Why 10 Leading Marketing and Business Experts Warn Against the All Too Common Mistake of Cutting Marketing Budgets in a Slow Economy

 

Imagine reading a newspaper that has one and only one advertisement.  You would notice that advertisement.  You might even marvel at it. Now imagine the same newspaper with 50 advertisements.  Would you still notice that one advertisement?  Not likely.

 

When all other advertisers cease their marketing efforts, the advertiser who stays in the media is the one who catches the readers’ and buyers’ attention. But don’t take our word for it: consider what the experts say.

 

“Successful companies do not abandon their marketing strategies in a recession; they adapt them.” The venerable Harvard Business Review instructs business owners in “How to Market in a Recession” to adapt marketing strategies rather than cut them. “Instead of cutting the market research budget, you need to know more than ever how consumers are redefining value and responding to the recession….This is not the time to cut advertising….Brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.”

 

“Prospects are more likely to recall marketing messages delivered consistently during a fragile economy, even if they are smaller and less frequently delivered.” Jay Levison, veteran marketing consultant and author, warns in his book, Guerilla Marketing During Tough Times, that “…many companies have scrubbed or reduced their marketing budgets to combat tough times and that it will cost those firms three dollars for every dollar formerly spent to reach the same level of consumer recognition and share of mind they previously enjoyed.”

 

“Cutting your marketing spending is a sure way to give ground to competitors who may be more aggressive during the downturn.” An article published on business mogul Bloomberg’s BusinessWeek, “5 Don’ts for Marketing in Down Times,” offers that “just as the savviest investors view down markets as a time to buy when everybody else is selling, the savviest marketers know recessions are a great time to pick up market share. They understand that by maintaining their budgets (or even increasing them) they may not come out ahead during the down times, but they can pick up market share that will pay off in the long run.”

 

“Research shows that companies that consistently advertise even during recessions perform better in the long run.” A Wharton University article, “When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Don’t Skimp on Their Ad Budgets,” urges business owners to continue advertising. “A McGraw-Hill Research study looking at 600 companies from 1980 to 1985 found that those businesses which chose to maintain or raise their level of advertising expenditures during the 1981 and 1982 recession had significantly higher sales after the economy recovered. Specifically, companies that advertised aggressively during the recession had sales 256% higher than those that did not continue to advertise.”

 

“Become proactive rather than reactive.” The book, How to Up Your Profit in a Down Economy, by author and advertising copywriter Robert Boduch, encourages business owners “to make it a habit to reach new prospects every week – better yet, every day….To generate new customers consistently, you need a continuous marketing action plan.”

 

“With the right advertising tactics, a downturn can actually provide opportunities for online marketers.” A Google Adwords acticle, “Top Tactics for Tough Times,” suggests that “Now more than ever, your customers are relying on the Internet to help them make the best purchase decisions during tight times.”

 

Online “communities and social networking sites are cost-effective and have a measurable impact on prospects’ decisions in the consideration stage, which will be important to companies under recessionary pressures.” Josh Bernoff, Sr. VP Idea Development for Forrester Research, one of the leading IT, marketing, and technology research and consulting companies, writes in “Strategies for Interactive Marketing in a Recession” that “interactive marketing programs are now fueled by measurable results.” Bernoff suggests that “interactive marketers should stop toe-dipping and invest only in programs that can deliver on measurable metrics.”

 

“What you have to think about is whether increased spending will give you an even greater return.” An article in the Search Engine Guide, “How to Get the Most Value From Your SEO Investment,” explains that “spending less would be nice, but you have to get out of that mindset. Target, Walmart, Pepsi and Coke all continue to spend, spend, spend on their marketing because they know it gets results. And the second they stop spending, they know they lose market share to their competition.”

 

“Today, as web browsing has become more and more pervasive, the way people shop has changed.” Google’s Jim Lecinski defines “What the ‘Zero Moment of Truth’ Means for Marketers” and explains that “long before shoppers find products on a store shelf, they search for the best options online. By the time they make a purchase, they have read reviews, compared prices and fully evaluated their options, whether they are buying a pillow or a Porsche.”

 

“As Americans spend more time online for information and entertainment purposes, digital advertising and marketing has emerged as one of the most effective tools businesses have to attract and retain customers.” The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) reported “Internet Advertising Revenues Hit $7.3 Billion in Q1 ’11,”a 23 percent increase in the first quarter of 2011 over the same period in 2010. “This marks the highest first-quarter revenue level ever for the industry and a significant increase over last year’s first-quarter revenue level, which had been the highest on record to date,” stated the IAB. “The consistent and considerable year-over-year growth we’re seeing demonstrates that digital media is an increasingly popular destination for ad dollars, and for good reason,” said IAB President and CEO Randall Rothenberg.

 

“Now is exactly the time to take advantage of marketing, and to use it strategically, proactively and effectively,” counsels Allen Levine, a respected marketing consultant to the legal industry, in his article “Marketing in Tough Times.”

