Marketing in a Downturn

It is an uncertain time for business right now. When times are uncertain, or just plain bad, business owners wisely become more conservative. Just like consumers, they pull back from major purchases and are careful how they spend their money.

One area this affects is marketing. An easy cost-saving move is to cut down on marketing outlays such as advertising, sales calls/travel and infrastructure. These are often necessary moves when cash flow is tightened.

I have seen a few articles in the business press on this subject. Making super insightful, money-saving comments such as:

• minimize the number of revisions/edits you make when you develop materials
• make sure your agency has a timeline/benchmarks for producing materials
• question whether your marketing partners are smart, strategic, creative thinkers
• justify the choices of media and elements on a financial basis

Thanks so much! Not too expect too much, but aren’t these really things that should be done at all times, no matter the state of the economy or the particular industry?

Sure, truth be told, business owners and management teams can get busy, and may be less apt to keep tight controls on outsourced projects, like ad agency work.

Still, advice like being sure your agency or marketing partners are smart seems a little hollow and simplistic at times like these.

There are more proactive tactics that owners and management teams can consider when faced with shrinking resources for marketing. That’s why I’m working on a white paper on the subject and will make it available in early November. It will be an indepth look at the issues related to marketing in a downturn and give ideas for how you can help grow your business now (in the downturn) and create lasting impact (beyond the downturn).

Here’s one thing to consider until the white paper is available:
Focus more on market share and less on profit margin
Guess what? You are not the only one pulling back during the downturn. Just about everyone is. So consider how to use your marketing and sales efforts to make inroads gaining more customers and unseating the competition for the short term and worry less about profitability until the mid-to-long term.

In the white paper, we’ll look at this concept in detail and provide practical ways to do it.

Not surprising, my advice is to “keep marketing” in the downturn. The white paper, available through this space or on the website www.geniusmarketing.com will be available soon.

SLE