“A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time.” – Henry Ford
During a slow season, many companies choose to cut their marketing budget in hopes to conserve its effectiveness for a more robust time. Unfortunately, what happens is it slows the growth of the company and can manifest itself to have a long-term impact. It’s easy to lose sight on how your marketing budget helps your business, so here are five reasons to keep that marketing budget going strong.
- Consumers are savvier.
Consumers are looking to make cuts too. While some clients may decide to stop using your products or services, it is important to always be on the search for new potential customers. Your future client may also be searching to replace your competitor, so being visible will help to ensure that new business. Remember, during a slow time, businesses are still fighting for the same money people will spend while being frugal.
- Advantage over competition.
If it is a seasonal slow time for you, it probably is for your competitors as well. They are also looking to cut back, and if they choose their marketing budget to make those cuts, it is a perfect time for you to gain momentum over a competitor you may have been struggling to overcome.
- Increase market share.
You need to do whatever it takes to hold onto your share of the market, even if your market is in the middle of a slow time. A slow time is a great opportunity to build market share that will carry over to more profitable times. Your market may grow and shrink, so it is important to stay focused on maintaining and growing your share.
- Social media opportunity.
Social media may be the perfect outlet for you to ramp up at this time. Having the right marketing team in place aware of the current social media trends is a very cost efficient way of getting the most bang for your buck
- Marketing is behind every successful business.
This sounds cliché, but it’s true. With the growing popularity of mobile devices, the need to be in many more places has become essential. Without marketing, you will surely disappear from the places where your customers are looking.
A McGraw-Hill research study of over 600 businesses determined that during the recession in the early ‘80s, companies that increased their ad spending had, by 1985, seen a 256% growth in sales over companies that had cut back on advertising.
So, when the chips are down, look for some other alternatives to cutting your marketing budget, and try to adjust your current plan to other effective channels like social media, etc. So, hang in there and keep your budget intact while your competitors cut back. If you need help with your digital marketing efforts, contact On Target at 866-998-6886.
Thank you for reading,
Rick
