Marketing Communications Shines in Tough Times

During difficult economic times, it is often tempting for companies to slash their marketing budgets as part of their efforts to control costs. While this may seem like a logical move, in reality, a down market provides the perfect opportunity to maximize your marketing investment while also growing your business.

Extensive research shows a correlation between consistent marketing spending and profitability. Studies dating back to the 1940s show that companies that cut back on marketing during difficult times not only lost sales during the rough patches, but also continued to trail consistent spenders even in better economic times. And former McDonald’s Chief Marketing Officer Larry Light’s research indicates that companies that spend more on advertising and marketing during a recession not only forestall immediate losses, but also grow faster once the economy improves.

In late July, Advertising Age reported that several major food marketers were actually upping their marketing budgets and seeing significant sales increases. In our two decades of experience at JMC Marketing Communications & PR, we’ve watched our business-to-business clients who toughed it out and stuck to their marketing guns succeed, while those who retreated sacrificed the sales battle and ended up spending significantly more money later to try to make up for lost ground.

Based on our experience with everyone from CMOs of global companies to local entrepreneurs, following are just five of the many the reasons you should consider continuing – and even increasing – your marketing efforts in the current challenging economic climate:

1. Up lower-cost, high-return marketing efforts – such as PR – to get the most bang for your marketing buck. Now is the time to create the brand stories that will resonate with your customers by showing how they can succeed even in tough times. Deliver these stories using cost-effective marketing communications tools – media coverage, direct marketing, promotions, events and Web-based communications.
2. Zig when your competitors are zagging – take advantage of their marketing absence to build recognition for the value in your brand. Cash-strapped businesses and consumers will be looking for brands they know and trust to deliver results.
3. Increase the efficiency of your Web marketing efforts through search engine optimization and other Web 2.0 tools. This is one case where a little additional knowledge can be a very powerful thing, so be sure to work with an agency that knows its online stuff.
4. Maximize traditional advertising by supplementing it with PR’s targeted media placement capabilities. Take advantage of special editorial environments to boost your ad effectiveness and promote your business or products.
5. Identify and/or focus on your best customers and prospects and maintain an ongoing dialog with them.

So whether your marketing budget is large or small, remember that an investment in marketing now will pay off big, not just in sales during the short-term downturn, but in growth and stability for the long term.

Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, Kingston-based JMC Marketing Communications & PR provides effective real-world communications for market-leading companies through good and bad economic times. For more information on JMC’s real-world communication tools, please contact us at 800-459-3003 or visit our Web site at www.mallen.com.