Don’t Pull The Plug: Shifting Marketing Approaches In An Economic Downturn

Rethinking marketing, sales and advertising strategies to address today’s realities is key for long-term success. Marketing during an economic downturn—or dare I say, recession—comes with unique challenges, not the least of which is many clients’ knee-jerk reactions to put all marketing on hold and pause advertising. Yikes!

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By Michelle Abdow – You can read this article in its entirety HERE on Forbes website

Financial planners remind investors about the importance of riding the highs and lows of the stock market and not cutting and running when the market drops. And as marketers, you should advise your clients on how to manage the twists and turns of the economy when it comes to marketing and advertising. Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to recommend staying the course; these challenges require adjustments to everything from strategy to content, sales plans to media plans.

Too High A Price

Unfortunately, there is still work to do in the industry to help companies—especially small to midsized businesses—understand that marketing is not a nice-to-have luxury, but a must-have component to their long-term success. When the economy is in a decline, their impulse may be to circle the wagons, cut what they see as extraneous expenses and hope to emerge intact. But this thinking is shortsighted.

With regard to branding, the old adage “out of sight means out of mind” rings true, especially in today’s crowded marketplace. The constant bombardment of media of all types means customers may move on and forget faster than ever. This can make the cost of going dark higher than the short-term savings it provides.

Balance short-term budget savings against the long-term costs of:

• Reduced share of mind.
• Diminished market share.
• Forfeiture of brand equity.
• Loss of competitive advantage.

All these metrics take increased spending and effort to build back up after the recession is over … if it’s not too late.

A Different Approach

The last few years have taught marketers…

Read on…article continues HERE on Forbes’ website