We know times are tough, especially for small and mid sized businesses. When budgets tighten, marketing budgets seem to be the first to go, mainly because marketing is misunderstood.
However, there have been many studies over decades and past recessions that find when times are tough, marketing should be the last to go!
There have been a number of studies going back nearly one century that point out the advantages of maintaining or even increasing ad budgets during a weaker economy. Those advertisers that maintained or grew their ad spending increased sales and market share during the recession and afterwards.
Long Term Results
There’s an adage that captures this well: “If sales are your problem today, marketing was your problem 12 months ago.” The role of marketing is, in many ways, to establish a relationship between your brand and the market (consumers). When you run ads, create social media posts, or
But the thing is, these relationships take time with many touch points. According to Oracle, the average consumer uses an average of almost six touchpoints. However, Google reminds you that every customer is different, their studies have seen over 20 touchpoints before a purchase. So what does this mean?
You need to be visible. When these consumers are ready to buy, whether that’s tomorrow or a year from now, they need to be able to see your business, and remember your brand to purchase from you rather than a competitor. If you shut down marketing or considerably cut your marketing budget, you will not be in front of your consumers eyes, or not nearly enough.
Marketing is More Effective Than Usual
Going back to the report shared above, the main take away is that companies who keep their marketing budget during a recession achieve greater gains than companies that cut back. While there are several reasons for this, the main reason is that there are fewer competitors. Competitors are cutting back their budget, and advertising costs go down. Ad costs are designed to reflect the amount of competition in the market. Fewer players mean that your cost decreases, even if you don’t change a thing.
Fewer companies in the market and decreased budgets mean your marketing efforts are more likely to catch your audience’s attention. You will now be on more touch points more often, and they are able to absorb YOUR message when they are ready to purchase!
Considering effectiveness; more messaging, interactions, and reminders of your brand means that consumers will remember you when they are ready to buy. Even more, when the economy improves, your competitors will be so far behind, they’ll be working double time to catch up to remind people they exist.
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