Marketing in Tough Economic Times
When the economy slows, and companies are faced with belt-tightening, often the first function to be cut back is marketing, advertising and public relations.
The reason is simple. A company believes it can get along without running ads and having a strong public relations program in place. On the other hand, they need employees, legal counsel, accountants and have to pay the rent.
But does this make sense?
When times are tough, isn’t it simply logical that companies must aggressively work to get more business? When the economy is sluggish, the worst thing a company can do is pull their marketing and become invisible to current and future customers and clients.
If a company finds itself in a soft revenue cycle, and cut-backs have to be made, all aspects of the organization should be looked at and not just one. It is ridiculous to fire all the employees, get rid of all the accounts or fire the warehouse employees. It is just as ridiculous to stop marketing, which is the lifeblood of all organizations.
But this doesn’t suggest it should be business as usual. The beauty of marketing is that it can be strategically re-tooled and re-designed so that more can be done for less.
PR campaigns can be more targeted. Ad campaigns can be more strategic. Marketing programs can be more efficient.
The key is to have strong marketing consultants who know how to increase value without increasing costs.
