Don’t Cut Back On Marketing In A Down Market
Don’t be so hasty as to think that you can cut marketing out of your budget when the economy isn’t looking so great. Trust me, I understand the thought process. Times are uncertain and you have to trim expenses from your business budget somewhere. When everything else is such a high priority, you might be tempted to think that marketing is something you can do without.
Nothing could be further from the truth! In fact, you might say the opposite is true—that marketing is more important now than ever before and a marketing budget is one of the best investments you can make in your business when the market is down.
“That’s great in theory,” you might be thinking. “But I’m trying to be practical. I just can’t afford marketing right now.”
Consider it from the opposite perspective: Can you really afford not to be marketing yourself right now?
3 Ways Marketing Improves Your Chances Of Surviving A Down Economy
1) Marketing Reminds Your Customers Why You’re Worth Their Money
A bad economy means that everyone out there is reluctant to spend money. It’s not just you. If your business budget is tight, your customers’ budgets might be even tighter. And just as you are making tough choices about how you’re spending your money, so are they.
Your customers might be giving up luxuries or wants simply so they can afford necessities. When it comes to those necessities, they’re looking for more affordable options.
Right now, you need your customers to understand that your business and the products and services you offer are worth the money that they are budgeting so tightly. How are you going to get that message to them without marketing?
This logic explains why businesses that continue to market themselves throughout a recession do better than those that don’t. Instead of cutting your spending, you might want to increase it, according to studies. More marketing dollars translates to greater profits even when the general population is watching their spending.
2) Marketing Lets You Demonstrate Stability
Marketing is, in some ways, a power move. Especially in uncertain times, marketing lets you show people that things are continuing as normal. They aren’t changing. They might even be getting better.
This image of strength and stability is attractive to customers. They see a stable business and they understand the underlying reasons: Because the business does a good job. It takes care of its customers. Its product or service is high quality.
That’s the kind of business customers gravitate toward. They don’t want to spend money with an unstable business, even if they personally like what the business has to offer. Why get attached to a business that you don’t think is going to be around for much longer? Many customers want to spend money with businesses that they can have a reliable, dependable long-term relationship with.
Marketing communicates to them that your business is a business that will stick around.
Bear in mind that this doesn’t mean you have to hide how your business is adapting to the changing times. Instead, use marketing as a way of highlighting this. Are you offering special rates? Do you have different membership plans? Are your operating hours going to be different? All of these are things that your loyal customers want to know and they can’t get that message without marketing.
3) You Want To Compete With The Competition
Finally, here’s a tough reality you should know: Your competitors will continue advertising. At least, the smart ones will. So if you don’t continue your marketing efforts, their message will be the one that consistently reaches your target audience.
On the other hand, if you continue your marketing, then you become the smart competition to others who decided to cut back on advertising. And you’ll be bringing in new customers while the other businesses struggle.
Market Smarter And Don’t Waste Money
Just because you’re continuing to market doesn’t mean you should be wasteful or frivolous with your marketing dollars. You should be even more careful than usual to ensure each dollar is spent efficiently.
This means focusing on improving customer relationships. Timely response to questions and complaints, a weekly newsletter, and even thank-you messages go a long way in making your customers feel appreciated.
Additionally, you should be consistent with your branding. People will be more attracted to the business where they know what to expect and where they appreciate what sets you apart from others in your field.
Finally, be smart about research and analysis. Look at what works so you can keep it up and pay attention to what doesn’t work so you can change tactics.