re-examine our expenses. It makes for difficult decisions. And it makes perfect sense to trim those expenses that are not critical. However, don’t cut your nose to spite your face.

One of the first ‘knee-jerk’ reactions is to cut marketing and advertising dollars. After all, why spend money here if nobody is buying, right? Wrong!

There are countless studies showing how maintaining, or even increasing, marketing expenditure during a recession may not only be profitable, but will accelerate growth once the recession ends. This practice has been proven time after time. And it makes good sense.

During the months of a recession not all of your audience has totally stopped doing business. Sure, they may have cut back on spending but they still need the goods and services required to run their businesses. If your name is not in front of them it’s a sure bet one of your competitors’ will be. And, after months and months of keeping your name in front of these buyers, who will be the ‘top-of-mind’ brand when the ‘big’ buying picks up? Bingo…yours!

It is also fact that trying to make up for lost market share once a recession begins to ease takes longer and costs more. By the time you have put your marketing plans back in motion, your competition who did stay the course has already picked up a good chunk of the business.

These times do offer some benefits though. Because some of your ‘lesser educated’ competition will cut back on their advertising you are presented with two powerful advantages:

1. Less competition means your advertising will be seen and heard even more.

2. Media outlets having fewer advertisers, which drives prices down, are offering great deals. This means you can buy more media coverage for the same price or the same media coverage at a lower cost.

It is important to keep in mind that the strategy in successfully marketing your company in a down economy goes beyond just “keeping your name out there.” It requires a commitment, from the top down, to engage your audience in meaningful interactions utilizing all the tactics available. Now is not the time to back down and hide but rather to ask the right questions, develop a strategy and be bold.