 

Ready to take advantage of this challenging economic period and make your business stand out from the competition? A professional online marketing team will give Phoenix small business owners the best ROI for their marketing dollars by developing an integrated campaign. The experts at seenBest Web Design, Phoenix, Arizona, are savvy in all areas of marketing on the internet and can tailor a campaign to effectively and affordably meet the small business owner’s budget and business goals. Call us today for a free consultation, (602) 456-0150!

 

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I recently spoke with a small business owner in Ahwatukee who called with some questions about Internet marketing. He was spending over $1,000 a month on magazine and yellow page ads, but heard that Internet marketing was more affordable and could be more effective than other types of advertising. Like many small businesses today, his operating budgets are tight and marketing expenses are often the first to be cut.

 

When a new client comes to me and is considering Internet marketing for the first time, I usually ask if the business has some kind of method in place to track the effectiveness of current marketing expenditures. How does your business track the source of inbound leads? Many companies don’t have even basic leads tracking systems in place, such as asking new callers how they heard about the company and recording their responses. Owners often don’t know:

 

• How prospects find them.
• How to track results to determine which marketing programs are working effectively.
• How much money they’re spending on ineffective marketing programs.

 

The owner followed my suggestion and began asking all new customers “how did you hear about us” when they contacted his company. He trained his staff to ask the same question when answering any new inbound call and had everyone record the answers. He was shocked to learn that over a 30-day period, not a single new inbound lead came from those magazine or yellow page ads. The end result? We learned that he was wasting a lot of money on advertising that did not work.

 

If your traditional marketing programs aren’t producing a reasonable return on investment (ROI), consider redirecting those dollars to a more effective method, such as Internet marketing.

 

 

Be Where Your Audience Is Looking

 

Consider the stats: 78% of U.S. adults use the Internet and 78% of those search for information about a product or service they’re considering buying (Pew Internet and American Life Project Tracking surveys). Given the sheer numbers of potential buyers online, business owners can no longer ignore the power of the Internet for marketing.

 

People today access information any time they want it via Internet marketing (websites, social media sites, blogs). People increasingly control how, when and where they receive information. They are also finding more ways to ignore unsolicited information coming via traditional marketing (TV, radio, print ads, direct mail). Consider this:

 

• Television ads are often avoided through the use of TV capture devices such as TiVo
• Radio ads are often avoided through the use of Pandora and/or advertisement free satellite radio stations
• Many magazine and newspaper companies have gone out of business – the same information that was once printed can now be obtained for less cost online

 

The internet has made it possible for people to obtain the information they need at the exact moment they want to find it. That driving force can lead to overwhelming success for your business. Web marketing allows your business to display advertisements only when an interested person is searching for your products or services, or is reading information that is relevant to your business. With Internet marketing, your marketing is delivered with laser-like focus to a highly targeted crowd of interested buyers.

 

In order to increase ROI through effective Internet marketing, you need to know:

 

• Who your target audience is.
• What they may be thinking about when they need your product or service.
• Who your competition is and what is their message.
• Which of the many Internet marketing technologies are best suited to produce results for your business.

 

The answers to these questions build the base upon which an Internet marketing campaign is created. An experienced internet marketing firm can help you achieve success by:

 

• Developing effective branding for your products and services.
• Creating clear and concise marketing messages.
• Clearly communicating value to your potential clients.
• Evaluating your marketing budget to employ the technologies that are most effective within that range to accomplish your goals.

 

Your campaign may be comprised of a mixture of various technologies, including websites, social media, SEO, online promotions, content, blogs, email marketing, and PR. They can all blend together seamlessly as part of a well-defined strategy. However, once you create your ideal online marketing platform, the work isn’t finished. These digital tools allow you to go further than ever before with your marketing, and give you the resources to constantly analyze online marketing effectiveness to make changes as needed that will help you maintain a competitive edge.

 

Measuring Internet Marketing Results

So, how will you know if your internet marketing campaign is providing you the results your business needs to succeed? How can you know what changes need to be made and when to make them? Have you seen an increase in:

 

• Website traffic?
• Conversions?
• Click-throughs?
• Visibility/brand image?
• Sales revenue?
• Number of subscribers?

 

The ability to track every aspect of your marketing campaign is one of the most powerful results of marketing on the internet. Virtually every statistic can be measured and, more importantly, adjusted in real time to increase results in specific areas. A well-planned Internet marketing campaign will start off with advanced configurations, and grow and shift over time as the needs of your business also change. Online marketing is flexible, allowing you to modify, in real-time, factors such as ad scheduling, ad copy, your budget, geographic targeting and more.

 

The ability to modify your campaign in real-time, monitor it, and improve it will allow your business to create awareness, build trust, and develop more leads than ever before, resulting in increased sales and repeat business.

 

If you could increase visibility, leads and sales while decreasing marketing costs, how long would you wait to start? Investing in a marketing campaign designed by Internet marketing experts like seenBest Web Design in Phoenix, Arizona, will cost no more than a few traditional ads, but can produce greater long-term results. Contact seenBest Web Design today at (602) 456-0150 to schedule a free consultation and find out just how successful an effective Internet marketing campaign can be.

 

 

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