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Is it time to shake up your marketing?

August 2009

Are you thinking of reducing your marketing budget?

Times are tough…you don’t need me to tell you that.  One of the first things that many companies pull back on during tough economic times is marketing.  However, studies of past recessionary times have shown that companies that continue to promote, or expand their promotion during recessionary periods maintain their market share during the downturn and notice a significant increase in market share as economic conditions improve.  I’m not saying that the wise move is necessarily to increase your marketing budget, but rather to carefully evaluate and see how you can maximize your current marketing budget to its’ full potential – to strategically leverage your time and budget.  Whether small business or large, you should evaluate if you have the right people resources to market your business.  If you’re a sole proprietor, do you handle the marketing in conjunction with the daily running of your business?  Do you consider this is the best use of your time – do you have a passion for promotion and a background or is it something that should be delegated to someone with the passion and background?

Is Interim Marketing Talent a fit?

Whether your business is a small or large organization, if you have more on your marketing plate than you can handle, you may want to consider outsourcing some of your marketing projects.  By outsourcing you can avoid bringing on full time employees and take advantage of the following benefits¹:

·         Exploring a new product, service or business idea

·         Providing an outside, objective point of view

·         Expediting a critical project

·         Controlling and manage workloads

·         Leveraging a skill set that you don’t currently have in your organization

Is shifting your marketing budget the right choice?

While offline marketing accounts for the majority of marketing budgets today, there is an undisputed shift of dollars moving to online marketing.  It is estimated that approximately 80 - 90% of marketing spend is currently used in traditional media: TV, billboards, newspaper ads, radio, trade shows, public relations, etc.  One estimate of the shifting dollars comes from Outsell, Inc. which predicts that in 2009 approximately $65 billion will shift from offline channels to online promotion of websites and other Internet marketing channels.  According to Forrester research 75% of all adults in the United States use the Internet at least monthly, the vast majority with multiple visits – has your business optimized its’ web presence for full advantage?

Can you better integrate your marketing programs?

A way to make your marketing investment provide the best return is by combining your offline and online promotions.  If you’re only working one promotion channel, whether it is your website, direct mail or print advertising you are placing your business at risk.  When dealing with personal finances we’ve all learned the importance of diversifying.  The same holds true with your marketing efforts, don’t put all your ‘eggs’ in one basket.  Not all marketing channels are appropriate for all companies – but every company should be using several channels to reach the market.

Some questions to ask yourself are: Does your advertising not only drive prospects to your website, but to a specific landing page that reinforces your initial message and moves customers toward a desired action?  Do you take advantage of your customer database and send monthly e-mails informing your customers of the latest offerings and special deals?  Do you ‘listen’ to your customers, taking advantage of interactive media so you can better understand customer needs and tailor your offerings to those needs?

In tough economic times you need to evaluate your marketing efforts to make sure that you can leverage your precious marketing dollars to their fullest advantage.  Cutting back on your marketing spend may seem the easiest route to go…but this could hurt your business in the long run.  The answer may lie in finding less expensive means of reaching the market and leveraging multiple approaches so that they can build upon each other.

I hope I’ve given you something to think about in my premier issue of my monthly newsletter.  Please check out my site www.templetonintegratedmarketing.com to learn more about the services that Templeton Integrated Marketing offers and for ideas to help you reinvigorate your marketing efforts.

¹ Partial list of benefits taken from article How to Bridge the Marketing-Staffing Gap by Eva Wu.  Eva Wu is a partner at Bridge Marketing Professionals, a marketing consultancy and interim marketing staffing company based in North Carolina.