Marketing in a Bad Economy
Posted in DesignMarketing budgets are one of the first things business owners and CEOs consider cutting when the economy starts to get rocky. The rationale is legitimate, it is more important to pay employees than play the radio commercial this month. It’s a balancing act, leveraging resources to cover the basic necessities while continuing to try to grow the business. If not careful however, owners and directors will see a bad situation get worse. It is important to not only maintain advertising spend during the economic downturn, but to also explore new ways to market the company brand and ways in which the situation can be used to the advantage of the company.
Now is a great time to shift some of your company’s advertising budget from print, TV and radio to online mediums. Regardless of the fact that online advertising is typically less expensive than other forms, it is also easily targeted to the market you choose, can be used to interact with your potential customers, allows in depth analysis of consumer behavior and trends, and promotes quick reaction to changes in this behavior. You only have to pay for the advertising that people see and you can make sure that only people that care about your product category are seeing your ad. When they do see your ad you have the opportunity to engage them in ways that are not possible with the other forms. In two clicks you can sell them your product or teach them more about your service.
You may see your competitors cutting back on their advertising and wonder if you should do the same. The “save for a rainy day” mentality will most likely help your company come out of these times unscathed, but is that really good enough? It’s time to realize that it’s raining today and it’s time to go out and buy an umbrella. Basic supply and demand comes in to play: if everyone is staying inside, no one is buying umbrellas and they’re cheap. You’ll find that you may be able to buy ad space on a site or publication you couldn’t afford before. Expand your marketing efforts while others cut back and enjoy a greater percentage of the medium and hopefully an increase in market share.
Although fuel prices are on the way back down to reasonable levels it’s safe to assume that more people will look to the internet for their Christmas shopping to save a few dollars on fuel than in years past. Even if the economy shapes up soon and gas prices fall back to $1.05/gallon you can expect that the percentage of shopping being done online will continue to increase. Whether purchasing a new pair of shoes or gathering the initial information for buying a home, there is an ever increasing number of people using the internet to make purchases and to guide their buying decisions. So why not focus your advertising dollars to a medium that reaches these millions of shoppers where they are spending their time? They’re already looking for your product/service anyway. Why not help them find it?