The Economy, Your Marketing, And Self Fulfilling Prophecies
If you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, the world is about to end! Apparently we are spiraling towards an unavoidable massive depression, the housing market and credit crisis are spiraling out of control, and all hope has been lost in America! It seems the “gloom and doom” prognosticators are ruling the day. If you listen for long enough, you may just start believing all of this.
I’m sure you are hearing this from your clients and customers, too. Maybe your sales have tapered off recently, and you are starting to panic, just thinking that all of this just might be true. And, in preparation for the impending slow down, you have started to take a look at where you should make some cutbacks, right? I’m guessing that your marketing budget is looking like the perfect place to make some cuts, isn’t it? I mean, honestly, you’ve been spending all this money, and business is slowing down, so it seems like a great place to start! Well, cutting your marketing budget during a downturn is exactly the wrong move to make, and here’s why:
During Tough Times, You Want To Increase Your Marketing, Not Cut It Back!
Think about this for a second. When is the best time to buy real estate? How about stocks? Yes, that’s right. You want to buy when the market is down, not booming. The same thing applies to your marketing! The best time to continue, and even increase your marketing is when your competition is pulling back and cutting their marketing budgets. This is the opportune time to steal market share.
The Problem Isn’t Your Budget, It’s The Effectiveness Of Your Marketing
It’s not how much you spend on your marketing, but how effective it is. If you aren’t looking at the return on investment you are getting from your marketing, then you need to be. During good times, most companies spend foolishly on marketing that’s not very effective. Take a good look at the effectiveness of your current marketing program, and determine how you can increase your return on investment, as well as the overall effectiveness. If you are getting a good return on the money you are investing, then you’ll want to keep spending more, not less!
Gloom and Doom Becomes A Self Fulfilling Prophecy
When you focus on fear and negativity, and then stop taking action because of it, the end result is exactly what you were afraid of in the first place! If you stop your marketing efforts, then you are ensuring you won’t bring in any new business. This is the last thing you want to do, especially if the market is going into a downturn. You instead want to focus on taking market share from your competition, and the best time to do this is during a slowdown.
Keep in mind that the key to your marketing is making sure that it is effective, and you are getting a good return on the money you are investing. If that’s not the case, you need to examine your marketing strategy and make some changes. Once you have a marketing strategy that is working for you, you’ll want to keep investing in it, not pull back. That’s the exact strategy you’ll need to continue to grow and expand your business, even during a market downturn!
Happy Marketing!
